I want to make a stealth melee build but SPECIAL points are very tight and there's just no room to take Locksmith or Hacker. Thing is I find Locksmith at least to be near-mandatory, due to the amount of containers and locked doors which lead to nice loot and new areas.

What's it like playing without either of these perks, do you feel like you're missing out? I feel like it would drive me nuts not to be able to open so many locks.

Fallout4 is doing as great a job at opportunity cost in open world character development that I've ever seen.

I went all 4's on special, and took crafting, lock pick, and hacking. I'm definitely feeling the cost. Next time I'll ditch hacking. I think I took it more for OCD satisfaction than a real need for the loot

Yeah I think I could live without hacking... maybe. But going without lockpicking... I dunno, that seems like crazy talk. But I don't see any other way if I'm going to make a decent melee/stealth build.

Would be interested to hear from players who never took those perks.

What is it about melee stealth that requires lock picking though?

Perfectly fine, and easy. A hint, a certain female companion can pick locks for you. If she isn't busy shooting up psycho and likes you.

You know that you can add a SPECIAL at every level right?

It's not about the build requiring lockpicking, it's more of a general requirement for the game itself. If you can't pick locks or hack terminals you miss out on a lot.

True, but every point in a SPECIAL is one not put into a perk, and there are only so many levels to gain before you finish the main story and the side quests.

Certain companions can actually lockpick and hack for you not sure about how effective it is though?

I put 3 points in both as soon as I could to not miss out on any loot. I cant imagine not skilling them.