Late in the game, with Grenade Launchers, Knock-Knock, Gehenna etc. a melee/explosives stealth build is more awesome than a cabbage flavoured unicorn soup in a bowl made of Russian potatoes. But early on, fighting with nothing beyond a Lead Pipe is...challenging. For example, at the Nevada Highway Pit Stop (or is it rest stop, hmm...) where there are a bunch of radscorpions, beating them to death with a shovel is somewhat challenging. And outside Nipton at the other Nevada Highway " " Stop, where there are four-five Jackals, again it become difficult is spotted. It takes a long time to kill them with a low end melee weapon.

So, for anyone who has played a similar build... did you resort to using a 10mm pistol or cowboy repeater, just to put you over til you find something truly awesome? Or stick to the character, and stab people a lot?

I did a pure explosives character (with a chainsaw) and had salvaged much dynamite and powder charges in the beginning, which helped a lot. I can only recommend Mad Bomber at lvl 6. Radscorpions are very resistant, so I tried to get rid of them by other means or avoid them altogether. I also remember that I got a Ripper somewhere at the start, I believe it was in Nipton (Killed Vulpes Inculta).

Once you get a good supply of grenades and a trusty grenade launcher, things get much easier. Making the Boomers your enemies might also be a good idea, if that suits your interests. And maybe (along with all The Pack Rat perks) try out Eye for an Eye. It drastically changes your playstyle, but it gives a Nice 50% bonus dmg for all limbs (except head - OWB) crippled - really only viable for an explosives char.

What about a follower like ED-E or Boone until the strip?

Rad Child helps a lot with an explosives build's survivability - I think when I went pure explosives I used whatever non-explosives weapons I found lying around in the early stages (decent explosives are scarce to say the least). In a meta-gaming sense now I think I would get to the Strip early via Red Rock Canyon (picking up Turbo there along the way) then hightail it to the Boomers, use the Turbo to get through their howitzer shots and pick up Thump-Thump - which should do respectable damage with the early Grunt perk. Also with the Boomers you then have your ammo supply so you should be able to manage most of the Mojave.