On my first character, I made a guns guy - my standard trial run and even on Very Easy I found guns to be totally underwhelming. Vats was terrible and even when I could hit them with fixed sights or at point blank range, the damage was miniscule. However, if I whip out the dang baton from the vault, 2 'stop resisting' shouts later and I've got a dead bad guy.

So, out of curiosity, I made a melee focused guy and the difference is night and day. I can VATS around a room, or bum rush them and I've got a pile of dead bad guys in short order. It's incredibly fun.

My question is, do guns come into their own later in the game? I know perks are obviously necessary, but to say just on the face of it that a melee weapon is so much more effective, plus no repair, plus no ammo just seems unfortunate.

What's you guys experience?

I've been playing on survival mode and haven't had much of an issue with guns, minigun svcks at this level but other than that i'd get roflstomped if i tried to bumrush someone. It might just be the dinky pipegun. Get a real gun and see how that works. on very easy though I would imagine you'd be able to blow through guys easily regardless of weaponry.

I think its a matter of your builds for them for me my sniper took a while to get going but once i got to the point of being able to build silencers with ninja and sandman i am able to one shot most badies.

Modding your guns makes a huge difference in the early game.

Sniper rifle and shotgun combo will do the trick.

At least it did for me.

Playing on normal, with guns.

The 10 mm and a modified pipe rifle for the earlier levels.

Now level at 29, with a silenced .50 calibre sniper rifle with the short recon scope, able to oneshot most enemies with a single sneak attack to their head. If they do get close I switch to either a combat shotgun or a laser rifle. Against ghouls I have a modified 10mm that does 50% more damage against them.

I one-shot raiders on survival with a gun.

Modify your guns for better receivers and get the gun based perks, which double your damage at max perk level.

I'm using a gun play character and the only thing I've had problems with are guys with Fat Mans, Power Armor raiders, and Super Mutant Behemoths.

One, by the time I here the fat man being shot (thanks to the little whirr sound now), I'm already dead. Power Armor raiders svck unless I can knock the armor on the face down, and Super Mutants Behemoths are just fast monsters who throw homing chunks of rock at me unless I find a lake... they are afraid of water which is hilarious. Of course I am only level 16 with 24 hours into the game (been working on settlements a lot).

I've taken some gun perks which really help. Pipe guns are very low damage but are handy with a bayonet on them for small low level critters. I find laser weapons a lot better to use. My Institute Rifle may have low damage but makes up for in high fire rate. Plus, guns are only better when you take the gun nut perk so you can place better mods on them to do more damage.

I'd heard others say melee was no good. Plenty of ways to play the game and maybe thats whats best for you. You should try some psycho buff. I'm into the chems but have no use for this one myself. Gives you everything a melee fighter would want for 8 minutes. With chemist upgrades you can make that 16 or 24 minutes of increased strength, damage resistance and possibly damage on top of extra strength. Not sure what raises VATS accuracy, I think it may have to do with the gun and gun type. Some enemies are a much higher level than you if you wander off and some just seem to take a lot of damage but if you go back or die the same group may be weaker. There are definitely different levels enemies can be aside from their number level they may be legendary, scavenger or some other names.

If you're using unmodified pipe weapons or unmodified 10mm pistols, you're going to have to shoot them a lot. But the weapon modification can do things like up your accuracy and up your damage to the point where even primitive weapons (like pipe guns) can perform well. My current up close gun is a very heavily modified heavy, compensted pipe pistol with a longer barrel and comfort grip (and better sights). Still not spectacular but decent. The Laser musket you get in Concord can deliver a lot of damage but it's slow to shoot and it uses a lot of fusion cells (especially if you mod it, see my separate post).

Long range, an enemy who doesn't reach you (or see you) can't hurt you. Even a pipe rifle with a heavy receiver (so it shoots .308) and a scope and long barrel etc. can kill most low level opponents like raiders and ghouls with 1 shot.

Oh, targets like Mirelurks with good armor (except for their face) can take a LOT of melee blows. You may find some opponents are problematic. Also the baton can be electrified I think but that takes Blacksmith and Science. So if you stay melee you can make it work better.

Guns can be incredible annoying early on. My advice: Find a .45 sub-machine gun as soon as you can, and then invest into Commando and Gun Nut: extra damage and modifications. .45 is good because ammo for it is everywhere, it is relatively cheap, and the SMG with a drum magazine is great for hosing down enemies.