* The online planner has a Calculator, which is much more important when planning a sniper.
* I recommend meeting Brother Martin at Hub main gate, and reading
his holotapes, though few are about builds.
* Drugs are an essential part of serious combat in this game. Not troll. Every build is part of a combat math formula and drugs improve your part of that formula. It's all about math. Without drugs, your math is weaker. The enemy uses drugs, so if you don't then you're already at a serious disadvantage.
* Explosives might be your answer on craftable traps. C4 is a lot of fun. Also you can find useable landmines in random lockers, using a lockpick blueprint hunter.
* bananaman is right about STrength 1: regardless of the ST requirements of your guns, ST 1 is common for all fighters. We compensate for low ST by leveling higher and getting gun skill up to maybe 300. The only serious fighters i see getting ST over 1 are the ones who want certain perks like Adrenaline Rush or Stonewall and these are very popular since tanks are the most popular fighters in the game. Of course, low ST also means more chance to drop weapon, i think.
* I never use Weapon Handling. Again, higher gun skill is the way to compensate for low ST.
ST 1 for long range fighters
PE 9 for almost all fighters (except melee PE 1) and use motion sensor whenever you can
EN 10 on all characters
CH 1 on all
IN (see below)
AG 9 and hope to get AG implant (but see below)
LK 9 for snipers and hope to get Luck implant
IN 1 is good enough for all non-crit builds as far as i see. IN 2 is good enough for nearly every single sniper or crit build. Higher IN for weird builds like combination crit+BRD burster.
AG 8 is popular with gangs that get implants. You get AG 9 with implant, and use Nuka Cola for AG 10 (you drink soda, right?). I recommend AG 9 though and use Nuka Cola for AG 10 and hope to get AG implant so you can use Buffout/Nuka Cola for AG 10 and boosted ST.
Lately, i do Small Frame + Bonehead on all fighters. (If i took Bonehead on above stats, i would make AG 8.
He listed good sniper perks, but like he said we each do things differently. I for example prefer to get Even Tougher at level 9, even on a sniper. Better Crits at 12. Right Between the Eyes at 15 (but only if you plan to focus mainly on eye shots), Sharpshooter at 21, and level 24 perk is (see below).
Level 24 PerkYour call. Action Boy is a safe choice. Your AP will recharge faster in RT mode, the more AP you have. Quick Recovery is very important for negating incoming knockdowns. Silent Running if this sniper is also a Sneak (tons-o-fun), Man of Steel is great when combined with Bonehead, Tree Trunk Thighs might be one of the overlooked perks, and i have heard of guys messing with Hit the Gaps too, even for non-melee fighters. Your level 24 perk could also be a Lifegiver especially if you already got a Lifegiver instead of Right Between the Eyes.
Sniper DrugsThough many do not, you
can use Psycho for +1 ST (use cigs though too!). This works okay especially once you have Sharpshooter, and even better with a PE implant. Watch the numbers when using the planner: it's best to have Sight just beyond your weapon's range and you can usually do this even on Psycho (+15% DR!). (Snipers typically never drink beer on the job.) Nuka Cola, either with Buffout at lower levels or without Buffout with high gun skill (like 270). Jet has also been known to be standard for snipers.
Things to AvoidBruiser Trait ever, Fast Shot Trait is bad for snipers, Skilled Trait ever, Fast Metabolism Trait because you use drugs twice as much, Weapon Handling Perk, Gambler lol, players lol. Don't tag Doctor - just get it to 100. I also no longer use the Chem Reliant Trait since i always manage to build a large stash of drugs (with some crafting and barter work). Don't bother tagging Repair or Science, even for a crafter since skill books help so much and you only need those skills to 120 max.
Good TagsTag FA maybe and plan to max it at 200. Tag OD and get it to 150+ and get the fast-travel support perks (Explorer and Pathfinder).
FinesseAnd last but not least, this thing deserves its own section lol. You would think, from reading its description, that this Trait would be AWESOME for a sniper. It can be, but don't expect to do much damage. Great for cripplers though, but if you want to kill stuff faster, especially when solo, avoid it.
Now let the criticisms ensue...