DwayneGAnd
Look, Ma! Two Heads!
The key to success in many RPGs is specialization. That is, you build your character around a specific style. In previous Fallout game, there were only two styles: ranged and melee. The only specialization perks in the first two games and Tactics were Bonus Rate of Fire, Sniper, Bonus Ranged Damage, Slayer, Sniper, Bonus Hth Attacks, Bonus Hth Damage, and Pyromaniac. Some of these perks were more useful than others. Yet aside from Action Boy, (or Bonus Move, Better Criticals, and Awareness, melee and ranged builds used pretty much the same perks, except for Sniper, Slayer, Bonus Rate of Fire, and Bonus Hth Attacks. Bonus Ranged Damage was more useful than it Hth counterpart if you used weapons such as miniguns or anything that spewed many rounds in one attack, in Tactics, it provided a percentage bonus to all ranged attacks. Pretty much all effective builds were built around combat, yet all three ranged weapons types and both melee combat styles had the same requirements for the same perks, leaving little diversity if you used primarily Small Guns, or if you expanded into Energy Weapons or Big Guns, or if you primarily used Melee weapons and developed Unarmed. There were no perks to benefit only Small Guns, Energy Weapons, Big Guns, Melee Weapons, or Unarmed. The same applied to Fallout 2 and Tactics.
In Fallout 1, the low level cap meant you had to generalize your character for one specific style. In Fallout 2, the level cap was much bigger, and if you were willing to grind a few extra levels, you could be proficient in both melee and ranged combat.
In Fallout 3, the only specialization perks were Iron Fist, Demolition Expert, Ninja, and Pyromaniac. There were practically no perks to benefit a specific style, so you could basically build your character whatever you felt like, as long as you could tackle any opposition. The only variation you could have was whether or not to use VATS or get Almost Perfect, or both.
In New Vegas, things are different. There are many perks to specialize your character in whether or not you choose to use criticals or VATS, or even both. There are now perks to benefit all sorts of combat styles if you choose to play only one, making for more replayability. Guns has two perks which benefit shotguns, and two more for specific weapons (Grunt and Cowboy). Energy Weapons has Laser Commander, (for laser users) Plasma Spaz (for plasma users specializaing in VATS), or Meltdown for chain reaction damage when killing an enemy, though there was the risk of friendly fire. Explosives has Demolition Expert for more damage, Hit the Deck to increase your defense against all explosions, Heave Ho for increasing the range of thrown grenades and arc weapons, Mad Bomber for crafting new explosives, and Splash Damage for increasing the radius affected by the explosion. Melee and Unarmed had Super Slam for knocking your foes down, Slayer for increasing attack speed, Piercing Strike for ignoring a large portion of your enemies' damage threshhold, Unstoppable Force which could penetrate enemy blocks, and Purifier which allowed you to inflict more damage on abominations.
Maybe it's just me, maybe I've been playing too much Diablo II, but I feel that the only way to succeed is to build your character around one playstyle, shunning all others. With all other perks you take to benefit your character, you wouldn't have enough to specialize in multiple combat styles.
In Fallout 1, the low level cap meant you had to generalize your character for one specific style. In Fallout 2, the level cap was much bigger, and if you were willing to grind a few extra levels, you could be proficient in both melee and ranged combat.
In Fallout 3, the only specialization perks were Iron Fist, Demolition Expert, Ninja, and Pyromaniac. There were practically no perks to benefit a specific style, so you could basically build your character whatever you felt like, as long as you could tackle any opposition. The only variation you could have was whether or not to use VATS or get Almost Perfect, or both.
In New Vegas, things are different. There are many perks to specialize your character in whether or not you choose to use criticals or VATS, or even both. There are now perks to benefit all sorts of combat styles if you choose to play only one, making for more replayability. Guns has two perks which benefit shotguns, and two more for specific weapons (Grunt and Cowboy). Energy Weapons has Laser Commander, (for laser users) Plasma Spaz (for plasma users specializaing in VATS), or Meltdown for chain reaction damage when killing an enemy, though there was the risk of friendly fire. Explosives has Demolition Expert for more damage, Hit the Deck to increase your defense against all explosions, Heave Ho for increasing the range of thrown grenades and arc weapons, Mad Bomber for crafting new explosives, and Splash Damage for increasing the radius affected by the explosion. Melee and Unarmed had Super Slam for knocking your foes down, Slayer for increasing attack speed, Piercing Strike for ignoring a large portion of your enemies' damage threshhold, Unstoppable Force which could penetrate enemy blocks, and Purifier which allowed you to inflict more damage on abominations.
Maybe it's just me, maybe I've been playing too much Diablo II, but I feel that the only way to succeed is to build your character around one playstyle, shunning all others. With all other perks you take to benefit your character, you wouldn't have enough to specialize in multiple combat styles.