Fallout 4: Switching Between Pistols and Rifles

It has been fun and effective switching between pistols and rifles while I play Fallout 4.  The game likes to throw mobs of weaker enemies that a pistols can handle just fine.  Sometimes it gives you one or two very powerful enemies that rifles do a much better job with.  Sometimes you get both a powerful enemy surrounded by a mob of weaker enemies.  In that case I shoot the weaker ones in V.A.T.S. with a pistol and switch to a shotgun (counts as a rifle in the game) for the powerful ones at close range.

My 10mm Pistol gets used for most of the weaker enemies like Bloat Flies and weaker Ghouls types.  I keep that .38 Pipe Gun for blowing up landmines and the odd Radroach.  If I need a little more power, but not that of a rifle, I use the a Laser Pistol (Righteous Authority as a pistol) which has a little more damage than the 10mm Pistol.  The Laser Pistol is better on wild and mutated dogs and some of the tougher Ghoul types.  The nice thing is that both the 10mm and the .38 (not the Laser Pistol) can be silenced weapons (and I have those modifications installed) that don't wake up the whole combat area which keeps me alive a little longer.  I tend to snipe with either an Institute Pistol or the Bolt-Action Pipe Pistol since pistols get a bonus to range (farther than rifles) with the Gunslinger perk.  The Bolt-Action Pipe Pistol is silenced while the Institute Pistol is quite and seems to be acting like it is silenced too.  Again, being quite doesn't stir up trouble.  

When Super Mutants, or any of the other tougher enemies, get closer the Combat Shotgun (counts as a Rifle) can finish the job.  When I don't know what is coming at me or if the enemy is really big then my Overseer's Guardian (a legendary Combat Rifle) comes out.  The Combat Shotgun and Overseer's Guardian are noisy but by then there is nowhere to hide and I need to put those enemies down fast.  The character I am playing doesn't use Power Armor (better for stealth game play) and has a very low Endurance (I can put in more points for other attributes early in the game) so I can't stand and fight with a weak pistol firing a hundreds of shots to put something down.  Well, it feels like hundreds of shots while they are doing more damage to you than you are to them.

Recently I acquired the Deliverer (legendary 10mm silenced pistol) working for the Railroad faction.  I also randomly got a 10mm Pistol with the Deadeye (slows time while aiming) effect.  The Deliverer gets used at close range and in V.A.T.S. while  I put a scope on "Deadeye" and use that for longer range sniping.  I also have another 10mm Pistol with the Enraging (target attacks everything -  including friends) effect that I want to try on tougher enemy groups.  One of the great reasons for having both Pistols (Gunslinger) and Rifles (Rifleman) as skills (to increase damage) is that you can take advantage of more weapons with a legendary effect on them.  Legendary effects are just as important as what type of weapon you are using.  Legendary effects can make a weak weapon or weapon type very powerful.  I may not be able to drop an enemy with one shot with that Enraging 10mm pistol. But having a target turn around and attack its friends for me can completely change the dynamics of a battle.

In the future I will probably want to add Automatic and Heavy weapons to my skills for the variety and tactical advantages I will get with more choices.  But for now, Rifles and Pistols together have made the game easier and more fun.  

Fallout 4: Bring a Pistol

In my previous post I discussed that bringing a rifle along will make playing the game easier and add versatility to any playstyle.  One of the bad things about rifles is that the first weapons you get in the game are pistols and good rifles are hard to come by.  So to add to your options bring a pistol.

Pistols are good at close range and for stealth work.  They also use the easiest to find ammo at the beginning of the game.  You can also upgrade them quicker (with the "Gun Nut" perk) than other weapons.  For the first 10 to 15 levels of the game pistols shine.  Once the Overseer's Guardian rifle becomes available they begin to fade and take a secondary role.

That secodary role is to conserve your rifle ammo and use them on low level opponents and as a practical stealth weapon for close range.  Ammo at the begining is scarce but if you play on Normal difficulty you will have so much that you will eventually be selling a lot of it.  Early on you can find and/construct a good bolt action pipe rifle that is silenced and excellent for sniping.  Unfortunately ammo is expensive and scarce for it.  Worse than that is if you don't one shot kill your opponent you are left with a slow firing weapon at close range that can get you killed.  If you switch to a pistol at close range you just might survive.  Also, when you are in enclosed spaces like caves or buildings a silenced pistol is much more practical.  Pistols allow you to snipe with one shot and then switch to rapid firing with the same gun.  At close ranges being able to switch styles without switching weapons can be a life saver. 

In previous Fallout games there was a differentiation between guns (bullet firing weapons) and energy weapons (lasers type weapons).  Fallout 4 took that distinction away but split up those same weapons into pistols and rifle categories.  Fallout 3 and before treated a laser pistol and laser rifle as being in the same "family" of weapons that were affected by the same modifying perks.  Now in Fallout 4 these energy weapons are now in different families.  A strategy from the previous games was to use guns early in the game and then switch to energy weapons later.  Now the progression in Fallout 4 seems to be to start with pistols and then switch to rifles.  There is actually a pretty good overlap between pistols and rifles in Fallout 4 so that you can specialize, but life will be easier if you follow this progression. 

I tend to upgrade my pistols and perks that affect them first and then my rifle perks (and modifications) afterwards.  The game even kind of does this the way it is designed.  The Gunslinger perk increases pistol dameage wereas the Rifleman perk increases rifle damage.  You can choose the first level of Gunslinger and Rifleman immediately at level 1.  Choosing level two of Gunslinger can be done at level 7 while Rifleman level two can be chosen starting at level 9.  Also, when upgrading weapons with the Gun Nut perk modifications can usually be fitted earlier to pistols.  For some players putting points into both pistol and rifle perks seems a waste of perk points but I find that it makes for an easier playthrough.  As enemies are leveling up I am able to get that little extra help from pistols earlier until my rifle perks and modifications catch up later.  The most efficient use of points would be to just use rifles but again, using pistols makes your life easier.

I also tend to play a character that has a lot of Agility and Action points which tend to favor pistols.  So if you don't have a lot of action points you will be missing out on the extra attacks in V.A.T.S. you would get with pistols.  But I also tend to have characters that have low Luck and can't take advantage of some the Critical shot type perks that can make pistols so deadly later on.  I tend to use my Rifle skills to compensate for this and bring up my luck later. 

So in short, bring a pistol and a rifle and the game will be a lot easier.  Just switch back and forth between the situation and how your character is built at the moment.  I find this much more enjoyable than grinding levels to get my character to a point that a specialized play style will work without me dying every few minutes.  Some people wouldn't see this as grinding levels but as a challenge with a reward at the end.  Fallout 4's game balance is such that players who find grinding boring don't have to do that while others who see it as a challenge can go their own way in the same game.  I think for the average or first time player a pistol and rifle combination character will be easiest and just more fun.

Fallout 4: Bring a Rifle

I like going to YouTube and watching the different character builds for Fallout 4.  They all tend to specialize in one style of combat.  Some builds use pistols, melee weapons or even heavy weapons.  I am not the expert/master regarding Fallout, but I would like to think I represent the "average" player in a sense. Almost every specialized playstyle requires skill and knowledge of the game to really pull off.  In my opinion the most versatile combat style for the average/beginning player is that of the rifleman.  In fact I believe every player should have a rifle regardless of playstyle.  For a few perk points invested in the Rifleman perk you will have a fall back weapon that can adapt to most situations.  For people new to the game you will have a weapon that will keep you alive until you decide what playstyle you want to specialize in.

Very early in the game you will run across the Overseer's Guardian rifle.  Buy it, regardless of your playstyle.  That weapon can carry you throughout the whole game.  You may want to sneak around with a melee weapon silently eliminating enemies but in the beginning you are going to fail a lot.  When you do fail pull out the Overseer's Guardian and try those Ninja moves another time.  Heavy weapons are fun but early versions don't do a lot of damage and ammo is scarce, your rifle will keep you alive until you can upgrade.  Pistols are great, but early models are not that hard hitting and they require a player perk setup that may take a few levels in order to make those pistols practical.  Explosives are great until enemies get real close and that is when your rifle can save you.  Maybe you are a high charisma character and have access to intimidation perks.  Well, sometimes intimidation fails and you have to fight and your rifle can bail you out.  Maybe you want to spray lead across the wasteland with automatic weapons.  Well, that takes ammo and a rifle can help you conserve your ammo until your stockpile gets bigger.

One of the weaknesses I see in a lot of builds base on one one weapon type that are put up on the internet and YouTube is that they require either lots of levels, special equipment, perfect gameplay or tough companions to do the fighting for you.  Adding a rifle to your toolkit will get you past some rough spots.  Early in the game I bought the Overseer's Guardian and converted it to a semi-automatic rifle and replaced the scope with the best iron sites I could craft.  I then supplemented that with a good rifle with a scope.  Using a scoped "sniper" rifle to thin out a group of enemies is always a good start.  Then switch to your playstyle of choice and if that isn't going to work or the temperature gets too hot mid-encounter switch to a rifle.

I like watching and reading about character builds.  They show you how one playstyle can really be developed and shine.  I prefer to see these playstyles as "tools" to get the job done.  Other players see them as a way to role play a character.  Either approach is fine as long as you have fun.  If I had to pick one playstyle it would be a sniper/rifleman but I prefer to have more options.  I also like switching styles because it is just fun.  Nothing like running around with a flamethrower but sometimes it just isn't practical.  Bethesda created a game where different styles can be played but I think having a "character" who can use multiple styles is really the point of Bethesda games.  Role playing can be an added challenge once you have mastered the game but I really think that Fallout 4 (and all Bethesda games) was designed for the player to "multi-role."

Well, it doesn't matter how you play the game as long as you have fun.  But I think the game gets easier and more fun when you throw a rifle into the mix.  Just my opinion, but do it your way and just have fun.

Watching the Super Bowl by Streaming on Fire TV

A couple of weeks ago I cancelled my cable TV.  The cost was too high and I decided to only pay for internet service.  Maybe not the smartest move right before the Super Bowl.  Well, yesterday I actually got to watch the game streaming it on my new Amazon Fire TV.  Times they are a changing.

San Diego SharePoint Saturday 2018

Last Saturday I went to San Diego SharePoint Saturday 2018.  It was held at CSU San Marcos.  I had a good time and learned a lot.  I  inherited an older SharePoint site at work that I maintain as part of my Training Coordinator duties.  I upload files and try to create interesting layouts that make the site easier to use.  We have moved to SharePoint (2016) Online and I needed to design it and transfer all the content from the older site.  I went to SharePoint Saturday to get some tips that might help me.

Automatic Weapons in Fallout 4

I have been playing a Rifle based character that uses Melee for some stealth kills.  I have a lot of .38 and 10 mm ammo building up because I use .45 and .308 in my rifles.  I converted my best 10 mm Pistol to automatic and tried it on some Mole Rats.  The results were good in V.A.T.S. and in real time.  Even though Ghouls are not the strongest enemies in the game I fell back to using my .45 Overseer's Guardian Combat Rifle instead of trying the 10 mm pistol or my .38 automatic pipe-rifle.  The Guardian would one shot most of the Ghouls.  My original idea was to save my .45 ammo by using the 10 mm pistol on weak enemies like Mole Rats.  But I was using so much ammo on the Mole Rats it would probably be better to sell the .38 and 10 mm ammo and buy .45 with the caps instead.

The Beginning Of My Fallout 4 Journal

I have started and restarted Fallout 4 several times now.  I think I finally have a character that I am going to like.  Through experimentation I have found that I like a couple of things.  I like to use the Melee skill in sneak mode and I also found that I like the Rifle skill the best for regular combat.  I also enjoy having my character pass the different speech checks during the game's dialog options for player characters.  With this in mind of I have created a character with the following S.P.E.C.I.A.L statistics.