Build Guide: 'Katniss Everdeen' 2.0 Archer & Melee (Skyline Valley)
After the first "Katniss Everdeen" archer build from 2020 (German), I now expanded the possibilities of the build in 2024 and solved a problem with the build by combining it with melee. Bows are not very common in Appalachia. Many players don't even know the potential and have probably never tried a bow. This build now shows how you can get along well as an archer / melee build in the wasteland.
One problem with the bow is the slow rate of fire. Similar to the rifleman, you have difficulties with it when you are standing directly in front of several enemies and may also be discovered. This is where melee comes into play. As soon as the bow is too close to the enemy, you can switch to melee.
This build ideally plays both bows and melee in stealth mode, as the bow is also very quiet and contains the keyword "hasSilencer". All bonuses for sneak attacks are included and optimize the damage.
The only compromise you have to accept in close combat with this build are the mutations. Since most enemies are fought with bows, the focus is on herbivore and melee damage cannot be maximized with meat buffs. However, you can still use strength buffs and chems. A pure carnivore melee fighter is therefore definitely stronger than the close combat of this build.
This archer build plays Bloodied, as this is where most bonuses for damage, stealth and close combat are possible. Full life may be possible, but not with comparable efficiency.
Important: How to play bows
Dealing with VATS:
- Draw the bow (hold the trigger)
- Activate VATS
- Fire the shot (release trigger)
When VATS is active, you can continue shooting. If you activate VATS first and then draw the bow, this can lead to misses. But I was able to adapt to this quickly.
Range: Bows have a theoretical range of 300, but this is hardly usable in practice, as the arrows fall very quickly and land on the bow. This makes it very difficult to hit with the bow from a distance. It's not a problem in VATS, where the flight path is automatically calculated and you hit very well.
The firerate seems slower in the first-person view than in the third-person view. Try it yourself, for me the third-person perspective is the optimal choice for the bow. This way you can shoot quickly one after the other.
Tip: If enemies are nearby, or in events, always draw the bow again after shooting. Then you can immediately activate VATS again and fire as soon as an enemy appears.
Equipment
The build does not use the normal bow, but the compound bow. The compound bow is significantly stronger than the normal one and is tradable. The plan, however, is not tradable and can only be obtained with maximum reputation from the settlers or raiders for caps. However, you can also buy a legendary compound bow from other players without the plan.
In contrast to other weapons, with bows and crossbows, explosive arrows can be used via craftable mods (plans also available from settlers/raiders) regardless of the weapon's legendary effects. I have also tested the fire, plasma and cryo arrows and prefer to play with the explosive and ultracite arrows. With the plasma arrows, I am particularly bothered by the visible flight curve, which does not correspond to the actual hit of the arrow. The area damage is also better with explosive arrows than with plasma. But feel free to test for yourself which variant suits you best.
Against scorchbeasts, the queen or, for example, in closed rooms (West Tek), the build uses a bloodied compound bow with +50% critical damage and +1 agility and ultracite arrows for +65% bonus against scorched. This version is very silent and very useful if you don't want to be discovered.
In events, it's a good idea to use a compound bow with explosive arrows to hit more enemies and gain more XP. However, the enemies for explosive arrows should be far away so that the explosions don't get you detected. And as you can see, you can use both explosive arrows and +50 critical damage on the same weapon.
To get the Queen to land, I use a compound bow with +50% limb damage. This allows you to target the wings in VATS and cripple them so that the Queen lands. However, this doesn't work as well as with shotguns or rifles. You need a few hits for it.
As unarmed melee weapon, the character uses the gauntlet (settlers) in bloodied with +40% more damage while power attacking. This means that you can efficiently eliminate enemies with a strong attack while sneaking. When attacking while sprinting, every blow is also a strong attack. In addition, a faster swing speed is often helpful for groups of small enemies, but the RNG has not given me that version yet.
For huge enemies, the Auto Axe can be used. The Auto Axe and the Electrified Mod can be purchased for stamps from Guiseppe in the Whitespring Refuge (see: All about the Auto Axe). Bloodstained is also the first choice here. The 2nd legendary effect here is +50% limb damage, which is OK, but not the best. I will continue to roll and try to get an Auto Axe in Bloodied with +40% more damage while power attacking. Every hit of the Auto Axe is a strong attack, so this is the best legendary effect on automatic melee weapons (including chainsaws).
Vault 33 Underarmor is the underarmor of choice here, because it provides more Strength, Endurance for Melee and Luck for more critical hits. Intelligence is a nice bonus. If you want to got for more strength, you can also choose the secret service underarmor.
The armor is a Secret Service armor with a jetpack mod on the chest piece, all pieces with Unyielding effect. The build should have the following additional effects on the armor:
- 3 parts with AP acceleration
- 1 part with HTD (harder to detect while sneaking)
- Weight reduction on weapons can never hurt either.
- Poison resistance is also helpful
- The first mod should be " Buttressed " on all parts
- The 2nd mod for the body parts " ultra lightweight "
- I like to use the jetpack as a 2nd mod for the torso , but you can also use " dense " for daily operations with exploding enemies and the " asbestos-lined " mod for Earle (against the falling rocks ) .
The Secret Service armor is best armor (not power armor) in the game (taking into account availability and possibilities, as well as resistances) that you can buy in Vault 79 for gold from Regs (Secret Service).
The backpack with Chemist Mod (available from the Raiders) replaces the "Travel pharmacy" perk under Strength and allows us to have a real archer look with the new quiver skins from Season 17. I have a backpack with the leather quiver and one with the pipe quiver skin. I think the leather quiver is more elegant due to its narrow shape and somehow suits the female character better. It's a matter of taste, of course.
Outfit
The character's outfit is the "Vault Survivor Outfit", the old-fashioned tiara, the raider eyepatch and the black "smile bandana".
The "Vault Survivor Outfit" was a seasonal reward in Season 8 and is currently visible in the menu screen in Skyline Valley, so we may see it in the Atomic Shop again soon. The tiara and the eyepatch are normal Atom Shop items that are on sale every now and then.
The black "smile bandana" was a reward in Season 12.
Skillset
Strength on 15
Iron Fist 3, Incisor 3, Blocker 2, Martial Artist 3, Bandolier 2, Sturdy Frame 1
(Melee - Unarmed damage by Gauntlet / armor penetration / damage reduction, weight reduction for arrows and armor)
Perception on 10 (+5 legendary PER):
Archer 3*, Expert Archer 3*, Master Archer 3*, Bow before me 3*, Concentrated Fire 3*
(Concentrated Fire on 3* allows for +20% hit chance and +3% damage for single-shot weapons, with automatic weapons it is only +4% more hit chance, so 1* is usually enough here)
Endurance on 4:
Radicool, Fireproof 3
(More strength through radiation, protection from damage from explosions)
Charisma on 7:
Strange in Numbers, Party Girl 3
(Strengthening of mutations and thus damage/strength, more strength buff from whiskey)
Note: A bug of the Stormgoliath in the event "Neurological Warfare" (lack of radiation immunity) currently allows the perk "Too Generous" to deal a lot of damage to them with the Auto Axe, so you can temporarily use this perk instead of Party Girl.
Intelligence on 6 (+5 legendary INT):
Nerd Rage 3, Demolition Expert 5, Scientist 1, Professional Scientist 1, Master Scientist 1
(Nerd Rage uses the optimal effects of low HP, Demolition Expert increases the damage of exploding arrows, Scientist Perks increase the damage of the electrified auto axe; through the 11 intelligence you also get more XP)
Agility on 10 (+5 legendary AGI):
Covert operations 3, Ninja 3, Sneak 1, Peng-Fu 1, Escape Artist, Thru-Hiker 2, Goat legs 1
(High agility ensures better sneaking ability, so that you are discovered less quickly. Sneak, Escape Artist, Peng-Fu, Covert operations and Ninja are necessary for the build, Thru-Hiker is variable for reducing the weight of the food, Goat legs are used to reduce fall damage since we do not use the bird bones mutation for more strength)
Luck on 10 (+5 legendary LCK):
Starked genes 2, class freak 3, serendipidy 3, better criticals 3, critical savvy 3, goof with salt 1
(High luck is essential to get critical hits more often; Critical Savvy increases the frequency of critical hits, I use "Good with Salt" to keep the food buffs longer; Critical Savvy can also be used on 1 if necessary and Good with Salt on 3)
Legendary perks
- Follow Through **** (Ranged damage from sneak attacks increases damage taken by the target by 40% for 10 seconds)
- Taking one for the Team **** (Enemies take 40% more damage when they attack you and you are in a team.) (Experience has shown that this legendary perk also stacks when you are hidden but the other team members are attacked, for example in events. )
- Legendary Perception**** (+5 PER and +5 PER skill points. Skill points are capped at 15)
- Legendary Intelligence**** (+5 INT and +5 INT skill points. Skill points are capped at 15)
- Legendary Agility**** (+5 AGI and +5 AGI skill points. Skill points are capped at 15)
- Legendary Luck**** (+5 LCK and +5 LCK skill points. Skill points are capped at 15)
By using legendary SPECIALs we can use more points in the skillset than was previously possible. The legendary SPECIALs supplement the points defined for the skillset in the loadout up to a maximum of 15 in the skillset. In addition, the points are applied but cannot be used for perks. For example, if you choose 12 PER in the skillset and have legendary PER at 4*, you still only get 15 points for perk cards, but you have 17 PER in the Pipboy with the active SPECIALs.
Mutations
The mutations are decisive for the way of playing, the damage with critical hits, the intelligence, AP acceleration and much more. The right combination is therefore important.
- Adrenalreaction (+More weapon damage at low TP., -12 MAX TP)
- Eagle Eyes (-1 STR, +5 WAH, +75% Critical Damage )
- Electrically Charged (Chance to Shock Melee Attackers)
- Herbivore (Eat vegetables with no disease with 2X benefit ) (Negates the effects of meat food)
- Herd Mentality (-2 SPECIAL alone, +3 SPECIAL when in a team) (so always play in a team)
- Marsupial (-1 INT, carry capacity, +jump height)
- Speed Freak (+50% hunger/thirst while moving, movement speed +25, +reload)
- Talons (+35% Unarmed Damage, + Bleed Damage, -1 AGI)
- Unstable Isotope (Change to irradiate melee attackers)
Buffs
Our archer & melee build is a herbivore that is important for critical hits and AP acceleration. Since most of this builds damage will be dealt by using the bow, I chose it over carnivore.
Since you can now get a Company Tea Machine in the Atomic Shop and from Mortimer (Raider/Crater) for Gold, Company Tea is now no longer difficult to obtain and is the best choice for AP acceleration. Always get enough company tea and drink a cup of it once an hour, then you will be optimally provided with action point acceleration.
For more critical hit damage, I recommend Blight Soup for +187% critical damage for 30 minutes. Alternatively, you can use sweet mutaberry tea, which lasts 60 minutes but is harder to make. Blight soup only requires some blight (Ash Heap), water and wood.
For melee we can use strength buffs and chems to maximize the damage. First of all, Steeped Fern Flower Tea increases the Strength by +5. Next STR Buff we can use is Whiskey, if you use Partygirl it increases the STR by +6. And additionally we can use Fury to increase our melee damage by +25.80%. This combination is already fine for the most situations, but obviously not as strong as a carnivore that can even boost the melee damage be 319%.
Gameplay
Fasnacht Archery with explosive arrows
Bow and Melee (Deathclaw Gauntlet) vs. Supermutants
Bow with ultracite arrows and electrified gauntlet vs West Tek
Melee with Auto Axe vs. Stormgoliath (Neurological Warfare)
Conclusion
This bow & melee build is quite far from the most commonly played meta builds such as Commando or Heavy Gunner. The build is also not a typical melee build where you just have to run around all the time. And it's not an archer who gets into trouble when the enemies come too close.
By combining the unique playstyle of the bow with melee, you can keep up well in the endgame and the build can also hold its own in events. By using unarmed weapons, you are very agile in melee and you can quickly cause a lot of damage to the bosses with the auto axe.
Whether you go into melee or prefer to shoot arrows can always depend on the situation. If you put the right weapons and buffs on the speed dial, you can always react well.
Ammunition is also not a problem at all with this build. You usually get 7-9 arrows back per enemy and the bow only needs one hit for most enemies. So after a while you either have to store ammo or throw it away to avoid becoming too heavy.
I really enjoy the build and it offers a good alternative to other builds that I play on other characters.
What do you think of this archer & melee build?
Feel free to write in the comments.
Comments: