My first character has been a power armored tank that smashes stuff with a super sledge and uses a variety of heavy weapons. I find myself getting bored of him now though as I just charge in, kill everything, thats it.

I am looking at making a sneaky melee character that also uses explosives. This has worked well in past games, but fallout 4 is a bit different. In past games I loved sneaking through complexes laying mines on routes patrolled by NPCs, but I have heard rumor that you can't lure NPCs out of the room they are in when clearing a place. I also know that deathclaws have a 1 hit instant kill melee, and also I don't know how this character would take on a mirelurk queen (I guess a missile launcher would do. Gets demo expert boost, just no heavy weapons perks).

I am debating on going for sneaky melee and explosives, with a sniper rifle on the side as needed. Anyone else done anything similar and have suggestions?

Lastly, I am debating between melee or unarmed for this build. With power armor it is melee no question due to not being able to use unarmed weapons. With a sneaky character not using PA, I wonder if perhaps something like the furious power fist would be good for sneak attack criticals (If it isn't flagged as a noisy weapon that is).

Edit: Oh, and I should note that I am opting for the blitz perk to help with melee sneak attacks using VATS. I am not investing in luck though for critical meter crap, just ninja for sneak crits.

-For sneaking, melee beats unarmed, imo. Melee weapons get the full 10% bonus from the Ninja perk, unarmed gets 3.5%.


-The fourth rank of Big Leagues makes your melee attacks hit all enemies in front of you. Nothing better than taking out a group of clustered foes with one stealth attack. Just be careful with friendly fire. Also, unlocking the last rank of Big Leagues will cause your damage to show up incorrectly in the pip boy, but it's just a display error. You'll still get the damage bonus so it's worth going for it.


-Cook any Yao Guai meat you find. The roast recipe gives a melee damage bonus.


-Good call with Blitz. Max your agility, ninja and blitz asap. With a ranged blitz sneak attack and a stealthed blade you'll become a one-hit-instant-kill monster yourself. There's very little you can't take on provided you get the first hit from stealth.


-Apparently, Blitz and Rooted stack since you're counted as standing still while in VATs. I used gear and alcohol to boost my strength so I wasn't able to unlock it myself...though I imagine it would be (even more) overkill.


- Pickman's Blade was my favorite weapon. I also liked to use a sword with a paralyzing mod for when things got rough (or I was forced to attack from out of stealth during story missions). And, of course, Kremvh's Blade is good too. The best part is the sacrificial blade is actually a mod. You can remove it from Kremvh's and put it on any legendary machetes you're lucky enough to pick up.


- I kept one gun on me at a time as backup, whatever was the best on hand since I wasn't perked for any in particular. Mostly it got used for turrets and the occasional enemies that like to explode. Rarely necessary otherwise (though I also always traveled with a follower who could help out if an enemy was somewhere out of reach).