Build 5 — The Ghost (Fast Power Armor Rush)

TRAITS: Gifted + Small Frame
STATS: ST 4 • PE 6 • EN 8 • CH 2 • IN 10 • AG 10 • LK 8
SKILLS: Outdoorsman, Sneak, Steal — leave Unarmed untagged

The one job

Get from Arroyo to Navarro and out again wearing Advanced Power Armor — before the wasteland kills you. The single obstacle that matters is the Enclave patrols (and deathclaws) roaming the far southwest: power armor, Gauss rifles, instant death to a low-level puncher. This build is tuned around one number — Outdoorsman — so you avoid those encounters entirely and never have to fight them.

Navarro stays hidden until you reveal it — you must accept the vertibird-plans job from Matthew (Brotherhood) in San Francisco first (see the heist steps); walking to the empty tile does nothing. ST is dumped to 4 on purpose; the stolen APA (+4 ST) restores it to 8 and turns you into a tank.

SPECIAL Radar

Optimised vs. the first draft. Two points moved out of Luck into Endurance and Intelligence — the two stats that feed the Outdoorsman skill and your skill-point income. Result: higher patrol-avoidance sooner, more HP if a patrol does catch you, and 20 skill points a level to slam Outdoorsman + Sneak to the ceiling fast. Luck 8 is still plenty.

SPECIAL — final values (after traits)

Total = 48 points. ST dumped to 4 — APA's +4 restores it to 8 (also clearing Slayer's ST gate later).

Stat	Val	Why
ST	4	Dumped; APA +4 → 8 (PA +3 → 7)
PE	6	Feeds Cautious Nature; Awareness/Better Crit later
EN	8	Big Outdoorsman base + HP to survive a caught patrol
CH	2	Solo — companions trip encounters & break Sneak
IN	10	20 skill pts/lvl + max Outdoorsman base
AG	10	Sneak, AP to flee the encounter map, combat later
LK	8	Special encounters & crit table — trimmed to fund EN/IN

Why IN 10 here? Not for dialogue (IN 8 already covers everything). It's because Outdoorsman's starting value is driven by Endurance + Intelligence, and because 20 skill points a level lets you cap Outdoorsman and Sneak in the first handful of levels — exactly what a patrol-dodging rush needs. Pure skill economy.

Derived stats @ Level 1

Hit Points

Action Pts

Armor Class

Skill Pts/Lvl

Carry (lbs)

Base Crit

85 lb carry (ST 4 + Small Frame) is feeble until the armor lands — travel light.

☠ Beating the Enclave patrols — the whole run

On the world map every travel tick can roll a random encounter; a high Outdoorsman gives you a check to slip away before it loads. The Navarro approach is dense with Enclave patrols and deathclaws, so you want Outdoorsman as close to the ceiling as possible before you head southwest. Stack it like this:

Source	Effect
Tag Outdoorsman	+20% now, and every skill point counts double
Scout Handbook (Klamath)	Free permanent Outdoorsman — read it early, before the skill passes the book cutoff (~91%) or it's wasted
Skill points	20/level — dump into Outdoorsman first, Sneak second
Survivalist perk (L3)	+25% Outdoorsman — needs EN 6, IN 6, Outdoorsman 40% (all easy here)
Ranger perk (L6)	+15% Outdoorsman
Cautious Nature perk (L3)	+3 PE in encounters — if one does trigger, enemies spawn farther, so you can run off the map edge
Pathfinder perk (L6)	−25% travel time = fewer encounter rolls total

Extra safety on the road: travel along roads where possible (fewer rolls), grab the Highwayman car if you can (faster travel = fewer ticks exposed), and save before every leg. If a patrol still loads, don't fight — sprint to the encounter-map edge and exit; AG 10 gives you the AP to do it.

These Outdoorsman/encounter perks are "weak" in a normal game, but for this run they're the point. After the heist you stop taking them and pivot to the melee perks below.

Tag skills

Outdoorsman the run lives or dies here — avoid the patrols.

Sneak slip past the power-armored guards inside Navarro (and flee encounters).

Steal lift the Advanced Power Armor from the locker — and steal Cameron's key in the Temple for 600 XP.

Not Unarmed: base 30 + 2×(ST+AG) = 58% at AG 10 / ST 4, and free trainers (Sullivan, Sierra bags, Prizefighter, Lo Pan) push it past Slayer's 80% with no tag. Once armored, top it up with level-up points.

The heist, step by step

Escape Arroyo. Beat the Temple of Trials (Unarmed handles it; talk Cameron down with Speech) and grab starting gear.
Klamath — grab the Scout Handbook. A kid in Trapper Town (east Klamath) has one; steal it (no penalty if caught) and read it for free Outdoorsman. Pour level-up points into Outdoorsman, then Sneak.
Reveal Navarro (mandatory). Head south to the SW coast — San Francisco appears on its own (it's a big "town" location, always found). Talk to Matthew (Brotherhood of Steel, out in the open in Chinatown) and accept "Get the vertibird plans." That single conversation is the only thing that puts Navarro on your map — no faction, no combat, no skill check. Walking to the empty tile does nothing. (The Shi's Ken Lee gives the same quest as a backup.)
Travel to Navarro — now visible, ~15 squares due south of Arroyo. High Outdoorsman avoids the Enclave patrols; if one loads, run off the map edge, don't fight.
Get in. Talk past Chris ("just looking around" — bring no party, don't mention the Brotherhood), then take the trap door in the shed behind him — no pass key. Or kill Chris and use the same entrance. Stealth alt: the trapped vent shaft west of the gas station (needs the Blue Pass Key from Gecko).
Infiltrate. Keep Sneak high to slip past the power-armored guards and Sgt. Dornan; head northwest to the locker room.
Take the armor. Grab the Advanced Power Armor + goodies (Blue Memory Module, stims) from the northwest locker room. Behave like a recruit and the staff ignore you.
Equip & escape. +4 ST, top-tier damage & radiation resistance. Sneak out a tank.

Entrances — which need a detour?

Reveal vs. entrance: whichever entrance you use, Navarro only appears on your map after Matthew's SF vertibird-plans job (step 3). This table is only about getting inside once you're standing there.

Route	Needs SF quest?	Needs Blue Pass Key?	Notes
Trap door behind Chris	No	No	Talk past or kill Chris, then the shed trap door. Easiest.
Vent shaft	No	Yes (Gecko)	Stealthy but trapped + a deathclaw; forces a Gecko detour.
Frontal assault	No	No	Suicidal at low level — not for this build.
Password "Sheepshead"	Yes	No	The Brotherhood infiltration route — the trap door is simpler once you're there.

What the armor does for you

Armor	ST bonus	Result on ST 4 base	Notes
Power Armor	+3	ST 7	+30% radiation resist, strong DR
Advanced Power Armor	+4	ST 8	Best DR in game; meets Slayer's ST 8

Because the armor's Strength counts toward perk requirements, wearing APA early unlocks your ST-8 melee perks (up to Slayer) the moment it's on — no Buffout, no Gain Strength needed. Note: Navarro has no melee/H2H weapon to loot — bring your Sharpened Spear / Spiked Knuckles. See the run guide.

Honest warnings. This is a cheese / speed strategy the game isn't balanced around. Navarro guards wear power armor and carry energy weapons — if Sneak fails, you die instantly, so save-scum. The vent-shaft forest is mined (watch your legs). And remember the reveal: Navarro stays off your map until you accept Matthew's vertibird-plans job in San Francisco — there is no walking straight to it from Arroyo.

Perk progression (perks every 3 levels)

Two phases: survival perks to reach Navarro alive, then the melee line once the armor's on. Gifted (not Skilled) keeps you at a perk every 3 levels.

Lvl	Perk	Req	Purpose
3	Survivalist	EN 6, IN 6, Outdoorsman 40%	+25% Outdoorsman — survive the trek
6	Ranger	PE 6	+15% Outdoorsman (or Pathfinder, −25% travel time)
9	Bonus HtH Damage	ST 6*, AG 6	+2 melee dmg — APA now gives ST 8 (take x3 over time)
12	Action Boy	AG 5	+1 AP
15	Bonus HtH Attacks	AG 6	−1 AP per attack — build-defining
18	Toughness	EN 6, LK 6	+10% damage resistance/rank
21	Living Anatomy	Doctor 60%	+5 dmg vs living (raise Doctor with points), or Action Boy II
24	Slayer	ST 8*, AG 8, Unarmed 80%	every HtH hit is a critical
27+	Better Criticals • HtH Evade • Lifegiver	—	crit quality & survivability

*ST 6/8 met by Advanced Power Armor (ST 4 base + 4 = 8). Unarmed 80% comes free from trainers (Sullivan, Sierra bags, Prizefighter, Lo Pan) — no tag needed.

After the heist

Stop taking Outdoorsman perks and converge with The Fist: Bonus HtH Damage, Bonus HtH Attacks, Living Anatomy, and eventually Slayer (your APA already meets ST 8). You spent act one as a sneak-thief; you finish as a top-tier melee monster — and Luck 8 still gives you solid special encounters across all that map travel.

⚔ Temple of Trials — clearing the opener

Every build starts here in Arroyo. A melee character breezes through it — save often.

Step	What to do
Don't hit Klint	Never attack Klint at the entrance (or any Arroyo tribal) — it can turn the village hostile later.
Chapel — fight	Kill the giant ants & radscorpions with your starting Spear (good early XP). Trick: attack once, then use leftover AP to run 3 hexes — they can't reach you.
Locked door out	Open it with Lockpick — any value works, just retry.
Passage traps	Disarm the spear/dart plates with Traps for 25 XP each (save first — a crit-fail locks that trap), or hug the right-hand wall to avoid them.
Sanctuary door	Only plastic explosives (in a nearby pot) open it. "Use" one, set the 10-second timer, place it, run.
Cameron (final test)	Talk him down (needs IN 4+ and Speech tagged) = 600 XP; steal his key (Steal) = 600 XP; or fight unarmed = 300 XP (drop then re-grab your weapon; he yields after ~20 damage but can still kill you — save).
Exit	Leave via the top grid: +15 Karma, and you step into Arroyo with the Pip-Boy 2000.

Cameron's training — why you skip it: he also offers +10% Unarmed / +10% Melee training, but only to characters with Agility ≤ 6 AND no combat skill tagged. This build runs AG 10, so it doesn't qualify (and doesn't need to). Critical hits are disabled for the first in-game day, so don't bother aiming here.