I want to give the Lucky Gunslinger build a try, but I'm a little lost on what SPECIAL to start with. I'm looking at the following:

Strength - 3

This is mainly for Armorer. I'd love to bump this up to 6 for Strong Back, but it's too expensive to do so at the start of the game.

Perception - 4

For Locksmith. For me, this is non-negotiable. My preferred outfit has a set of Sunglasses and a Military Cap equipped most of the time, so I'll be working with 6 under most circumstances.

Endurance - 1

Nothing really interesting here. Oh, I'd like Lifegiver, but I can live without it.

Charisma - 1

I would love Lone Wanderer and Local Leader, but like Strong Back, it's too expensive to take at the start of the game.

Intelligence - 4

For Hacker. Like Locksmith, this is non-negotiable. This will also give me access to Gun Nut, which will pretty much restrict me to a 10mm pistol, the .44 Pistol, the Deliverer, and the Pipe weapons. I can add a few points later to get the Science! perk to expand my options, but for the start, I'll be sticking with ballistic weapons.

Agility - 5

I get access to Gunslinger at 2; beyond that, the only reason to boost this is to get more AP. Gun Fu would be nice, but again, it's too expensive to take at the start of the game.

Luck - 9

I'm not interested in Ricochet or Mysterious Stranger, but a lot of the other perks in this line are worth getting. Also not sure about Bloody Mess; the damage boost is nice, but I've had issues with looting with this perk. There's a mod on the nexus that apparently eliminates the random explosions, but the mod author doesn't seem particularly confident in his work, so I'm hesitant to download it. I'll keep an eye out for a mod to address this so I can take the perk without the explosions, but in the meantime, I'll live without.

EDIT: I just realized that this leaves me with an extra point, plus the 'You're SPECIAL!' book in Sanctuary. I'm thinking of putting those two points into Intelligence to pick up Scrapper and Science!, but could also see the use of putting them into Agility to get more AP, as well as being closer to Gun Fu.

That's what I'm thinking of. Also, I'm kind of worried about perk progression. While I know my first 3 perks (Locksmith, Hacker, Idiot Savant), I'm not sure what order to concentrate on getting the Four Leaf Clover, Critical Banker, Grim Reaper's Sprint, and Better Criticals perks. Add in the fact that I also need Gunslinger, Armorer, Gun Nut, and Scrounger, plus possibly Scrapper and Science!. Any advice anyone has on this would be welcomed.

The thing that irks me about Lucky Gunslinger builds is the way they use VATS and Critical Hits. I don't like the idea of "building up" a critical meter by getting successful hits in VATS and then ~executing~ that Critical when ~I~ want to trigger it. Criticals are supposed to be random, luck-based, not something I build toward and control when it activates. The Critical shot "Banker" perk, for example, and all the other perks that re-fill the critical meter faster, and so on all play into this style and I don't care for it.

I'm not a fan of the way VATS works, in that it seems to be "snapshots" of combat. Don't get me wrong, I use VATS all the time, especially in close quarters when I'm surrounded by numerous foes. My reflexes aren't what they used to be, and being able to slow down time and pick my targets is vital. That said, when I 'release' VATS and it then processes, I get a few nearly-static slow-motion shots of the action. I guess I'd just prefer a more fluid bullet-time-like display where I could see my character performing gun-fu type moves, switching targets while spinning around a room, etc.

Those gripes aside... I agree with the SPECIAL assignments for the most part, especially as a -starting- point. For the perks, I would think either Critical Banker would be the most immediately useful, since it would let you 'store' criticals.... or perhaps Grim Reaper's Sprint (although I'm not fond of the, as I recall ~chance~ for it to work --- I prefer more reliable perks, like Critical Banker where you KNOW you will be able to 'bank' an extra critical.

I just hate the idea of having to keep an eye on your critical meter and triggering criticals yourself, so it's hard for me to really get enthused about all the perks that play with that mechanic. There is a mod I have been eyeballing that adds in the ability to get ~automatic~ criticals based on your LUCK stat ---- as has been the case in previous Fallout games... I would not worry about Science! unless you have a preference for energy weapons; a ballistic weapon should do just fine all the way through the game. The Ammo-scrounger perk is a good one to get early, not only for the extra ammo it'll give you, but because the ammo you DON'T use (like 5mm and 5.56 and 0.38 for me) you can SELL... and it's weightless (without mods adding weight to it, as some purists might like to do).

The point about Energy weapons is a good one. It's just that there are basically 5 ballistic pistols, three of which are Pipe weapons: the 10mm, the .44, and the pipe weapons. Of course, this doesn't include the unique variants of these, but with the exception of the Deliverer, the Unique variant could be replaced with a Legendary with the same effect with no issue. Getting Science! was mainly about keeping my options open.

I actually just got finished playing a gunslinger with high luck and I can give a few tips on what I did. Luck, honestly you do not need luck that high in the beginning, the reason is that it's perks really don't get juicy until mid to late game, things like grim reaper's sprint and such, their subsequent ranks tend to come a bit later as you level so I usually leave luck at around 6 or so to begin with, with an aim to add a couple points later when leveling, taking into account the bobblehead which will bring me to 7 and it's really easy to get and you dont need to fight any enemies to get to it.

Those 3 points you shave off can be distributed elsewhere. I personally put 2 points into charisma as Lone Wanderer is really good, percentage damage reduction as WELL as extra carry weight, AND the final rank gives you 25 percent extra damage all for a measly 3 charisma? Hell yeah, plus Dogmeat does not count against this perk so he is a mule for additional carry weight. The remaning point I'd toss into agility, as well as using the SPECIAL book to add another point. You're gonna eventually want to work agility up to get to gun-fu, it's really really good when handling groups of enemies,, getting a bigger damage bonus on each subsequent target, and since you will be in vats a lot anyway with a luck build, why not? Get the deliverer pistol as early as you can as it has a 25 percent cost reduction in vats, so you will get a ton of shots out of this gun with high agility.

Edited to add, don't bother with energy weapons or taking science. You can get the alien blaster which is the most powerful pistol in the game, and it can't really be upgraded much even with high science, that means it's damage is the best it's going to get right out of the box. Only reason you'd need science is to eventually change it's ammo type whn you run out of alien ammo, buut I only pull this gun out for especially tough enemies anyway, so ammo wasn't a huge deal, between deliverer and kellogg's gun, you're golden for most anything.

I was going for a luck pistol build as well but my stats are much different. IMO my way brings out the stengths of luck pistol a good bit more.


2 str- by the time i want armorer i will have that bobblehead. Its not an early game priority, i plan to not get hit.

6 perception- luck relies on vats, i want to score hits even when i dont crit.

1 end- i dont plan to get hit.

5 charisma- in my mid teens i plan to get the charisma bobblehead and grab both local leaders to farm money. Now i have unlimited ammo and junk.

2 int- gun nut, no big reason to have any more.

6 agility- im raising it to 7 right away with special book. agility and stealth are the most important part of the whole build.

6 luck- all the luck i need early on.


Your taking 1 endurance and you cant rely on stealth because you have only 5 agility. Agility is a big deal. It gives more action points and gives stealth which multiplies all these attacks, and keeps you from getting shot.

Wasn't actually planning on Stealth, honestly. I've got the ability to get the perk, so I can throw it in there, but I was planning on playing the character as a straight up fighter.

its outside my knowledge, since i play stealth, but wouldnt you want some endurance then so you dont fall down dead the second they return fire?

Perhaps I should mention that I'm playing on Normal, not Survival?

no. Sorry I probably sound rude. I'm just picking out where I think it could be improved. Endurance has some really awesome survivabilty perks early on, but of course play how you desire and pick whatever tips you like. Ive only played stealth now (which is awesome btw) so what do i know

I'm not trying to discount your advice. It's just that to me, stealth isn't generally used with VATS, while the Lucky Gunslinger is VATS-intensive. To me, they're completely separate play styles, so your statement that Stealth is required for the playstyle is a bit of a jump.


As for Endurance, most of the stuff there seems like quality-of-life stuff: certainly nice to have, but not actually needed. That's why I usually dump Endurance.