First thing first - this is my first ever guide made on steam, normally i do them by video on my YT channel but i wanted to try this out. "Link to my YT channel can be found on my profile page"
Now that we got that out of the way just a few tips first :)

TIPS:
Most people dont know that with explosive weapons on Earl and the Queen it dosnt help to shoot direktly at them, you need to hit them with the splash damage in order to kill them stupid fast i mean i can solo earl and SBQ in like 30sec with my Legacy Gatling Plasma by shooting down on the ground so the splash damage hits them, its stupid insain much damage you deal that way. - Ofc people with hacked weapons can kill Earl and Queen in like 20sec but again keep it clean and dont cheat in multiplayer games, if you play the game right and know what to do when and where you will still beat em with Legacy weapons :)

Ammo!
Always use Ultracite ammo when we talk about Gatling laser or gatling plasma - Reason! You can craft 9 of each if you have the legendary Ammo perk card maxed and the normal ammo perk card aswell, remember you can swap cards in and out - legendary cost 1 point though to swap, you can also do the 30% chance for double up luck perk card if 9 of each core ammo isnt enoth.
Fusion core and even the Ultracite will get double ammo with the double fusion core perk card found under INT.

Repair & maintenance!
Legacy Gatling plasma will last a full day even if you do alot of killing, its the only weapon where you dont need to repair it more than 1 maybe two times in a full 10 hour killing spree play session.

Why not go for a Bloodied build? - Well!
Bloodied builds isnt that good rly, i have tested bloodied melee, bloodied shotgun, bloodied handsmade, bloodied PA HG and trust me its not worth it, do you self a favor and get the gold for T-65 PA with Calibrated Shock and then buy a Legacy Gatling Plasma and go for a Power Armor Heavy Gunner build, they are so much better and dont die due to bad luck on perk cards not triggering.

Why not the Strangleheart? - Well!
Its kinda simple if you ask me, Ultracite Calibrated shock isnt a thing you find so easy in the game and Strangler-heart PA uses Ultracite Calibrated shock while the T-65 calibrated shock is something you can buy with gold bullion at vault 79 so that is why - if you have the Ultracite Calibrated shock well then use the Strangler-Heart if that suits you're needs - but you dont need that tiny tiny bit of damage boost the strangler-heart gives you.

How to survive like an unbeatable Optimus prime!
If you dont like to to use stimpacks you self get the medic-pump on chest peice of the PA it will automatic use a stimpack when health goes under 50% and will continue to spamm use of stimpack if you health is under 50% this also counts in PvP!
Take the "Whats rads" in Legendary perk card and then also take the Endurance "Ghoulish" perk card as that will heal you while taking rad damage and "Whats rads" will make rads go away - this means you can stay in nuked zones and highly toxic areas for as long as you want to and still be at 100% health all the time, also means you wont die at all, and if you die well - no no im sorry not if, because that is simply not possible if you do this ;)
Unbeatable tank! - This combo can also be used with a PA melee build :)

I always have like 300 stimpacks on me and sometimes i have to sell them to vendor bot at train station as i sometimes have like 600 on me and that is 60 waight as i have the chem weight reduce by 90% as a perk card on aswell :)

Secret-ish - Well some people dont know about this and this will help them alot!
If you think robots can be a bit pain in a place where the sun dosnt shine well here is another secret!
The Legendary perk card called Electric Absorbation dosnt only recharge you're fusion core that is in you're power armor it also recharges you're health! o_O i know right! This means with this perk card at max there is 20% chance that Energy attacks will heal you instantly to full health! - you can stand in 10 asultrons laser charge attacks and never give a flying F about them as you health is at 100% all the time :)

The perk cards i told you about in this guide is just some of the main cards to pick for this class, other cards you can do what you want with, go for a 2H melee well then take the 2H melee perk cards "Remember faster swing speed is a must and also ignoring enemie armor" - Same goes if its a 1H melee build. - Heavy gunner well go for the heavy gunner perk cards, this isnt something i should explain - if so let me know :)

This is only a short guide how to make the best out of you're time in Appalachia!



Edit: 13 March 2021. - Been running around for a week now on one of my alts, been doing PA with 2 Shot Auto Grenade Launcher with a simi VAT build - the base is still this build but with some VAT perk cards on top, and its so insainly fast at killing everything, the most fun is going into VATS and then shoot at flying SB as the Grenades hunts the SB down even when the SB is 900 miles away from you, so fun to see a SB die miles away from you from a few Grenades shot from VAT!
The 2 shot auto grenade launcher in it self without VATS is still damn powerfull, a single shot from it and it just sends the AI flying - Auto grenade launcher has to be my go to build when i want some special fun - in PVP it also destroys, if you are good you can kill people from a loooooong distance by shooting up, the grenades travels alot that way, it will take some time to get used to and know where to aim when you want to killed targets from miles away but its alot of fun :D
Legacy weapon - who needs em when we got a good TS Auto grenade launcher :D

Character levels currently "Rounded up +/- 5 levels.
375, 320, 280, 265 and 155.

PS. I still love my legacy weapons but the auto grenade launcher kills everything just as fast - sometimes even faster! :)