"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change, that lives within the means available and works co-operatively against common threats."
Charles Darwin
The Leaden Ghost
VATS Sniper Character Build for Fallout New Vegas
CHARACTER SNAPSHOT
Introducing The Leaden Ghost ! An introvert yet clever and goodhearted computer scientist who patrovol the Mojave. Helping those in need with his technological knowledge and skills as a sharpshooter. His sneaky playstyle is best helped with the brute force of Veronica, everyone's favorite brotherhood scribe, who will be her partner in crime for most of his adventures.
BACKSTORY
The Leaden Ghost was born in a small village in New Mexico, built near the ruins of Albuquerque. It was a miserable place where the only settlers left where only the old and the stuborn, most of its inhabitants abanonned the place over the years, searching more promising prospects, leaving the village to slowly crumble to dust. For The Leaden Ghost's parents, it was clear that their son would be part of the very last generation of childrens, before the village vanish foreverer. A generation, from which he would be the only representative. While the young boy didn't start life with the the brighest prospects imaginiable, he always found ways to kill time. When wasn't alone in his room, quietly reading pre-war books and magazines on various subjects related to technology, he scavenged ruines of factories and buldings full of pre-war technology he would bring home to either collect or dissect with a screwdriver.
Hoewever, one day he made a discovery that changed his entire life...
While he was exploring a cave, expecting to find a simple cool place with nothing interesting to bring back, he found in a giant metal door at the end of the tunnel. Somehow, he manadged to oppened it.
Maybe the excitement he felt while diving into the vast corridors of the vault he foud in his youth could be also found by weaving meaningful threads with humans. Craving for a big change in his life, he travalled to the Mojave where he took job as a courrier. Hoping it might help him to meet a bunch of interesting folks. And when all know what happened, he got captured by Benny, deprived of the package he was supposed to deliever and left for dead in the graveyard near Goodsprings.
GAMEPLAY
Gameplay wise, The Leaden Ghost is a pretty straightforward character. Simply sneak into the perfect position then quickly eliminate your targets with well-placed shoots of the holorifle. Even if the focus of the build are on VATS shots, The Leaden Ghost is so efficient that he can fight without it. Threats are approaching you ? Don't worry ! Veronica (or any companion who currently follow you) will deal with them with her powerful fist while you replace yourself in a more profitable and distant position. The holorifle is so powerful that ennemies kill with them are usually blasted into a pile of dust which is super satisyfing
All of this really helped to immerse yourself in the shoes of a compunter nerd who his knowledge and the various technologies he has at his disposal to make up for his lack of proper military training.
S.P.E.C.I.A.L., TRAITS, STATS AND PERK SPREAD
The Leaden Ghost will leave Goodsprings with the following traits and S.P.E.C.I.A.L attribution.
Strength is just what you need. It can be boosted to 10 if needed thanks to the nerd rage perk
Perception is crucial to aim your holorifle and VATS shots. It will be boosted to 10 thanks to some perks
Endurance is not really important for the build but you still need some to survive a few hits.
Charisma is not very useful for any FNV builds anyways + The Leaden Ghost is always seen as a weirdo by other so it mactches is personality.
Intelligence is essential to get most of his perks and to gain more XP.
Agility is essentiel for VATS shoots, it's also important to move quickly which is important for a glass cannon like this character.
Now for the perk order, it was chosen with a natural progression kept in mind. I choosed to prioritize some "scholar" perks like Educated and Comprehension because the earlier you take them, the more useful they are throuought the game. At level 40 you will have a really efficient stealth sniper build who will also have the option to tap into other unperked skills thanks to magazines i needed.
Inspirations
- Threads (1984) by Mick Jackson
- Robocop (1987) by Paul Verhoeven
- Fevvy's VATS Sniper build for Fallout 4
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