After further research, even with my very anti-slavery self, I found the Legion to be moderately acceptable. (In games or out, I do not like slavery. In fact I usually wiped out Paradise Falls even on my evil characters)... I also feel it's a bit realistic that in all of old Rome's glory... I'm fairly certain there were a scattered few who tried treating their slaves a bit more human.
I'm going to be one of those, even though I really can't mechanic wise. But it gives me the moral minimum to at least playthrough as a Legionnaire.

So I need some help;

I'd like to get a set of armor as earliest as possible. One thought is to kill off the first ones you encounter (but that would send assassins at me a time or two until I get to House), and use that stuff. The wiki hasn't been terribly helpful in this matter.
I'd also like to know if NCR becomes constantly hostile. I mean, I put on Caesar's outfit on one of my characters right in front of Boone and I wasn't "If Red, It's Dead".
Though, if I have enough ammunition I don't mind wiping the NCR out. Which brings me to another question; wouldn't that lock me out of like, the first half of the main quests? I haven't actually beaten the game but the first ten levels or so are very NCR-heavy.

I'd also like to find out how much I miss if I make this a female character.

Any tips regarding this matter will be helpful.

Well, if you want to help the Legion as much as possible, simply killing all the NCR you see would be a good start. To get the armor, you might get lucky and follow the Legionaries you see in Nipton and hope that they run into some NCR soldiers on their merry way, and one might die, allowing you to snatch his armor. If you put on Legion armor, then any NCR around you will become hostile. The faction armor you're wearing determines your relationship with a faction. And no, killing most of the NCR is a viable way to complete the game. You won't be able to do some quests, but all of the main game quests willl still be completable.

EDIT: If you're trying to make the most realistic Legion character you can, focus on melee. The Legion's upper ranks are not allowed to use guns. This has no impact on the game, but it makes for a slightly more realistic role playing experience

False, they focus on unarmed
Caesar is guarded by guards that use the most powerful unarmed weapon in the game, and so is Legate Lanius.
spoiler on what you should do when focusing on unarmed and the Legion's quest line:


Oh, and to OP, if you play as a female character you can't fight in the arena (except for a few fights that are related to quests, for example you can fight Benny

I can't forsake all mechanics. I do have one melee based character (Sneaky stabby type), but even she uses guns.
That said, her guns skill is also 14 and still doing moderately well.

I'm thinking of going with Repair/Medicine/Barter central build. Though Speech may make a bit more sense, but Barter seems to have a bigger part in the game.
Subskills can be Guns/Melee with a bit of Unarmed and Guns on the side.

How does that sound?

It's ultimately up to you, as only you can decide how you like to play. And to Grenades and ham, no, Legionaries are trained in the use of melee, the Praetorians use unarmed. If you noticei n battle, the higher ranking Legion members use Machete Gladius

I just remember fightin' the Centurions over at Hoover, you're right. But the guys with the ballistic fists do seem kind of more lik an elite force of the Legion.

You're right: but their Caesars guards. They're like the NCR's Rangers, and the Legionarries are the troopers, they come from different branches, and neither is higher in rank than the other

from different branches?
but Caesar's Legion doesn't have a non-deserved statue of two guys made out of garbage hanshakin'
anywhere.

On a serious note, the guys with the fisto's (lol) also fight at Hoover, so they're not just guards
I think that the OP will just have to decide wether he wants to be a guard or Centurion C:

As long as NCR people aren't hulking badasses, I don't mind making consistent war with them.

Legate Lanius uses the blade of the east. A melee weapon.
Also he could easily ignore the need to use just unarmed by RPing as a member of the Frumentarii the legions secret service. That could allow a versitile character, based on sneaking and guns.
Centurions are melee.
Praetorians are unarmed.


AM rifles, Brush guns, riotshotguns, other high lvl weapons...

If your in the legion make a character that rarely needs to visit towns. The strip is full of ncr, and ncr have many places scattered. So melee wold be good, along with repair becuase you will have limited places to buy/sell guns. Only gun runners/freeside and the fort merchant, who is unlocked late. Survival would be good for RP, and you can still RP several different legion types.

Earliest CL armour is in Nipton.
Even if you openly kill every NCR member the other camps stay neutral untill after meeting House.
So you can cherry pick your quests, or do none.
With a pure melee raider build I wiped out every NCR trooper starting at level 2 - 3 at Primm once.
Did not level as quickly, but mostly due to being more cautious about taking on giant rad scorpions. and that I put no points in speech or barter.
So mostly you'll see no change to level, and most quests a CL build would not take anyway.

Correct, and you don't have to kill anyone for it. There's an ash pile near the camper area that has one.

Played and beat the game as one, was in the level 16-17 range. Was fun.
Lots of quests down the hole, though. Every NCR outpost I shot up, I saw at least one or two "... FAILED" pop up.

1 in one of the houses too, with the robot i think