Leaving aside ingame stats, what is it that makes him so formidable in combat? (also ignoring his leadership skills, which we know are considerable)

I understand that he's an unparalleled warrior face to face, but he's significantly handicapped by his preference for melee combat. We know that it's possible for the Legion to overwhelm the NCR with hacky-slashy tactics, but a single combatant with a blade is very vulnerable to someone with a gun, which the NCR have plenty of. I don't see how he could have accumulated such a terrifying reputation on the battlefield: certainly against other primitive tribals and even the Legion, but not against civilised soldiers with advanced technology who should be able to gun him down effortlessly.

Some people like to believe in Legends

There ya go.

http://www.sjosektionen.se/wp-content/uploads//popeye-yam-spin.gif

But that's assuming he's fighting a single enemy (or perhaps a few enemies) armed with melee weapons. Against gun wielders, he's dead meat.

The Legion has taken down Brotherhood of Steel soldiers, and they've been pitted against NCR at the Colorado for the past seven years, these two facts alone show that the Legion is not some run of the mill Johnny Come Lately, these people are well trained savages, their idea of medicine is healing herbs, while tribal, this means they have become hardened to pain and injury. Plus, not the entire Legion is anti-gun, it's shown they are reliant on swords and other melee weapons for a simple reason. Guns, while powerful, a sword however, is only as weak as it's wielder, and the Legion is indeed a terrifying opponent in it's members, not recruits, but full fledged members of Caesars Legion.

People who think guns and bullets are the absolute victor of any battle are people likely to die when encountering a melee opponent, understemitating their opponent. Any idiot can pull a trigger, becoming a melee brawler is a path of dedication.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1csr0dxalpI#t=3m32s

I'm aware that hitting people with sharp things is, at least in the Fallout universe, quite effective. It does, however, require numbers to overwhelm the enemy. A wave of melee combatants charging together can be deadly, but a single member of that force doesn't have a chance on an individual basis. What I'm saying is, the Legate might be a formidable warrior, but there's no reason why the NCR should find him particularly difficult to take down. Against primitive tribals who have to close with him (and consequently die), they can riddle him with bullets.

that's like trying to stop a chuck Noris roundhouse kick from chuck norris
on topic:
yes cause cheap guns and ammo will defenatily kill a guy In armor while his sword can slice through there cheap armor In one swing

Since Lanius doesn't possess super healing abilities like Joshua Graham, I'd attribute most if not all of his "scare factor" to his reputation/appearance. Essentially a walking, talking propaganda machine that can be used both for and against the Legion.

Those "cheap guns" can fire armor piercing rounds, and in case of the Antimaterial rifle (which the NCR issues to veteran rangers), even rounds that can penetrate engine blocks. Do you reckon the legate's steel armor can deflect them?

And his sword slicing through armor in one swing assumes that the enemy is within hitting distance, as opposed to sitting on top of a hill 500+ meters away.

I have a similar question.
How is General Oliver dangerous?

I don't think anyone claimed that he was.

Exacly. Think of the Legate as "the General" of the Caesar's Legion.

The courier seems fine charging into a hail of gunfire with nothing but a super sledge. Who says Lanius can't do the same?

Yeah, he is the general - that's what legatus means after all. Except Lanius is based on the Classical-style commander: one who fights among his soldiers while giving general orders to his prefects and centurions. He really can't be compared to Oliver, who is a general in the modern sense in that he stays back to issue orders down a chain of command.

Sometimes melee can win guns

Legion are well-trained in melee weapons rather than firearms

When thinking about guns vs melee, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anEuw8F8cpE&feature=related. always.

But this was my point. Melee can defeat guns, but only with the advantage of overwhelming numbers and surprise. Any given combatant within that force has a low chance of survival, and in a one to one fight a firearm will defeat a sword 99% of the time.

so a bb gun will kill someone In power armor with a super sludge 99% of the time?

No, but an Anti-Material rifle will kill someone in unpowered metal armour 99% of the time.

Really I've taken 2 shots and killed a ncr vet

maybe his armor is magic...or he bleeds med-x, or whatever home grown equivalent he has (i know the legion doesn't use drugs) I think its just a game thing, it would be a easy fight if all you had to do was shoot him once in the head, or blow out his knee caps and take him alive.

Maybe he's the protagonist of a prequel to NV? (The canon ending for that game was that the PC was Lanius)
Would explain his demi-god status. :goodjob:

He has special healing powder in game, so maybe he's all whacked out on 'drugs'?