Hmm, your suggestion about Small Frame really caught my attention. It does give you one free SPECIAL point, although crippled limbs make me a sad Courier.

I really hope i can talk myself out of re-rolling.

well there's not much else to tell.
It's filthy
It's dirty
It's disgusting
It's nasty.

Here's my Gun Character Build

S - 5
P - 6
E - 6
C - 3
I - 10
A - 4
L - 6

Tagged Guns, Speech, and Lockpick

Traits Good Natured and Small Frame

If you take Intense Training Agility you'll be able to get any good related gun perk also I'd recommend taking Weapon Handling which will make you accurate with almost all the guns in the game even more if you get the Strength implant.

Is it that OP or what?

no, it's so UP that it's nasty (or were you being sarcastic?)

Well i figured you don't like it somehow, i just have no idea why. Is it bugged?

it's bugged, as in ''that's a buggy bad perk'' and I don't care whether that was funny or not, I found it a funny pun.

I have used Small Frame a lot, and can assure you that the increased rate of limb crippling will not be an issue given that it's not hard to get your skills high enough to make Doctor's Bags. There is also quite a bit of Hydra lying around as well (it's potentially addictive, but that's easily dealt with), and between the two you'll be more than covered.

You can also take the Adamantium Skeleton perk to counter the penalty, although perk slots are a precious commodity and there might not be one to spare.

If you are not playing in hardcoe this is all moot, since you can then use Stimpacks to heal crippled limbs and those are available in vast quantities.

Never take Fast Shot, and Strength helps with the bigger guns.

I took Trigger Discipline on my first playthrough - it was nice early game when my Guns skill svcked, but as I built that up the AP cost and the slower fire rate became too much of a handicap, IMO. It's good if you use automatic weapons a lot, but I didn't use them so much because they're so rare until later in the game. I started relying on sniping - the Sniper Rifle, Trail Carbine and Ratslayer were my workhorses, and the Brush Gun was my mainstay when something nasty had to die real fast.

On my current character I took Built to Destroy instead - I like that one much better, even though it wears out your weapons faster. I just keep lots of Weapon Repair Kits around, and build my Repair skill up. Failing all that, making tons of caps is so easy that it's no big deal if I have to pay someone to repair my weapons.

1. Leave goodsprings following the southern road to the 188.
2. Get Veronica to follow you
3. Go to Hidden valley bunker. Veronica will get you in easy.
4. Talk to the elder & accept the quest.
5. Go to the Armorer and purchase AMR. If not available wait/sleep 3-4 days to wait for inventory to reset. Rinse and Repeat as necessary.

I got my AMR at level 4 using the above technique.

Also available are: AMR, Brush Gun, LMG, Thermic Lance, Ballistic fist.

BTW, use Alexander at the 188 and gun runners for good ammo sources.

Alexander's inventory has the annoying habit of refusing to restock, so I wouldn't rely on him for ammo supplies. He also doesn't really carry .50BMGs, which are needed for the AMR.

Instead, I use the Khans' Armorer for ammo supplies as she carries hundreds (I've gotten up to 376) of them as well as hundreds, or even thousands of the other types (I've gotten over 2100 5mm rounds at once before, for example). The Gun Runners' Vendortron usually has about 100 .50s as well as large amounts of pretty much all the other ammo (even explosives), and also sells cases, primers, and powder (.50 cases are a pretty rare occurrence, but it does sell them) as well as all the gun mods (random selection, so you may not get what you want on a given run). To reach the Khans' armorer, go SSE from the RRC* FT point until you reach a burned-out house; there will be a storm-cellar door leading to her shop. Has a workbench and reloading bench as well in case you decide to do ammo work on the spot.

Knight Torres in the BoS bunker also sells Guns supplies, albeit in smaller amounts, but does tend to carry the good weapons well ahead of the normal release levels. You can also get some of the better gear as a one-off from Mick in Freeside, as he carries some as part of his default stock, however they will not restock until you reach the appropriate levels (16 for the AMR, for example).


*RRC = Red Rock Canyon

Assuming by "guns" you mean rifles and pistols rather than heavy weapons like mini-guns, I'd dial down strength and put the points on luck as it increases your chances of a critical hit which especially useful early on when your stats are fairly low.

Here's something to try: a space cowboy.

ST 3
PE 6
EN 7
CH 4
IN-7
AG 6 (With Small Frame)
LK 8

+1 implant on each.

Traits: Small Frame, Built to Destroy

Tag Speech, Lockpick and Science; it nets you the most XP early in the game, and you'll want to progress to level 16 ASAP. You'll have plenty of time to boost your gun skill.

Why ST 3? Because you can use some of the best guns in the game with ST 5-6. ST 3+ ST implant + Weapons Handling perk allows you to use the Brush Gun; if you have the Cowboy perk, a Trail Carbine, a Brush gun and the Mysterious Magnum just about cover all your needs. You lose some carrying capacity, but you can compensate by wearing light armor (I tend to stick with the Space Suit, hence "space cowboy") and taking both Strong Back (which adds the equivalent of 2.5 "hard" ST points) and Pack Rat (which saves gigantic amounts of weight). Your "empty" travel weight should be between 24 and 35lbs most of the time.

You'll need to stick with Ratslayer and Lucky until Level 16. It may be a bit of a hassle but by no means impossible. Wearing Brotherhood Power Armor to battle (earliest obtained at Repconn Headquarters) will allow you to use Lever-action Shotgun. Once you have the Cowboy perk, the ST implant and Weapons Handling, this character will really start to shine because of the combination of powerful weapons and high critical chance.

I have noticed that same problem. Sometimes standing in front of him (basically as long as you are in the same unit/square/location - whatever),
then waiting the 3-4 days seems to fix that issue. Same goes for other merchants (occasionally indoor vendors have the same problem).

BTW Alexander is excellent for .44 MAG, and .45-70, just not so much .50BMG.

True, he is, but the Khans' Armorer or Quartermaster Brandon are even better for them. The latter will not sell to you unless you have a 'Liked' or better NCR rep and either pass a 50 speech check or have done For the Republic, Pt. II to the point where Col. Moore has authorized it, but once he does start selling to you you're pretty much set as a Guns or EW user.

Sergeant Contreras is a good one-time bulk supplier of .44s and 12.7mms (often has 1200+(!) of the latter), however his inventory has issues even after you upgrade it and rarely, if ever, refreshes.

Got annoyed on my latest character as the Arms Merchant at 188 Trading Post had her stock 'lock up' on me, which hosed one of the best suppliers of weapon mods and rare ammo.

Contreras carries HUGE amount of .308 ammo as well. I think it may be over 2000 rounds if you count with the AP ammo.