Fallout: New Vegas Unarmed / Melee Character Guide

By Erik Fasterius

erik.fasterius@hotmail.com

   1.0 INTRODUCTION

       Just the basics of this guide, who I am, and so on...

   2.0 UNARMED OR MELEE?

       They're actually quite different!

   3.0 TACTICS

       General outlines on how to fight in close quarters.

          3.1 Using Your Weapons

          3.2 Armour

          3.3 Leveling and Difficult Opposition

   4.0 S.P.E.C.I.A.L.

       Two styles demand two different arrays of attributes.

   5.0 SKILLS

       This is where the builds don't differ much at all.

          4.1 Essential skills

          4.2 Useful skills

   6.0 TRAITS

       Actually very helpful, at least most of the time!

   7.0 PERKS

       So many too choose from, but which are actually worth it?

          6.1 Common Perks

          6.2 Unarmed Perks

          6.3 Melee Perks

          6.4 Perks to stay away from

   8.0 WEAPONS

       Again, a plethora to choose from!

          7.1 Fist weapons

          7.2 Melee weapons

   9.0 TWO SAMPLE BUILDS

       One for Unarmed, one for Melee - just to get you started.

  10.0 CREDITS, VERSION HISTORY, ETC

       Last but not least...

         10.1 Credit Where Credit Is Due

         10.2 Version History

         10.3 Who's allowed to use this guide

Hey there, and welcome to the guide! I'm Erik, just some guy from Sweden who 

happen to enjoy making the occassional guide for GameFAQs. It's always these

"character building" guides, since that's one aspect of gaming I've always

perks, it's almost as much fun as experiencing a good storyline!

Fallout: New Vegas. I've tried to compile all I've learned playing the game, but

keep in mind that just because I've written it down it doesn't mean everything

I've written this guide with the mindset that it is just that, a GUIDE. Not a

set-in-stone way of building your character. It's meant to highlight some of the

most out of it, but it's also meant to help you to make your own, unique build.

To find a section you're looking for, just press Ctrl + F, type in the text you

This guide is written with the hardest difficulty in mind, but it's equally

viable in the lower ones as well. Hardcore mode doesn't really increase the

difficulty as much as the tediousness (or realism, if you prefer) of the 

constructive criticism, just send me an email about it! 

With all that done, let's get on with it!

If you've looked at the perks available in New Vegas (and Fallout 3 as well, for

you really need to choose one or the other. Here's why:

 1) Crits:     Fist weapons work really, well with critical hits. Most have a

               decent critical multiplier (how often you crit) and quite a few

               have a very good critical damage (how much damage is added), some

               an amount equal to or even MORE than the base damage! Sneak is

               very good with unarmed for this reason.

               Melee weapons, on the other hand, are not as good with criticals.

               The critical damage is more often than not lower than on an

               equivelant fist weapon, and quite a few melee weapons can't even

               crit to begin with! ("Oh, Baby!" and the Chainsaw, to name two)

 2) VATS:      Whenever if go inside VATS and hit something, that hit will get

               a flat addition of 5% critical chance. This is good for unarmed

               for the above mentioned reasons. 

               Most melee weapons still have a special attack that you can use

               inside VATS. Some weapons even have special attack work outside

               of VATS! This all means that VATS is something unarmed should aim

               to use ALL THE TIME, while melee builds only need it in moderate

               doses. Unarmed should get VATS-centered perks, but melee could do

               without them, and focus on other perks instead.

These are the two BIG differences. These, however, lead to much smaller (but 

Before we go into more details about the builds themselves, let's touch on some

You're not the only one who (might) have a high Damage Threshold, quite a few of

the enemies you'll encounter in the game are also heavily armoured! This means

or fist weapon, because it does too little damage. Here's where the distinction

weapon's attack speed into account as well.

This means that a high DPS but low DAM weapon won't be able to get through your

enemies' DT. You might actually have to switch to a weapon with lower DPS! Even

if it has lower listed DPS, it'll actually do more effective DPS to targets with

one weapon of each kind: one generic "low-DT" weapon with as high DPS as you can

find, and one "high-DT" weapon simply to get through as much DT as you can.

Sometimes those two types are the same weapon, though, and that's just swell! 

----------

will still hinder your movements quite a bit. The tradeoff is that you'll get

much higher DT yourself. If you wear light armour you'll be able to close the

distance to your targets much faster, but you'll take more damage. 

Since you'll be a melee artist in some fashion or the other, the question of how

Both options have their advantages and disadvantages. In the end it's all up to

While enemies in New Vegas scale to your level, it doesn't mean that you can go

This means that leveling gives you more than just bigger number. And bigger 

doesn't mean you'll be able to take the whole thing on! You might need to come

back later, at a higher level, where you'll have a bigger arsenal of both 

numbers and abilities. 

What I'm trying to say is that there's no need to try to tackle every single

your first try if it feels too difficult for you. Just come back later! You'll

4.0  S.P.E.C.I.A.L.

This is the first thing you'll get to choose when making a new character, and so

we'll start here as well. You can find example builds at the end of the guide 

with attribute arrays you can modify yourself if you're not happy with them.

are the two common attributes for both builds, as they  help each of them in 

their own way. Strength increases both the Melee Weapons skill and the unarmed 

base damage of your character, while Endurance increases the Unarmed skill, 

overall health and the number of implants you can get. Both of these should 

----------

and eventually adding the implant for a total of 6. Melee-oriented characters 

--------

Well, it's *mostly* useless in New Vegas. See, Speech (the skill) 

Barter is only moderately useful and your companions will still be just fine 

with low charisma. This is why Charisma is the dump-stat for quite alot of 

------------

have it used to be. While a high intelligence doesn't hurt, being slightly

dumber in New Vegas doesn't hurt you as much as you'd think, you just have to

remaining points after we're done with the essentials. (Try to always have at

-------

it's clearly needed for Unarmed characters. An eventual total of 10 wouldn't be

----

Here's the biggest difference in the two builds. Since Unarmed characters will

want as high chance of critical hits as possible, they'll want a high luck,

too much. Of course, they CAN still crit, and it'll lower their chance to do so

when they can, but the points can probably be better spent at the other 

--------------------

Unarmed and Melee. To a (very small) varying degree, though. If you're a melee

character, you'll still need 90 in Unarmed for the Slayer perk, for example. 

Sneak is also essential for Unarmed characters. You'll need at least 80 for

Ninja, but you might even go so far as 100, if you really want to be able to 

-----------------

It's temptning to just write "the rest", but some are more useful than others. 

If you're playing on Hardcore, Survival is a very good skill to have. Medicine

hurts, either! 

 Built To Destroy - An excellent choice for Unarmed characters, as more crits

                    never is a bad thing! The faster decay does hurt at times,

                    and you'll have to repair more often. 

 Good Natured     - A decent pick for both builds, it mostly affects how you'll

                    play in the early game - come late game it'll be the same. 

                    You could argue that you'll "gain" skill points by taking

                    this trait, and I wouldn't disagree, but it depends on how

                    useful you think the skills are and how much you're going to

                    be using them.

 Heavy Handed     - A must-have for melee characters! Your crits suck anyway,

                    why not make your normal hits hit harder? 

 Kamikaze         - Can be useful for unarmed characters, if you know you're

                    going to be using VATS ALOT. 

 Small Frame      - I love this trait, simply because the attributes are so good

                    in New Vegas. Legs more easily crippled? Meh, I'll live.

a 1:1 ratio), although we do get to level 30 instead. What you'll be looking for

differentiators between the two. 

they don't need all those VATS and crit-perks that Unarmed characters need. Keep

to do an unarmed build that includes explosives and still retain most of it's

is up to you. Hopefully they'll patch this, but you never know...)

----------------

 Intense Training (2)  - As there aren't a whole lot of good perks at level 2,

                         IT is always a good choice. The anti-male/female perks

                         have their uses, but getting another attribute a little

                         higher is often better, in my opinion.

 Anti-male/female (2)  - Includes the Black Widow/Confirmed Bachelor/etc perks.

                         As good a pick as any at this level, you'll get 10%

                         more damage to the same/opposite sex. While it only

                         applies to humans it's still moderately useful. Plus,

                         you sometimes get some alternate conversation options!

 Educated (4)          - Two more skill points per level, at a level where you

 [INT 4]                 still haven't got all that many good perks to choose

                         from? Yes, please!

 Comprehension (4)     - It's not as good as in Fallout 3, but still very good.

 [INT 4]                 You'll get another skill point from reading skill books

                         and it doubles the bonus from magazines.

 Travel Light (4)      - If you like wearing light armours instead of big and

 [Survival 45]           bulky ones, this perk might be for you. If you're going

                         to aim for speed, why not go all the way?

 Bloody Mess (6)       - It's gory, and +5% to all damage is never wrong.

 Toughness (6)         - Gives you +3 to your Damage Threshold (DT). If you feel

 [END 5]                 you need more protection or simply haven't got another

                         good perk at a given level, Toughness is always a good

                         choice.

 Super Slam (8)        - A life-saver at times! It's basicly a big stun that'll

 [Melee 45, STR 6]       help you in either continuing to pummel your target 

                         into a pulp or some measure of crowd control. A very

                         nice addition to any close quarters combatants arsenal!

 Stonewall (8)         - Somewhat useful, seeing as you'll be in close quarters

 [STR 6, END 6]          with your enemies all the time. Only if you have the

                         perks to spare, though. (Note: this is currently bugged

                         and does not work as described, you actually get +5 DT

                         vs ALL as long as you use melee/unarmed weapons instead

                         of just vs. melee/unarmed!)

 Life Giver (12)       - A good way to increase your health. Very good as a perk

 [END 6]                 for levels you feel lacks any other good choice.

 Piercing Strike (12)  - A must-have for both builds! Negate 15 of your targets'

 [Unarmed 70]            Damage Threshold? Yummy...

 Unstoppable Force (12)- Somewhat useful, it's just that enemies aren't blocking

 [Melee 90, STR 7]       very often, depending on the situation. Might be worth

                         a perk, if you feel you can spare them.

 Jury Rigging (14)     - Saves a lot of trouble, repairing your weapons with the

 [Repair 90]             specific item needed. This perk will help you in just

                         picking stuff up and repairing your equipment with

                         whatever it was lying around.

 Purifier (14)         - As it works on some of the more difficult encounters in

                         the game, it's a decent choice. Dealing with Deathclaws

                         can be a bitch, especially for a close-quarters combat

                         character!

 Slayer (24)           - More attack speed? 30%? That's just fine! A must-have.

 [Unarmed 90, AGI 7]

 

-----------------

character. 

 Finesse (10)          - Another 5% critchance? Yes, please!

 Math Wrath (10)       - VATS, VATS, VATS. You'll notice that alot of the perks

 [Science 70]            listed here are to do with VATS, since unarmed works so

                         well with that. None of them are must-haves, but very

                         useful, this one included.

 Silent Running (12)   - Sure, you COULD continue moving slow as a snail when

 [Sneak 50, AGI 6]       you want to sneak properly, but this feat saves you 

                         both a lot of time and frustration. I know I couldn't

                         live without it anymore!

 Action Boy (16)       - If you like VATS (and you should, being unarmed!), this

 [AGI 6]                 is an excellent perk.

 Better Criticals (16) - THE reason you have 6 Perception, you'll get another

 [PER 6, LCK 6]          50% damage on your crits, this is a must-have for

                         unarmed characters!

 Paralyzing Palm (18)  - 30 second stun? Like. Even though the description says

 [Unarmed 70]            you need to be completely unarmed it works just fine

                         with fist weapons. 

 Grim Reaper's Sprint (20) - While it's been nerfed from being an instant-win

                         perk in Fallout 3 to merely very good New Vegas, it is

                         still just that - very good. Now you have to actually

                         be a bit more tactical with your use of VATS, not just

                         aim and shoot everything that moves.

 Ninja (20)            - It's a bit weird that you don't actually have to have

 [Melee 80, Sneak 80]    unarmed skill for this, but there you have it. It's

                         a must-have for unarmed builds, as another 15% crit-

                         chance is simply too good to pass up on. (Note: this is

                         currently bugged, and only gives you a 15% increase on

                         your critchance, and not a flat +15%!)

 Nerves of Steel (26)  - Might be overkill at this point, but if you really like

 [AGI 7]                 VATS combat this might be for you. 

---------------

are quite a lot fewer than for unarmed, and they're not even mandatory, mostly 

if you like explosives! You can play around with perks alot more with melee 

 Heave, Ho! (2)        - If you like explosions.

 [Explosives 30, STR 5]

 Demolition Expert (6) - Your explosives pack more of a punch now. There are 

 [Explosives 50]         three ranks of this perk, each at 20% more damage.

 Cowboy (8)            - A good perk if you like to use knives, hatches and/or

 [Gun 45, Melee 45]      dynamite. 25% more damage is nothing to be sneezed at,

                         and even if none of the "best" weapons are in this

                         category, his perk greatly increases their viability!

 Pyromaniac (12)       - OK choice for melee, if you like to use the Shishkebab.

 [Explosives 60]         Increases the damage of all fire-based weapons.

 Splash Damage (12)    - Increases the radius of your explosions by 25%, which 

 [Explosives 70]         is very nice, if you like to use them.

lesser perks, while some requires some deeper thought to decipher. I haven't

might think are good. 

 Swift Learner (2)     - While this is level 2, there still are better perks 

 [INT 4]                 than this. Don't worry, you'll get high enough level

                         without this!

 Here And Now (10)     - You'll get enough levels, don't worry about it, and 

                         taking this perks is a perk wasted.

 Adamantium Skeleton (14) - How often do your limbs become crippled, even with

                         the Small Frame trait? Not all that often. 50% less

                         damage might sound nice, but it's really not that good.

                         There are plenty of Doctor's Bags out there, even for

                         Hardcore mode.

 Tag! (16)             - Would have been good at lower levels, now it'd just be

                         a waste of a perk.

rest. I've listed some of them here, and where to find them. Remember, though,

that just because there are weapons that are "best" it doesn't necessarily mean

----------------

 Ballistic Fist        - Easily the best unarmed weapon in the game, both in

                         VATS and outside of it. You can find this weapon either

                         from Blake (he's at the Crimson Caravan Company) or

                         from Torres (Hidden Valley Bunker).

 Pushy                 - While not as excellent as the Ballistic Fist, Pushy is 

                         still very good. You can find it on a dead Jackal gang

                         member inside the Ruby Hill Mine.

 Mantis Gauntlet       - The only unarmed weapon with a x3 critical multiplier,

                         meaning that as long as you get above 33% critchange 

                         (which is not hard at all) you'll ALWAYS crit! It also

                         ignores your enemies' DT, similar to the Deathclaw

                         Gauntlet in Fallout 3. It's a rare find, but vendors

                         at either the Hoover Dam, Crimson Caravan Camp or the

                         Great Khan weapons dealers sometimes have them.

-----------------

 Oh, Baby!             - This is a unique Super Sledge, and boy does it pack a

                         punch! The most powerful generic melee weapon, hands

                         down, although it requires a maxed out melee skill. It

                         can be found in the Charleston Cave (which is north of

                         Jacobstown) on a dead nightkin.

 Knock-Knock           - A unique variant of the fire axe, almost as good as the

                         Oh, Baby!, if you prefer a bladed weapon instead of

                         smashing things to a pulp. It can be found in Camp

                         Searchlight's fire station, in one of the bathroom 

                         stalls.

 Chainsaw              - A staple weapon of generic FPSs, New Vegas sure is nice

                         to give us this weapon! No crits AT ALL, but very 

                         reliable damage. Does more damage in VATS, which is

                         odd enough, so it might not be ideal, but still very

                         nice. It can be found in Vault 3, the Legion's 

                         blacksmith or Veteran Legionaries (random).

 Shishkebab            - Ah, the burning sword. In itself it's merely good, but

                         with the Pyromaniac perk it becomes truly deadly, even

                         rivaling the Oh, Baby! as the best melee weapon in the

                         game! You CAN use poisons on it, even though it's on

                         fire, and it'll stack with the immolation damage. It 

                         can be bought from the NCR Supply Officer (Hoover Dam),

                         the Great Khan armorer or from Mick & Ralph's at

                         Freeside.

                        

I hope you'll try to put together your own build, but if you're starved for 

Intense Trainings. Perks in [brackets] are "optional", you can easily replace

         Unarmed                                      Melee

         -------                                      -----

                                Attributes:

                                -----------

         8 [9]                     STR                9 [10]

         5 [6]                     PER                3*

         7 [8]                     END                9 [10]

         1                         CHA                1*

         4 [5]                     INT                9 [10]

         7 [9]                     AGI                8 [10]

         8 [10]                    LCK                1*         *whichever you

                                                                  feel is most

                                                                  important

                                 Traits:

                                 -------

       Small Frame                                  Heavy Handed

       Built To Destroy                             Small Frame

 

                                 Perks:

                                 ------

       [Intense Training (LCK)]     2               [Confirmed Bachelor]

       Educated                     4               Educated

       [Toughness]                  6               [Toughness]

       Super Slam                   8               Super Slam

       Finesse                     10               [Toughness II]

       Piercing Strike             12               Piercing Strike

       Silent Running              14               [Pyromaniac]

       Better Criticals            16               [Purifier]

       Paralyzing Palm             18               [Jury Rigging]

       Grim Reaper's Sprint        20               [Lifegiver]

       Ninja                       22               [Bloody Mess]

       Slayer                      24               Slayer

       [Purifier]                  26               [Stonewall]

       [Action Boy/Life Giver]     28               [Unstoppable Force]

       [Toughness II]              30               [Lady Killer]

 

And that's it, the end of the guide! I hope you've found it useful and that you

feedback, feel free to send me an email. You'll find my adress at the top of 

--------------------

     - Added the "Tactics" section

     - Added more perks

     - Changed the description of some perks

     - Minor revisions

     - Initial release.

10.3 Who's allowed to use this guide

If you wish to put up my guide on another page, you will need my permission to 

do so first. Simple send me a mail asking if it's alright to put it up on your 

page, and I'll probably say yes - I've yet to refuse somebody. Keep in mind that

the guide need to be presented in it's entirety, un-altered and free.

And that's that, have fun playing your new character!</p>

Leon Hurley
Managing editor for guides

I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for guides, which means I run GamesRadar's guides and tips content. I also write reviews, previews and features, largely about horror, action adventure, FPS and open world games. I previously worked on Kotaku, and the Official PlayStation Magazine and website.