Fallout Character Building » Discussions


Character Build: The Black Widow (FO4)

Tags: #Character Build Melee  #Fallout 4 Build  #Character Build Enhanced  #Character Build Infiltrator 
  • September 14, 2016

                          

    Inspiration:

    I would like to start by crediting and thanking the authors of the builds that inspired me. Flying Shoe (The Witch), and Amornar (Atom’s Bulwark, and The Warlord). Your builds encouraged me to look at Fallout differently.

    The main inspiration for this build comes from an old Alice Cooper song, Devils Food – Black Widow. Also I borrowed from Aldous Huxley, Forgotten Realms, and a few other sources.

    When you steal from one source, that’s plagiarism. When you steal from many sources, that’s research. – Jim Cornette.

    Backstory:

    The big handsome oaf behind her at the bathroom mirror had no idea what was coming. The morning before the bombs fell, she was planning on killing him. His military pension, and the insurance policy he just bought were going to add up to her biggest payday yet. But the driving force for her was not the money, it was the hunt; the thrill of the kill.

    After the bombs; after coming out of the vault, a voice began whispering in her ear. The voice promised power, dominion, and hunger. The voice led her to Concord, and the battle with the Raiders.

    At the conclusion of the battle, she passed by the corpse of the Raider boss, Gristle. The whisper in her head became a shout, and a dark hunger overcame her. She could not resist. She knelt before the corpse and began to feed. His energy drained into her, and as she felt his power making herself stronger, the voice manifested itself to her. The Black Widow, goddess of the new age, had chosen her to be her Avatar.

     

    Aspect of the Spider

    Bobbleheads: Strength, Perception, Sneak

    Optional, Melee, Small Guns, Energy Weapons

    Perks:

    Major Perks:

    Cannibal:

    This is the main role playing mechanic of the role play, and the first Perk to take. The idea is that it is only though consuming the flesh of a powerful enemy that you become stronger. As you adventure through the wasteland, leveling up and earning Perks, those perks can not be spent until you cannibalize a powerful enemy, like a named character, a legendary human, ghoul or super mutant, or an enemy more powerful than you (skull beside the name).

    Big Leagues, Sneak, Ninja, Blitz

    These four Perks constitute the main attack of the character, stealth melee. Blitz is especially important, not only for the added damage from the second tier perk, but also from a role playing perspective; the lunging strike of a hunting spider.

    Night Person, Aquagirl, Rad Resistant, Lone Wanderer:

    As the power of the Black Widow grows in you, you become more resilient to the world around you, gaining the ability to see in the dark, and becoming more resistant to radiation. Night Person also plays into the role playing aspect, as the spider springs from the darkness to overcome her prey.

    I’m safe in the light. I’m safe in the light. I’m safe in the light. I’m safe in the light. I’m safe in the light. I’m safe in the light. I’m safe in the light. I’m safe in the light. - Bedlam

    Armorer:

    As most spiders can weave, you also learn the ability. You learn the ability to weave an exoskeleton of protection into your clothing.

     

    Secondary Perks:

    Gunslinger, Demolitions Expert:

    Not all enemies can be reached. Sometimes you need the ability to take out turrets from afar, or to take down those irritating Suiciders. It’s important to have an effective range strategy. In the early game, explosives play the role of the trap; laying frag mines down in stealth mode, and luring your prey to their death. Late game, both perks combine to power the robot smashing, power armor shredding Artifact Gun.

    Locksmith:

    I typically never take the final perk in locksmith. I find the mini game to be pretty easy, and always have an abundance of bobby pins. With this character, it made sense to take that last perk. Her mastery over her environment included locks, and could break into any room or safe without effort.

    Black Widow:

    Kind of a useless Perk, but it just wouldn’t have felt right not taking it for a character of the same name.

     

    Equipment and Appearance:

    Early Game:

    Weapons: 10mm Pistol, Combat Knife

    Armor: Road Leathers, Scavenged Leather Armor,

    Mid Game:

    Weapons: Pickman’s Blade, Lucky 10mm Pistol

    I was originally planning on using the Deliverer for this build, but I stumbled upon a Lucky 10mm on a Legendary Raider (he was delicious). Even with minimum Luck, I was filling my critical meter with five shots. I found all the highest level modifications fairly quickly, so I was able to max the weapon out without any investment in Gun Nut. The fact that I was able to equip an optic sight for long range shots made it a game changing gun.

    Armor: Armored Greaser jacket and Jeans, Armored Newsboy Cap, Scavenged Leg Armor

    Late Game:

    Weapons: Kremvh’s Tooth, Lorenzo’s Artifact Gun, Lucky 10mm

    Armor: Armored Greaser jacket and Jeans, Armored Newsboy Cap, Mantis Left Grave (shadowed), Sharp Right Leg Leather Armor (shadowed)

    Face paint: Red Diamond Eyes

     

    Combat:

    In the early game, I made sure to kill with the switchblade whenever possible, but I primarily relied on the 10mm pistol, and on luring enemies into frag mine until I leveled up Sneak, Blitz, and Ninja.

    By mid game, Stealth melee becomes far more effective, first with Pickman’s Blade then Kremvh’s Tooth. I would save the 10mm for taking out turrets and kneecapping ghouls. Finally, I used Lorenzo’s Artifact Gun to shred robots and Power Armor.

     

     

    Path of the Spider

    You spend the early game hunting. You are still fully mortal at this point, but the Spider Queen whispering in your ear demands that you seek blood and power. You hunt down the raider bosses, to devour their souls. With each soul you devour, you become a little stronger, but lose a little of yourself as the Black Widow starts to take control of you. The hunt for mortal souls culminates with the hunt for Kellog, one of, if not the most powerful mortal in the realm. Your hunt for him is not for the sake of your son, nor is it only for the sake of his power. It is for vengeance. He stole from you. And even though you are beyond caring for your son, no one takes from the Black Widow.

    Once your dominion over mortals has been established, and with the essence of the Black Widow in complete control of your body, you begin your quest for dominion beyond the mortal realms. You seek out all other gods and religions, to crush them; that all must bow to the one true god of the new age.

     

    Factions, aka, Religions.

    Church of the Black Widow, aka, The Minutemen.

    Preston Garvey has no idea who or what you are. He believes that he has given control over to a true general; one that shares his vision of the future. He does not know that the vast majority of the “settlements” are now devoid of life. The bones of the former settlers strewn about the area as a warning to those who would trespass upon the spider’s many lairs. Only those who have promised fealty to the Black Widow survive: The Wiseman of the slog, The Abernathy Family, The Denizens of the Castle, and the Children of the Spider, at Warwick, Sommervile, and Nordhagen.

    All other religions should be joined, only to be betrayed. Much like Lloth, the spider goddess of Forgotten Realms, The Black Widow loves a good betrayal.

    The Rival Gods and Religions are as Follows:

    Lorenzo, The God of Madness: She releases him from his captivity, only to slay him. She then coerces his son to capture his essence into a weapon.

    The Old God, Kremvh: She invades his sanctuary, kill the remnants of his followers. After feeding on them, she throws the bodies on his face, steals his tooth, and leaves him impotent, toothless, and alone.

    The First Church of Tesla, aka BOS. The worshipers of Tesla are joined, if only to gain access to their floating temple, the Prydwen. Immediately upon gaining access, she slaughters them to a man, feeding upon the corpse of Eldar Priest Maxon.

    The Cult of Mercer, Aka, the Railroad. She follows the Railroad, and even becomes one of their top missionaries. But when they need her the most, and she has the opportunity to warn them of an impending attack, she slays them all and consumes them.

    The Temple of Athe, the Goddess of Knowledge and Reason, aka the Institute: She infiltrates their underground shrine, and befriends their leader, Father Sean. And when he calls for a council of the faithful, she paints the white walls red, and tastes of their flesh.

    The Church of Bender: A robot god has come from the Futur(ama) to claim the wasteland as his own. She infiltrated his holy place, and unleashes the Voice of Lorenzo upon them.

    The First Church of Appliantology, aka Acadia. After promising to keep Dima’s secret, she leads the villagers to decimate the cult.

    The Children of Atom: She betrays them as well, feasting upon the flesh of the High Inquisitor, then forces Atom to devour his own children.

     

    After cleansing the wasteland of all of her rivals, the woman become goddess retreats to her Private Island lair. From there she wanders out, seeking the thrill of the hunt. (I purposely left some of my favorite hunts untouched until this point; Hunts like Quincy, Vault 95, Big John’s Salvage, etc.)

    She leaves behind the broken bodies and shattered ruins of her victims as a calling card, a reminder to all who live in the wasteland that they live in the shadow of the one true god, The Black Widow.

     

    Nuka World Update

    To the west of the commonwealth, the demon cults have arisen, and our goddess strides forth from her lair to investigate. What she finds there surprises even her.

    Churches of Nuka World.

    The Pack of the Broken Conch, The worshipers of Beelzebub, the Lord of Flies

    The Operators of Galt, Demon god of selfish ambition.

    The Disciples of the Poison Blade, Worshipers of the Black Widow.

    Unbeknownst to the Disciples, their goddess walks among them. She quickly acts to bring all of Nuka World under their control. Then, betraying her former followers, she leads her disciples across the Commonwealth in a wave of domination. She personally attacks the castle, and strips it clean. Then leads her chosen children against the compounds loyal to the Minutemen.

    Weapons: Throat Slicer, Lucky 10mm, Lorenzo’s Artifact Gun

    Lorenzo’s Artifact Gun was especially necessary for dealing with the robots of the Galactic Zone, and the Lucky 10mm was still quite helpful for taking out turrets, and filling the critical meter. The big prize of Nuka World was the Throat Slicer, the best bladed weapon in the game.

    Clothing/Armor.

    The disciples gear is almost exactly what I envisioned when I first conceptualized this character.

    I equipped Army Fatigues (armored) as an undergarment, as the faded green matches the faded green of the disciples gear. Purely for ascetic purposes, I went with Disciples Spiked armor.

    Additional Perks

    By the time I was finished I had picked up more perks than I knew what to do with. I ended up throwing them into Strength, and picking up all the Rooted Perks. I then threw some points into Luck, and grabbed some points in Bloody Mess.

     

    The Minuteman’s castle has once again been reduced to an uninhabitable ruin. The Brotherhood of Steel, The Railroad, and the Institute are all gone. Only The Disciples of the Black Widow remain. And all of the Commonwealth trembles under her shadow.

     

  • Member
    September 14, 2016

    Can't you use the Kremvh's Tooth mod on Pickman's Blade?

  • September 14, 2016

    I don't think so. Kremvh's tooth mod can be transfered to a Machete, but I don't think it can be transfered to a combat knife.

    Besides, it's the stealth blade plus the bleeding damage that makes Pickman's blade so badass. I don't think you would want to transfer the mod, even if you could.

  • Member
    September 14, 2016

    Why replace the Pickman's Blade at endgame, then? It's more effective than the Tooth, imo.

    Bleh, you're right. The Tooth is a Machete. Here, I thought it was a knife.

  • September 14, 2016

    It is, but this is a role playing build. I felt like Kremvh's Tooth Just fit the character better. The drop off in performance between the two blades isn't significant enough to lose the role playing feel.

    the Throat Slicer, on the other hand, is far and above a better blade that the other two, and still fits the vibe I was going for.

  • Member
    September 14, 2016

    I'm not sure the Tooth works for a stealth build, though.

  • September 14, 2016

    Oh it worked.

    I played the whole thing on Very Hard, and never had an issue.

  • Member
    December 21, 2016

    Hey Daryl! Just a heads up - I added (FO4) to your title, and added tags to prep for the release of the Archive. Once its out, if you feel I've mis-tagged your build, feel free to change them. But hang tight till then :)

    Also - nice job on the Nuka update!

  • Member
    June 1, 2017

    First off any build that has a basis from Alice Cooper is already great. Second, I like the concept of this and how there are other religions out there. I also like the names you gave them especial the BoS.

  • June 1, 2017

    Potemus said:

    I also like the names you gave them especial the BoS.

     

    I have been seceretly dying for someone to mention that. So thanks! There is a whole lot of referrences to some of my favorite dystopian peices of work hidden in those names.