>>724523065 (OP)
I use jsawyer's mod (sawyerbatty) and custom difficulty (0.65 / 2.5), makes explosives more balanced. Altough I also reduce the explosive AOE from the perks since it makes it impossible to use without suiciding.
>>724523631
Also best explosive build is combining guns and explosives and using guns for shotguns only. Neither explosives or shotguns crit so you can put luck at 1.