I've been, up to this point, learning the ropes of the game. I've made a souless cannibal murderer, blue-haired swordsmen, and a polite "energetic" old man.
Now it is time for my 'ficial main build: Mako Vlazkov, leader of the newly formed West Coast Talon Company, currently posing as a courier in order to get a lay of the land in the Mojave for future enterprises.
Now, I need help with a good build. He is well rounded so I won't be Min-Maxing my SPECIAL, and I need help deciding on a good SPECIAL and skill placement for a battle-hardened veteran Talon Company mercenary.
Suggestions are appreciated.

S 6
P 6
E 7
C 5
I 5
A 5
L 6

With this SPECIAL you should be able to do just about everything you need to (and are set up for some nice perks too)
Tag: Guns, Repair, Speech

Primary Arms: Riot Shotgun, Sniper Rifle, Mysterious Magnum

Noteworthy Perks:
Rapid Reload, Hand Loader, Toughness, Shotgun Surgeon (combine w/slugs for deadly efficiency)

Don't Forget to get the sub-dermal armor implant!
And get this guy a suit of power armor.

This is my idea of a mercenary captain: A hardened combat veteran charismatic enough to lead his own company.
And since you don't want to min-max, energy weapons probably are not the best bet.

i usually would stick with this if you dont want anything lower than 5,
Str 8
end 5
char 5
int 7
agil 5
luck 5
if you dont plan on gambling much, lower luck to 1-4ish, or charisma, seeing as the two dont do much other than gambling, and companions dont miss out on much with charisma lowered, you can do this:
str 8
end 5
char 1
int 10
agil 10
luck 1

I like it, although I'd like to throw in Barter as a tag instead of Speech, as he is a mercenary, and mercs care more about money than fancy wording (Unless that fancy wording will bring in money), but I could make it a secondary. Any other suggestions?

He did say he did NOT want to min-max btw...that's why nothing is below a five, nothing above a 7

Guns and Repair. Big Time.
A mercenary with a functional gun, and the skills to use it - is a happy mercenary.

My rule is nothing below 3 or above 7.
I dont want to be full commando or pacifist, I want this build to be a well-rounded dude, important skills being Lockpick, Barter, Guns, Sneak, Repair, Medicine, and Melee/Explosives.

Also if you start with 5 strength, buy the strength implant at NV clinic, and invest in Weapon handling - this will allow you to use weapons with 8 strength requirement, and save you 3 points to put elsewhere in SPECIAL

You might think about replacing medicine with survival... sunset sarsaparilla heals quite well, useful campfire recipes, and survival is a requirement to get .44 mag custom ammo.

Good idea, I plan on using the AMR.
Mako Vlazkovs prefered weapons: Blades, Bombs, Bolt/Lever Action Rifles, Revolvers. He doesn't like Semi-Auto or Full-Auto weapons.

Alright, Survival instead of Med. I only play on HC Mode anyway.

I wish we could have all our followers in our "party" at the same time, and run a real mercenary company
Sniper(Boone), CQB(Veronica), Medic(follower doctor guy), Logistics (Cass), Scout (sensor ball), gaurd dog(rex), you get the idea...

I'd rather have a squad of Talon Company Mercs. One Sniper, one Shotgunner, one Tech/Medic, and one Scout.

Hmm, i would expect a high ranking Talon Company member to be smart, cunning, good with robots and energy weapons, and somewhat unemotional/evil

S - 6 (average, and with weapon handling good enough for most any wep)
P - 6 (average as well, could be made higher)
E - 5 (average)
C - 4 (less than average, i doubt he is a nice person, could be made less to add to another one)
I - 7 (higher than average, they seem to have a good understanding of how to use robots, turrets, and energy weapons)
A - 7 (they can use guns as well, and i see them as being quicker rather than stronger
L - 5 (eh)

Barter - medium - he should be able to talk business well
Guns, EW, Explos, Unarmed, Melee - high - depending on your character's preference
Lockpick - med - talon company = not very sneaky in my head
Medicine - low-med - probably not a priority to them
Repair - high
science - med-high
sneak - med-low
speech - med-high
survival - low


just my ideas

S 5 w/Implant 6
P 6 w/Implant 7
E 7 w/Implant 8
C 5 w/Implant 6
I 6 w/Implant 7
A 5 w/Implant 6
L 6

Tag Guns, Speech, Barter

Traits Built to Destroy, Trigger Discipline

Perks are up to you, but for well rounded I would go with Educated right away.

I'm pretty pleased with my character... I can't remember exactly, but I believe I should be able to conjure roughly what it's like:

Strength: 6, with Implant and IT: 8.
Perception: 1, with ED-E, won't matter.
Endurance: 6, with Implant: 7, because you can?
Charisma: 9, with Implant: 10.
Intelligence: 9, with Implant: 10.
Agility: 9, with Implant: 10.
Luck: 1. It's a dump stat, seeing as caps are easily earned without gambling, and Crits aren't really needed...

^^^^^^ I do think that is the most solid build I've come up with yet.

Tag what you want really :shrug:

That is Min-Maxing... I said I didnt want to do that.
Anyway I've started my character and he is going well, i've fallen in love with the Single Shotgun w/ slugs.

My bad, I've been misinterpreting things alot lately :shakehead: