I've been running a character who uses guns (a Pistol for most work, and a Sniper Rifle for distance work), but I had a lot of fun with my Energy Weapon Specialist in New Vegas. Combine that with the new Power Armor system, and I really want to make a Power Armored Energy Weapon Specialist build in this game. Unfortunately, I'm a little lost. Here's what I know for sure:

Strength - 3

- This is for Armorer, since you need that to upgrade your Power Armor. I'll probably boost this to 5 later so I can pick up Heavy Gunner, as I want to mess around with the Gatling Laser and the Flamer eventually.

Perception - 4

- Lockpicking. This is a must-have perk for me, so this is non-negotiable. Refractor is also interesting, but Power Armor is pretty durable, so I can probably get away without it.

Endurance - 1

- Nothing here is really interesting. Lifegiver and Toughness are nice, but I can boost my stats as needed later on to get them; they're not a core of the build.

Charisma - 6

- Here for Local Leader and Lone Wanderer.

Intelligence - 9

- Hacker (also non-negotiable), Scrapper, Science, and Nuclear Physicist are my interests here.

Agility - 1

- Using AP drains cores more quickly, so I don't want to make heavy use of VATS or Sprinting, and none of the perks here are interesting.

Luck - 2

- Here for Scrounger, as Fusion Cores are considered Ammo; I'm hoping the perk will give me more random Fusion Cores.

By my math, that's 26 points, but I'm not sure where to spend the extra 2 points.

My biggest problem (and the reason I'm hesitant to actually start this character) is that I'm not sure how to do the early game. I don't have access to Energy Weapons right off the bat (except the Laser Musket, which consumes ammo too quickly to really be an option), and I want to have a decent supply of Fusion Cores before I actually start using Power Armor full-time. Unfortunately, I have no idea what a good number to aim for is. And should I have a rank or two of Nuclear Physicist? Plus, there's ammo issues. While I can join the Brotherhood of Steel, the initial mission is a rush of higher-level Feral Ghouls. Once that's done, I get an easy mission with Paladin Danse that nets me a number of weaker Laser weapons (plus a unique), but the last time I tried to do the mission after that, I kept running into higher-level enemies, so I'm wary of continuing the quest line after that, and I don't know a reliable source of Energy Weapon ammo at that point. It sounds like Danse is calling the rest of the Brotherhood, so I would probably get Energy Weapon-focused vendors once they show up, but until then, I'm not sure I can make effective use of them.

Anyway, any advice that you guys can provide would be great, as I really want to run this character. I'm just a little lost.

Personally I think you have 3 good options you can
A. Put it in strength and use unarmed weapons to deal with underlevel enemies so you don't end up wasting ammo, plus its also really useful at higher levels too, there's a power armor mod that increases unarmed damage that will help in that regard.
B. Strength again but put the points in gun bashing since enemies will more often then not close in on you especially with you not wanting to run much, it can open brief windows of opportunity to take down ghouls and such.
C. Go intelligence and get nerd rage since you don't plan on using v.a.t.s then the increase in resistance and time slowing down when your health is low should help alot.
Or you could do all of the above?
That's just my opinion though so sorry if its not that useful or effective.

You'll for sure want to get strength up to level 10 for the pain train perk.

It is a massive, massive boost to your PA needs, unless you intended to sit back and snipe.

Not sure about that, honestly. I'm at least thinking of putting the last two points in Strength so that I can have 5, then using the "You're SPECIAL" book in Sanctuary to get it up to 6. That would allow me to get the Strong Back perk, which would allow me to get the ability to Fast Travel when Over-encumbered; while the perk isn't needed, it's a solid Quality of Life perk, and I've been grabbing absolutely everything from every location I visit, so it would be nice to have that on hand if I need it.