» Sat Jan 31, 2015 8:55 pm In an effort to breathe some new life into this game, and also break my addiction to sniping, I'm doing a run through with a character that is inspired by "Harmonica", from Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West". First off, if anyone has any tips on how I can make the character to look like Bronson, that would be great. I tried and he keeps coming out looking like Al Borland.
In any event, the only mod I'm playing with is JSawyer on hardcoe, and Harmonica will be wearing some kind of Cowboy Hat (so no Boone's beret). Additionally, I'll probably be wearing the Wastelander's gear added by JSawyer (DT 12 for WT 2). Also, I'm playing with no companions, except the couple I pick up for quick quests before dropping them.
All this in mind, this is pretty much going to be a one-pistol run. I say "pretty much" as I'll use other weapons working my way to my final weapon. And, I'll only be using one weapon at a time, with no going back to a weapon once I move on from it. I'll also keep a melee weapon on the side for junk kills and emergencies. Part of the question is which weapon to use. Here are some thoughts I had:
1) Lucky. People have done Lucky runs. It's technically doable. JFP is respectable. Light gun and reasonably light ammo works well with JSawyer and hardcoe (where my carry weight will be around 100lbs.). It's probably the easiest gun to maintain, too. With JFP, I think it probably has the best spread of all the options. I really don't like the single bullet reload, especially with how much I use VATS. This thing also is somewhat lacking in the AP department. How is it going to do against Deathclaws and other armor?
2) That Gun. I don't want to spark a debate, but I think it might be slightly better than Lucky due to having a faster (and cooler) reload and better AP ammo (when you can find it). The gun is heavier, but the ammo is lighter (and lightest), so it balances out. I can probably get it the soonest out of all the options, unless I want to make a beeline for high lockpick (which I don't, as explained below). Also, it's the gun from FO1+2. And, it's from Blade Runner. So, yeah, it gets serious cool points. However, 5.56 pistols are few and far between drops, and expensive to buy for repairs. That means WRKs, which means carrying more stuff. Also, it's not a holdout weapon, even though the 5.56 is, and that kinda bugs me. I might mod a fix for this myself.
3) Mysterious Magnum. With a crit build, I think Lucky/TG might come out slightly ahead of MM. However, doesn't this mean that with MM you can now eschew a crit build in favor of something that is better all around? SWC is probably the best all around handload. On the other hand, this is probably even more high maintenance than TG with being just as rare and having lower HP. On the plus side, MM+SWC is a pretty versatile setup and the draw sound adds to the theme. Nobody really knows Harmonica's real name. What a mystery. 
4) Sequoia. I've never actually acquired this weapon before, but it is the king of the hand cannons. Or is it? It's DPS is about the same as MM and is easily outclassed by ALSID. It's ammo is pretty damn rare. Can one even keep this thing fed if it's their only weapon (besides occasional melee backup)? Still, I feel I should mention it.
How about stats and stuff? I have only ever made crit builds, so if a non-crit build is better/more viable with something like MM, I'm out of my element there. Feel free to completely revamp this.
S 5
P 5
E 7
C 1
I 8
A 6
L 8
Implants: S, P, E, A, L, Derm (+4 DT), Regen
Traits: Skilled and Good Natured
Tags
Guns (obviously)
Repair (To get to light touch fast)
Speech (Harmonica didn't say much, but when it did, it counted)
Perks
2 Light Touch AG6 Rep45
4 Comprehension
6 Toughness EN5
8 Cowboy Gun45 Mel45
10 Finesse
12 Silent Running AG6 Sne50
14 Hand Loader Rep70 or Toughness
16 Better Criticals PE6 LU6
18 Toughness or Hand Loader Rep70
20 Grim Reaper's Sprint
22 Jury Rigging Rep90 (unless I go with Lucky, then there's no point)
24 ???
26 ???
28 ???
30 ???
32 ???
34 Karma Perk
Other interesting perks? Run 'n Gun, Travel Light, Pack Rat, Strong Back, Tunnel Runner, The Professional, Mysterious Stranger, Miss Fortune. Pack Rat and Strong Back seem almost like cheating out of the point of JSawyer, though they are tempting. Mysterious Stranger and Miss Fortune seem like they would be helpful and fit the theme as well.
Perks I ignored and why:
Rapid reload. I've used this before and while I noticed the effect, it didn't seem to matter much.
Gunslinger. VATS accuracy bonuses would be great if they were flat, not scaled.
I should mention that I really like succeed at dialogue skill checks. And, I want to hit HH and DM by the mid-teen levels. So, combat/stealth skills are taking a backseat to getting Repair/Science/Medicine/Speech/Lockpick up to respectable levels. This is a lot to manage by the teen levels, so I'll be micromanaging skill increases until I get to this point.
I know this is a wall of text, but what can you expect from a build plan?
So, any tips on fleshing out this build? Thanks.
