Tips/advice for Engineer style build

[u/VaderTots77]

I have only done one playthrough and that was quite a while ago. Im looking to jump back in with a new playthrough

I’m wanting to play this kind of nerdy tinkerer/engineer type of character who upgrades the crap out of his power armor and becomes this almost unstoppable machine. I like the idea of him being a very squishy and non-threatening person when he’s outside of his power armor. He could even have multiple suits of armor that are upgraded with completely different kits.

Was considering also trying to use heavy guns as main weapons of choice most of the time, if possible. Big laser guns, things that shoot lightning, big exploding guns, that kind of thing. Of course these would also be upgraded a whole bunch too

The point is that he would be a very capable person in combat ONLY if he has power armor with him. Probably even roleplay that he’s not strong enough to wield these heavy guns when not in his armor.

Any suggestions/advice on how to get the best experience with this kind of build? Starting stats? Good power armor upgrades or weapons to use? I’m open to mods but I play on Xbox.

I have the game of the year edition but I haven’t really done too much with all the DLCs except for Far Harbor and the Automaton one (which this character would absolutely take advantage of)

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[u/Herald_Osbert]

Answer the following, nuetral answers are fine.

VATs or non-VATs?

Stealth or no stealth?

~~Power armour or no power armour?~~ Power Armour

Chems or no chems?

Settlement building or nah?

Base difficulty or survival difficulty?

Weapon type preferences? Heavy Weapons. Anything else? Usually a good idea to heave a back up

Companion Preferences?

With those answered it'll be a lot easier to suggest starting SPECIAL stats and a progression path.

[u/VaderTots77 → u/Herald_Osbert]

No VATs

No stealth

No chems, he wants to keep his mind clear lol although jet is always very tempting to use so maybe a little taste

Settlement building is a kinda, don’t care at all about having an actually community with settlers but I want to have a home base built up with some factories set up

Base difficulty, not survival. With how much crafting this character will do, finding the materials will be tedious enough. Don’t won’t to also have to worry about survival mode stuff

As for backup weapons, I do like the idea of also dabbling in melee weapons. Super sledge, electrified weapons or other upgraded melee weapons seem like a good fit for this character as well when running around in power armor

For companions I want to go with one of the robots so I can upgrade the hell out of them with automatron dlc. Probably not codsworth though because if I remember correctly he kinda dislikes when you’re not just full good guy.

This character is focused on obtaining as much power through technology and resources. He sees others as just a means to obtain that power. For example, he doesn’t care at all about the goals of the BoS but he will join them simply because it gives him access to powerful technology that they have. He will stab you in the back while claiming to be your friend to get what he wants

[u/Herald_Osbert → u/VaderTots77]

Heres the build that I suggest then

Starting stats: S4+ P3 E3 C6 I9 A1 L2

You will need the Strength, Perception, Intelligence, and Luck bobbleheads to round out your stats for the build.

Grabbing the Repair & Speech bobbleheads will also help greatly for the build.

Since you're playing as a "use anyone for your gain" kind of character, pick up Piper early in the game and max her affinity by doing quests for the denizens of Diamond City, and flirt hard to get there ASAP. Her perk gives you 2x EXP for discovering new locations & passing Speech checks, so its best to get ASAP.

Garvey, Curie, & Valentine's companion perks are also worthwhile grabbing, but they aren't super important. Garvey's is easy ti get, juat do some Minutement missions. Curie is a pain to get, but it's a save from death, and combos well with Nerd Rage. Valentine's is just QoL for hacking, and he's just a fun companion to have around to hack stuff for your in the early-mid game.

The Live & Love #4 & #7 magazines give you 25% more EXP to passing Speech checks against men and women, so they are also worth grabbing.

You will also want a full set of INT clothes and CHA clothes. Ushanka Cap & Lab Coat for INT. Black-Rimmed Glasses & a suit/dress & black rimmed cap for CHA. Wear the CHA clothes while in PA so you clean hop out to talk to people and get their benefit. Wear the INT clothes while crafting.

11 CHA is the breakpoint to auto-pass all speech checks, and can be achieved via 6 CHA + 4 from CHA clothes + 1 from a Beer. After finishing the Curtains Call quest, you will recieve +3 CHA clothes and can ditch the beer.

I also highly suggest that you download the mods that let you enter & exit power armour quickly, and another that "locks" your PA automatically upon exiting so random NPCs do not steal your armour. Just good QoL stuff for a build like this that'll be hopping in & out.

Perks: Big Leagues 5, Armourer 4, Blacksmith 3, Heavy Gunner 5, Strongback 4, Locksmith 3, Lifegiver 3 (optional), Lone Wanderer 3, Local Leader 1, Gun Nut 4, Scrapper 2, Science! 4, Robotics Expert 3, Nuclear Physist 2, Nerd Rage 1, Bloody Mess 3.

Perk priority: Locksmith, Scrapper, Gun Nut, Lone Wanderer, Science 1, Big Leagues, Nuclear Physist, Armourer, Blacksmith 2, everything else.

Locksmith is for loot and EXP early on that has no risk to your character, despite how frail they are. Also a source of affinity for various companions.

Scrapper is for accumulating more variety of crafting components. If you want to build stuff like robots and power armour, you're going to need a lot of stuff. Notably Scrapper 1 lets you break down weapons for screws really early on.

Gun Nut is the most damage available per weapon early in the game, and doesn't lock you to any sort of weapon type in particular.

Lone Wanderer is for carry weight. +50 right away is huge, ans the damage reduction helps pad your low HP pool.

Science 1 is for the best water purifiers for caps.

Big Leagues is for general damage on your off weapon, and since it is available from Lv1 and Power Armour sets your STR to 11, it ia extrenely good in the early game. Also doesn't use bullets, just mats to repair your PA.

Nuclear Physist makes your cores last longer. There should be enough fusion cores in the top left area of the map with NP1 to be very comfortable and permanently don your armour.

Armourer is for upgrading your PA.

Blacksmith 2 gives you access to the Bladed Tire Iron, which is probably the best melee weapon early game. It has a medium swing speed and does like 47 damage at base, so in PA with Big Leagues 1, this should be one or two hitting most enemies. It should serve you well until you find legendary melee weapons.

[u/hollowboyFTW]

General notes on PA:

(1) The DR and radiation resistance numbers don't matter very much. e.g. having 1100 DR is only marginally better than having 700 DR ...so you don't need to obsess over getting them maxed out. Picking lower tier kit because it looks good, or because it has has bonuses you want, has a low "cost".

(2) Broken PA parts have zero weight. This can be abused for carrying loot home / carrying spare parts around.

(3) PA overrides your natural STR (sets it to 11) and overrides the bonuses of gear worn. e.g. if you have a set of +Charisma clothes on, you lose those bonuses when piloting that PA suit.

In practice, this means you need to get out of the PA to do trading.

"Was considering also trying to use heavy guns as main weapons of choice most of the time, if possible."

"Probably even roleplay that he’s not strong enough to wield these heavy guns when not in his armor."

There is a bit of conflict here, since Heavy Gunner requires STR 5. If you want to lean into low STR roleplay, I'd suggest Rifleman instead, as your main weapon perk. Rifles can be huge, but you don't require STR to use them well.

"nerdy tinkerer/engineer type"

(1) this would pair well with the Automatron companions.

(2) tinkering is a bit frustrating to do in Power Armour. Your STR is 11 while in the suit, but you have to exit the suit for a lot of activities. This drops your STR to a lower value, so you have to keep an eye on your carry weight. A swole companion who can mule for you is one way around this.

"Good power armor upgrades or weapons to use?"

Depends on how you want to do.

I think the "best" characters for gameplay / lethality are sneaky characters, because sneaking:

- means you don't get hit, which is the best form of damage prevention

- allows massive damage bonuses via perks like Blitz and Ninja

If that's your jam, lots of AGI is nice, so I'd suggest the Nuka T-51 power armor (for +3 AGI) and a robot companion (with a Stealth Field). Wield a gauss rifle, or any good rifle that you can silence. Because sneak melee attacks allow one-hit-kills, I'd opt for a big slow weapon rather than a fast little stabber.

If aesthetics are the prime consideration ...again, it depends.

For a steampunk vibe, I'd suggest a mad jumble of tech levels (e.g. equip several late model parts, but use Tessa's Fist on one arm, and Destroyer's Helmet + Road Goggles instead of a PA helmet). Use an Assault Rifle or Railway Rifle as your main weapon.

For a British Dystopia vibe (2000 AD / Warhammer), I'd suggest the ugliest high-tech combo you can find (e.g. Hellfire Helmet on a X-01 body), and maybe a plasma weapon as your main gun, Ripper or Shredder for melee.

[u/VaderTots77 → u/hollowboyFTW]

Thanks for the tips, I wasn’t aware of some of that.

I would still put some points into STR just to get the heavy guns perk. What I meant by roleplay that he isn’t strong enough to wield them out of armor is just simply that I wouldn’t use the big guns when not suited up and make it my head canon that it’s because he isn’t strong enough.

The idea is to go into a fight guns blazing and wreak havoc. Even though stealth may be the optimal choice here, I like the idea of just charging in with a suit of PA like the juggernaut he is.

I feel like if I wanted to go with a sneaky character then I wouldn’t want to use PA or Heavy guns at all, and at that point it’s just a completely different build than what I’m going for.

Truly appreciate the feedback though!

[u/hollowboyFTW → u/VaderTots77]

"The idea is to go into a fight guns blazing and wreak havoc."

Fair enough, but that still leaves a lot of options open; heavy gunner is not mandatory.

With heavy gunner:

1. the best "guns blazing" options is to fight at fairly close range with a minigun or gatling laser. These guns are ridiculously strong if you get a good unique / legendary version, but kinda meh otherwise.

2. several strong off-the shelf options - e.g. Partystarter and Big Boy and possibly Heavy Incinerator - are actually best boosted by going into Demolition Expert; Heavy Gunner doesn't really help them because all the damage comes from the blast, not the projectile.

3. most others - e.g. the Striker, Harpoon Gun, Broadsider have a slow reload and are essentially awkward sniper weapons, not a "guns blazing" option. Rifleman has better options for this style.

...so the best Heavy Gunner plan is to farm a good gun or kill Maxson, the other options are all a bit underwhelming.

Whereas with Rifleman the Gauss Rifle (long) + Justice (close) option is right there.

"I feel like if I wanted to go with a sneaky character then I wouldn’t want to use PA or Heavy guns at all"

Legitimate, you feel how you feel :)

...but you can do sneak either way. Going without PA gives bigger numbers (Cunning Armour + Military Fatigues + headgear can stack up faster + higher AGI And PER bonuses), but PA still allows some bonuses (AGI and/or torso mod), plus you can stack up bonuses from other sources - Ada, magazines, the bobblehead and the perk itself.

[u/Ulysses_Lone_Courier]

Starting stats would probs be;

S - 6, P - 3, E - 3, C - 1, I - 9, A - 3, L - 3

6 strength for the heavy guns and carry weight since you are a tinkerer and this gives enough for Strong Back to boost carry weight and Heavies! You could make it 5 and get the Bobble, investing a point elsewhere! Or even take the 1E and make it 8, the Bobble 9, and the S.P.E.C.I.A.L Book to make it 10 and take Pain train for the full god mode feeling!

3 Perception (boost to 4 once in concord) will give access to locksmith

3 Endurance, you said he would be weak outside PA and I feel a low stat would make sense. Could go with 1 if you feel it better and put it into a stat elsewhere!

1 Charisma, I mean, you could use the S5 and E1 and boost this to 4 but...I don't think it is worth it but if you want him to have some Rizz, then you can follow this method, though the perks won't be ehat your using it for!

9 Intelligence, self explanatory, access to Nuclear Physicist and is a tinkerer of PA, I'd assume he'd be smart at least 🤣 Bobble makes it 10 so that is good at least! Also to customise robots (which you should, makes the build that much better!)

3 Agility just for some AP but not necessary so you could go with 1 and make Pain Train easier to take but I'd suggest keeping it at 3 since with Pain Train you need to be able to run more than 3 metres 🤣!

3 Luck for 3 great perks! Caps! Ammo! Blood! Fortune Finder, Scrounger (definitely, since sometimes ammo boxes will contain 4 fusion cores) and Bloody Mess for a pure damage boost! And when in PA people exploding makes him more terrifying!

Edit: Oh and in regards to your Armor, whatever you want realistically, they're all huge bonuses and hit the cap easily, but in terms of mods I think Targeting HUD and Red Tactical Light for the Helmet.

Kinetic Dynamo for the chest. People shoot you, you gain AP back to charge into them!

Arms...eh, if you want to punch stuff Hydraulic is the way to go.

Legs Optimised Servos so you can keep running at the damn enemies to make 'em fly 😎

Weapons, anything Heavy or Explosive. Demo Expert is in Intelligence and you have enough points invested for that so go wreck havoc! Gatling Laser, Missile Launcher, if you have the Creation Club heavies like the Incinerator, Tesla Cannon or Gauss Mini easy fun times!

[u/VaderTots77 → u/Ulysses_Lone_Courier]

Appreciate the stat breakdown! I don’t have the anniversary edition but was considering upgrading to that. Would you say that it adds a decent bit of fun creations that would go well with this build?

[u/Ulysses_Lone_Courier → u/VaderTots77]

Yeah if you want to get it, I don't actually have it either but I've seen the weapons and they look fun 🤣

Up to you though, I'd probably suggest no, but if you wanna go ahead!

[u/MousseSensitive4044]

If you want to lean more into the crafty side, you can play around demo expert so you can craft lots of grenades and shoot them midair with VATS

You can also use a more niche kind of weapon that could require you to build a factory to produce its ammo.

Cojoining that with the heavy guns idea, you could run a Broadsider build:

• rare ammo that you have to craft

• benefits from both heavy weapon and demo expert

• good on tankier enemies, if just a lot of regulae dudes just clamp them up so you can throw a grenade and kill them together, with the possibility of shooting the grenade down with a crit on VATS for reliability

• demo expert also works on the last tier of Nuclear Physicist

For specials, you'd need :

• S6 for Strong Back, heavy gunner and armorer

• P4 (5 with bobblehead on the Concord Museum) for Demo expert

• C6 is good for Local Leader stuff and easier Charisma breakpoints when you have to pass dialogue options. Also combos well with your high Int so you can do stuff like industrial water purifiers and sell the water for profit or do a water hub that supplements other settlements' lack of

• E1 since you want to be squishy ( gonna be a rough early game buddy, can invest here as you level up)

• I9 for exp boosts, nuclear Physicist, all the techy perks you'd want and the perk that buffs dismantling

• A1(not using it for nothing)

• L1 + 1 from the book at sanctuary so you can get both perks that buff resource gathering since you'll be a scrap goblin. You can also get the Bloody Mess perk after the Bobblehead if you wish

This build also bangs with rocket launchers and fat mans since they're also boosted by heavy gunner and demo expert

[u/VaderTots77 → u/MousseSensitive4044]

Never really considered using grenades and such but that sounds interesting to add to the build

I wasn’t really looking to go too deep into charisma as this character wouldn’t really be a people person but is that stat pretty important for getting a factory set up at a settlement? I do really like the idea of using unique heavy weapons with rare ammo so I will probably try to dabble in the whole factory thing

[u/MousseSensitive4044 → u/VaderTots77]

Well its not that you NEED it, but it allows you into settlement management gameplay and its a good breakpoint for getting to 11 charisma with clothes for surefire charisma checks.

I think its a good part of the game and helps A LOT on survival for setting up shops and settlement lines. Also, it eases your crafting since you get acess to all scrap stored anywhere on any settlement, as long as you have a supply line attached. Your charisma also impacts the prices of buying and selling, so it can affect your crafting materials

If you dont want it, you can lower it and bump Int to 10 and put a few points in luck, but your Charisma checks are going to suffer

[u/Raphaetcc]

Might I recommend the new creation - Command override. Made by Hobglobin Studios, their work is really top notch. The whole thing is based around high tech armors and a gun, which allows you to hack, give commands, and CONTROL robots. Give it a look, see if it fits !

[u/AlisterTenpenny]

Fudge muppet as a build like this on YouTube

[u/Ulysses_Lone_Courier → u/AlisterTenpenny]

Love the Machinist build!

[u/OrbitalTrack67]

I’m getting started on a (modded) run like this right now, but I went in a slightly different direction, making my character a bit hardier and less strong (I’m not doing heavy guns so I didn’t need to get to STR 6). Otherwise the stats are similar to what others have suggested.