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Character Build: Raider King (FO4)

Tags: #Character Build Unarmed  #Fallout 4 Build  #Character Build Gunslinger  #Character Build Commando  #Mannatee Build 
  • Member
    April 28, 2017

      My dear friends, I am so very excited to present to you one of the worst builds I have made to date. And by worst I mean the most brutal, bloodthirsty, and horribly cruel of characters around. Ever feel like you always tend towards the "goody two shoes" side of wasteland adventure? Do you find yourself needlessly running about doing pointless errands for the dirt poor runts of the apocalypse? Do you seek a playthrough that cures both your case of restartitis and your craving for blood? Well look no further, for it is with a sadistic smile that I present to you the baddest of the bad; I present the:

    Introduction and Inspiration

     Ah yes, another raider build. I'm not quite sure what is so alluring about the chem crazy morons that plague every part of the apocalypse, but I assure you this build will be good. Afterall, I had our one and only raider build expert, Amornar, help me tons with this one. Thanks buddy! 

      Formal gestures aside, what exactly is this raider royalty of a build, and what makes it special? To simplify, it is an up-close in your face brawler and executioner who uses automatics, pistols, and hand-to-hand combat to aid in his climb to the top of raider society, which he accomplishes by defeating every raider leader in the Commonewealth with the intent of ruling the rest with an iron fis--er....Deathclaw Gauntlet. With a rags to riches roleplay and a fast paced untactical approach to combat that uses vats criticals for epic "executions" of opponents, the Raider King is one hell of a time. 

       Now, I think it is rather important to understand where the inspiration of this build came from for the sake of better understanding the primary function behind it. For those of you who have played or even heard of the game Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, you've likely heard of the "nemesis systsem." The main idea behind this system is a constantly changing database of the different attributes, powers, and connections between the various orc captains and warlords that appear in the world. The key idea here is that the system really just represents the orc power struggle within their society. Things like beast hunts, duels, and feasts all have an impact on a particular orc's climb to fame as they gain more followers, gear, and influence. Now what does this have to do with Fallout 4? Well, if you compare orc "society" with that of the raiders, there is a striking resemblence between the two. Taking this idea (trust me, I have NO idea how I get these weird ideas), I began to develop both a concept of the connections between the many named raider leaders in the game as well as a character build that would focus on climbing his way to the top of this society. Thus, the Raider King was born! I'll go into more detail on how all of this carries into roleplay in its respective section, just hold onto it for the remainder of the read! 

    SPECIAL Stats

    Strength: 8+1- The strong rule while the weak get stepped on; this is the law of wasteland. The Raider King's extensive use of hand-to-hand combat requires a great deal of strength to be effective

    Perception: 1Too many chems and shots of whiskey have made the King's senses completely useless

    Endurance: 6+1It's no secret that being able to take a hit is just has important as dishing out hits. A high endurance stat allows for plenty of health, damage resistance, and limb damage resistance

    Charisma: 3Why talk when you can shoot? This stat is purely for Lone Wanderer, of course Partyboy would've been a neat addition for the sake of unarmed combat, but I wanted to ensure that speech checks were almost never an option. Being rude and uncaring is always the go-to form of dialogue (but what the hell are you doing talking to anyone anyways?)

    Intelligence: 1+1It doesn't take a rocket scientist to aim and shoot a gun, and quite frankly most raiders are dumber than a sack of tatos. One of the main goals of this build was no direct crafting or crafting skills, which means no Gun Nut or Science! perks! 

    Agility: 4+1Now, being a bullet sponge is great and all but it's also important to stay quick on your feet with a brawler form of combat. Aside from basic damage perks, having access to Action Boy along with a decent amount of Action Points makes dishing out vats executions and power attacks much easier

    Luck: 5+2After so many hours invested into Fallout, this is the first build I've gone passed 2 Luck. I gotta admit, I've been missing out on the fun of criticals, and this build sure uses a lot of them! Critical Banker is a pretty key perk for executions, and low intelligece makes Idiot Savant not only necessary, but very effective

     *Every first number is the starting value, a +1 dictates getting a bobblehead for that stat and a +2 is a bobblehead and the SPECIAL book investment

     

    Level 45 Perks

    Offensive Perks:

    Iron Fist 5/5- Increase in damage AND, eventually, a chance to disarm opponents. Watch out raiders

    Gunslinger 5/5- Pipe pistols and a 10mm pistol can all put out a fair amount of damage with this perk, and the .44 Pistol becomes an absolute monster even in late game 

    Commando 4/5- Automatic weapons are excellent for wearing down tougher enemies so they're health is softened enough to be finished off with a critical, and the added damage bonus makes even a pipe rifle put out high DPS

    Better Criticals 3/3- The higher the critical damage the easier it is to pull off a successful vats "execution"

    Critical Banker 3/4- This perk allows the "executioner" style of combat to really shine; by saving up criticals it becomes possible to chain finishers on groups of enemies or save them up for a big boss to then unleash a ton of damage in quick succession

    Defensive Perks:

     Toughness 4/5- despite wearing mostly heavy armor that already provides lots of damage resistance, the points here allow for the King to have a more tanky approach to combat

    Life Giver 3/3- Typical health increase, and the passive health regeneration helps to save on stimpaks and food (or Nuka Cola if you prefer)

    Rooted 2/3- This could technically be considered an offensive perk due to the damage increase it provides, but I found it especially helped with being able to absorb more damage while "focusing" on one enemy if others are present. Just be sure to remember you have it, too many tiny movements in combat can ruin the effectiveness of the perk

    Adamantium Skeleton 3/3- For a guy who has to sometimes make quick dashes for enemies, there's nothing worse than getting a crippled limb mid sprint, thus making this perk very important. You'll know what I mean when you're in the earlier stages without it

    Lone Wanderer 3/4- Now there's nothing wrong with choosing to roll with any of the more sinister companions, however I found it more rewarding to take out everything on my own which makes this perk obviously great for lugging things around and taking some more damage. However, feel free to opt out of this perk in exchange for a bodyguard

    Tactical Perks:

    Chem Resistant 1/2- As a typical raider, the King LOVES his chems. The reason only one of the two are taken is because I find that from a roleplay perspective it just makes more sense that a guy who recieves next to no medical treatment would naturally find himself getting an itch for some of the things he constantly takes. Plus chem addiction could help explain why he's slightly insane

    Medic 2/4- Now obviously a guy like this has next to no medical knowledge, however for the sake of gameplay it helps to not burn through stimpaks as fast once faced against some tougher enemies

    Action Boy 2/3- Sprinting, slashing, and vats shooting all require AP, so a fast enough recharge rate coupled with some Nuka-Colas ensures that the King always has enough energy to stay deadly at any moment

    Scrounger 2/4- Yes yes I know that automatic weapons burn through ammo faster than a molerat in a campfire. I get it. But honestly with this perk early on, enough ammo can be accumulated across, let's say, three automatic weapon types (Pipe, Assault, Combat) So by keeping two hotkeyed for combat and leaving the other at home, when one of the two gets low on ammo then the other weapon will be ready to switch out with plenty of rounds. Simply repeat the cycle. Sure it can be tedious to check every other trashcan just to get a few .38 rounds, but it's totally worth getting to unleash 30 bullets a second into a deathclaw when it comes down to it

     Bloody Mess 1/4- To be honest I could care less about the +5% damage, it's seeing enemies legitimately explode into a gory mess that truly adds to the beauty of this character

    Idiot Savant 2/3- That stupid stupid laugh...oh what I'd do to get rid of it. Anyways, as a low intelligence build this perk is pretty essential, and with the focus on lots of killing well let's just say I had zero problems with leveling

     

    Equipment

    Armor- The fun part about armor here is that there really is no set outfit combination or anything. With no crafting and a focus on taking down bosses, the armor simply progresses as you kill more leaders and take thier stuff to wear for yourself. You can still swap out specific mods and whatnot even without crafting perks, it just requires that you kill someone for them. This freedom of choice allows for you to make your raider look how YOU want it to. Just remember that he's starting out as a "grunt" and slowly progresses as he gains power. Here's how the armor progression of my character generally looked like:

                                                          

                                                                                              

     

    Weapons- As previously stated, the three used weapon types include pistols, automatic rifles, and unarmed . Obviously in early game this will simply start at a pipe/10mm pistol, knuckles, and an automatic pipe weapon (might help to conserve ammo early on though). This eventually progresses to an upgraded 10mm, .44 pistol, automatic pipe rifle, automatic handmade rifle, automatic combat rifle, AND an automatic assault rifle (no ammo worries now, huh?), and, of course, the monstrosity that is the Deathclaw Gauntlet. Other notable miscellaneous weapons used are Frag Grenades, Molotovs, and a Missile Launcher.

       Quite the arsenal am I right? Now, in the roleplay section I'll go into the specifics of collecting and naming of weapons belonging to defeated leaders, but it is important to always keep a look out for weapons with mods on them that may be an upgrade to what you already have. Originally I figured I'd be screwed without Gun Nut, but I found that looting others for weapon mods was more than enough to keep me combat prepared. Sure it took me a little too long to find an automatic variant of the Assualt Rifle, but you can always feel free to shop around with caravans(if you haven't killed them all) or check out Bunker Hill's shop. Regardless, hereare the the end game weapons and a deeper insight on their functionality:

     

    Although the 10mm pistol doesn't come across as a raider-style weapon, it is powerful and reliable enough to be carried throughout the entire playthrough. In a normal firing mode, it is perfect for building up critical shots if none have been stored with Critical Banker due to it's low AP cost. Another option is to fix an automatic mod onto the 10mm for the sake of having a high DPS burst in closer range. Don't forget, it's always fun to get creative with naming your own equipment!

     The .44 pistol is the handcannon of the King, dealing swift death to all who oppose him. It's pretty crucial to find one of these right off the bat (there are plenty of set locations if you look it up) as the high damage coupled with a critical allows for some early on 1-hit executions. As you progress and the ammo becomes more common, the .44 can be used more often in regular combat and to build up crits. It definitely packs a punch

     This would be the next step up from an early on automatic pipe rifle. It has a fair amount of stability and damage, plus the ammo isn't that hard to come by making it a good go-to for softening up enemies. Mods for this are pretty easy to come by from raider drops and chests

     Great damage AND ammo capacity makes the assault rifle especially good for focusing on meatier targerts like behemoths and such. This is more of an end game weapon, unless you have better luck than me with getting an automatic mod. Good to combo with the combat rifle as a back up for tougher enemies

     No need to worry about ammo when you have three different rifle types! The handmade rifle is mostly annoying in the sense that you have to drop a ton of caps to get a significant amount of ammo, but the stability and damage is worth it. Good mods are pretty much guarenteed at the end of Nuka World when you fight against a roudy raider gang, just keep your eyes open when looting the guys you kill! Pro tip: the Pack paint looks sweet

    Now we come to the staple of this build: the Deathclaw Gauntlet. Massive damage? Check. Disarm opponents? Check. Look badass? Double check. There is truly no greater feeling than popping some jet and rushing through a crowd of guys while ripping them to shreds all to finish with a badass critical finisher while covered in 8 diifferent enemies' blood. When coming up with the build concept, I wanted the King to sometimes take on opponents up close and personal with no guns to show who the REAL boss is. But of course, he'd always need an advantage, making the Deathclaw Gauntlet perfect with it's high damage and ability to bring guys to a brawling stance by disarming them. Along with this, it has a pretty heavy stagger to it making repetitive attacks easy in one on one scenarios. Additionally, the wild and terrifying look is very fitting for someone who claims leadership of all raiders; no one wants to mess with a badass who literally uses the appendages of the most terrifying creature in the wasteland as a weapon

     

     Gameplay/Combat

     One really fun aspect of a build like this is the lack of planning required for combat scenarios. Combat engagements are often very sparatic and focused on singling out the toughest baddie for last, which is very fun. This is due to the pure fact that boring vats is really only used for epic finishers on weakened targets, making the rest of combat leading up to said execution exhilerating and fast paced. Although the King has a "tanky" feel, a lot of the time combat actually consists of some sprinting and quick actions; like mapping out a chain of enemies to tear through with the gauntlet in quick succession or running circles around a tougher enemy while unloading automatic fire into them so they're softened up for a powerful critical blow (execution). The main points to remember are as follows:

    1. When using automatic weapons to either tear through weaklings or soften up tougher guys, sometime's it's better to just switch over to the .44 or back up automatic rifle instead of ducking and reloading

    2. The 10mm is mostly used for building up criticals, which are then spent on either a high damage headshot with the .44 pistol or to finish off an enemy up close with the Deathclaw Gauntlet

    3. Just because explosives aren't perked doesn't make them useless! The stagger and damage they provide is great for throwing off enemies with an explosion followed by a charge through the dust to catch them off guard with some hand-to-hand 

    4. This guy is a raider, go crazy with the chems and booze! Any and all chems are fair game, and a bit of whiskey greatly improves the damage of the Deathclaw Gauntlet. A favorite tactic of mine is popping psychojet to allow for very accurate and focused fire on one target while moving forward towards said target. Often times your magazine will run out the same time the jet does which allows for the now weakened and close-up enemy to be taken out with one swift strike of the Deathclaw Gauntlet

    5. Sometimes unarmed combat is better than shooting at a tougher enemy due to the disarm effect of both the 3rd rank in Iron Fists and the Extra Claw mod of the Deathclaw Gauntlet. An unarmed Super Mutant Warlord is pretty harmless even up close! So always consider what weapon could provide the best advantage in the particular scenario 

     

     "Shinjin...er...Sinjin finds his bodyguards and himself face to face with the scourge of the wastes. Lucky for him, the King will be saving him for last"

    Roleplay/Quests

      Finally! My favorite part of this build, and what sparked the creation of it, is the deranged personality of the King and his quest to power. I'll be going into a fair amount of detail on this, so if that kind of stuff bores you then no worries!  Hopefully my kill compilation will be enough to make up for it. 

     First things first: the mindset. What exactly goes through the mind of the Raider King that guides his decisions? How does he view the wasteland around him? Well for one, he is extremely selfish. Not wanting to help anyone but himself (and maybe his raider allies), he'll do anything for even the smallest of gains. Want a quick snack of tasty mutfruit? Blow the brains out of the settlers growing them so you can take their crops along with the 8 caps they own. Run into a caravan trader with some mercenaries, but have a burning taste for blood? Shoot them up, trading is pointless when taking things by force is so much more fun. You get it. Now aside from the other obvious attitudes of most raiders (rude, aggressive, etc.), an important thing to keep in mind is how power-hungry the King is. He sees almost everything as an opportunity to gain more influence, reputation, and loot. The best way to think of this is with the mindset that the actions you make get witnessed and spread throughout the Commonwealth. Example: you see a behemoth in the distance smashing up some ghouls; a normal raider would just turn the other way or go around. The King, however, sees this as an opportunity to "slay a mighty beast" and earn reputation as a badass who single-handedly took down a behemoth. Now other raiders hear of this and naturally they fear you more, making them more likely to submit to you. This is all roleplay, obviously, but this mindset alone makes traveling and clearing out enemies have more purpose and meaning

       Next important point: climbing the ranks of raider society. So to compliment this build and truly capture the "climbing the ranks" aspect of the roleplay, I constructed a raider hierarchy chart that consists of most of the named raider leaders found in the Commonwealth and organizes them in a way that can be followed as a "map" to reach the top. The quest section will have more details on this. The important thing to remember is that this "climbing the ranks" is what will take up most of the time spent playing the King for the first 30 levels. To make this more enjoyable, I recommend doing the following:

    1. Think of reasons for killing who you kill and what effects that action may have. Instead of charging head on to fight Bosco, the king of the raiders in the whole Downtown area, consider doing a sweep of his many raider groups scattered throughout the area. Roleplay wise, you are weakening his gang before taking him on yourself. Maybe your character was surprised to find Zeller and his army clad in tough metal armor, thus making you think to defeat Slag who could be using Saugus Ironworks to make armor that he could've sold to Zeller. I'm not trying to tell you what exactly to think when you play, but just realize that there are plenty of options for great roleplay with this charact that makes the game seem more detailed and intricate 

    2. Stay away from people. Since NPCs won't exactly talk to you the way a well known murderer is normally talked to, it's best to just stay away from them or kill them on site. Diamond City is a pretty big no-no which shouldn't be a big deal since this character doesn't follow the main quest and there's not much there that would really attract a lone raider anyways. Hangman's Alley makes a good, solitary home base to stash stuff and interchange mods until venturing to Nuka World to claim Fizztop Grille as the Raider King's true base

    3. For every named raider/mutant/gunner/whatever killed, take the weapon they used (there should be a decent variety due to progressing levels) and name them something memorable. By doing this, you'll end up having a pretty sweet collection to remember all the bosses you've killed. Here's an example: the raider leader Bedlam is found deep in a quarry mining for ore; so once I killed her and recieved her automatic combat rifel, I named it "Bedlam's Drill" as that helped me to remember my fight with her at the bottom of a pitch black cave. What fond memories. Here's a stupid little video to give you an idea of what exactly a collection could look like:

     

     

     Quests-

    This is another build that avoids the main quest for the simple reason that there really is no way to fit it into the character and his motives. However, if you need justification for the set backstory then interpret the main character as a selfish dad who, after leaving the vault, accepts that his kid is lost and instead of going in search of him he seeks to stay alive by joining into the raider lifestyle. Regardless of origins, the "main quest" for the Raider King is following this hierarchy that I keep mentioning with the intent of being the top raider of the Commonwealth. Now, you could go and kill every raider leader right after leaving the vault or in any order and whatnot. That's your choice. But what I highly recommend doing to enjoy a rich and interesting playthrough is following my guide below: 

    Raider King Main Quest: Use this Raider Hierarchy Chart as a guide from level 1 to level 30. In the chart, there are 5 colored lines that divide the chart into 6 sections. Each of these sections, or tiers, are designed to be points of progression or milestones starting with Gristle, in the first tier, as the first boss killed. Bosco, in the 6th tier, is the last. Each tier has a level at which to complete, intending to make sure you pace yourself between bosses by doing miscellaneous fighting here and there. Here is my recommendation in how to go about completing the climb:

    Tier 1: Getting a foothold- Take on some weaker gangs to gain some recognition as a serious threat

    Complete at level: 6

     

    Tier 2: Rivals, pirates, and armies- Take advantage of the conflict between Red Tourette and Tower Tom as an opportunity to take care of both of their gangs. Then, gain complete exploitation of Bunker Hill by taking out the two prominent leaders who are taking advantage of it (bonus points if you kill Wire with the Broadsider!)

    Complete at level: 12 

     

    Tier 3: Fighting fire with fire- Curious about the superior metal armor of Zeller's army, the King decides to investigate and eliminate the operations of a powerful leader, Slag, who may be the source of this product

    Complete at level: 16

     

    Tier 4: Making friends- After being offered the opportunity to recieve information on another raider gang in exchange for mercenary services, the King decides to help the Cabot's; but eventually gets more than he bargained for. Following this, he seeks to defeat a formidable, drug-focused gang which Goodneighbor's mayor praises him for

    Complete at level: 22

     

    Tier 5: Loose ends- Before moving in on Bosco, the Raider King seeks to take out any far off gangs to prevent future conflict once he's in charge

    Complete at level: 27

     

    Tier 6: Kingslayer- With one final sweep through downtown Boston, the King moves towards claiming his throne in place of Bosco

    Complete at level: 30

     

    Other Quests

    -Power Hunts- for any lull time between fighting raider bosses, consider hunting powerful enemies to gain more reputation! Examples include: Swan(Boston Commons), Big Mack(Wilson Automatoys Factory), Hammer(West Everette Estates), Gunner Leaders(Quincy), Fist(Trinity Tower), and any Deathclaws you come across

    -Devil's Due-essential to recieve one of the main weapons of this build, bonus points for defeating the unhostile Deathclaw with the gauntlet alone

    -Secret of Cabot House- Required to defeat Lefty and allows for a lifetime supply of Mysterious Serum to aid the King in combat

    -The Silver Shroud- You can complete this without actually being a good guy, and it's required to defeat several of the raider bosses

     Nuka-World

     Being the king of the Commonwealth isn't enough for this bloodthirsty raider; so when the opportunity arises to explore Nuka World and go through the Gauntlet, he gladly accepts. When asked to become Overboss, and keep the three gangs under control; he gladly accepts. It's the perfect set up for a power-hungry badass; new weapons, new armor, and even a new man-cave. Ultimately, who you choose to side with is entirely your choice, however I saw the personality of the Raider King line up with the Pack the most and the Operators the least. Taking over the park is a challenge, but it's definitely a great way to excercise the power of the now Overboss. The ability to delve into settlement capturing is also a fun time, but I prefered running around killing things as opposed to settlement building. Do as you please, Boss

     "The King and his castle..."

     

     Conclusion

    So that's it, The Raider King in all his glory! I apologize for the sheer length of this build, I get caught up with details easily. For anyone who tries to play something like this in your own playthrough, I hope you thoroughly enjoy it! For those of you who managed to read all the way through, I very much appreciate it and hope you found the build interesting and entertaining. Special thanks to Amornar for being a HUGE help with the development of this build, I'll be sure to link his new raider build when it gets put up. 

    Now, for an obnoxiously long video of the Raider King obliterating the raider leaders of the Commonwealth:

  • Member
    April 29, 2017

    Love this! really detailed and I can tell you had fun making this build! that hierarchy chart is such a good idea :)

  • Member
    April 29, 2017

    Crooks said:

    Love this! really detailed and I can tell you had fun making this build! that hierarchy chart is such a good idea :)

    I'm glad you liked it, thank you for taking the time to read it :) Playing the build was an absolute blast (especially recording stuff for the video) but man I find typing up the post to be a PAIN! I type too much for my own good so it ends up taking way longer than it should.  lol. The hierarchy chart was a fun project too :D

  • Member
    April 29, 2017

    wow complete with death scenes for all of the raider bossses?! You've gone the extra mile.

    And thank god the Vault finally has a build featuring the deathclaw gauntlet...a gaping void filled :)

    still wanting a special spread?

  • Member
    April 29, 2017

    Savage. Utterly savage! :D Well f#ckin' done! :D

  • Member
    April 29, 2017

    When your obnoxiously long video popped up on my twatter thing, I couldn't not come on and make a comment. I totally wtf'd at the end with the bear head. Totally surreal and made me lol :D The video is great, as is the build! I realy like the embrace of the silly in your pictures, and the casual and informal writeup. Awesome sauce!

  • Member
    April 29, 2017

    Mottyskills said:

    wow complete with death scenes for all of the raider bossses?! You've gone the extra mile.

    And thank god the Vault finally has a build featuring the deathclaw gauntlet...a gaping void filled :)

    still wanting a special spread?

     That was probably the most fun part tbh XD I'll take making videos and recording gameplay over creatively thinking and writing any day!

    Kind of amazed this is the first time it's popped up, it's a bloody fantastic weapon

    Well if any Special Spread pops up I'll gladly implement it :P at this point I'm satisfied enough with the build to go without it 

  • Member
    April 29, 2017

    Noodles said:

    Savage. Utterly savage! :D Well f#ckin' done! :D

    Damn straight Noodles! Now I can take a break from gaming for a bit and just rela...wait...what's this? A Fallout 4 Character Building Event? LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!!

  • Member
    April 29, 2017

    Phil said:

    When your obnoxiously long video popped up on my twatter thing, I couldn't not come on and make a comment. I totally wtf'd at the end with the bear head. Totally surreal and made me lol :D The video is great, as is the build! I realy like the embrace of the silly in your pictures, and the casual and informal writeup. Awesome sauce!

     Gracias Phil! I'm glad twatter was able to send you my way. I'll be sure to thank him later, whoever he is! I'm glad you liked the bear XD 

  • Member
    April 29, 2017

    MaddMannatee said:

    Noodles said:

    Savage. Utterly savage! :D Well f#ckin' done! :D

    Damn straight Noodles! Now I can take a break from gaming for a bit and just rela...wait...what's this? A Fallout 4 Character Building Event? LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!!

    God damn right, soldier. Get to work! Dude, how much did it take you to arrange those weapons? :D