Build 5 — The Ghost (Fast Power Armor Rush)

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.

You already know Navarro's spot from a prior run, so you steer straight there from memory. 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).

Unarmed your combat skill for after the armor makes you strong (and for killing Chris on the way in).

Once Outdoorsman & Sneak are capped, spill points into Steal / Lockpick for lifting the armor.

The heist, step by step

Escape Arroyo. Beat the Temple of Trials (Unarmed handles it) 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.
Pick your entrance now (decides whether you detour): kill-Chris route needs no pass key — skip Gecko entirely. Vent-shaft route needs the Blue Pass Key, which is in Gecko's power plant (shelf by the yellow pass key) — not Klamath — so only detour there if you want the stealth door.
Drive straight to Navarro — 15 squares due south of Arroyo, from memory. High Outdoorsman avoids the Enclave patrols; if one loads, run off the map edge, don't fight.
Get in (no San Francisco needed). Simplest: talk past Chris ("just looking around"), 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).
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?

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	Needs Matthew's job in SF. The route you're skipping.

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 the stock-game map-marker caveat still stands: you've done it before, so your setup clearly allows the direct trip — just know a fresh install may hide Navarro until the SF trigger.

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.