It's super worth it; keeping distance from enemies is really easy and it does horrific amounts of AoE damage. If you're concerned about enemies closing with you, get Boone or Veronica, give them a Super Sledge/Oh Baby! or Pushy/Ballistic Fist respectively; they'll keep people off you well.
I deleted both my files and restarted, and am rethinking if i should get Meltdown this playthrough:
Two files? Two?
You like to live dangerously. I save on average every 10 minutes. I then archive them every 400 or so. (I have 2000 now)
As for Meltdown, i didn't take it this time and I don't miss it. The novelty wore off and I got tired of blowing myself up when swarmed—although the Riot Shotgun is an awesome close-in weapon.