I'm doing a crafter/crossbow build, as my first try. I'm playing with Oddity.
Honestly, yes, the big armored bots/turrets *were* a pain, at start. Because I did only minimal damage, if at all, with basic weaponry. However, the shock bolts really were my lifesaver, there. Not only do they disable the target, but they're cheaper than EMP, like, a lot cheaper, and easier to craft, too.
So, yes, I tried sneaking around floor 2 for some time, with no success (turns out stealth gear doesn't help much if you have no stealth skill - I only managed to fool some pigs, never anything else), and, when I got fed up of having to reload or flee, leaking from a dozen holes, to get patched by SGS doctors, I started blasting everything to pieces with grenades and shock bolts.
Worked like a charm
Also, now, with higher-tier crossbows, which I craft with scope and reloader (to have two shots per turn), I do enough damage even with regular bolts to see those pesky mechanical enemies drop by a significant fraction of their health (usually, it takes 2 to 4 hits for a sentry bot, and more for a turret - but, for those, I tend to lamely take cover out of sight, and wait for the shock bolt cooldown to expire. In fact, that's what I did when needed, against sentry bots: paralyze them, then hide if possible, wait, rinse and repeat. And if I lacked the AP, or got stunned, or whatever (and survived until I got another round), then I would use health hypo, maybe even adrenalin, etc.