Is it worth it? Would I benefit from using Thump Thump with this? I'm doing a grunt/NCR character and I think explosives will help me balance out the void of not having cowboy perk weapons, which always pack more of a punch. Out of all the hours I have wasted in this game, I have never used the DE perk before. Was just curious on some thoughts and experiences.

It's not necessary because explosives got a boost in a recent patch and their pretty unstoppable now.If you do consider on getting all three ranks make sure you get hit the deck and spray&pray because the aoe will most likely hurt you or your companions. I recently played an explosive build only run and after I got Demolition perk x3, Splash damage,and hit the deck.. anybody that used ranged attacks died within 5 seconds and anything that used melee didn't have chance to even get to me. The good thing about explosives is that it has a good chance on crippling an enemies leg making them vulnerable to your attacks. This is especially good for death claws.

Edit: Btw, you could proably go the whole game with the thump-thump if you have the right perks but if you want the full experience, I recommend trying the Mercy or Anabelle. The Mercy uses the same ammo as the thump-thump so you would have to make a choice on which on to use. Or you could get the grenade machine gun which is the same as the mercy just toned down a bit. That way you could have two strong weapons that don't take the same ammuntion. Good luck!

Demolition Expert is excellent if you use Thump Thump. With DE x 3 + Grunt, you have a MASSIVE boost to your damage output. Most things- GROUPS of things- will go down with one or two grenades.

Explosives are amazingly effective, especially with DE perk. I prefer to be more precise as opposed to blowing the crap out of everyone, that way I have nice clean piles of dead bodies to loot. With explosives you have little control over who you hit and sometimes you can piss off people you didn't intend to.

That's why you add a secondary weapon for precision and close-in work.

demoltion expert is worth it. thump thump is a really nice weapon. i found it to be quite accurate, solid reload time, and with DEx3 you're putting out high damage. if you've never used Mercy, get it at once. then save your game and go to the Fort and enjoy. lonesome road is a lot of fun to do a mercy only run too.