So I'm really tired of going EW as the gameplay is so repetitive and boring. unarmed was fun for awhile, but punching someone 50 times in a row is not very excititng (inless you've got pushy).

So I'm starting a new character. He will be either explosives or melee. so i could use some advice from you guys.

For those who have playd melee, what is it like? Is it fun? What are he down sides and strong suits?

For those who have played Explosives, i pose the same questions as above.

Also for each class, where can i obtain decent weapons from around start to primm area? (anything other than Chance's knife?)

bump

i played an melee toon and was doing unarmed at the same time, i thought unarmed was more fun cuz at least u had 3 different ways to atk while melee u only have 2 and the second most times only shows up in vats . long story short, melee got boring .
Explosives was fun, but 2 things didnt seem like there was enuf out there to use as a main arsenal until uve stockpiled it forhalf the game and second i seemed to having to heal myself mainly not bc ofthe enemy atks but from my own explosions lol.

hope it helps, myself i usually just go with guns and use a different gunfor certain situations. hoped this helped any.

melee is awesome, you can use poisons and stuff and get into some really intense battles and do big damage, you got to be able to take some decent damage as well though. as for explosives, i've never done a character solely focused on them but they usually play a pretty big role in my build and as long as you take some of the explosives-related perks, are sensible and carry around a few doctors bags, explosives are just what the doctor ordered :flamethrower:

Explosives are a good thing to have on the side. Due to the possibility of self-harm, they don't make good mainstays.

Do both. Why choose. I've done a melee explosive character to get some achievements out of the way. Soften them up with frags then rush in with a lead pipe to finish up whats left over. Just don't play it on hardcoe, I was always blowing up my limbs.

Do both. No reason you can't. Explosives is not something you should do for a main class. It is a useful side class for all styles. Explosives goes with every style.

As an explosives courier that played so many tours around the Mojave I have to disagree heavelly with people saying explosives are not usefull as your main stat, they are incredibly usefull as your primary weapons.
You have grenade lauchers, missile launchers, mines, grenades and one of the most übber-gun in the game, the Grenade Machinegun: it's like a minigun, but instead of bullets, it fires grenades.

It's very advisable to have a secondary combat skill and the recommended one is melee, because sometimes enemies close off or you need to enter in close quarters situations, like Vault 34, so you can't toss grenades, dinamyte or use missiles.
The two builds need good DT, so you end up sharing armor and perks between them, they don't need Better Criticals, Finesse or other luck perks (explosives do 0 crit. damage and melee weapons also have very low or sometimes 0 crit. damage) and both skills share more or less the same DAM curve.

Contrary to what Vault.wiki and the Vit-O-Matic machine says, you really don't need high perception with the build, since the attribute only serves for raising skill points and nothing more, so 5 PE (or even 4) is more than enough.
Since you'll raise your explosives skills during the game, it's better to spend points on something else, like endurance, strength or even agility if you are planning to get the Slayer perk (if not, start the game focusing on melee for getting the skill related challenge perk, Melee Hacker, it raises the attack speed with melee weapons by 15%).

If you are taking companions I don't recommend neither Rex, Lily or Veronica, since they attack up close and you need your companions with you, not charging.
Cass and ED-E are good choices, specially because ED-E gain good armor protection if upgraded by the Followers and Cass has the Whiskey Rose perk, wich provides more DT. If you have HH DLC then no doubt you should use Cass, that Large Wasteland Tequila is nasty with her on your party (with 75 Survival this drink gives you +5DT, +2 CH, +30 poison resistence and +5 Strength).
Boone is another good choice, I prefer Cass because +2 CH raises her weapon damage and armor in 10%, but with anyone you will be fine.

And that's it. After having good explosives skills and two Demolition Expert ranks you pick your Grenade Machinegun, some HE 25mm grenades and simply walk inside Quarry Junction, killing those pesky deathclaws as they appear in the horizon, without having to rely on sneak, stealth boy or whatever.
Just put some Wagner on your speakers and do like Col. Bill Kilgore in Apocalypse Now: I love the smell of napalm in the morning.

I find even a low explosives of 25-50 works really well with even the lowly Grenade Rifle (with barrel mod) for enemies like cazador packs or mantises that would uh, not be fun to tackle in melee

Why not just get both? We're on the verge of having to max out everything anyways.

thankfully we'll be able to cap out our experience at level 30 when OWB comes out Tuesday. No worrying about having too many skill points! :celebration: