Fallout Character Building » Discussions


Character Build: The Greaser (FO4)

Tags: #Character Build Unarmed  #Motty Build  #Fallout 4 Build 
  • Member
    March 7, 2016

    With so much 50’s influence around the wasteland, it felt high time to create a cool cat. The Greaser is not just hanging around the Atom Cats Garage painting Power Armor though. He’s the lovable tough-guy that every crew needs, but can’t always get their bread-hooks on. 

    General Build:

    The Greaser is primarily an unarmed brawler. He augments his natural strength and toughness with knuckles and power fists. He moves fast and hits hard and resorts to guns only when getting up close and personal isn't an option. And - he does it in style.

    Gear:
    Armored Greaser Jacket and Jeans, Shadowed Combat Armor Legs, Black Rimmed Sunglasses, Armored Newsboy Hat

    Weapons:
    Knuckles, Furious Fist, Pipe Revolver / .44 Pistol / Kellogg’s Pistol / Deliverer or Submachine Gun (Note: I debated using the RP friendly switchblade, but decided to focus on fists – you could add it with Big Leagues if you prefer.)

    Faction: 
    I imagine The Greaser as the enforcer of a well-meaning motley crew. Since I wanted Ballistic Weave to survive with little more than a jacket and jeans, the Railroad seemed the best match. Other than helping and hanging out with the Atom Cats a bit, this seemed the most fitting faction. You could make an argument for doing the Institute’s above ground dirty work too. But those science nerds are too corny for my cool cat.

    Companions: 
    I prefer being a loan wanderer, but the one guy I did roll with for a while was Deacon. He’s definitely got the cool vibe down, with a capitol D. I outfitted him in the Greaser Jacket as well to make it feel like we were a crew. 

    Perks:
    Iron Fists – When those nerds from no-wheres-ville need to be set straight, Jack puts his fist in their faces. 

    Rooted – A ridiculous boost to stationary unarmed attacks and defense? Yes please.

    Bloody Mess – Since he's punching his way around town, he'll take any boost he can get.

    Life Giver – Soaking up serious damage on his way into the fray necessitates a large health pool. 

    Adamantium Skeleton – More defense, making limbs strong like bull. I have no hard evidence, but this perk seems to take the edge of explosive damage taken…which can be a real life saver.

    Lone Wanderer – Most of the time, cracking skulls is a solitary gig.

    Idiot Savant – With low intelligence, this perk will zoom The Greaser through levels with tons of XP bonus procs.

    Armorer – Spending just a few perks here with ballistic weave, he can get well over 200 damage resistance between the jacket, cap and leg slots. It makes the “toughness” perk completely useless by the way.

    Moving Target (need bobblehead, +2 investment) – The Greaser is both crazy strong while stationary (rooted) and evasive while on the move. The sprint cost reduction is helpful rushing into the fight while still saving some AP for a critical. Spending two points post-creation into Agility may seem troublesome, but keeping the perk placement narrow allows plenty of room for investment. 

    Sneak – While not used in the traditional combat sense, treading lightly comes in handy, allowing him to close distances prior to detection and thus avoiding an unnecessary hail of bullets on approach. Level 4 brings the ability to run without an increase in detection, which is what he's looking for.

    Action Boy – A later on perk used to refresh sprinting ability and VATs attacks.

    Gunslinger or Commando – Choose a secondary weapon and boost it. 

    Combat Details:
    Move Fast and Punch Hard! No additional sneak melee multipliers and no Blitz means combat is all about closing the gap quickly, getting up close and personal to teach those punks a lesson. Lightweight gear allows for hyper-mobility, as dodging bullets is recommended. Paired with Lone Wanderer, Adamantium Skeleton and Life Giver, The Greaser can soak up damage when necessary. Though used infrequently, pistols and submachine guns give an old-school feel to the wasteland.

    Not over-investing in agility or the lucky critical banking perks means planning ahead and saving those big swings for when he needs them most. This affords, in my opinion, a slightly more realistic combat experience than unlimited sneak multiplier / VATS / critical / blitz ridiculousness from across-the-map.

    Have no fear, he still packs a mighty punch. The Furious Power Fist provides escalating damage, though many common jerks will go down in one or two swings (See video). Paired with a fun little sub-quest to find all 10 Grognak Magazines, he’ll want to save that haymaker for the occasional Deathclaw or Legendary opponent. Pro tip, make sure the legendary mutates BEFORE you use the critical or you’ll be caught with your pants down.

    When all else fails, swig a Dirty Wastelander (or psycho) to boost strength and decrease intelligence and watch XP soar as Idiot Savant procs over and over.  

    Getting Started:
    Grab some road leathers and leather armor along with upgraded knuckles on your way to Concord. Make a B-line for Diamond City, starting the main quest and rescuing Nick will yield a submachine gun and plenty of .45mm and .10mm ammo for troublesome turrets and trading. The guy in the DC market that gets blasted by security drops a newsboy cap for you. Pick your way carefully to the Railroad and open up Deacon for some early companion support. A stop in the main level of nearby Faneuil Hall reveals two sets of greaser outfits. Running just a quest or two for the Railroad and boom – ballistic weave. Armor up both the jacket and the cap and you’re ready to rock. Make sure to take plenty of ammo and grenades for a visit to Swan Lake for your fist of choice. Keep your eyes open for RP favorable leg armor. “Duelists” or “Sprinter’s” are good options. The “Shadow” armor option “paints” them black, matching your jacket. 

    Head southeast to help out the Atom Cats and grab the Unarmed Bobblehead for a +25% critical boost. FYI - Zeke’s Jacket increases unarmed by “4” and has a nice charisma bonus, but is not upgradable with Ballistic Weave. Unfortunately, not worth it.

    RP and Quest Notes:
    -“Good” tough guy, charming but a little thick
    -Tune your radio to Diamond City for groovy wandering tunes.
    -Collect all 10 Grognak Comics for a +50 critical swing.
    -Setup a crew hangout with a 50’s vibe (Covenant is a good option, if you can stomach a little town clearing massacre)
    -Help the Railroad and Atom Cats
    -Clean up a few of the "old-school" shady underworld spots (The Combat Zone, East City Downs for example).
    -Make friends with Preston, but don’t become general.
    -Cook Yao Guai Roast for a boost to Melee for an hour.
    -To take the edge off, collect toys and comic books and display them around your pad.
    -Protect your turf. Don’t take any flak.

    One option to finish the main quest is to bungle the Railroad version. I can’t see this character pulling off the double agent thing for very long. If he screws up (by attacking someone in the Institute), Desdemona will tell him to use the Minutemen to finish the job. 

    Closing Notes:
    Shout out to Mason for coming up with the player card idea and style. Hope you don't mind me using it as inspiration! I had a lot of fun pretending to be a throw-back tough guy and I hope you like it.

  • Member
    March 7, 2016

    Awesome work Motty

  • Member
    March 7, 2016

    Interesting concept Motty, and I'm always pleased to see something a bit different to the overdone Big Gun Toting Power Armour Dude.

    I'd have thought the biggest problem with a build like this is going to be the damage that you take from enemies before you get close enough to swing your fists. Sneak obviously helps - and Blitz would have been an option, but clearly you didn't fancy spending the Agility points to get to that?

    Don't you find you're soaking up bullets like a sponge when you come up against a big bunch of Raiders or SuperMutants?

  • Member
    March 7, 2016

    Hey Paul - good question. Interestingly, I've been playing on 'normal' mode for my first few playthroughs. About half way through this one I bumped it up to HARD. I'm not sure whether it's the combo of perks or the ballistic weave or what...but, to answer your question - no. The only issue I had is the same with every character - the occasional enemy with a fatman or crazy alpha legendary deathclaw etc. 

    Raiders, supermutants - even Big Mac with his minigun were no problem.

    You could certainly add Blitz, but to me it takes the challenge out of approaching the enemy properly. Finding spots they can't hurt you and rushing in to take care of business.

  • Member
    March 7, 2016

    That was a fun nod with Big Mac

  • Member
    March 9, 2016
    Gonna try this! In female version of course!
  • Member
    March 9, 2016
    That would be very cool!
  • Member
    March 10, 2016
    Easily because of that sweet weave :p eats bullets like a monster. My "Greaser" ended up with 4 END and tanks.
  • Member
    March 11, 2016
    You know what? I might play this build myself. I know coming from me might not mean much, but this is probably my favorite and best build concept on the site to date! Well done!
  • Member
    March 11, 2016
    It always means a lot when someone plays your build. Let me know how it goes.