Fallout 2/Character creation

This walkthrough is different in its approach, and a special "highly-tuned" character is used to maximize effectiveness. The walkthrough will walk you through in getting the Power Armor early on in the game (or at least after Vault City), and that is largely responsible for high and low stats featured in the selected character.

The pre-selected characters can finish the game. Chitsa is the best, as her intelligence will enable her to finish most of the quests in the game. Narg is a melee fighter, which is pretty ineffective since virtually all of the good weapons are ranged attacks. And Mingan, well...a thief-type is horrible at combat and really isn't great. The character included below can be considered a heavily modified Chitsa (I used that character as a base for this one).

Now, here are two very conspicious traits that need to be acknowledged, though they don't have a big impact on the game:


 * Yes, in Fallout, you can choose whether to be female or male. For the most part, it really doesn't matter what your gender is, but there are subtle differences that will be taken in account:
 * 1) *Females
 * 2) **In the Den, females can screw a bartender in The Hole for $200. They can also screw Joey, the gangster, (though apparently for nothing). One major advantage is that females can screw Metzger to buy Vic for half the price.
 * 3) **In Modoc, females can marry either Miria or Davin.
 * 4) **In New Reno, females will have difficulty convincing Stuart to sign you up for the boxing championships. Also, females can screw T-Ray (the chop-shop mechanic) to get the car back (he'll steal it) and screw him again to get upgrades.
 * 5) *Males
 * 6) **In the Den, males can screw a prostitute, although they have to pay to get that service done.
 * 7) **In Modoc, males can only marry Miria.
 * 8) **In Vault City, it's possible to date Phyllis for experience. Males can also donate sperm to diversify the genetic base in Vault City.
 * 9) **In New Reno, males have to pay the car mechanics to get the car back without violence. In addition, males are able to screw Angela, bishop's daughter.
 * 10) Age will also have a slight bearing on what you'll be able to do and what you won't be. I haven't really had any problems with this, as this one is more so about personal preference.

Character sheet (used to beat the game):

Gender: Female Age:   19 years

Primary Skills     Traits         Tagged Skills --     --         -- Strength:     4     Gifted         Small Guns Perception:  6     Small Frame    Melee Weapons Endurance:   6                    Speech Charisma:    8 Intelligence: 9 Agility:     10 Luck:        5

Now, here are details about each of the skills and, in some cases, will describe why the skill levels were chosen for this character.

Main skills
They're pretty self explanatory, but on the descriptions it tells what each skill modifies. All skills are important, but try to keep Luck, Strength, and Perception at least at 4. Characters with Intelligence values of three or less face a totally different game...the only options that you'll receive in dialogue are "Ruk" and "Eeg," as well as the occasional "Yah," "Uh-Huh," and "want morE." The average level for all skills is 5.


 * Strength:
 * It modifies carry weight, hit points, weapon handling, and some weapon skills.
 * In this case, Strength is set at 4. The Power Armor will easily offset the penalty from having low strength.


 * Perception:
 * It modifies some skills and increases accuracy at range.
 * A Perception of 6 will allow your character to shoot at decent range. If you take mentats, you will be able to get the Sniper perk later on.


 * Endurance:
 * Toughness. It modifies some skills, hit points, and resistance to poison and radiation.
 * An Endurance of 6 was simply chosen to offset the hit point penalties incurred from the low strength.


 * Charisma:
 * Looks. It modifies speech and barter, as well as NPC reactions. If you divide it by two and round down, that is the number of NPC's you can have. It decreases if you get second-level armor implants.
 * Having a Charisma of 8 will be beneficial for some dialogue options and will allow your character to have 4 NPC's. If you get armor implants, it'll go down to 7 or 6, which is still a respectable level.


 * Intelligence:
 * It modifies dialogue options (gives you more), skill points given per level, and 'science' skills. High intelligence is important and will enable you to complete most of the game's quests.
 * An Intelligence of 9 won't give every dialogue option, but will be able (I think) to finish every quest available (although you'll have to repeat the game many many times; i.e., side with Hubologists in one game, the Shi in the other, etc.).


 * Agility:
 * Speed. It modifies many skills, armor class, and action points. It is one of the most important combat skills.
 * An Agility of 10 will give you 10 action points, which in turn will enable you to shoot twice per round, up to 5 with the right perks and traits.


 * Luck:
 * It modifies critical chance, some skills, and the outcome of the game.
 * A Luck of 5 was chosen - this is "neutral" and will buffer out most random encounters.

Secondary skills
Here is a list of other skills that you'll face. Whenever you create a character, you have to choose three tag skills. Tagging a secondary skill gives you an instant 20% bonus for that skill and 2% increase for each skill point used to increase the tag skill.


 * Small Guns:
 * The use of rifles, pistols, and various small arms. Be sure to tag this one, since most combat will take place with small arms. This skill can be increased by reading the popular magazine 'Guns and Bullets.'
 * This skill was tagged because most of the game's more practical weapons are small guns. Small guns are composed of a very diverse group of guns, from the weak pipe-rifle (pea-shooter) as well as the extremely powerful G11E and M72 guns.


 * Big Guns:
 * The use of miniguns, rocket launchers, and flamethrowers. This skill isn't that great because big guns are fairly easy to aim (with the given strength) and that some small arms are better than these large weapons. (And even then, energy weapons are better than all of these...) Don't tag this one, nor should you really consider building this skill. The only good guns in this selection include the Bozar, CZ53 "Avenger", and the Vindicator minigun.


 * Energy Weapons:
 * The use of all weapons powered by power cells. This one is good in the endgame. The selection of Energy weapons includes the strongest single-shot weapon in the game, the YK42B Pulse Rifle.


 * Unarmed:
 * The use of fists in combat. This skill helps early on, but it becomes pretty useless in the midgame. This is useful only in boxing rounds.


 * Melee Weapons:
 * The use of knives, sledgehammers, spears, and the like.
 * I tagged this because the Super Sledgehammer can be found early on. It's light and insanely powerful, and can knock down enemies from a long distance.


 * Throwing:
 * Use of throwing knives and grenades. Pretty useless, if you ask me. In the fist place, grenades are hard to find and second, even with something like 70% skill, grenades suffer from having a relatively low accuracy to hit your desired target. And grenades are quite expensive.


 * First Aid:
 * Recovers a few hit points. You can increase this skill with first aid books. It is pretty useless to tag or to build since you can read books (and that First Aid kits increase your success with this skill.)


 * Doctor:
 * Recovers a few more hit points than first aid and you can heal crippled limbs. I've healed crippled limbs with 45% skill, and a doctor's bag increases your chance of success with this skill. You should build this to 90% to research combat implants at Vault City.


 * Sneak:
 * The art of moving around without making people notice. I really haven't found much use for this skill. You can ignore it. Even a low skill will enable you to assassinate the President in the end-game. *


 * Steal:
 * Pretty self explanatory. I didn't have a need to steal from other characters, so I ignored it. And the chances of success are greatly enhanced from stealing from the back of the character. *


 * Lockpick:
 * The art of picking locked doors. Now this is one thief-type skill that you should pay attention to. Work on this one and build it to about 65% or so. You won't have to run through the end-game maze with a skill of 85-90% as well as a decent traps skill.
 * NOTE: Using lockpicks increases skill by 25%. Using the upgraded lockpick sets will increase it even more.


 * Traps:
 * The skill of arming explosives and disarming traps. Not too important; 50% is adequate for arming explosives and detecting a few traps. It's also enough to disarm the end-game maze doors.


 * Science:
 * Covers primarily computers as well as biology, chemistry, physics, etc. It can be increased by reading 'The Big Book of Science.'


 * Repair:
 * Covers standard repair techniques. Build to about 60%. It can be increased by using the tool as well as reading 'Dean's Electronics.'
 * NOTE: Using a tool increases skill by 25%. A Super Tool Kit will increase it even more.


 * Speech:
 * The act of convincing others that you are right. This skill is second to small guns, and is extremely useful in bullshitting other people.
 * I tagged this one - it enables your character to convince others to do what you want. You can take a diplomatic end-game approach with this skill, and will allow you to complete a few quests.


 * Barter:
 * This skill is used to determine trade prices. Unlike Fallout, where you would receive good prices, Fallout 2's bargains are worse - even if you raise the skill to insane levels you'll be hard-pressed to get good deals.


 * Gambling:
 * Again, pretty self explanatory. There are more places to gamble and more things that require lots of money (compared to Fallout), so you might consider building it up. I passed it.


 * Outdoors:
 * Practical knowledge of the outdoors. You can read Scout handbooks to raise this skill. This skill will determine, to a lesser extent, how far you can travel in a day and what random encounters you'll face.


 * One reader (Prisnr2436@aol.com) has said that he found the Sneak and Steal skills to be useful. He used the Sneak skill to open lockers that a person with low sneak would have difficulty opening (i.e., guards are around) and used the Steal skill to pilfer items from people (i.e., Bozars from the guards at NCR).

Derived statistics
Derived statistics are statistics that are a direct result of the main statistics, in other words, increase and decrease a skill and see what happens. NOTE: These are straight out from the Fallout manual.


 * Hit Points: The number of "life" points. If it goes to zero, so will you.
 * Formula : HP = 15 + (2 x EN) + ST. Average is 30.


 * Armor Class: The higher it is, the harder it is for the enemy to hit you.
 * Formula : AC = AG + Armor worn. Average is 5.


 * Action Points: Determines what you can do during combat. They are displayed by the green lights in combat.
 * Formula : AP = 0.5 x AG + 5. Average is 7.


 * Carry Weight: Mass of how much equipment you can carry, rated in pounds. You can barter for more equipment than you can carry.
 * Formula : 25 + (25 x ST). Average is 150 pounds.


 * Melee Damage: How much extra damage your character does in melee or unarmed attacks.
 * Formula : ST - 5, min.1. Average is 1.


 * Damage Threshold: How much damage your armor can withstand when you are hit.
 * Formula : DR = 0 + Armor


 * Damage Resistance: How much damage your armor can resist when you are hit. The value given in the character screen pertains to normal attacks, while the value given in the inventory screen pertains to different types of attacks, including normal but also explosive,fire, laser, and plasma to name some.
 * Formula : DR = 0% + Armor (Combat Armor has 40% DR)


 * NPC Slots: How many allied NPC characters that can be in your party.
 * Formula : NPCS = CH / 2, round down (A Charisma of 7 will give you 3 NPC slots). Average is 2 NPC slots.


 * Poison Resistance: How much poison damage that you can resist.
 * Formula : PR = 5 x EN. Average is 25%.


 * Radiation Resistance: How much radiation damage that you can resist. Radiation can affect any character, and the only way to get maximum resistance is using RadX.
 * Formula : RR = 2 x EN + Armor Resistance (Combat Armor has 30% Resistance). Average is 10%.


 * Sequence: Determines who will attack first in combat. Higher is better.
 * Formula : SQ = 2 x PE. Average is 10.


 * Healing Rate: How much you can heal in three hours of rest.
 * Formula : HR = 0.5 x EN, min.1. Average is 1.


 * Critical Chance: Chance of scoring a critical hit on the opponent. I think it increases up to 4 times with a hit to the eyes.
 * Formula : CC = LK. Average is 5%.


 * Poison is measured in units; keep it below 25.
 * Being 'raidiated' qualifies having a rem count of 75, with 300 or above being quite serious. A rem count of 5 or higher will bring symptoms of nausea; a rem count of 75 is quite serious, while a rem count of 300 or higher is fatal. If you have enough radiation in your body to necessiate attention, the message 'Radiation' will appear on the screen.

Traits
You can choose up to two traits. Traits have both good points and bad points. Be careful in choosing traits because after you select, there's no going back.Here is a list:


 * Fast Metabolism: Your body is much less resistant to poison and radiation, but it heals faster. Don't take this one: you'll want some poison resistance and you'll have to take two RadX's to get complete radiation resistance with or without this perk (unless you have the Rad Resistance perk or 10 endurance and Power Armor), and that there are plenty of stimpacks lying around. Don't take this one.
 * Bruiser: Your strength is increased by two but your actions points are decreased by two. Not a good one...you'll need all the action points that you have.
 * Small Frame: Your agility is increased by one but your carry weight drops by 30 pounds. It isn't too bad, but the carry weight decrease hurts in the beginning. It's worth it for the agility increase.
 * One Hander: You are good with one-handed weapons but are bad with two handed weapons. Not a good choice, since the best weapons are two handed.
 * Finesse: Your normal attacks do 30% less damage but your critical chance is increased by 10%. Not too bad of a tradeoff, but I didn't tag this one. And critical damage isn't affected.
 * Kamikaze: Depletes your armor class to what you are wearing but increases sequence by 5. It isn't that great because 6 perception is adequate enough for sequence.
 * Heavy Handed: Your melee damage is increased by 4 but criticals do 30% less damage. Good in the beginning, and criticals do heaps of damage anyway. But it isn't good in the end, where super mutants and deathclaws lurk around.
 * Fast Shot: You can't aim, but your total cost is decreased by one. It isn't a bad tradeoff if you have high critical chance, and is really really good if you take the perks 'Bonus Ranged Attack,' 'Sniper,' or 'Slayer.' The turbo plasma rifle will cost 2 AP's to shoot and the super sledgehammer will only cost 1 AP with those perks. Since most of the aforementioned perks come up in the end, it is good to pass this one by.
 * Bloody Mess: You will always see a grosteque death animation whenever you kill a critter. There really isn't a downside to this, so you can take this one if you want to.
 * Jinxed: Everybody makes more critical failures, but so do you! If you have 9 or 10 Luck, you'll make few critical failures. Only take it if you have 9 or 10 Luck. It happens a lot more to your enemies and NPC allies rather than yourself.
 * Good Natured: Your combat skills are decreased by 10%, but speech, doctor, science, etc. are increased by 15%. Not that great...you'll need high combat skills while 70% or so in the non-combat areas will let you go through the game easily.
 * Chem Reliant: Your addiction rate is increased by 200%, but your withdrawal rate is only 50%. Some drugs, like RadAway, have a 10% addiction rate and no withdrawal...so, it isn't worth it.
 * Chem Resistant: Your addiction rate is 50% of normal, but chems only last for half as long. Not too bad, since combat doesn't take a long time on the Fallout clock.
 * Sex Appeal: To NPC's of the opposite sex, your Charisma is increased by one. The inverse holds true for NPC's of the same sex.
 * Skilled: You get 5 extra skill points per level, but you get a perk every four levels. You'll want those perks as early as possible...they are quite useful. Pass this one on.
 * Gifted: All of your primary stats are increased by one, but you get 5 fewer skill points per level and your secondary skills are lowered by 10%. This is among the best traits, since there are only a few skills that you really need to work on.

Perks
At certain points in the game (after each 3rd level or 4th level with skilled) you will be able to pick a perk for your character. Perks are different than traits in that they only offer positive things; obviously, there are many useless perks and a select few that absolutely shine. After the detailed list of perks, a short list will follow that will include the "good" perks.

Note that there is a primary statistic level for most perks. You can take drugs (e.g., Mentats or Buffout) to get perks that you wouldn't normally get. This is especially useful for Sniper/Slayer as they have fairly high skill requirements.


 * Action Boy: It gives you one extra action point per level.
 * Requirements: 5 Agility, Level 12
 * Ranks: 3


 * Adrenaline Rush: Strength is increased by one if hit points fall below 50%.
 * Requirements: 1-9 Strength, Level 6
 * Ranks: 1


 * Awareness: You get to see a critter's hit points and what weapon they are carrying. Really good.
 * Requirements: 5 Perception, Level 3
 * Ranks: 1


 * Better Criticals: It enables instant death and increases damage done by all criticals by 20%.
 * Requirements: 6 Perception and Luck, 4 Agility, Level 9
 * Ranks: 1


 * Bonus HtH Attacks: All hand-to-hand attacks cost one less action point to perform.
 * Requirements: 6 Agility, Level 6
 * Ranks: 1


 * Bonus HtH Damage: All hand-to-hand attacks deal two extra hit points of damage per level.
 * Requirements: 6 Agility, 6 Strength, Level 3
 * Ranks: 3


 * Bonus Move: It gives you two free action points to move around per level.
 * Requirements: 5 Agility, Level 6
 * Ranks: 3


 * Bonus Ranged Damage: All ranged attacks deal two extra hit points of damage per level.
 * Requirements: 6 Agility and Luck, Level 6
 * Ranks: 2


 * Bonus Rate of Fire: All attacks (except unarmed) cost one less action point.
 * Requirements: 7 Agility, 6 Intelligence, 4 Perception, Level 9
 * Ranks: 1


 * Comprehension: Your character will gain an additional 50% skill points when reading books like Guns and Bullets, Dean's Electronics, etc.
 * Requirements: 6 Intelligence, Level 3
 * Ranks: 1


 * Cult of Personality: Your reputation is always positive. Great for evil characters.
 * Requirements: 10 Charisma, Level 12
 * Ranks: 1


 * Demolition Expert: Explosives will do more damage and will detonate on time.
 * Requirements: 4 Agility, 90% Traps, Level 9
 * Ranks: 1


 * Dodger: A 5% increase in armor class in addition to armor class bonus when armor is worn per level.
 * Requirements: 4 Agility, Level 9
 * Ranks: 2


 * Earlier Sequence: It adds two to your sequence per level.
 * Requirements: 6 Perception, Level 3
 * Ranks: 3


 * Educated: Adds two extra skill points whenever you level up per level.
 * Requirements: 6 Intelligence, Level 6
 * Ranks: 3


 * Empathy: Highlights in blue better dialogue choices; highlights in red for bad dialogue choices.
 * Requirements: 7 Perception, 5 Intelligence, Level 6
 * Ranks: 1


 * Explorer: You'll get more random encounters with this perk.
 * Requirements: Level 9
 * Ranks: 1


 * Faster Healing: Healing rate is increased by one per level.
 * Requirements: 6 Endurance, Level 3
 * Ranks: 3


 * Fortune Finder: You'll find more money in random encounters.
 * Requirements: 8 Luck, Level 6
 * Ranks: 1


 * Gambler: A one-time bonus of 20% to the Gambling skill.
 * Requirements: 50% Gambling, Level 6
 * Ranks: 1


 * Gain Skill: Adds one point to one primary skill.
 * Requirements: 1-9 in skill, Level 9
 * Ranks: 1


 * Ghost: It's a one-time bonus of 20% to the Sneak skill.
 * Requirements: 60% Sneak, Level 6
 * Ranks: 1


 * Harmless: Another one-time bonus, this time a 20% bump to the Steal skill.
 * Requirements: 50% Steal, 49+ Karma points, Level 6
 * Ranks: 1


 * Healer: You heal two to five more hit points when using First Aid or the Doctor skills per level.
 * Requirements: 7 Perception, 6 Agility, 5 Intelligence, 40% First Aid, Level 3
 * Ranks: 3


 * Heave Ho!: This perk will increase your strength by two for determining range with thrown weapons per level. It won't affect carry weight, skills, etc.
 * Requirements: Level 6
 * Ranks: 3


 * Here and Now: Your character gains an additional level instantly.
 * Requirements: Level 9
 * Ranks: 1


 * Karma-Sutra Master: Gives better reactions to NPCs when having sex.
 * Requirements: 5 Endurance adn Agility, Level 6
 * Ranks: 1


 * Karma Beacon: Karma is doubled for the purposes of dialogue.
 * Requirements: 6 Charisma, Level 6
 * Ranks: 1


 * Lifegiver: You will gain four hit points when you gain a level per level.
 * Requirements: 4 Endurance, Level 12
 * Ranks: 3


 * Living Anatomy: A bonus of 10% to the doctor skill as well as dealing 5 extra points of damage to living creatures. Excellent perk.
 * Requirements: 60% Doctor, Level 12
 * Ranks: 1


 * Master Thief: It's a one-time bonus of 15% to the Lockpick and Steal skills.
 * Requirements: Level 12
 * Ranks: 1


 * Master Trader: You have a 25% discount whenever you purchase or barter goods from a store or another person.
 * Requirements: 7 Charisma, 60% Barter, Level 9
 * Ranks: 1


 * Medic: It's a one-time bonus of 20% to the First Aid and Doctor skills.
 * Requirements: Level 12
 * Ranks: 1


 * More Criticals: Increases critical chance by 5% per level.
 * Requirements: 6 Luck, Level 6
 * Ranks: 3


 * Mr. Fixit: It's a one-time bonus of 20% to the Repair and Science skills.
 * Requirements: Level 12
 * Ranks: 1


 * Mutate!: It changes one of your traits into something else.
 * Requirements: Level 9
 * Ranks: 1


 * Mysterious Stranger: A stranger comes from time to time to help you out.
 * Requirements: 4 Luck, Level 9
 * Ranks: 1


 * Negotiator: Gives a one-time bonus of 10% to the Speech and Barter skills.
 * Requirements: 50% Speech, 50% Barter, Level 6
 * Ranks: 1


 * Night Vision: It reduces the overall darkness by 10% per level.
 * Requirements: 6 Perception, Level 3
 * Ranks: 3


 * Pathfinder: It reduces your travel time by 25% per level.
 * Requirements: 6 Endurance, 40% Outdoorsman, Level 6
 * Ranks: 2


 * Pickpocket: This perk lets you ignore size and facing modifiers when you are stealing.
 * Requirements: 8 Agility, 80% Steal, Level 9
 * Ranks: 1


 * Presence: It improves the NPC's reaction by 10% per level.
 * Requirements: 6 Charisma, Level 3
 * Ranks: 3


 * Pyromaniac: Your character will do 5 more damage with flamethrowers.
 * Requirements: 75% Big Guns, Level 9
 * Ranks: 1


 * Quick Pockets: With this perk, one less action point to access the inventory than normal per level.
 * Requirements: 5 Agility, Level 3
 * Ranks: 3


 * Rad Resistance: It increases your radiation resistance by 15% per level.
 * Requirements: 6 Endurance, 4 Intelligence, Level 6
 * Ranks: 2


 * Ranger: The Outdoorsman skill is increased by 15%.
 * Requirements: 6 Perception, Level 6
 * Ranks: 1


 * Scout: It increases the size of explorations on the world map by one square for each direction.
 * Requirements: 8 Perception, Level 3
 * Ranks: 1


 * Scrounger: In a random encounter, it doubles the amount of ammunition that you find.
 * Requirements: 8 Luck, Level 9
 * Ranks: 1


 * Sharpshooter: It increases your perception for range modifiers only per level.
 * Requirements: 7 Perception, 6 Intelligence, Level 6
 * Ranks: 2


 * Silent Death: With this perk, you can use the Sneak skill and attack a critter using a hand-to-hand attack from the back for double damage.
 * Requirements: 10 Agility, 80% Sneak, Level 18
 * Ranks: 1


 * Silent Running: You can run and sneak at the same time with this perk.
 * Requirements: 6 Agility, 50% Sneak, Level 6
 * Ranks: 1


 * Slayer: A 10-sided dice is rolled. If the number is equal to or below your luck, you'll get a critical hit with unarmed or melee weapons. It's really nice and works extremely well with the Super Sledgehammer, Power Fist, or the Ripper.
 * Requirements: 8 Strength, 8 Perception, 80% Unarmed, Level 18
 * Ranks: 1


 * Smooth Talker: Increases your intelligence by one for dialogue purposes only per level.
 * Requirements: 4 Intelligence, Level 3
 * Ranks: 3


 * Snakeater: It gives you a 25% increase to your poison resistance.
 * Requirements: 3 Endurance, Level 6
 * Ranks: 1


 * Sniper: Same as Slayer, except it works with ranged weapons. It is great with aimed shots (using Small Guns) and is really really nice with burst weapons. (It actually makes the SMG a source of total devestation...)
 * Requirements: 8 Perception, 8 Agility, 80% Small Guns, Level 18
 * Ranks: 1


 * Speaker: It's a one time bonus of 20% to your Speech and Barter skills.
 * Requirements: Level 12
 * Ranks: 1


 * Strong Back: This perk gives you an increase in carry weight by 50 pounds per level.
 * Requirements: 6 Strength, 6 Endurance, Level 3
 * Ranks: 3


 * Survivalist: This perk gives you a 20% increase in Outdoorsman for survival purposes only per level.
 * Requirements: 6 Endurance, 6 Intelligence, 40% Outdoorsman, Level 3
 * Ranks: 3


 * Swift Learner: Whenever you gain experience, you'll receive 5% more experience per level of the perk.
 * Requirements: 4 Intelligence, Level 3
 * Ranks: 3


 * Tag: With this perk, you can pick a new tag skill in addition to the ones you already have.
 * Requirements: Level 12
 * Ranks: 1


 * Thief: Another one-time bonus of 10% to the Lockpick, Sneak, Steal, and Traps skills.
 * Requirements: Level 3
 * Ranks: 1


 * Toughness: It adds 10% to your general damage resistance per level.
 * Requirements: 6 Endurance, 6 Luck, Level 3
 * Ranks: 3


 * Weapons Handling: It adds 3 to Strength when determining which weapons can be used (determined by strength).
 * Requirements: 5 Agility, Level 12
 * Ranks: 1

Good perk list
Here's a list of the perks that absolutely shine:
 * Action Boy (especially if you have 8 oor 9 Agility)
 * Awareness
 * Better Criticals
 * Bonus HtH attacks
 * Bonus Move
 * Bonus Rate of Fire
 * Living Anatomy
 * More Criticals
 * Mr. Fixit
 * Slayer
 * Sniper
 * Thief

Other characters
I had a good time with the aforementioned character (used above). The list is a selection of other good characters:


 * Gun-Handling Diplomatic Sniper
 * ST 4, PE 6, EN 6, CH 7, IN 9, AG 10, LLK 5
 * Take Gifted, and tag Small Guns, Energy Weapons, and Speech. Be sure to work on Energy Weapons and Small Guns early on. Get the Power Armor early on as well, and in the Brotherhood bunker, get the Pulse Rifle and Pulse Pistol.


 * Rounded Sniper
 * ST 4, PE 6, EN 6, CH 8, IN 8, AG 10, LK 5
 * Take Gifted, and tag Small Guns, Speech, and Science. Work on Small Guns and build Speech to about 125% and Science to 150%. Get the Power Armor early on for this character.


 * Killer Sniper
 * ST 4, PE 8, EN 5, CH 7, IN 8, AG 10, LLK 5
 * Take Gifted, and tag Small Guns, Energy Weapons, and Melee Weapons. Again, get the Power Armor and the weapons cache early on. This character will be an absolute bastard in the end game and in combat, but will suffer slightly in diplomatic affairs and unarmed boxing.


 * Killer Sniper (second variant)
 * ST 6, PE 7, EN 6, CH 6, IN 7, AG 10, LLK 5
 * Same info as above but will not be dependent on Power Armor. However, you will need NPC's to survive early on - Sulik, Vic, and perhaps Cassidy. Getting the second level of the combat implants is not a good idea (as it will decrease your charisma).