I wanted to start with a general question,

I hear that Recon beret+lucky shades works together with the elite riot gear helmet in the lonesome road dlc, is this true? Does it also work with ulysses mask?

I also wonder if reinforced spine adds to requirements for perks, like if I have 4 stre, and get it to 6 with reinforced spine, will I then be able to take strong back and beast to burden for example?


Then we have my special, this was a hard one,


I guess I want to start something like this:

S3
P6
E9
C1
I9
A4
L8

Then with all the implants:

S4
P7
E10
C2
I10
A5
L9

With reinforced spine, small frame and four eyes+the 1 special point from lonesome road:

S6
P9 (Lucky Shades gives +3 per)
E10
C2
I10
A7
L9

With Lucky shades, recon beret, elite riot gear armor:

S6
P10
E10
C3
I10
A7
L10

(I really can't decide on this one, Stealh Suit MK II armor would give me +1 agility amongst other things, but elite riot gear armor gives +5 critical chance (+12.5 with the right weapon), and also more DT.)

Then I would have to get some intense training, 3 agility points, and in my mind 4 for strength (though I only need the carry weight really, and wanted to alter between katana and guns...but it's to many perks really)

Then it would look like this:

S10
P10
E10
C3
I10
A10
L10


Anyone got a better way to do this?

Easy:

S 7 (10 with implant and spine perk) And no the spine perk does not count towards perks like implants
P 5 ( 6 with implant, gets you Better Criticals, perception is useless for everything else)
E 9 (10 with implant)
C 1 (Charisma is pointless)
I 5 ( with all DLCs you don't need a high INT to max out)
A 4 (5 with implant)
L 9 (10 with implant)

This is probably the best special combo in the game, you can use Intense Training to raise agility a point or two, but there's little reason to have any more intense training than that. You really don't need all Special at 10, use your perks for netter things.

The Elite Riot Gear helmet is glitched and counts as simple eyewear (not full head gear as it should) as such you can use it with the First recon beret (and other hats), it can't be used with Eyewear or rebreathers.

Though perception, intelligence and luck are the specials that give the most to skills. Anyhow, with your combo there are a lot of perks that I want to take that I wouldn't be able to, lessons learned and slayer for example. I would also be unable to do a lot of checks.

Strength of 7 starting is perfect.
Perception isn't useless if you don't use ED-E all the time, but 6 is a good starting point. With the Four Eyes Trait(highly recommended), a hat(First Recon Beret best choice), Lucky Shades and the implant brings it up to a solid 10.
I leave my Endurance at 5 so with the implant I can get the Strong Back and Burden to Bear perk, but that's just me.
I'd also say that Charisma isn't completely useless, it does affect companion nerve. Every point you have in Charisma adds +5% to your companions damage and health. I always leave mine at 5.
Intelligence is fairly important considering not only the speech checks, but also that it directly affects how many points you get to level up. I raise it to 6 and heighten it with Intense Training after I do so with Agility and whenever there isn't a desired perk available.
If you use VATS a lot then it might be a good idea to raise you starting Agility up to 6 so you can get Nerves of Steel. I lower mine to 4 so with an implant and Intense Training I can get most of the VATS perks. There's a glitch that I occasionally use with the vending machines in Dead Money that can allow you to raise your agility to another solid 10.
I would say that raising your Luck that high from the start is unnecessary. The highest I raise my starting Luck is 7 so with the implant, Lucky Shades and Naughty Nightware gives me another solid 10.

This is my own personal way. It might or might not work for you, who knows.

Please move this to the spoilers section.