Yes it is, unless you going for three combat skills.

My current character is a level 8 melee/guns hybrid. It works really well. Shoot them from far and then pull out a Sledgehammer/rebar club when they get close.

Super Slam is a must have in my book.It makes life so much easier. Plus it is just funny to watch some Giant Radscorp get knocked over. Any knock down means an easy kill.

I am mostly using rifles for distance (Cowboy Repeater, Hunting Rifle and Service Rifle) and melee up close (Rebar Club/Lead Pipe). I would not bother with shotguns because melee is much stronger up close then shotguns. No need to reload melee!

I do not plan on taking piercing strike. Many melee weapons ignore dt - chainsaw/ripper/thermal lance. Other weapons can blow past DT - Super Sledge/Fire Ax. Now you may need it if you plan to use a low dam/high dps weapon like the liberator.

Lastly, my melee characters life got a lot easier once I started using a 2 hand weapon like the Sledgehammer/Rebar Club. More range. Allowing you to kite some of the nasty critters.

For RP purposes playing as Eli, I will be sticking with the High dps one handers like the Gladius, Shotguns, and pistols for longer range (though I'll play with other stuff too like the AMR for funsies on occasions).

In the end load out will be Light in hte Darkness/12.7mm pistol, Hunting Shotgun/dinner bell, and Gladius.

Ehh, then pass on Super Slam. Probably should pass on melee on whole. Cause Dinner Bell will blow Gladius out of the water! Take Shotgun Surgeon and Stay Back. Pull out Gladius every now and then for fun against a Viper Ganger or Bloatfly.

I know this is off topic now, what would be a good set of perk selections for a Shotgun style melee build like you just suggested for levels 1-30?

No VATS? Just need Shotgun Surgeon for the shotgun side of things, then all the usual melee perks. If you want to use VATS with your shotgun for midranges, then Commando as well.

I only VATS for hilarious slooow-mooootion kills