Hello readers! Just like with Elder Scrolls, I have a good idea of what I like when it comes to playing Fallout. That’s why I’m excited to share with you all my first Fallout 4 build which I had an absolute blast with. It might not have some of the amazing synergy we’ll probably get from some future builds, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!
The Technician
As a veteran military technician in the US Army, you’ve worked on and tinkered with all sorts of hardware - from a simple sidearm to the mighty suits of Power Armour employed in the years before the bombs fell. You left that life behind when you retired from the military to start a family, but after the Great War, everything changed. You’ll be damned if you don't put your skills to use to track down those who took your son and restore some semblance of order to the Wasteland.
As the Technician you focus on using a variety of rifles and automatic weapons to overcome enemies, bringing 3 or 4 different firearms customised to tackle different situations and ranges. At higher levels you also employ advanced suits of Power Armour to stand up to the Wasteland’s most dangerous challenges. Good friends are hard to find in the Commonwealth but you won’t regret bringing one along for companionship and their invaluable combat support.
S.P.E.C.I.A.L
Being a firearms based character, the Technician’s starting SPECIAL focus primarily on mental stats.
Strength (3): Typically melee is avoided, but 3 points of Strength gives access to the Armourer perk.
Perception (5): Essential for some basic perks like Rifleman and Locksmith. The improved VATS accuracy is invaluable in close quarters to make up for your low health.
Endurance (3): 3 ranks at character creation stops you from being completely shredded by the dangers of the Commonwealth, and gives access to the Life Giver perk, which provides regeneration outside of combat.
Charisma (6): An above average Charisma gives you access to some important dialogue options, and, more importantly, the Local Leader perk.
Intelligence (6): Intelligence is the Technician’s primary statistic, and a starting score of 6 gives access to Science, Scrapper, Hacker and Gun Nut.
Agility (4): Agility is started off below average, used early on only for the Commando perk.
Luck (1): Who needs luck when you’ve personally crafted the best equipment available and have the skills to use it?
The Technician's workshop - where the magic happens
Advancement
While adventuring through the Commonwealth from level 1 to 66, I found my playthrough as the Technician could be broken up into 4 fairly distinct stages, marked primarily by new ranks in crafting perks - Armourer, Gun Nut and Science. In this section I’ll outline the most important as well as suggested perk and SPECIAL advancements for each stage, as well as my favoured equipment. Click here if you'd like the full perk sheet from my playthrough.
My arsenal typically consisted of 4 weapons - a sniper weapon for long range, a battle rifle for medium range, an automatic pistol or carbine for close range and a shotgun for point blank. Each stage features a new iteration of each of these weapon types, keeping combat nice and interesting throughout. Rather than posting a full list of weapon modifications here, I’ll link to an in-game screenshot listing them.
The first stage (from levels 1-12) is all about the essentials. This means the Technician’s basic crafting perks (Armourer, Gun Nut, Scrapper and Science 1), weapon skills (Rifleman and Commando 1) and exploration skills (Hacker and Locksmith 2). At this stage no extra points are required in SPECIAL stats, but you have a bit left over to spend anywhere you like - or save them for stage 2. On the topic of SPECIAL however, getting a good outfit together can be a real help. I used the Minuteman outfit (+1 PER and AGI) along with a Military Cap and Sunglasses (+1 PER each). Combining these with a mix of Metal and Leather armour provided an excellent mix of ballistic and energy resistances. Try to avoid using Power Armour except for the most difficult of fights, as the T-45 suit is very inefficient!
- Scoped Laser Musket - Basic high single-target damage at extreme ranges.
- Long Combat Rifle - The Combat Rifle is amazing at low levels, downing many enemies in a couple of rounds with a wide effective range.
- Automatic Pipe Rifle - A surprisingly versatile weapon, filling both the carbine role while still being effective at medium range.
- Short Double-Barrel Shotgun - Shortening the barrel cuts down on weight without reducing effectiveness.
Even with basic equipment, the Technician's training pulls him through the Commonwealth's many challenges
Once you’re up to stage 2 (level 13-25), continue increasing your basic skills and look at investing into other useful perks, like Local Leader (if you’re doing settlement building), Inspirational (improved companions and removed friendly fire - requires a Charisma investment), Medic and Life Giver (passive regeneration at rank 3). As for equipment, I managed to get my hands on some Military Fatigues (+2 AGI with Energy resistance) and the white and orange Brotherhood of Steel uniform (Improved resistances). From here onwards simply use the best suit of Combat Armour upgraded to Fiberglass with Pocketed/Deep Pocketed, providing the best balance of looks and stats (in my opinion). Don’t be afraid to use any exciting Legendaries you come across though - Synth legendaries are fairly common and go well with Combat Armour. I was lucky enough to find a Martyr’s Left Arm. The BoS uniform looks fantastic in combination with a Synth Field Helmet, though you sacrifice some SPECIAL boosts.
- Sniper Rifle - Now that you’ve got a decent supply of .308 ammo, move on to the Hunting Rifle upgraded with a full sniper kit. The Laser Musket is phased out for the time being as its ammunition is used for…
- Righteous Authority - One of the best weapons available at this stage, using a Sniper Barrel with a Reflex Sight on a Laser Rifle provides great damage and makes it effective at any range - especially in VATS. Paladin Danse’s Righteous Authority is easy to obtain and has a great unique property.
- 10mm Auto Pistol - Now that your Gun Nut is rank 2, you can craft some of the really good customisations for this weapon. I was lucky enough to find one with a Wounding legendary, pretty much doubling the damage output.
- Short Double-Barrel Shotgun/Combat Shotgun - With an upgraded Combat Shotgun, you can get roughly the same damage per shot as the double barrel with a much higher rate of fire and larger magazine. However, I had a good Legendary double barrel shotgun (Plasma Infused) so I decided to stick with that for now.
Always keep your eyes open and your gun ready when exploring Boston...
In Stage 3 (level 26-41), continue improving your crafting and weapon skills and starting investing more heavily in Intelligence - Nuclear Physicist is the target here. Once you start getting ranks in it and find a good suit of Power Armour (T-60 or better) don’t be afraid to start taking it along when you think you’ll need it. Try and pick up a Brotherhood Knight Uniform (the darker green one) - it goes great with your Combat Armor, Sunglasses and Military Cap.
- 6-Crank Laser Musket - With Science 3, it’s time to bring out the Laser Musket again. I found the Sniper Rifle started to lose its one-shot kill capability around level 30, but cranking this weapon 6 times gives it a phenomenal damage per shot - though there’s a rather long delay before you can firing at full power.
- Overseer’s Guardian - You can purchase this unique Combat Rifle from Vault 81 - it fires 2 projectiles per pull of the trigger. The Calibrated Powerful Receiver gives this weapon excellent damage output at any distance. You can buy this earlier if you like but I grabbed it around level 30 to stick to a nice power curve.
- 10mm Auto Pistol / Short Assault Rifle - I stuck with my Wounding 10mm Pistol here, though the Assault Rifle is also a good choice once 5.56 rounds start becoming more common. Assault Rifles typically have good hipfire accuracy, a high rate of fire and low recoil.
- Advanced Combat Shotgun - Solid damage with high capacity. Not using some of the higher tier mods on some slots here to keep the weight down. What more could you want in a shotgun?
The Overseer's Guardian - a truly formidable weapon when properly upgraded
Stage 4 is where the real fun begins. By now, you should have been able to piece together most of a suit of X-01 Power Armour (if you’re have trouble, I would recommend the Big Dig quest and the military shelter in the Glowing Sea). The X-01 suit is the most power efficient suit in the Commonwealth and has the best protective abilities and upgrades too. See the diagram below for my modifications of choice.
From here on, you’ll pretty much be in your Power Armour all the time - I actually gained Fusion Cores over the course of my playthrough after this point. Once you max out your core skills, it’s really up to you where you go from here. I grabbed little helpful things like Nerd Rage (combos nicely with Curie's perk and a Martyr item), Demolition Expert, and Awareness as well as Scrounger and Cap Collector to keep up with ammunition for ammo-hungry weapons via finding and buying ammo. Another good investment is points in Agility and Action Boy/Girl to power your jetpack.
- Gauss Rifle: Customising a Gauss Rifle for maximum damage and range is a no-brainer. I was very lucky and found an Instigating Gauss Rifle, allowing me to do a *lot* of damage with Sneak Attacks. I almost always charged this up for maximum damage per shot, but uncharged shots can be good in a pinch.
- Plasma Rifle: Much like the Righteous Authority, kitting this one out with a Sniper Barrel and Reflex Sight makes it very effective at any range in and out of VATS. Requires a little more skill since you need to compensate for travel time however.
- Overseer’s Guardian: Now that you can build the Powerful Automatic Receiver, throw one on your Overseer’s Guardian. The high recoil of this weapon makes it less effective at long range on full auto, so cut it down and customise it for close quarters. I renamed mine “Corner Checker” to reflect its new role.
- I opted to skip shotguns at this stage. You can get so much more DPS out of your carbine, and the Plasma Scattergun (with the splitter attachment) simply isn’t efficient to use with the relatively rare and expensive ammunition.
Having reached the peak of his art, the Technician is ready for anything
Gameplay/Video
When playing the Technician, the key to maximizing your effectiveness is picking the right weapon for the situation. As you’ll see in my video, my battle rifle is my go-to weapon, but opening with a couple of sniper shots while sneaking and switching to a more suitable weapon in close corners ensures you’re almost always at an advantage.
Compared to some other characters, you’re relatively flimsy out of Power Armour. I tried to avoid close quarters when up against a superior force, but a dose of Jet or a companion can help you out here. Bringing a companion along helps you avoid damage while they draw fire and dish out damage of their own.
When you’re in Power Armour, you can adopt a much more aggressive combat style, using your added protection and jetpack to reach the best firing positions available for the situation. I preferred to move to close range if I could get there without taking too many hits - this is where you can be most effective in Power Armour. The Explosive Vent is really the cornerstone of close combat here, staggering enemies and dealing no small amount of damage, allowing for free follow-up shots from a close range weapon.
Taking to the skies can open many new combat opportunities
I rarely had to use consumables apart from cooked food early on to keep my health up. Later in the game you can mostly rely on Life Giver 3 and the occasional Stimpak to stay alive.
Here’s a video I took showing off some gameplay with and without Power Armour. My character is level 65 at this point, and I’m playing on Very Hard.
Roleplaying
The Technician is really defined by his past in the military, valuing order and loyalty as he strives to achieve peace and safety throughout the Commonwealth. This makes for a ‘good guy’ approach to dealing with everyday people, with options to use your Charisma to resolve things peacefully or to go in guns blazing. An interest in technology and science from before the war means that the clear faction choice here is the militaristic and technologically advanced Brotherhood of Steel, though the Minutemen and Institute are also reasonable choices. I didn’t focus too heavily on settlement building, but I built a few well-defended strongholds throughout the Commonwealth.
The Technician’s values work well with any of the ‘good’ companions - Paladin Danse and Curie were my favourites, but others like Preston, Piper and Nick work well too.
Closing Remarks
Thanks for reading my first Fallout 4 build! It’s overall concept is fairly basic but I had a lot of fun with this character and I think other people can too. It really accentuates some of the best parts of Fallout 4, like the weapon customisation, shooting mechanics and Power Armour system.
Replies
This is precisely the kind of versatility I was looking for in a fallout 4 build. Great job sir.
Excellent build, Ponty. I feel like it is WAY more fun tinkering in Fallout 4 than crafting ever was in Skyrim. It doesn't feel like a grind to be a gun modder or work on your power armor. You don't need 50000 black soul gems to take your gun to the maxium, which is very nice.
Thanks for your kind words! I think the modding system is definitely one of the best parts of the game, and it's certainly what got me most excited in the E3 reveal. Really shines through in some of the more adaptable weapons like the pipe and laser guns.
I second this. Crafting is something I hate hate doing in games, especially Skyrim. But Fallout 4's system is an absolute joy to work with.