Well as the topic states this is my attempt at my first ever melee character i have a guns and speech guy at level 18 who i am playing on the side a little here and there

but moving on i want to ask for advice,hints and tips on Unarmed/melee (mostly unarmed with melee as a back-up and for perks)
my stats so far are
Str 8
Per-2, 3 is you include the hat
End 8
Char-1
Int-8
Agi-6
Lck-7

I'm level 5 mostly focusing skill points in Melee, Unarmed, Lockpick, Science, Repair (for jury rig, i have it on my guns guy and i love it) and Survival getting a dash of points here and there, i plan on being very heavy handed and not really bothering with speech or barter or any guns as thats what the other guy is doing

So far for perks Comprehension, confirmed bachelor,good natured and whacky wasteland also have Ed-e's enhanced sensor perk but i am refusing to take companions with me although i can have them for the perks


So now i ask for your advice on things like what perks to get in which order (i don't really mind starting over to much as i am only level 5) How i can level my skills and other general unarmed stuff to make me a whirlwind of dead, punching deathclaws in the face and stuff

Wear Light Armor, bump survival and get Travel Light, helps you close distance, Toughnes x2 is a must, get NEMEAN, and Reinforced Leather Armor, and a Combat Helmet and you have 23 DT!

Whats NEMEAN? sorry very new to all of this

It might be the implant you can get to raise your DT

Ding! it is an 8000 cap implant for +4 DT, with Toughness x2 for 6 +DT, giving you 10 DT naked, with Reinforced Leather Armor, 20 DT, you see? and you still benefit from Travel Light

Thanks i will head over and grab that then, i am level 9 now and only had a few problems ( mostly me not timing my jabs correctly and getting stabbed in the face by a giant rad scorpians stinger)

Having some issues with vats at times as it seems only effective if i am against one opponent otherwise i just get smushed by the others

Still not entirely sure how i this is gonna compete against some of the tougher critters like cazodors and nightstalkers who come in big packs but i'll get to that eventually

Any other hints and tips would be muchly appreciated... i can supply cookies

you may want to get your Unarmed skill up to get the Slayer perk

Get a Ballistic Fist or Pushy as soon as you possibly can; they do absolutely horrific amounts of damage and will reduce any enemy to a bloody pulp in just a couple of hits.

I play on Very Hard and my Bfist-wielding Unarmed build and Pushy-equipped Veronica are still whirlwinds of death. On Normal a critical hit from a Ballistic Fist will rip apart anything but the strongest enemy.

Agreed on what an earlier poster said; get as much natural DT as possible, get Reinforced Leather Armor, get a decent amount of stimpacks, and just wade in and start dropping bodies. Don't be afraid to charge into a group of enemies, as long as you can heal through whatever they toss out on your way in you will utterly annihilate them as soon as you get in among them.

As far as companions go, there's something to be said for both getting a companion to cover you from range and a companion who will be charging alongside you. Somebody like Boone (who can be quite lethal with Melee weapons) or Cass (if you give her a decent gun) can provide good ranged fire support (which you lack) but at the same time, if you get, say, Veronica charging alongside you she will draw fire and thus enable you to get to your enemies with more HP remaining. If you have a ranged companion that's less likely to happen.

Alternatively, you can go laser-upgraded ED-E, Veronica with an unarmed weapon or Boone with a melee weapon, and get the best of both worlds.

Well i am playing without companions on this guy although i am allowed to use companions for perks so i plan on using ed-e and the doc for healing boost although i will probally do their quests with them

One thing i have noticed is that skill points are tighter for this build as have to split between melee and unarmed for attacking and the usual secondary skills although this is becoming less and less of a problem as i level

Where might i find a balastic fist or punchy? got myself a powerfist now and thats fairly effective although a pain to maintain as there aren't many lying around which means jury rig at 14-16 is a must to make life easier

I know that strenght affect unarmed damage, but does it affect melee damage?
If not, then there is no point to take high strenght if playing pure melee. Right?

I've made 3 melee/unarmed characters. My SPECIAL goes along these lines:
Strength - 9
Perception - 5
Endurance - 7
Charisma - 3
Agility - 6
Luck - 6

Then I just grab a few melee-oriented perks while I play.