[Puke]

you can optimize a pretty strong fighting character from the start of the game. but unless you really twink out your character, you need to avoid combat at the beginning.

the problem with hand to hand (i think he might be the only hand to hand fighter in the game, unless you attack unarmed civilians) is that they do stun damage and they might ignore armor. stun damage harms your fatigue, which is also reduced each time you swing or move.

hence, you see the problem of being easy to KO. you can actually resolve that taxman quest peacefully without killing the guy (and still be able to solve the tangent quest with the taxman's girlfriend). the great thing about MW is that there are usually at least two ways to complete any given quest.. not counting the option of failure (why, i think i'll just keep this for myself!)