Fallout 4: Switching Between Automatic Weapons and Melee Weapons

I have been experimenting with a character that uses Automatic weapons and Melee.  Automatic weapons have the weakness of using a lot of ammo.  I save a lot of ammo using melee that I can use later with my Automatic weapons.  Melee weapons are great for sneak attacks and can one shot kill an opponent when using a combination of stealth perks.  But if you are caught out in the open against a lot of opponents Melee can be kind of weak.  I use my Automatic weapons to blast my way out of those situations.  I find that these two styles of play are very complimentary since they are so very different.  I will post more observations about this type of play style as I get more experience.

Fallout 4: Start with a Charisma of 7

I have started Fallout 4 with a variety of character builds.  To make the game easier and more enjoyable I think people should start their characters with a Charisma of 7.  With a Charisma of 7 it is very easy to increase your character's Charisma to 11 by wearing a hat (+1), glasses (+1) and a suit (+2).  There are other ways to increase Charisma but this is the easiest way that I have found to get to Charisma 11.  Before I talk to characters in the game I just change into my "Charisma Outfit" and I can pass all the speech checks.  Passing a speech check will give your more experience, money (caps) and easier resolutions to a few quests.  It was just more fun and rewarding than playing a character that had better statistics for fighting but not for interacting with characters in the game world.  Also, a Charisma of 6 gives you access to the Local Leader Perk that allows you to set up supply lines between settlements.  People say that you don't have to use the settlement system in Fallout 4 but you miss a very large chunk of the game if you do.  Not having the Leader Perk makes the settlement system pretty tough and not fun in my opinion.  Starting with a Charisma higher than 7 creates a more difficult character to play with in the beginning.  I have played a character with Charisma of 10 to start with but it just took too much away from other S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats.  It caused me to have a weaker combat character.  If you want to raise your Charisma to 10 later to get better prices on items that is fine.  That is only fun though after you have a character that can fight its way though the beginning of the game.  You may decide to start a Character with lower Charisma but I would advise to keep it close to 7.  A Charisma of 5 or 6 might be practical if you are willing to add points to Charisma as you level up.  But I have found that starting with anything lower than that (like a Charisma of 1) is a real struggle to add points to later on.  You really don't want to have to add points for six levels and pass up other perks that will help you early on.  You might be waiting until level 30 or above to add those points if you try to squeeze them in between early useful perks.  In the meantime you will miss a lot of speech check and settlement building opportunities.