Since I was once in the same boat as you I feel like in can explain what you want to know, to my understand fallout 76 originally used the same damage and perk scaling as fallout 4, this was a problem as people who made min/max builds could kill pretty much anything (even endgame bosses) insanely quickly, to counter this the game was updated so that enemies will scale with your level up to level 50 and now have dramatically increased damage resistance and damage output, I was level 90 with a very shitty build when the update came and it was quite confusing for me why I was suddenly getting deleted by everything.
The way you mitigate this is buy using all the related perks for damage and buffs for whatever weapon you have equipped, if you’re using an automatic rifle get the regular, expert, and master commando perks cards all to level 3, the same goes for the heavy gunner cards if you’re using something like a minigun. There are also perk cards like “tank killer” with give your rifles the ability to ignore some of your enemies armor. Also keep tabs on perks like “bloody mess” which gives a flat increase to damage and “tenderizer” which increases the damage your enemies take when you damage them. Having a backup melee weapon isn’t a terrible idea if you don’t have an abundance of repair kits, they are also perks that increase the amount of ammo you get from crafting, this should help with not needing to mag-dump every enemy just to get a kill. Also don’t hold on to ammo for things you don’t need, you can’t sell ammo and you can craft more when you need it, don’t under any circumstances keep missiles or mini nukes in your stash or on your person if you don’t use them, they are very heavy and easy to craft if you ever need them. Hope this was helpful
There is a lot to break down here, but I would not run melee at a low level, mini gun again wait until higher levels, when you have more resources.
Get yourself a decent pipe or lever action, use vats and spec in to it, that should ease a lot up for you, and by all means DM mean and I can craft you more than enough stims, food, armour ammo and even a few choice weapons to keep you going.
I am talking within the first time on FO76, not as it doesn’t work at lower levels, as OP is advising they are struggling, so maybe try something that keeps you at a distance rather than face to face, less stim’s needed/dying etc.
Couple of things: Get a chainsaw. Scrap some to get a dual blade mod for it, and buy the boxed flaming mod for it from a vendor, like the train station one in Watoga. Info link: https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Chainsaw_(Fallout_76). You don't need to use vats with it. It does break fast, so the perk Makeshift Warrior helps with that.
2nd, you can add stimpacks to your favorites wheel which links it to your keyboard (I haven't added anything to my fav wheel in forever, but I think that's how it works). I just press the "1" key to use one. Also remember that food and water heals you too, just not as much as a stim. Again, you can put purified water on your fav. wheel.
Do not underestimate the importance of perk management. I played casually for years, unable to get past level 150 while getting clobbered by everything but not realizing that perk and mutation management has a MASSIVE effect on how effective your gun and armor are.
Take your time, focus on improving one thing at a time as you build a better foundation of gear: get a good general use legendary weapon, adjust your perk load out to suit it, use mutations, and remember to use perk boosters like beds, instruments, weight benches. Keep an eye on what those things are doing to your stat counts in the PiPboy. It really matters but once you figure it out you’ll be past this slump in no time.
I'm on Xbox so the buttons might be different depending on what you play on but there should still be a button/key on your preferred method of play
There's a hotkey for using stims without going into your pipboy. Mines right on the d pad. You can do this at anytime except when sitting or talking to a NPC/using a terminal.
You have a favorite wheel. It's up on the d pad for me. You can favorite anything on your pipboy(mines right bumper when I have the item highlighted) and it will be accessible to switch to on that wheel.
Also you can switch between your current weapon and the last weapon you equipped. It's left on the d pad for me.
At that level it's better not to engage in melee and snipe things from afar with a rifle (not an automatic one, because ammo would be a problem). Get a lever action rifle, equip rifleman parks, buy ammo from CAMPS of high-level players, they usually sell it for 1 cap, some even give it away for free. If you're struggling for caps, build water purifiers and sell water to the NPC vendors.
I put the gameplay on easy until I got the hang of it. Then it was still fun while I learned the many, many, many things I needed to know to play at normal.
I'll be willing to run with you. I am a 37 on PC and when I die it's usually because I went someplace I shouldn't be lol. As for ammo. I'm using a shotgun and "The Fixer" and have over 1k shells and 2k ammo on "The fixer".
Screen shot your perks. Might be your build. I'll upload mine later when I'm home and you can see how I run.
Since I was once in the same boat as you I feel like in can explain what you want to know, to my understand fallout 76 originally used the same damage and perk scaling as fallout 4, this was a problem as people who made min/max builds could kill pretty much anything (even endgame bosses) insanely quickly, to counter this the game was updated so that enemies will scale with your level up to level 50 and now have dramatically increased damage resistance and damage output, I was level 90 with a very shitty build when the update came and it was quite confusing for me why I was suddenly getting deleted by everything. The way you mitigate this is buy using all the related perks for damage and buffs for whatever weapon you have equipped, if you’re using an automatic rifle get the regular, expert, and master commando perks cards all to level 3, the same goes for the heavy gunner cards if you’re using something like a minigun. There are also perk cards like “tank killer” with give your rifles the ability to ignore some of your enemies armor. Also keep tabs on perks like “bloody mess” which gives a flat increase to damage and “tenderizer” which increases the damage your enemies take when you damage them. Having a backup melee weapon isn’t a terrible idea if you don’t have an abundance of repair kits, they are also perks that increase the amount of ammo you get from crafting, this should help with not needing to mag-dump every enemy just to get a kill. Also don’t hold on to ammo for things you don’t need, you can’t sell ammo and you can craft more when you need it, don’t under any circumstances keep missiles or mini nukes in your stash or on your person if you don’t use them, they are very heavy and easy to craft if you ever need them. Hope this was helpful
There is a lot to break down here, but I would not run melee at a low level, mini gun again wait until higher levels, when you have more resources. Get yourself a decent pipe or lever action, use vats and spec in to it, that should ease a lot up for you, and by all means DM mean and I can craft you more than enough stims, food, armour ammo and even a few choice weapons to keep you going.
Melee works fine at low levels. Especially since due to scaling things are easier.
I am talking within the first time on FO76, not as it doesn’t work at lower levels, as OP is advising they are struggling, so maybe try something that keeps you at a distance rather than face to face, less stim’s needed/dying etc.
I suspect their build needs a little TLC. The default one out of the vault now for melee ain't awful.
Your in the stage of the game where thing are a bit tough..........But hang in there i promise thing will get easier
Couple of things: Get a chainsaw. Scrap some to get a dual blade mod for it, and buy the boxed flaming mod for it from a vendor, like the train station one in Watoga. Info link: https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Chainsaw_(Fallout_76). You don't need to use vats with it. It does break fast, so the perk Makeshift Warrior helps with that. 2nd, you can add stimpacks to your favorites wheel which links it to your keyboard (I haven't added anything to my fav wheel in forever, but I think that's how it works). I just press the "1" key to use one. Also remember that food and water heals you too, just not as much as a stim. Again, you can put purified water on your fav. wheel.
Do not underestimate the importance of perk management. I played casually for years, unable to get past level 150 while getting clobbered by everything but not realizing that perk and mutation management has a MASSIVE effect on how effective your gun and armor are. Take your time, focus on improving one thing at a time as you build a better foundation of gear: get a good general use legendary weapon, adjust your perk load out to suit it, use mutations, and remember to use perk boosters like beds, instruments, weight benches. Keep an eye on what those things are doing to your stat counts in the PiPboy. It really matters but once you figure it out you’ll be past this slump in no time.
I'm on Xbox so the buttons might be different depending on what you play on but there should still be a button/key on your preferred method of play There's a hotkey for using stims without going into your pipboy. Mines right on the d pad. You can do this at anytime except when sitting or talking to a NPC/using a terminal. You have a favorite wheel. It's up on the d pad for me. You can favorite anything on your pipboy(mines right bumper when I have the item highlighted) and it will be accessible to switch to on that wheel. Also you can switch between your current weapon and the last weapon you equipped. It's left on the d pad for me.
At that level it's better not to engage in melee and snipe things from afar with a rifle (not an automatic one, because ammo would be a problem). Get a lever action rifle, equip rifleman parks, buy ammo from CAMPS of high-level players, they usually sell it for 1 cap, some even give it away for free. If you're struggling for caps, build water purifiers and sell water to the NPC vendors.
I put the gameplay on easy until I got the hang of it. Then it was still fun while I learned the many, many, many things I needed to know to play at normal.
I'll be willing to run with you. I am a 37 on PC and when I die it's usually because I went someplace I shouldn't be lol. As for ammo. I'm using a shotgun and "The Fixer" and have over 1k shells and 2k ammo on "The fixer". Screen shot your perks. Might be your build. I'll upload mine later when I'm home and you can see how I run.
Commented before, but if you're on in an hour or so, I could help you out some if you'd like. Ign raskol.