Bows - let's one shot everything - FalloutBuilds.com (2024)

Introduction

This is my first build on this site. I first leveled up a sniper but didn’t enjoy it that much so I decided to convert it into a bow build which so far to date is my favorite build (I have a heavy gunner, sniper, and gunslinger). This build is VATS heavy and if you’re playing a bowman without VATS… well… that’s just painful. With this build I can easily solo Radiation Rumble as well as hit Scorch Beast Queen for 1-2k damage per hit. I’ve seen 9k hits on lvl 60+ mobs with this build. I literally one shot everything except the two bosses. Fair warning this is a bloodied build and being that it’s a bow build the most difficult thing is finding a good weapon.

S.P.E.C.I.A.L. & Perks

1 Strength – I preferBlocker just for the damage reduction, but you can really do anything here that you like.

15 Perception – There’s no getting around this for this build and these are mandatory.Concentrated Fire is your bread and butter, you want to be targeting the heads of everything (for the most part). While inV.A.T.S.use your mouse wheel to target different limbs and next time V.A.T.S. will remember what you have selected.

1 Endurance –Radicoolis mainly just for carry weight. I think it’s the most useful since you will be using unyielding gear.

4 Charisma –This is a no brainer,Lone Wanderer is amazing for solo play, but you can run anything you want in groups.

8 Intellect – I consider this mandatory but you can play around with this. Nerd Rage is a must as it’s just awesome, damage, damage resist, and AP regen. I swap out Gunsmith for Demolition Expertwhen I’m running explosive arrows. I would run explosive in events with lots of mobs for fast XP gains and loot.

15 Agility –The only thing I would consider changing here is maybe (and that’s a big maybe) taking Mister Sandman out and maxing Adrenaline. The damage on Mister Sandman is just way too good with this build in my opinion.

12 Luck –The only thing you could potentially remove here is the one point for Grim Reaper Sprint. This is just a “it’s nice when it procs” type of thing. Out of the entire build this is the only point I would consider swapping to another SPECIAL. I find it’s nice when you’re killing lots of mobs like in SBQ event or Radiation Rumble.

Perks that don’t work – These are perks I’ve tried to use but can’t seem to get them to work with bows or they seem bugged. BetterCriticals, Critical Savvy, and GunFu.GunFuis the worst and seems majorly bugged, when swapping to a new target I missed 100% of the time in VATS.

Mutations

Marsupial – Extra carry weight and jumping to great heights is amazing and is great when running explosive as you can jump over mobs, VATS, and kill them below you.

Adrenal Reaction –Use this with a bloodied weapon

Eagle Eyes –This is a must have since we use VATS.

Speed Demon –This is a must, especially with the cross bow.

Bird Bones –You don’t have to have this but it’s just insanely nice to have.

Carnivore –The QOL with this is just too nice and works well withSpeed Demon as you can eat raw meat and mainly have to worry about just carrying water.

Weapons

I think this is the most difficult part of the build. You want aBloodied + VATS crits + 50% damage.I’ve been lucky and I have two, a bow and a cross bow. I run ultracite arrows on my bow and explosive frame on my cross bow. Ultracite on the bow isn’t bad at all, when you craft arrows withAmmosmith you’ll make 72 arrows in one go vs the standard 18, it’s seems to be more cost effective, add inSuper Duper and you’ll end up crafting a ton. If you don’t want to run ultracite, I would use explosive arrows. Also using a bow seems faster then a cross bow as far as reload/draw times go.

Armor

I run with the Secret Service armor, you want all unyielding gear. I would like to try it with shrouded but haven’t yet. The damage reduction on the Secret Service is really really nice. Otherwise the Chinese stealth suit is really fun to use – especially in work shop pvp as no one can find you and people “just seemingly get hit by something.”

One thing of note – The sleek Secret Service mod doesn’t stack withSpeed Demon. There is a movement speed cap in the game of +20. So don’t waste your gold like I did to only find out it doesn’t work.