Fallout 4 Builds

Shotgun Build: The Shotgun Surgeon (Fallout 4)

There are many ways to play Fallout 4, but some character builds are just more fun or meta than others. The Shotgun Surgeon scored as the third best in our Best Fallout 4 Builds List, and today we’re going to tell you exactly how to make it. 

StatsWeaponsCompanionsPerks
Table of Contents

Recommended Stats

The stats you’ll want to start this character with are 3 strength, 1 perception, 7 endurance, 4 charisma, 9 intelligence, 1 agility, and 3 luck. This build relies heavily on wearing power armor, so endurance doesn’t need to be super high. Intelligence will help you gain exp and by extension, perks, much faster, while the Shotgun Surgeon needs a lot of.

Of course, you’ll want to collect all of the S.P.E.C.I.A.L bobbleheads in the world to further increase your stat line, but overall, this is a character focused on survival via power armor and many, many perks.

Related: Flamethrower Build: The Pyromaniac (Fallout 4)

Recommended Perks

The Shotgun Surgeon, naturally, primarily uses a shotgun. Weapon-focused perks will thus be a big deal for him. You’ll want the Rifleman perk to increase the damage of your shotgun ASAP, though you will need to get the Perception bobblehead for this. The Nuclear Physicist perk is also mandatory, as it extends the life of fusion cores for your power armor.

The Hacker perk is useful because it will allow you to better loot the wasteland, and you often need it to acquire more fusion cores. You will want both the Science and Armorer perks so you will have maximum ability to customize your power armor throughout the game. 

You’ll want to add levels to the Rifleman perk as you proceed throughout the game, and Bloody Mess is recommended for the extra damage and extra realism of a shotgun blast. The Shotgun Surgeon uses Dogmeat exclusively as his companion, so you will also want both levels of Attack Dog. 

From here on, you’ll want to level up most of the mandatory perks mentioned above to improve your primary playstyle. Scrapper I and II are recommended eventually but are not strictly mandatory. You will want two levels of Chemist and both levels of Chem Resistant, so you can utilize all chems in the game for massive combat bonuses.

After this, all perks are up to you, though Medic and Scrounger are recommended picks. Be sure to continue upgrading the mandatory perks to their higher levels as you progress through the game.

Recommended Weapons

The Shotgun Surgeon will wear power armor almost exclusively for combat. Any power armor of your choosing is fine. What you wear under that is up to you, but it is recommended that you wear clothes that will buff your stats. 

For weapons, any combat shotgun will do, but the legendary combat shotgun Justice, which you can buy from Covenant, is by far the best shotgun for you to use.

Recommended Companion

The Shotgun Surgeon has Dogmeat as his companion, but this is mostly for roleplay. If you switch the Attack Dog perks for something else, you can use any companion you want, though we do not recommend Strong, who dislikes it when you use power armor.

George Dermanakis

Hi! I'm George Dermanakis, the owner of NeuralGamer. I'm a passionate gamer, writer, and website developer. I've watched as NeuralGamer grew from a one-person team (me) to a team consisting of content writers, organizers, and more. Read some of my articles and make a judgment call — was it up to your standards? Hopefully, it was a smooth experience. I have many thousands of hours on Steam, and I consider myself an expert in any Paradox Interactive game, Cookie Run Kingdom, Dark Souls, The Forest, Civilization 6, Tropico and Merge games. Between these games, I have over 10,000 hours! If you need help, let us know through the Contact Us page. Thanks!