Okay...I just registered here, but based on my recent experiences in FT that I grabbed from GOG, this is my take on this.
FT character is, IMO, a lot dependent on the other recruits. I found that what is most lacking among the recruits is the energy sniper with traps and lockpick as additional skills. It looks like this...
Traits: Kamikaze, Gifted
ST: 6. Enough to handle any energy weapon.
PE: 8. Hm, does Sniper perk even work? I've heard it doesn't....
EN: 2. This might seem crazy with Kamikaze trait, but...keep your distance and let the big dumb ones tank the enemy.
CH: 2. I found that useless in FT. You'll have recruits with 4-5 CH anyway for barter (and Stitch has Good Natured), and with my first, 4 CH playthrough, I found myself to be more limited in recruitment by bunker/mission requirement than rank.
IN: 9.
AG:10.
LK:10.
Tags: Energy weapons, Lockpick, Traps. Team: Farsight, Jax, Rage, Malice, John.
first, i think fast shot is better than kamikaze because chance to be hit is lowered by 10. if big bad monsters normally would have (with you being a kamikaze) a 66% chance to hit you then without the kamikaze perk they get 56%. fast shot gives more damage (1AP for pulse pistol or 3AP for energy rifles) and increases chances (for reason of getting more hits) to knock down etc.
Most important thing: i would take En=4 or En=6 or even En=8. personally, for the current build i take En=6.
if you have En=2 then you get knocked down easier,
can't take more than one drug. and hit points are low (that's the least, evident problem). i like after burner a lot. don't know how much of it can be found. voodoo is also good, just that you must play fast because it wears off after 20minutes.
i would take strength even lower than 5. Str=2. you have the squad of recruits to further your cause: get to power armor and only then make frequent use of the energy weapons. get other stats raised. the game gets a bit more balanced, the first mission (at least) is more hardcore but it should really pay off after you get to hold energy weapons, even if you don't have power armor since you can temporarily boost strength using drugs.
you need to understand this: only the first mission is more demanding with Str=2 in terms of attention and efficiency in figuring out the strategy but fortunately it's a quite short mission. the second mission gets easier than the first since you have good snipers available (charisma level 8 = senior initiate). it's a longer (tedious) mission but easier as an average. from the 3rd mission on... those gunners will really shine.
(i haven't played the 4th mission yet but i guess having a team of 4 gunners is sufficient since more is a crowd, they can't sit on top of each other etc.)
so, my take:
Str=2.
Per=10. Divine Favor: Per+1=11
En=6. being able to take 3 drugs: 3 afterburners, for example, gets you +6AP, +3Str and +3Per; very neat, eh?
Ch=8. to make Ice, Rage, Mandy be available after the first mission (be able to pick their further perks and use them as high level recruits for the second mission. also, Ch=8 gets you Divine Favor (Perception +1 and a further boost to perk gain that pays off after level 23-24)
Int=7. seriously, for a single gun tag you don't need more.
Agi=8. the requirement for sniper perk. 9 action points. after burner gives 2 more AP and there are action boy perks as well.
Lk=6. the requirement for better criticals and sniper.
Special:
2+10+6+8+7+8+6=47
take Tunnel Rat for whole team, it makes the game less tedious. it also boosts combat logistics. it's rather frustrating to have some recruits not having Tunnel Rat so you have to wait for them to make the trip to the firing spot.
other important perks to take yourself: Action Boy(at least 1), Better Criticals, Brof, Bonus Ranged Damage(at least 1), Sniper.
general (personal choice) example:
level 3 (wait 8) Tunnel Rat,
level 6 (wait 12) Action Boy,
level 9 (wait 12) Action Boy,
level 12 (wait 14) Divine Favor
level 15 Bonus rate of fire,
level 17 Bonus Ranged Damage,
level 19 Bonus Ranged Damage,
level 21 Better Criticals
level 23 (wait level 24) Sniper
--- 1 extra perk: count Divine Favour as a Gain Perception perk
...if played further than level 24, on tough mode or grinding encounters, you get to pick further perks starting as early as 25!... Flexible/Dodger etc.
(i like the tough mode option since it gets you more experience in missions, please correct me if it is not so)
end-game recruits: Ice, Brian, Jax, Dos, Clarisse
intermediate recruits: Ice, Brian, Rage, Mandy, Stitch/Jax
tags: energy weapons, sneak, doctor.
-energy weapons: 180-250, depending to your style: sneaking scout, pistoleer style or energy rifle initiator/sniper.
-be a sneaking scout and a pistoleer but less of an initiator if you don't intend to be an energy rifle sniper. get sneak to high values for a scouting pistoleer, otherwise... leave it low.
-leave doctor as is raised by +20 tag, don't spend skp on it, just have it as a backup to heal crippled members on the field after Stitch gets the ditch (ha!).
take leisure on immediately spending skill points to get high small guns and the perks on Rage and Mandy as they would be ditched later. they are the mules that are sacrificed (on being built up for the first part of the game), meaning they wont have gifted, sniper, better criticals etc. they should make it just so they are left behind after you get Dos and later, Clarisse.
recruits build:
1. Brian (only big guns raised since he lacks perception to give bonus to ranged hits)
perks (wait for the needed level):
a. Tunnel Rat (wait for level 8),
b. Gain Int (wait for level 12),
c. Gain Lk (ditto),
d. Gain Per (ditto),
e. Brof,
f. Bonus Ranged Damage,
g. Bonus Ranged Damage,
h. ___
(edited: i wrote sniper here but later deleted it as i realized 8 perception is needed for sniper so... another perk goes there, maybe Action Boy or Bonus Move)
2. Jax (only energy guns raised since he lacks perception to give bonus to ranged hits)
perks (wait for each level needed):
a. Tunnel Rat,
b. Gain Per,
c. Sharpshooter (better range),
d. Mutate Gifted (replacing kamikaze, take gifted as late as possible, it will be needed for the next perks),
e. Brof,
f. Bonus Ranged Damage,
g. Bonus Ranged Damage,
h. Sniper
3. Ice should be a disabling sniper/initiator and less of a damage inflicter. later in the game (and also early game, whenever the range permits to call one of her two shots) Ice should target, for example, legs to knock down and slow melee mofos or eyes/arms to cripple gunners. when things get messy and (you can't have the combat on CTB) Ice gets to disable so that you don't have to reload the saved game.
Ice's perks (wait for each level needed):
a. Loner (already taken),
b. Tunnel Rat,
c. Action Boy,
d. Action Boy,
e. Mutate:Gifted (at level 15+),
f. Brof,
g. Better Criticals,
h. Sniper,
(edited: another - perhaps better - option would be Rage... or even Mandy if she is to be Tagged into Big Guns or Energy Weapons with Skilled being mutated into Fast Shot)
4. Dos is pretty much built up and you only need to figure up the last perks for him to take.
5. Clarisse... ditto.
Stitch can be butchered into being only a barterer: keep him from spending skill points on anything, just be in the first missions to help with the doctor side if someone gets crippled and, when he gets to level 11 take the Here and Now perk, that means he gets to level 12; then, Barter Tag!, then spend all points into barter, then take Negotiator, Salesman. or, if you don't want to level him up this way (you prefer delaying the level 11/12 for him and instead prefer to have Jax on the field so he gets more exp) then make sure to let him, Stitch, a virgin so that you level him up at each visit to the bunker so that you keep Jax with you to take combat experience. in this latter case Stitch will be less able to advance those first 10 levels to make him a tagged barterer etc.
from what i understood... ALL available recruits (at least those you think you could take later on the field) should be taken in the squad temporarily, for a few seconds, each of them, as soon as they become available. so that you can get to pick their perks and skill points whenever a later visit is made later. the game mechanics is screwed up, it doesn't remember you had them available when they were virgins, of low level and instead automatically picks their perks. bah.
(please correct me if i'm wrong; all available recruits get the mission bonus experience if they were recruited earlier but left back and don't automatically select perks and spend skill points at each further visit to the recruits master, right? i mean... they do get experience keeping perks and skill points unspent each time you visit the recruit master, right?)
Big Advices:
- pick the perks for Brian, Jax, Ice like in the example described above (delayed, same goes for yourself) and refrain from spending them stupidly (earlier).
- try to keep skill points from being spent by Jax and Ice (do not raise skills over 100 until Gifted is taken).
as a general rule, charisma should be either 2 or 8. if you go for Ch=2 then you should have in mind that good recruits won't be able to get you over the first missions as much as the Ch=8 and Str=2 option. Ch=2 means a harder time with poor recruits from the second mission, unable to pick perks for recruits, power armor availability is delayed; i think you can't take fusion cola... unless charisma is at least 5. so, charisma should be either 2 or 8. preferable 8.
can someone tell me where is the YK32 pulse pistol to be found? i'm playing tactics for the first time and couldn't find an answer to this question on the interwebs yet.

i'm trying to have things planned so that i can be an energy guns pistoleer.
(well... i played FoT only a tiny bit some 10 years ago and forgot about it and now i tried the first 2-3 missions but decided to restart with a different build)