I've always been a fan of the slingshot and rusty pocket knife levels in role playing games and FONV is no different. I'm constantly starting new characters at low levels and trying different builds and play styles. While I've found you can play a lot of different ways and be successful I have found a "path of least resistance" and I was wondering if other people have their own personal favourites.

My typical build is "Not afraid to fight, not to dumb to speak. Not to good to steal and not too proud to sneak." Basically a sneaky sniper character (rifles at long range if possible but with a good pistol/smg for close range) who'll go with a diplomatic solution when it's offered but who'll wipe out any serious bad guys no matter what kind of deal they offer. I'll rarely use VATS except for those "Oh Crap" moments at short range. I start out with:

Strength 6
Perception 5 (raise to 6 so with a hat can get the Perception based quest dialogs)
Endurance 5
Charisma 5
Intelligence 7
Agility 7 (raise to 10 for VATS but not highest priority).
Luck 5 (raise to 10 but only on a high Critical Chance build)

Traits were orginally Built to Destroy and Good Natured but with the DLC's I've shifted over to Skilled and Fast Shot. The penalty to accuracy is minimal with varmint/hunting/sniper rifles and at point blank range it's not even a consideration. This does leave you weak at mid range so you have to be willing to duck back under cover and svcker the bad guys into chasing after you so you can ambush them.

Tag skills are Guns (tried EW but they don't really shine until you get to the mid to high teens while there are good guns at all levels), Repair (for the associated perks and repair kits) and Sneak. Sneak is the cheapest, lightest armor in the game and gives x 8 damage on a sneak attack head shot with most weapons (even higher with high critical damage weapons like Paciencia and the LE Abilence Kid BB Gun).

Perks are usually:
Level 2 Light Touch
Level 4 Comprehension
Level 6 Handloader
Level 8 Grunt (if I've done the Honest Hearts DLC and have A Light Shining in the Darkness otherwise Intense Training)
Level 10 Finesse (occasionally Demolition Expert when I'm not doing a high Critical Build)
Level 12 Intense Training or Demolition Expert
Level 14 Jury Rigging
Level 16 Intense Training or Demolition Expert
Level 18 Intense Training or Demolition Expert

For Companions I 'll take Ed-E but I'll usually park him somewhere safe while I go out and do the dangerous stuff. The others I'll take along to do their story quests but I play Hard Core so I'm usually too worried about getting them killed to enjoy their company.

For weapons I start out with a modded Varmint Rifle and 9mm pistol. Next up a Hunting Rifle and modded Cowboy Repeater. Finally the COS Sniper Rifle and A Light Shining in the Darkness. I'll keep a tire iron/lead pipe/spike knuckles around for when I'm pot hunting geckos and coyotes for food (though I'm starting to like the Bowie Knife from Lonesome Road) and a Grenade Rifle when the Legion Assassins start to be an issue. If I'm going hunting Giant Rad Scorpions I'll load up on powder/satchel charges or if I'm after Cazadors it's a good smg (a modded 9mm smg with Grunt is usually all it takes). Deathclaws I steer clear of until I have a sniper rifle and high sneak levels though I've occasionally cleared the quarry with just a hunting rifle.

Now I'm still playing around with the gear from Lonesome Road and I like the Bowie Knife and I've done a bit with the H & H Nail Gun but I'm still making up my mind about them. They're very handy and you can get them at Level 1 or 2 if you know what you're doing but they seem a bit overpowered at that level and they are very expensive to repair. The same is true for the Gun Runner's Arsenal weapons.

Anyway that's my "easy mode" build. If anyone else has had luck with an alternate build please put it up.