Explosives- King of power, Area of Effect, and bringer of evil smiles when one sees someone flown from an explosion, a few limbs missing or torso, and dashed upon a large boulder, compressed in a tissue-red paste from the compressed concussion blast. from the simplest Dynamite, to our latest and powerful Nuclear missiles, that can clean a continent, each explosive is made with great kindness and respect that its given, or else we cower before its great and quick wrath. the first build of course for me, was a pure Explosive-build character in the land of New Vegas, and fell in love with the power of each "boom-boom" that was shown to me from the depths of the Mohave. Of course, like every king of weaponry, and mass destruction, it holds great power.....and great weaknesses.

Pros:
-Damage: with the proper skill amount (100 of course) and the right perks within the game, even the simplest dynamite can kill any human or pesky scorpion till we hit the big boys, which require most of the time 3 dynamites only, up to 5 for emergency, or to merely switch to a more subtle Explosive weapon and "make crater first, ask questions later"

-AoE: yes, the all famous power of explosives, comes with a great positive to it: splash damage. the concussive blast is not only focused on one enemy, but those around it, making it ideal for singular powerful enemies, or hell..a whole group of them! placing a few mines in a right placement, can gush out enough power to kill most creatures of the Mohave wasteland.

-Tactics: like the Sniper Rifle, a expert in Explosives can also have the upper advantage in a attack, from a sneaky throw of a small dynamite in a raiders camp, snickering as they get up from teh sound of a fizzing, saying "who's there?" before turning into carbon-based mush, to the artillery bombardment of a GrenadeMachineGun, leveling an entire area in pieces, to the tell-tale Fat Man, turning an area into nothing but a smoldering crater and bringing fear to the hearts of enemies.

-Distance: with the right amount of skill and perks, your thrown Explosives can be hurled even further, matching the distance of medium-to-long range fighting, making it hell for the enemy to chase you, while making it a breeze for yourself to sit back and watch as he/she/it flies in the air from the rapid concussive forces.

Cons
-Pricing: although Explosives are much fun, they don't come cheap at all..it takes a great careful hand, and a keen eye to make these devastating toys you come to love, and therefore, come witha pretty dime....it can all be yours..IF you are willing to fork over some caps..

-Distance: this very term for Explosive experts is an image of a two-bladed sword: it can do wonders if the enemy is afar, but at an upclose range, you must be willing to sacrifice your safety..and life..to extinguish the enemy as well, which might result in both of you turning in your new graves.

-Timing: as when comes with tactics, so much come with Timing. as an Explosive expert, you MUST always calculate your enemy, and see whats right at the right time..if you misjudge the smallest error, or miscalculate your placement of mines, distance, and enemy, you will surely pay...with your life. Timing is of the essence, do not ever have doubt of your enemy, and must always be prepared for the worst..


these 6 are the main points of interest that you must keep in your heart for all times when you pull out your Frags or Missile Launcher, and if you do so, you may wake up another day..to blow up more things in your wake ^_^

but as I watch most of the members here, I take in heart of what they say: that the Explosives are 'weak' or 'not right' and I wonder through my experience in the Mohave, what is wrong with them? therefore, I have begun a grand experiment with each Explosive, to see what I am missing at the most and to give my personal notes. Anyone is welcome to give out notes, bugs, or personal opinions on weaponry, and I can begin immiedately on my testing runs...

for the areas I shall test in, I shall Test in Black Mountain, Vault 3, Raided Farmstead, Gypsum Train Yard, and Dead Wind Cavern, and other possible areas.

One interesting tid bit is Heave Ho! works on all arc firing explosives, including the grenade rifle and launcher. Thump Thump has an amazing range when you possess that perk.

which is what I have lol, I have every Explosive-related perk EXCEPT Pyromaniac

Personally i use explosives as a supportive combat skill to guns and melee. Melee for short range (obviously ), guns for medium and long range, and explosives when it absolutely must not see tomorrow. For that end i prefer Grenade and Missile Launchers, aswell as GMG.

Handgrenades are useful too when dealing with groups of enemies, though my aim with them kind of svcks, so i use them in VATS.

Mines are of limited use, mainly when you don't want to be attacked from behind in a narrow corridor, such as in Vaults. Also good for counter-ambushes, certain places have triggers that causes enemies to spawn. Right on top of a plasma mine

Also Pulse Grenades and Mines are useful to deal with the few robots and Power Armors you encounter.

exactly, which I wonder why people say Explosives svck :/ most of my combat times when I dont feel like using a gun, I just use 4 dynamites and usually win the fight (Vault 3 expereince lol) and of course in VATS explosives just sky-rocket in accuracy, especially with Heave Ho! since it not only increases the arching range of thrown weaponry, but it somehow straightens it a bit and increases its velocity, making it more accurate then it was before..physics speaking, of course.

Max Explosives + all Explosive perks + massive supply of 40mm grenades + Mercy = I win!

lol indeed, in fact, you dont even need many 40mm grenades since 3 can kill a super mutant master, one shot can kill any human NPC I believe, and 5-6 can chew up the Legendary Deathclaw in just a few seconds.

The real use for mines is when you replay an area, or quest and know the trigger that spawns a bunch of enemies.

this is not so true, actually, witha good perception, or with ED-E's Enhanced Sensors, your able to actually bead down on where an enemy is, and place mines in the right order, taunting the enemy to come over, and surprise surprise lol.
their also good for kiting an enemy to death, as well as place a few mines while in the use of Turbo, turning an entire force into nothing but goo

What makes me a good Demoman?

Also, the perk Hit the Deck is a must have now. Gives a whooping 25DT when you have an Explosives equiped. Combined with Power Armor, Toughness Perks and SubDermal Implant you can use the GMG at anything short of point blank!

Splash Damage is a mixed blessing. Great for medium/long range. It hurts at close range.

agreed, even though its said to be a bug, the DT boost is still a great must-have indeed, and yeah, the Splash Damage is also a must have to make your dynamites to have that 'bang for their buck' moment..however, the FatMan becomes so OP, you literally need to use a hill or far distance to witness its powerwith the splash damage perk, Dynamites clear small rooms, Grenades clear rooms, Mercy clears a small building, and the FatMan clears a mountain.

@Mako, IF I WAS'NT SITTING HERE, TALKIN TO YA, I WOULD'NT BE A GOOD DEMOMAN WOULD'NT I?!!!! -takes a good swab of Scotch and sighs, leans on my FatMan- (lol)

Notes:

Vault 3: apparently this is a no brainer, all Explosive weaponry has done its job: every raider dies from one shot from any explosive weapon, their HP simply cant handle a 142 damage of a dynamite so after a few tosses, there was none left of them.

every weapon seems to be very successful, HOWEVER Firebomb was the least successful, an overall useless weapon,even with Splash Damage, has a very small blast radius, only effective in VATS against ONE person which didnt kill the person overall (will test again to be sure, since its damage says 40 or so). Perhaps later on, if or when I acquire the Pyromaniac perk, I shall test it again (seeing as how it would raise it up to 60 in damage, or more).

results: every explosive weapon at max and with nearly all explosive perks make short work of any human NPC, 1-hitting any of its wake, except high level NPC's and Firebomb, which is uses are very limited, probably useful for tight corridors only, to make enemies funnel into the flame and kill them with another grenade.

p.s. its best to use Turbo (with Chemist and the challenge perk with it) to help cut your distance away from the Fiends when you fast travel, allowing you to open up your wide openings of explosives and go to town with minimal losses.

ONE CROSSED WIRE, ONE WAYWARD PINCH OF POTASSIUM CHLORIDE, ONE ERRANT TWITCH, AND KABLOOEY!

So that's how big mountain became the big empty :teehee: