Big Guns
From The Vault
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Big Guns is a Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout Tactics, and Fallout 3 skill. It determines your combat effectiveness with over-sized weapons such as Fat Man, Missile Launcher, Flamer, etc.
[edit] Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics
The strength requirements of most big guns, combined with the weight of the guns themselves and the large amounts ammo they require make investing into strength points at character creation a prudent choice for players planning to use these weapons as their mainstays. Most, if not all, big guns in Fallout are burst weapons exclusively, meaning that players cannot make targeted attacks with them. This makes taking the Fast Shot trait a much more viable option for big gun enthusiasts, as they enjoy the benefits of the trait without the drawback.
Initial Level:
- Fallout: 10% + (1% x Agility). Average characters have a 15% skill.
- Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics: 2% x Agility. Average characters have a 10% skill.
[edit] Fallout 3
S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Statistic: Endurance
Initial Level: Starting Big Guns skill is equal to 2 + (2 x Endurance) + Luck/2 (rounded up). Average starting characters (End 5, Lck 5) will have a Big Guns skill of 15%.
Weapons using this skill are specifically the Flamer, Gatling Laser, Minigun, Fat Man, Missile Launcher, Rock-it Launcher, Heavy Incinerator (Broken Steel only) and any unique variants of these weapons. As this skill increases, so does your accuracy and damage with all of these weapons, both in and out of V.A.T.S. mode.
If you're following the Main Quest you can pick up your very own Fat Man early on, and there are several Minigun- and Missile-Launcher-wielding super mutants who can be killed for their weapons
In addition to assigning Skill Points at Level up, Big Guns can be permanently raised by taking the Size Matters Perk, finding the Big Guns bobblehead, and reading U.S. Army: 30 Handy Flamethrower Recipes. Big Guns can be temporarily raised by wearing clothing that enhances Endurance, or by wearing the Raider Blastmaster Helmet or Linden's Outcast Power Armor, each of which grant +5 to Big Guns. The Bombshell Armor, from The Pitt, grants an even greater bonus of +10.
It is also possible to get an infinite amount of U.S. Army: 30 Handy Flamethrower Recipes in the Bethesda Ruins.
The perks Size Matters and Tag! both give the opportunity to raise Big Guns by 15, so with an endurance of 5 by level 16, you could have 45 Big Guns without having to level it, though you could simply use the glitch stated above to save you a few perks.
Although difficult to obtain and use in the initial stage of the game, big guns and their ammo become a deceptively self-sustaining resource after the early-middle stages (particularly the minigun, and to a lesser extent the flamer). At higher levels (>50) of the Big Guns Skill, the minigun becomes very efficient in the mid-range against armored and unarmored foes. Alternating with the flamer for short range/melee enemies and the missile for long range/sniper enemies gives you one weapon set for all occasions. Ammo is always a concern for these weapons (particularly when you experience a scavenging drought, such as fighting dedicated melee enemies) and should be supplemented whenever possible from shops and traveling merchants. Luckily, the 5mm is one of the most common forms of sold ammo. And selling all those unused small arms weapons will leave you with a lot of caps to burn. For the first segment of the game, while most big guns and their ammo are still scarce, consider acquiring and building a Rock-It Launcher. It's one of the most easily acquired blueprint (Moira Brown sells it) and it is the gun with the most plentiful ammo in the game (since it uses the game's clutter items as weapons). On top of that, spent ammo can be picked up and used again and again. Combined with Bloody Mess, it's also one of the most hilarious weapons in the game (Explosive Death by Teddy Bear!).
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