There are three highlighted 'classes' and they will have two sections: a "brief" section and an "elaborate" section.

There will also be a "Powergaming" section that recommends adjusting starter stats to account for stat-boosting collectables found very early in the game. If you want to avoid losing some early-game novelty in Fallout 4, avoid that section.

The Genius Benefactor build focuses on superior Power Armor usage and overall reliance on crafting and settlements. Needs to use a couple left-over points to access more gun types. See Elaborated Section. Can make long-lasting chems. Can salvage more out of equipment. Can make fusion cores in Power Armor last much longer. Improves settlements with ease. Sacrifices VATS and AP usage. Poor looting, except for ammo. Poor sneaking. Terrible survivability outside of power armor in Survival difficulty.

STRENGTH - 3
PERCEPTION - 1
ENDURANCE - 1
CHARISMA - 6
INTELLIGENCE - 9
AGILITY - 1
LUCK - 2

5 points left over.

The Tactical Fighter build focuses on not going toe-to-toe with anything, fighting only on their terms - preferably at night. Agile and lucky but being mediocre everywhere else, they rely on chems and Legendary equipment to truly get by on Survival difficulty. Can make weapons and armor. Can use unarmed, melee weapons, semi-auto rifles, semi-auto pistols, and full-auto firearms. Encourages heavy VATS and AP usage. Takes the Idiot Savant perk for better experience gain. Intentionally avoids Power Armor usage. Cannot craft most energy weapon mods nor recon/night-vision scopes. Average looting. Needs ranks in Charisma to work with settlements.

STRENGTH - 3
PERCEPTION - 3
ENDURANCE - 3
CHARISMA - 3
INTELLIGENCE - 3
AGILITY - 6
LUCK - 7

No points left over.

The Pack Rat build does one thing very well: loot. Bare-minimum, they can break into more containers, hack more terminals, and carry more junk around. This build gives more freedom to the reader in where they spend their leftover points elsewhere.

STRENGTH - 6
PERCEPTION - 4
ENDURANCE - 1
CHARISMA - 3
INTELLIGENCE - 6
AGILITY - 1
LUCK - 2

5 points left over.

STRENGTH @ 3
This is for the Armorer perk. Crafting armor mods is a must, as Power Armor is hardly ever found or bought with improved models or good mods installed. Normal armor pieces also tend not to be found or bought with high-quality mods. Later on, you may want 6 Strength for the rank 4 Strong Back perk so you can haul more stuff home. As for melee damage and gun recoil: you'll be in Power Armor, it boosts your Strength to take care of those things.
PERCEPTION @ 1
Semi-automatic rifles are at 2 Perception, and lockpicking is at 4 Perception. You don't really need VATS accuracy if you're never going to use VATS in power armor, but consider getting 2 Perception for semi-auto rifles and 4 Perception for lockpicking.
ENDURANCE @ 1
Hopefully you're always in Power Armor when you're exploring. Otherwise, 1 Endurance is going to get you killed. Even then, care must be taken that your armor's not all blown to pieces. Chems can help cover this deficit, especially Buffjet when in trouble. Further capitalize relying on Power Armor by wearing just clothes and not bringing armor, since neither will have an effect while in Power Armor. You'll also have very poor Action Point consumption when sprinting with low Endurance, and this may affect your Fusion Core drainage.
CHARISMA @ 6
6 Charisma is for the Local Leader perk - for the settlements. Supply lines, workshops and stores will ensure it always feels like Sanctuary Hills in terms of crafting supplies and loot drop-off points. You can also afford fusion cores when you've got them for sale in your Weapons shops.
INTELLIGENCE @ 9
Virtually everything related to crafting is here, with a touch of looting and settlement aides. You've got Medic to cover your Endurance (and have Clinic settlement shops), Gun Nut for guns (you nut), Hacker for hacking terminals and creating your own at settlements, Scrapper for breaking down looted weapons and armor, Science! for energy weapon mods, most Power Armor mods and unique scopes, Chemist to squeeze more out of a dose of Buffjet or Psychobuff, and lastly Nuclear Physicist as a must for your Power Armor.
AGILITY @ 1
Between poor agility and endurance, don't bother sprinting in Power Armor, as both stats contribute to cheaper sprinting. Your sneaking is also pitiful when it's this low. However, your Agility could be 2 if you intend to use full-auto guns, or 4 Agility if you still want to sneak.
LUCK @ 2
Just enough Luck for the Scounger perk, arguably one of the best for looting in general. You can sell ammo you don't use, and not have to buy as much of what you do. You'll still find less high-quality junk, but wearing Power Armor means not using VATS... and therefore not building up your Critical meter.

STRENGTH @ 3
Armorer Perk at 3 Strength. Strength 6 for Strong Back will really synergize with the Agility you'll have. Strength 4 for Blacksmith perk to make melee mods, though I've practically found/bought all melee mods except stealth blades for Combat Knives. If hardcore for stealth melee, Blacksmith is worth picking up.
PERCEPTION @ 3
Doesn't take much to get to Locksmith at 4 Perception, and you'll be using VATS often. Perception is still weak though, so save your Action Points for big and easy targets with accurate guns. You're also getting 3 Perception for Awareness, so you can size up the level and resistances of your targets in VATS.
ENDURANCE @ 3
No perks in here, you just want to spend a little less AP when sprinting and have a little extra health. No Power Armor either, that's generally your strategy. You need to take a little, but mostly chems can help you out. Mostly. You'll be making a tactical retreat when bullets fly your way. If you're really going to be a super ninja, Endurance could be 1 and spent elsewhere. Just mind you that frag grenades - They're my nemesis - will still one-shot you at level 50 on Survival difficulty with 3 endurance and ~110 ballistic resistance.
CHARISMA @ 3
Companions might give me away, but they also cover my escape when I'd normally walk deeper into a death trap. Charisma 3 is mainly so I can get to 6 Charisma more easily. Settlements are just too good to ignore for long. The Lone Wanderer perk can help cover for Endurance 1 if you really don't care for companions.
INTELLIGENCE @ 3
At least you've got Gun Nut, that's the important part. Most of the time you can get around not being able to hack terminals or make scientific mods. Between your high Luck, your settlements and your combat effectiveness, you'll probably find or buy those mods eventually. Unless your Intelligence is 6, Power Armor will do more harm than good to a Tactical Fighter's gameplay since those mods you really need for stealth can hardly be found nor bought. (Unless the Brotherhood of Steel sells them or something. Yeah I'm a rebel.) If you really can't abide by low Intelligence, forgo your two ranks of Idiot Savant for 5 Intelligence and go from there.
AGILITY @ 6
6 is a nice starter when dealing with Action Points and perks. Sprint to avoid damage, do more attacks in VATS, stealth better, regenerate Action Points faster. You'll boost this to 7 for the Ninja perk later on, 8 if you want lighter clips and still reload super-fast, 9 if you get into VATS melee, maybe 10 for a little more Action Points and stealth.
LUCK @ 7
Forget mini-nukes, Luck will be your equalizer for anything big and Legendary. The Critical Banker and Better Criticals perks will ensure you'll always have a crit when you truly need to demolish something instantly. Strongly recommend automatic weapons, since each bullet in a 3-round burst will be affected by a single executed crit. As for loot, you'll find more good stuff. You could persist with 3 Intelligence and go with the first 2 ranks of Idiot Savant (the 3rd rank is bugged as of 1/13/2016) if you want to spare perks from going into Intelligence.

STRENGTH @ 6
Armorer perk at 3, Strong Back perk at 6. You especially would be looking at Deep Pocketed or Ultra-Light Build mods for your armor when out of Power Armor. The Strong Back perk is for loading up on junk and heading back home. If it helps, Strength seems to secretly reduce recoil on guns.
PERCEPTION @ 4
You're going to loot, so cracking safes with the Locksmith perk at 4 Perception should be something you can do. You're not far away from explosives either, so you might use grenades and mines as equalizers down the road.
ENDURANCE @ 1
You can't take much punishment if you just leave Endurance at 1. At least 6 Intelligence gives you access to the Power Armor mods you'll need to compensate.
CHARISMA @ 3
You could go lone-wolf with the Lone Wanderer perk so you can carry more, deal more and take more, and then later you can go to 6 Charisma for your settlements.
INTELLIGENCE @ 6
9 Intelligence is preferred to get the most out of your fusion cores with Nuclear Physicist, but 6 Intelligence at least gives you the Science! perk to make Power Armor more accessible. 7 Intelligence for chem duration would help cover for your low Endurance.
AGILITY @ 1
Could increase to 2 Agility for full-automatic guns, and 4 Agility for sneaking. VATS and sprinting in Power Armor are discouraged, unless you have a huge supply of Fusion Cores.
LUCK @ 2
2 Luck for the Scrounger perk, for all the gun-toting Sole Survivors out there. Otherwise, expect inferior junk, and virtually no usage of crits whatsoever. Maybe a stray rocket, I heard that's what Fallout 3 did to a Luckless friend of mine. Look this one up for Fallout 4 to be sure, because I don't know for sure!

If you wish to skip this section and preserve some early-game novelty, click on the "Thank You!" section on the right-hand list! You have been warned!











You're reading on, on purpose I'm assuming.











Following this guide you'll have +1 Perception and +1 any SPECIAL stat (including Perception) of your choice, before you're even level 5. Adjust the starting stats of your new character accordingly.

Coming out of Vault 111, face the town of Sanctuary in front of you.
Go to the house encircled in red, through the front door. That's your old house.



You should see this (plus a lot of furniture, I had scrapped it all)
Follow the arrow around the corner, and go down the hallway looking right.

You should find Shaun's crib (I didn't store/scrap it), plus a dresser beside it (I had scrapped it.)
Don't pick it up just yet, but the "You're S.P.E.C.I.A.L!" booklet should be on the floor, perhaps on the dresser I had scrapped. If you've already scrapped the dresser yourself, check your workshop's inventory under the Misc tab (image not included.)

NOTE: I say don't pick it up just yet, because 1) you will then must make the choice right there and cannot check your perk chart, and 2) remember you'll be picking up a Perception Bobblehead. So be sure you know what to go for before you pick it up.

Now you've got your +1 SPECIAL stat, whichever it was.

Now onto Concord, through a dozen Raiders. Go through it, shoot/maim/decapitate/explode/intimidate/freeze/etc. them, get inside the room with Preston Garvey and company, and go to the terminal on the other side of the room.
If you miss the bobblehead there'll be some kind of bitter irony going on. If you already got it, of course it'll be missing.

























Remember, don't scroll up to preserve early-game novelty.

Feel free to leave feedback, suggestions, etc!