Yeah my la longue(Cowboy Perk) carbine does indentical dmg of a hunting rifle both useing regular ammo but jsp hand loads out do the jfps of the 357 mag.

All the .308 weapons are underpowerd to me.

Only referencing the original post question....yes, it's probably the most overplayed build. Every game has one or three of those. Borderlands it was the Hunter. Diablo2 it was the Orb Sorc or Hammerdin. It's how games tend to end up, no matter how they tweak the balance. Shfit the balance, a new 'uber build' style crops up and then everyone overplays that one.

I've always loved ranged combat/builds in all games I've ever played...when it comes to gun-games, I like sniping. I don't choose it to be uber, I choose it because I like it. And like someone else said, I typically don't do a whole lot of "sneaking" - I do some, against certain enemies/situations, and of course I've checked out how effective it is from vast distances in this game - but overall if I'm sneaking, it's because I'm trying to avoid conflict, not to creep up and shoot.

There's something about the rifle/sniping that I enjoy so much. Walking forward/strafing in circles while blasting an automatic bullet sprayer or shotgun just isn't the same at all, to me. (edit)Doesn't have to be a rifle per se. In some games, a pistol/revolver achieves the same feeling, altho not so much in NV for me.

Because they are underpowered. The Hunting Rifle in particular is a joke compared to its other "hunting" brethren - the hunting revolver and hunting shotgun, which are among the most powerful guns in the game.

The original DAM of the sniper rifle wasn't even that bad at 62, compared to the Cowboy Repeater (44 with Cowboy), This Machine (55), Trail Carbine (59 with Cowboy), Brush Gun (99.75 with Cowboy) and the AMR (110). It was just its 5X Crit multiplier, which ensured that it would critical every shot, effectively doubling the damage of the sniper rifle's original DAM (62 -> 124). This brokenness was compounded by JSP ammo, which threw in a 1.5X multiplier (against a 0 DT target, the sniper rifle's effective DAM would be 62*2*1.5 = 186, which makes it broken).

There was obviously a need to nerf the sniper rifle - the 5X crit multi had to go - but lowering the DAM to 42 on top of that was murder.

...and the poor Gobi. 100% lockpick necessary to get it, and it just sits on my bed in the safehouse. It is cool looking, though...

I think that such a play-style is the best choice for completing the game; the soldier who can remain hidden and thus out of harm's way whilst being deadly all the same is clearly a force to be reckoned with. At the same time a soldier with a high pain tolerence and the hardware capable of dispatching 10 a second isn't exactly someone to be shrugged off. It's all about preference; a lot of players enjoy the feeling of killing a man before they even know they're being watched, but some are total sociopaths who run in guns blazin' (God Bless 'Em!).

The build is mistakenly considered the most powerfull, IRL maybe, but in this gme it's only one of the top builds.
Heck my hunting shotgun was highly accurate at range with slugs and rapid shot, enough to sneak crit vast amounts of health from deathclaw at range without BC.
To most it's the favourite because they enjoy it, and this is a game where you can do anything much that you wish to.
And technically I would say the biggest role is the guy with every gun and a chicken strapped to his chest.

However join the darkside take a shotgun, shotguns are your friend.

The build is the most powerful because you hardly need to heal, nor wear heavy armour, nor need to frequently repair or re-supply.

Do bullets not count towards resupply? Especially if you're using less common ammo?

Because like this topic mention, stealth sniper toon is the most OP build in Fallout.
Why travel in T-51 armor and some big weapon (minigun for example) and going close quarters with ennemies with all the penalties in brings with it like, running slower, taking damage & constantly repairing your stuff when instead you could just run faster, shoot ennemies from far away without even giving them the opportunity to see you, never getting hurt and barely getting the need to repair your favorite sniping weapon?
But to be honest Fallout is not the only game that has that kind of problem, lots of games tend to make sthealthy builds way more easier to play than, oh I don't know, an "Expendable" kind of build.
I think the only way to make any build viable in an rpg game would be by introducing classes, with their pros and cons. Oh, and also by removing that weapon/armor degrading stuff.. loved in Fallout 2 when I could rush into some "aliens" in MK armor and a Laser Minigun, no speed reduction, no need to repair my stuff, no need to be stealthy, not saying that you couldn't do that in F3/NV, just that you always need to constantly check your stuff condition, and that is not fun.

Actually in FO1&2, gunslingers, KungFu master, Ninja and Leader is more powerful than Sniper because the combat distance is relatively short.

What less common ammo?

I agree, and I believe I have posted but I'm not sure, that sniper's are too powerful but so can all builds. Put on your power armour and nothing can kill you (Please don't tell me to go fight a group of Deathclaws). You can just stand around and it's a constant blue shield. Heck I have done it with just light armour and Rad Child, stood around in Camp McCarran on very hard and they did little damage. Yet other times just 2 or 3 can kill me in a few shots. My vote is still for something being messed up in this game that hasn't been discovered yet. Difficulty seems like it changes with every load of the game.

Sniper builds are the best because i dont have to spend thousands on heals and supplies,but to me its common sense if you see a Supermutant master with a mini-gun,the smart choice aint to beat it with a nail board.snipe it before it starts degrading your armour and the rof drains your health.

yep, everyone thinks they are a SNIPERZ. Play any FPS with classes to see this in action.

Lol Everytime in a FPS I try to play a sniper it ends badly.
Runing and gunning I am very good at, camping and waiting tends to make me twitchy ( or shot in three seconds ).

I always play a sneaky sniper type. I really love getting head shots from far away. And I find that with Boone and ED-E as my companions I can get some great shots before they even notice what is going on. Of course if you miss they are in there taking all your shots.

Or take some Steady. That stuff is great.

I've played many types of characters including melee/unarmed tanks (this is my 7th playthrough) which was quite effective and fun.

I think the stealthy sniper works so well because in the end it saves you caps. You're less likely to take a hit which saves on armor/weapons repairs, you're more likely to score a crit which means needing to use fewer bullets/cells, not having to use nearly as many stimpaks/doctor's bags/hydra/food/water/etc...

Right now I'm playing more of an assassin than sniper. I'm getting up close and personal w/ my stealth killing, but doing it w/ melee and unarmed while sneaking. I'm not using any energy weapons, and silenced guns are more for thinning out the herd from a distance for my currently low level character. When I level a bit more, guns won't be used at all.

And I'm playing towards legion. Just using NCR while I'm a low level character until I can get to the point where I don't need their repairs/merchants.

Without realizing it, i seem to be tending more towards the sniper route, mostly for the reasons people have been listing. I'd love to push more into a sneaky upclose assassin type, but i really haven't found a really effective up-close and personal weapon that drops 'em before they can scream (the shishkabob and terrible shotgun in FO3 were particualry good at this).

EDIT: I was going to ask about good suggestions for sniper rifles, but it looks like this thread's in general discussion... so nevermind.

You get insane amounts of health and the enemy in general gets very little (They start with 80 while you start with 150 and you gain more per level). The AI is pretty dumb as well, which really affects the challenge.

Plus camp mccarean is full of service rifle weilding people unless first recon is there.

same

it's my absolute favorite, in RPGs or MMOs.

I just get an absolute thrill out of shooting something from clear the heck over some ridge, while it doesn't even know I'm there... And its buddies just mill around looking confused as I pick em off. :happy:

Watch the Thunderdome Mad Max movie, or The Road Warrior. Play Fallout accordingly.

I have played Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas at much length, and, for both, my play style was heavily between 'the stealthy sniper' and a full-out, heavy armoured, heavy weaponed, monster, running into action head on (like a super mutant, as you might).

But, yea, the stealthy sniper seems to be 70-80% of it, =D.

If have a lot of fun with it: the sneaking around (although sometimes boring and teasing), the time to take great shots, the effectiveness and efficiency, and other things.

Fallout 3 was a diffrent story for me i mostly either made swiss cheese with a mini-gun or used other big guns.
I actully only sniped aout 20-30 people in 80 hours of gameplay.
Compared to probably 500 in New Vegas.

If the Courier actually existed, he would 100% be a stealthy sniper. It requires patience, sneaking around everywhere and making your shots count. The weapons are expensive. I sometimes prefer the good ol' LMG and deal lead to my targets.