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Forums: Index > Fallout: New Vegas general discussion > Best weapons in Fallout: New Vegas

What do you guys think are the best Weapon Unarmed and Ranged in Fallout New Vegas? Lenov 01:38, December 19, 2010 (UTC)

I did a full spreadsheet, counting Veteran NCR Rangers as the defender to compare every weapon on the game. I included and played with all the variables such as critical chance etc. Unlike FO3, the best weapon doesn't depend on the type of character you create. There are certain weapons that just dominate everything else against hard targets. The unique Gauss rifle uses normal ammunition and does like 500 damage per second to 30/30 defense targets. Most other weapons which seem good against soft targets do like 50 damage a second including mods and ammo types. Cleansing Flame does like 400 dmg/sec because it relies on DOTs. Of course Esther beats it, as does holy hand grenade but ammo is limited. Unarmed demolishes all competition in VATS. The two step goodbye seems to dominate with like 15 damage per AP, but I haven't actually tested it to know it's damage mechanics (2 punches, does each one give a seperate boom? Is the damage affected by better criticals/lucky to be alive? etc) In any case, at half of this it still beats everything else except maybe Embrace of She which is also unarmed. Guns and melee are pretty much useless skills considering energy and unarmed weapons are available right off the bat. Boxing weapons are really deadly since they knock people out in a couple hits, and early enemies are soft enough to be dealt with by laser/plasma pistols. 24.126.149.219 15:31, November 27, 2014 (UTC)

PSN/Steam User: AKA-Poindexter- As I enjoy running through the whole game killing anything I can (even friendlies), I love stealthy weapons and really obnoxious weapons. As I always break the bank in all the casinos and loot a LOT and do a lot of repairing, money isn't an issue personally... *cough cough 178k+ cough*

But i have 1,128,375 caps —Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.86.246.9 (talkcontribs) 12:54, October 2, 2015 (UTC). Please sign your posts with ~~~~!

Unarmed- Ballistic Fist/Saturnite Super Heated

Melee- Knock Knock/Oh Baby!

Loud Pistol-A Light in Shining Darkness/Ranger Sequoia Quiet Pistol- 12.7mm Pistol+

Loud Semi-Auto Rifle- Medicine Stick (GRA)/All-American Quiet Semi-Auto Rifle- Christine's COS Silencer Rifle

Full Auto Rifle- Light Machine Gun/Assault Carbine+

SMG- 12.7mm SMG+/Nail Gun

Shotgun- Riot Shotgun (Preferably with 'And Stay Back')

BFG- CZ Avenger

Plasma- Q35 Matter Modulator/Plasma Caster+

Laser- Elijah's LAER+/Spertl Wood

Explosive- Mercy!

Other REALLY Fun Guns You Should Own- YCS/186 (or Alien Blaster)

                                  Tesla Beaton Prototype
                                  Anti-Materiel Rifle (With Incendiary Rounds)
                                  Sonic Emitter- Tarantula
                                  Holy Hand Grenade!

Enjoy!

Laser- Personally I'm a big fan of the Ballistic Fist. Taken with the correct perks and Armor for example Finesse & Purifier perks coupled with Ulysses Duster (+5 critical chance) make for a deadly combination. Also ideal for hardcore mode as no ammo = no extra weight! User: TangoSucka

Long Range: GRA Anti-Materiel Rifle with all mods(bolt, cf parts, and flash hider) Unarmed: Saturnite Fist Super Heated (Old World Blues) Devastation guns at close to medium range: Riot shot gun with slugs and the Ranger Sequoia with SWC ammo (GRA) Overall kill the crap out of everything at all ranges: Medicine Stick (GRA) with SWC ammo (GRA) For super fun taim: .45 auto smg with all mods As far as armor goes: Elite Riot Gear and Elite Riot Gear Helmet (Lonesome Road)` 75.177.151.85 00:08, May 11, 2012 (UTC) Alex Gannon

Depends for what type of character IMO:

For a heavy assault type character: Avenger and Riot Shotgun make the best set up, particularly with Knock Back perk.

For a Hand to Hand character: Mantis Gauntlet, the x3 critical strike modifier and all the crit perks gives a 100% critical strike chance on swing, though I usually use tomahawks as a ranged back up purely for tremble application.

For a Sniper: Have to go with the Gauss Rifle over anything else, it cant be silenced but kills anything in 1 hit.

--Steel Atlas 20:09, July 25, 2011 (UTC)

I use all pistols..that gun,maria,lucky,and the mysterious magnum i use those primarily but the q-35 modulator is good as well as vances gun and an anti material rifle with inciendary bullets i just spent 8000 caps on inciendiery rounds and now i enough to last until the cows come home173.63.163.14 03:50, January 7, 2011 (UTC)LeeroyJeakins

Best ranged for me at least is Ratslayer. It's light and the Nightvision scope make it a great sniper rifle. Best Unarmed = Love & Hate for its concealability and good damage. Captain Taipan 01:58, December 19, 2010 (UTC)

Ive been using the Brush Gun, But i want something automatic that does good damage, They nerfed This Machine so it sucks. Lenov 02:06, December 19, 2010 (UTC)

If you want a decent automatic weapon then try an Assault Carbine with an extended mag. modification. The rate of fire is great plus 5mm ammo is plentiful in the game both from scavaging/looting and to buy from merchants. The down side to the weapon are the Iron sights but it's really a spray & pray weapon best used in VATS. For sheer awesome lethality - Mercy.... 'nuff said ;) Captain Taipan 02:12, December 19, 2010 (UTC)

Any outher weapons you can think of to add to my Aresenal? Lenov 02:17, December 19, 2010 (UTC)

a 9mm SMG with all the mods add on is also a great side arm to have for those moments when you really need to unload a heap of lead into some close up enemies. 9mm is plentiful ammo, much like 5mm. The LMG, which uses 5.56mm is good weapon but 5.56mm ammo doesn't appear to be as common or available from merchants which makes it not as good a choice for an automatic firearm. The reason being is that you can burn through a few hundred rounds of 5.56mm ammo in literally a few seconds but you'll have to wait 3 days or more for the merchants inventories to restock with meagre amounts of 5.56mm ammo. Captain Taipan 02:35, December 19, 2010 (UTC)

Ive been meaning to get an LMG, The Marksman Carbine is a total waste of 5.56. Lenov 02:46, December 19, 2010 (UTC)


A Marksman Carbine is ok as a Sniper rifle but since it lacks a silencer/suppressor, you alert everyone when you open up on your targets. It is better than Ratslayer in that it has a good magazine capacity but Ratslayer has the Nightvision scope plus it just looks way cooler too ;) The All Amercian is a great weapon and in the hands of Boone, well just watch him drop enemies in seconds. The downside is that you'll have to be buying Boone plenty of 5.56mm ammo as he snaps off plenty of shots. Captain Taipan 02:52, December 19, 2010 (UTC)
If you give him the All-American, give Boone surplus 5.56 ammo. The normal up/downside of that ammo type is that it deals slightly more damage (15%) but degrades the weapon condition three times as fast... but since companions' equipment does not degrade, that eliminates the downside entirely for this ammo type. 5.56mm surplus boxes are also carried by a good many vendors, and I *think* Contreras sells them in bulk. 24.27.46.248 20:53, December 19, 2010 (UTC)

I Handed Boone an Anti-Material Rifle and 200 round of .50 and the only thing he cant hit is Mole Rats at 2 Yards. Lenov 03:15, December 19, 2010 (UTC)

This Machine is by far my favourite gun. Great all round poweful rifle and the clip flying out of the gun when you reload it is very satisfying, plus it gives very quick reloading times.

Vicky and Vances submachine gun takes down humans like they were cardboard cutouts. I'm also a big fan of sniper rifles. With a decent sneak and a Suppressed Sniper rifle, im 1 shoting most badguys (and a few deathclaws)at distances that are scary. You know how when you zoom in, see the guy then let go of the zoom and he dissappears? I can shoot without aiming, and sneak crit him without even seeing him anymore. The Lone Kobold 18:37, December 19, 2010 (UTC)

Love and hate. Maxing out your unarmed skill and learning the special unarmed attack by whatshisface in The Fort results in some pretty gory fun with Love and Hate.

I really like the all american. Knight Captain Kerr 14:20, December 29, 2010 (UTC)

Same here. Being able to load up seven or more shots in VATS great, from cripling Cazador wings to taking out a group of Fiends. Out of VATS, the scope and fire rate is great. Plus, the ammo is cheap since you can just buy 5mm rounds and turn them into 5.56. --Pyoobez 04:44, July 26, 2011 (UTC)

The Holorifle just vanquished all of them. Knock Knock is the best melee if you have Superslam its like playing baseball. On that note I wish they would have put a louiville sluger in the game with X2 crit and knock back bonus, it would have been SWEET! Mr.X 99.17.87.64 15:15, December 30, 2010 (UTC)

This Machine was my favorite, I didn't realize until I read this post that they lowered the damage in the last patch! It did seem to be a little harder to kill everyone but I just thought it was my stats. Now that my stats are higher than they were my first playthrough it has improved a bit. I still love it but am going to try some of these other guns for variety. Been using the Holorifle a lot since I finished Dead Money. --hippiehop 19:18, January 3, 2011 (UTC)

I agree with comments above re. LMG. I doubt I could have survived the "Bleed Me Dry" quest without it. It just rips through Cazadors (punches them away so the can't sting), Nightcrawlers and even Deathclaws. Unfortunately also as above it rips through the ammo!

For general use though and provided you don't have the "Meltdown" perk I like Q35 Matter Modulator or even the multiplas. Gunner Bill 11:01, January 4, 2011 (UTC)

Close range: Knock-knock
Random critters in the wasteland: All-American
Packs of enemies at long-range: Euclid's C-Finder. Back-up: Annabelle.
Solitary but strong enemies at long-range: Anti-Material Rifle
Mid-range/Indoors: Mysterious Magnum or This Machine.
For ****s and giggles: Tesla-Beaton Prototype
When you absolutely, positively have to kill every last mutha in the room: Alien Blaster

For Unarmed, I love the Ballistic Fist. A lot of Legion Praetorian Guards use them, I repaired until it's value was over 7000 caps. For Rnaged, I like Euclid's C-Finder or the Alien Blaster. Euclid's C-Finder is a great weapon for groups of people.

in my opinion for ranged weapons its gotta be either the anti material rifle or the gauss rifle. ive pulled off one shot head shotson alpha male deathclaws from the the real life equivalent of 3/4 of a mile with both of those rifles. for close range id go with a silenced 12.7 in vats it with take almost anything down with 2-3 shots to the head and torso. oh and the alien blaster is always a must. personally though at close range i just go with unarmed weapon. any powerfist type weapon like the displacer or any of the uniques will kill anything quick fast and in a hurry.

Personally, I use a SIG-Sauer semiautomatic with a silencer (added accuracy and discretion) and a sniper rifle with a suppressor. Hit hard, hit fast. I don't really like uniques other than collector's items, though. Personal_Sig_Image.gif Tagaziel (call!) 23:59, January 9, 2011 (UTC)

If you are dealing with robots then the Pulse gun is incredible, I just wiped out all of the ones down south near the crashed Vertibird with one or two shots each. I haven't used it against power armor yet. I also just got the Gobi Campaign scout rifle which is a great sniper rifle. --hippiehop 01:15, January 10, 2011 (UTC)


I use the sniper rifle, modded completely with a silencer and weight reduction, its quiet and ALWAYS gives me a one hit kill. makes it easy to get what i want from people without worrying about rep.

AM rifle nuff said, and in unarmed...pushy to get rid of everything that comes too close to snipe. period.--Nuke-a-Punch 06:26, January 10, 2011 (UTC)

I'm currently using the Gauss rifle which deals around 450dps great sniper puts down anything in one well placed shot, Light machine gun which is just over 300dps holds alot of rounds and tears through enemies, wiped out the deathclaw promonitary with this it is based off the real life FN Minimi by its appearance, the automatic rifle from dead money with upgraded internals mod which packs around 350dps is deadly at close-mid range only holds 20 rounds in a mag but takes .308 rounds which i happen to have about 3800 rounds of. based off the real life Browning Automatic Rifle which also holds 20 rounds per mag, very cool weapon but bad spread. For my handgun i choose the SIG-Sauer 12.7mm Pistol which really packs a punch and looks very cool and as much as people complain about the ammo being hard to get a hold of most Gun runners especially vendortron sells them well into the hundreds i have around 5000 12.7mm rounds(only rounds i have trouble finding is 45-70 Gov't which i only have around 250 rounds of). if anybody wants to know the real life names of guns in fallout try this page http://www.imfdb.org/index.php/Fallout:_New_Vegas --Espin88 12:48, January 11, 2011 (UTC)


Medium Range: This Machine. Long Range: Anti-Material rifle. Short Range: Oh Baby/Ballistic Fist. To feel like a BAMF: Avenger.


Lucky, The Variant of the .357 Revolver I killed about 30 deathclaws with it--Mr.GeneralPanda


Ive been using the LMG for my mid-range, ranger seqeaioa(not a SMG fan) for close range and the Trail carbine(or boone with a guass rifle) for long range. Xxfallout turkeyxx 20:53, January 12, 2011 (UTC)


I primarily use the super sledge and the gauss rifle. Both I got from killing brotherhood palidons.

A riot shotgun with slugs, and plenty of frags to get things started off. Sigpic small 18:55, January 13, 2011 (UTC)

I love the unique gauss rifle,the only problem with it is that there a glitch on it that makes it so that sometimes that shots don't register.I'm not certain about unarmed yey beacause i haven't gained pushy or the paladin toaster yet but so far its the ballistics fist

Try it, I'm telling you, Paladin Toaster is one of the best gloves in the game until you have the 100 skill requirement to use Pushy. Ballistic Fist falls in another category, this weapon is highlly overpowered, no wonder the strength requirement is so high. Brfritos 12:12, February 20, 2011 (UTC)

euclid's c-finder beats them all it rocks!!!!!!

The Holorifle from Dead Money kills everything in two shots (even Legate Lanius died within a minute after being shot)... it might get nerfed if there's another patch though. Ranger Sarina 03:14, January 22, 2011 (UTC)

The weapons I like the best are the Pulse gun, for dealing with robots. You can take out a bot with one charged blast. To charge it, hold the fire trigger(on PS3 and XB360 controllers). The Sniper Rifle, for long range kills(crouching helps steady the rifle when using the scope). The Laser RCW, because it looks freaking awesome and it's the only other rapid-fire laser weapon in the game next to the Gattling Laser. The Plasma Defender, because it's more powerful than the Plasma pistol. Funny thing about the Pulse gun though, I got that one off of a Fiend near a blown out house southwest of the Horowitz Farmstead. It might have been either a random event or a glitch I'm not really sure.--Ryker6106:35, February 20, 2011 (UTC)~10:34pm 2/19/2011.


For the first few levels I used the Broad Machete.. after that Liberator and then Knock Knock. As for ranged weapons I choose the Gobi Campaign Rifle or the All American and the Dinner Bell of course. xNOKIx 10:59, February 25, 2011 (UTC)


the 12.7mm SMG is my favorite gun so far. the ammo is expensive but wit the hand loader perk (or watever perk lets u get more cases) and a high repair skill u can easily reuse ammo. and wit jury rigger it is easy to repair...

I'v really come to love the Grenade Launcher. Getting deadly accurate at 50+ yrds is satisfactory numero uno. And with 1 perk of demo expert your grenades become small bombs with all 3 your grenades are a weapon of mass destruction. They're plentiful from merchants just expensive and heavy. Cpanda 02:44, June 5, 2011 (UTC)

For pistols i love maria for rifles ratslayer enegry weapons the unique gauss rifle or alien blaster for explosins fatman for grenades duh holy frag nades for bats and clubs shiskababe for machine guns cz75 mini gun for laser machine guns gatiling laser for unarmed she's embrace. andy45890 17:33, June 6, 2011

Pistol: .45 Auto w/ Suppressor and improved slide (50% durability); Rifle: Christines COS Silencer Rifle, All-American; Unarmed: Oh Baby! ferwindjacks 08:43, July 22, 2011

La Longue Carabine and the Ranger Sequoia, because you simply cannot buy class. 82.68.56.110 14:04, July 25, 2011 (UTC)

Gatling Laser with Focus Optics, Maxed Charged ECP, Laser Commander, Fast Shot, Built to Destroy, Finesse, Better Criticals, 10 Luck, Light Touch, 1st Recon Beret, Joshua Graham's Armour. Destroys literally anything in seconds.Oh, Bloody Mess and Lord of Death too I guess, overall the DPS is just over 700, and you could always take some Psycho to push it even higher. 81.151.111.126 19:58, July 25, 2011 (UTC)

For upclose/room clearing The Riot Shotgun with magnums/dbm can't be beat, I keep a Fully upgraded hunting rifle for my sniper rifle loaded with the JSP's (Redmist has never been so fun to watch), Sleepytyme 10mm jhp/Mysterious Magnum .44swc for a holdout, Survivalist Rifle for a GP/Random encounters loaded with 12.7jhp. I'm going to keep the LMG in my inventory for now instead of the Automatic rifle. Firefights are getting interrupted every 20 rounds....


For nonunique i would say for guns amr energy weapons gauss rifel unarmerd balistic fist not sure about unique and the others.Midnight lance 00:25, October 28, 2011 (UTC)

In terms of overall lon-term usefullness, I would actually place Ratslayer at the top of my list. I'm level 35 and that thing still drops adversaries like flies. Not to mention it was really quick and easy to obtain at an early level, has a low weapon skill requirement, ammunition is cheap and abundant, and it's weapon HP is insane not to mention the ready availibility of replacements for parts both early on and scavengable throughout the game. With the addition of match load ammunition in GRA, this weapon is even more deadly. Without a doubt, Ratslayer is my favorite medium-long range weapon of New Vegas.

I agree with all the posts about the Ratslayer, that thing is something Jeff Cooper would cry over in a video game, it's just damned perfect. HOWEVER, not everyone likes Guns. For energy weapons, I honestly prefer the Laser Rifle with all of the mods and Pew Pew, since both benefit from Laser Commander, and both are extreme tools of asskicking power. Also, the Microfusion Hyperbreeder Alpha is INSANE with Laser Commander, and it not only requires no ammo, but is fairly easy to repair, and stupidly durable. Also, the GRA Plasma Pistol with all mods is a force to be reckoned with, load out with Optimized rounds and you'll be hard pressed to find something you can't kill. The Cyan Dragon 21:22, October 29, 2011 (UTC)


For me, I use a Brush Gun for the majority of the critters and enemies in the Mojave. I'm a high level, so almost all enemies are tough. Another favorite is the LAER from Old World Blues. Also, Christie's COS Sniper Rifle from Old World Blues is the most devastating sniper rifle for me. It comes suppressed already! This Machine is also one of my favorites. Wilhelmjanz 20:08, January 10, 2012 Wilhelmjanz 01:13, January 11, 2012 (UTC)

Anti=Materiel Rifle FTW.Also, the Light Shining In The Darkness and Survivalist's Rifle, with the Grunt perk, all from Honest Hearts DLC. Jefrejtor 07:31, January 13, 2012 (UTC)

For me Guns:All-American Melee:Proton Inversal Axe Unarmed: Ballistic Fist Energy Weapons: Alien Blaster Explosives:Annabelle --Geth117 1/17/2012

In terms of general usefulness, I'd have to put the good ol' All American at the top of my list. It's fast and fairly powerful, but the kicker is the fact that it can be repaired by the lowly service rifle with Jury Rigging. For a melee weapon, I would choose the Katana (GRA) or Chance's Knife. Before leaving Goodsprings I always run the Cazador gauntlet at Level 2 to get this weapon whenever I do a melee playthrough. --BlindMax 18:55, January 24, 2012 (UTC)

I normally use Maria for killing people and ghouls because it looks cool, but if I'm up against heavy opposition I use the ballistic fist or the All-American. --VivaRonaldo 10:30, January 29, 2012 (UTC)

For me i reckon the best all round weapon is the all american with ap bullets because it has a reasonable scope the ammo is plentyfull you get loads of shots in VATS which is great for hoards or pile them into one big nasty and if does above average damage even better with grunt it even has a quick reload time and you can fix it with crap if you take jury rigging and most importantly it looks pretty in the green --Misswasteland2274 22:59, February 23, 2012 (UTC)misswasteland2274

Does punching someone while holding a stick of dynamite count as Unarmed? Rootmars 23:59, February 23, 2012 (UTC)

I'm suprised that this didn't get more mentions, but fully modded Laser Rifle firing Optimized ammo. It. Is. A. Beast. asdfth12 18:13, March 1, 2012 (UTC)

You should check multiplas rifle. It s not the most practical weapon, but can make enormous damage in head sneak attack outide VATS with most powerful ammo - over 10000 in normal difficulty with all connected perks. Other good rifles (anti-materiel, gauss, sniper rifles...) can make only somwhere between 500-2000 damage with 1 shot. You can test this on Gojira (has 8000hp) - other enemies dont have enough health. --89.142.254.147 06:10, March 27, 2012 (UTC)

My favourite ranged all-rounder would be Christine's COS silencer rifle, for up close and personal; Riot Shotgun with Mangum shells and best Melee weapon is Shishkebab (or Gehenna (GRA), but I don't have it yet!) Lazlo 85 13:36, April 19, 2012 (UTC)

Can I say All of the Above. I like to play the challenges, especially the ones with perks so I use everything and can hurt you seven ways from Sunday. For the first 10 levels though, my load-out is always the same. 9mm SMG, shovel, Chance's knife and Ratslayer. Oh, and Chinese Stealth armor. I get all these at level 2 and describe how in my blog. Squalor 23:51, April 21, 2012 (UTC)


Best weapons ever: Holo-rifle and Riot shotgun. With Holo-rifle I took down 4 deathclaws at close distance in just few seconds. And Riot shotgun with "And stay back" perk can take down any amount of enemies without having any trouble,it will take some time though. Best gun:Light shining in the darkness. Best sniper rifle: sniper rifle with all upgrades(especially silencer). All other weapons sucks compared to them.

My main range is Anti-Material Rifle. Though get the Special Gauss Rifle as well if you just need to take out one heavy duty character. Survivalist's Rifle is a great reliable weapon overall from Ghouls to Deathclaws. A Light Shining in Darkness is a great run and gun weapon, just be sure to know where your running so you don't draw anymore attention. For Melee I like Gehenna for kiting characters with the classic "in and out" move for the DOT (Damage Over Time), though for main head on I honestly like the War Club with all the mods. It's main dps is 157, lightweight so you can sneak it into any casino, and incredibly fast. For rifles I deeply encourage you to get the Medicine Stick. It's a brush gun though with the Cowboy Perk. The damage and accuracy on it can be a life saver! Last is, if your build is based off sneak/range then I recommend you get Sleepytyme for those tight spots you get in while sneaking.


aye the anti-mat rifle is the main long range one. I give boone either the sniper rifle or the 308 this machine, cass all american ar, raul lucky,or mysterios magnum,arcane the YCS b4 now im trying the tribeam rifle with arcane. for me well for close encouters the dinnerbell 12 gauge with mag rounds,the 12.7mm sub mininuke for deathclaws,light machinegun,for veronica pushy,the ceasers weapon after the fort is wiped out. thats not all i like many. hunting revolver,the big iron on his hip la la:) gernade machine gun is dangerouse,fun to watch though be carefull, annbelle with high velocity or high explosive hmm its not as good as it should be. the lightmachinegun is a good all around its the one i owned delphi and alot more just better have maxed streanth with minigun is rather disappointing the mg and minigun decay to quick. well theres some of my input

Long Range: GRA Anti-Materiel Rifle with all mods(bolt, cf parts, and flash hider) Unarmed: Saturnite Fist Super Heated (Old World Blues) Devastation guns at close to medium range: Riot shot gun with slugs and the Ranger Sequoia with SWC ammo (GRA) Overall kill the crap out of everything at all ranges: Medicine Stick (GRA) with SWC ammo (GRA) For super fun taim: .45 auto smg with all mods As far as armor goes: Elite Riot Gear and Elite Riot Gear Helmet (Lonesome Road)

The best ranged weapon in the entire game is Mercy. 900 Dps over 10 yards from poi (2000 dps with eye for an eye, atomic, and aint like that now). 100% accuracy at all ranges in VATS (due to splash). Destroys everything without any effort. Indeed it makes the game too easy if truth be told.
The best unarmed weapon is either the Industrial hand, if you play free aim, or the ballistic fist, if you play VATS. Though since unarmed/melee is bonused in VATS, there is no reason not to play a VATS build if you are going unarmed.FeckThisShyt 07:48, May 12, 2012 (UTC)
  • Sniping:

50.71.99.254 17:13, July 11, 2012 (UTC)

I think the best melee weapon is the war club from honest hearts with all its mods. It is the fastest melee weapon in the game and with perk's like 'It Ain't like that now' and 'slayer' it becomes a whirlwind of death capible of taking down a deathclaw in seconds at melee level 100. The only downside is its relatively low DAM. This makes it more difficult to kill more armored opponents without the 'pierceing strike' perk on earlier levels. I also like the Katana for the same reasons, only it looks a bit cooler. My favorite ranged weapon is the throwing knife. It is perfect for assassinations, is lightweight, holdout weapon and pretty accurate on V.A.T.S. The downside to this weapon is that for some reason there are very few in game, and if fighting in vats, due to its slow speed (compared to bullets) the knife would be deflected if the target walks behind a pole, etc. My favorite explosive is definitely c4 because of its ability to be remote triggered making it great for discreet precision bombing in non-hostile areas.


RED GLARE ALL THE WAY![1]

If by best weapon you mean most powerful, then there is only one weapon that tops the charts. This weapon is so overpowering, it basically makes the game....not fun to play. I speak of course of the Sonic Emitter with Tarantula soundwave. Just score a critical hit and watch as your enemy bursts into flames and their limbs explode off their body, killing them instantly. During Old World Blues, I brought it with me to fight the giant roboscorpion guarding Dr. Mobius, scored a critical with the first shot, and it blew up instantly. I was so disappointed with the lack of a tough fight, I reloaded the auto-save and fought it again without using the emitter. Seriously, all you have to do is take perks that increase your chance to score a critical hit, or be stealthy and get sneak crits, and you're pretty much God of the Wastes. It's light weight, doesn't cost alot of AP, and uses energy cells, which are plentiful. Also, the crit-insta-death works regardless of weapon condition or your skill in energy weapons. 71.171.112.74 07:56, October 2, 2012 (UTC)


At one time, there were armies marching with power armor and miniguns loaded with drums of 5mm AP. After having practiced their method in the southeast deathclaw nest with my own upgraded minigun (and Bloody Mess perk), I think they had the right idea. --Ravnos13 (talk) 20:34, November 8, 2012 (UTC)

Here's my personal loadout. If you're going to use a pistol as a backup weapon, then I highly recommend A Light Shining in Darkness. It makes great use of .45 Auto, and it's insane fire rate (for a semi-automatic), coupled with its lower spread when compared to the standard .45 Auto pistol makes it a reliable weapon to use when you need to quickly put bullets in a closing target, and have little ammo for your primary. If you do not have Honest Hearts, then I recommend Maria. It features a fast fire rate, lower spread, higher damaga and slightly faster reload time, which allows it to be used as a temporary primary weapon while one restocks ammo for their primary. If you want to use a pistol/revolver for a primary, then I recommend the Mysterious Magnum. The damage output is astounding, and is a fast-firing weapon as far as revolvers go. The Riot Shotgun outclasses all other shotguns in the base game in nearly every category, with a blistering fire rate and wonderful reload time. For a submachine gun, the 10mm Submachine gun offers a good modicum of firepower and accuracy, as well as a large magazine when fully modded, which will allow one to overcome light Damage Thresholds, which would render a 9mm Submachine gun nearly useless. For a two-handed rifle, i recommend either a fully modded Hunting Rifle or the Survivalist's Rifle. Both offer great hitting power at long and medium-short ranges, respectively. If you prefer a full-automatic rifle, then the Assault Carbine with an extended magazine is your best bet, for reasons described by other commenters. A good one-handed Energy Weapon is the Plasma Defender. it features a fast plasma projectile speed and higher damage, fire rate, and durability over the Plasma Pistol. For a two-handed Energy Weapon, the AER14 Prototype or the Q-35 Matter Modulator would be the best choice. both weapons are vastly superior to their regular counterparts, and the decision between the two can simply be left to preference. For melee, the machete Gladius, Knock-Knock, and the War Club when fully modded are all good options. And for unarmed, the Paladin Toaster and pushy are both fantastic, and each features a defining characteristic that makes them worthy of use. Signed, PolicePistol42

P.S. : if you have Dead Money installed, the Police Pisstol makes wonderful use of .357 Magnum ammunition. i definetly recommend it.

Regular Guns I like to take the grunt perk

  • Pistol: .45 Auto pistol. Strongest silenced holdout weapon in the game. You can take it anywhere and for Hardcore you don't need to carry a lot of ammo for it. Just enough for sneak kills if you don't want the negative rep or attention.
  • Rifle: Survivalist's rifle or All-American. By far my favorite rifles. Great rate of fire, both are accurate (The All-American more-so since you have to figure out the sites on the Survivalist's rifle). Unlimited ammo (12.7mm from Contreras and 5.56 from everywhere, and although the 12.7mm ammo doesn't come in AP with all damage+ perks it does over 135DAM with the hand Load JHP ammuntion so it's never an issue unless maybe your attacking Joshua Graham
  • SMG: I like the .45 Auto submachine gun but recognize that saving the perk and using the 12.7mm submachine gun (GRA) is probably better if your not planning on using any of the other grunt related weapons since it performs comparably and can be silenced.
  • Shotgun: Riot shotgun. It doesn't really have any competition. Maybe Hunting shotgun+ or Dinner Bell if you're looking for longer ranges.

Energy Weapons

  • Pistol: Hard to narrow down, Alien Blaster for WW characters, Plasma Defender+, the scope is nice for longer ranges, PEW PEW for raw power and the sonic emitter is very nice as well. All except for the Defender can serve as holdout weapons.
  • Laser Rifle: Standard LAER+ with all damage related perks and MC rounds each beam does over 65DAM per shot with -10 Damage threshold modifier and can crit for an extra 15 so unlike the laser rifle splitting the beam three ways does very little to hurt the guns effectiveness against armored targets. The +50% condition over the unique variant is nice too.
  • Plasma Rifle: Q-35 matter modulator, although I recognize that it's on par with the Plasma Caster, I just prefer the extra crit for all the fun turning people in to goo puddles.
  • Melee:Protonic inversal axe: Kills everything very nicely with the added bonus that it does extra damage to powered armor wearing and robotic enemies, which are the only enemies outside of Graham that have high enough damage thresholds to give it trouble anyway. Although I do like the fully modded chainsaw (GRA) and Knock-Knock as well.
  • Unarmed:

Pushy kills just as well as the ballistic fist with the added bonus that it can do stealth kills. Haven't tried a lot of the new unarmed weapons in the expansions though so maybe there are better options out there.

Alien blaster - Strong Hunting rifle - Accurate, strong Ripper - Ignores DT Dinner bell - Strong, good range Riot shotgun - Semi automatic, strong --CobraM1919 (talk) 08:34, January 19, 2014 (UTC)

Ratslayer w/ 5.56mm round, match (hand load) is crazy accurate and silent w/ relatively large magazine (8 round). It's the purest sniper weapon because the damage is not a 1-shot kill unless you make a perfect critical most of the time. Adds challenge. Sniping w/ gauss cannon or anti-material rifle is just cheating. Bheimbaugh (talk) 20:38, March 13, 2014 (UTC)

If I could only have one gun for the whole game, I would have to say Sleepytyme (GRA). It's silent, high level hold-out, plentiful ammo, potent and doesn't break down too fast (unlike the 10mm SMGs in Fallout 3). Laggg (talk) 16:31, March 18, 2015 (UTC)


The Setup I usually go for in end-game is this:

A light shining in darkness - Mid/Close range, loud (nuff said, this is a staple for most people, fairly accurate and decent damage, ammunition is a little expensive and is easy to maintain with jury-rigger perk)

Christine's Circle of Steel Sniper rifle - Long/Mid range, quiet (honestly my primary weapon fro the moment I get it, again ammo is heavy and expensive and is a pain to maintain without JR perk. When fighting high level enemies like Deathclaws or Pretorians AP ammo works like a charm)

Cosmic Knife, Superheated - Close range, quiet (Takes a lot of finagling to get but sure is fun to use, spec for high luck characters like myself)

Pushy/Two-Step Goodbye - Close range, loud [Pushy is quiet] (These are my go to weapons when S*** gets real. I go between the two as the Two-Step goodbye can occasionally be a liability to myself or companions as I play a high luck character. Unarmed is probably the least balanced weapons in the game if you play your cards right)

All-American - All rounder, loud (this is an all purpose weapon for me, if for some reason I can't use the above weapons. It's a hassle to get but is in my opinion worth it)

Paladin toaster - Close range, loud (this deserves a special mention as I use it the whole way though Big MT and in some other areas. The reason for this is its EMP effect which is lethal against robots and the BoS) Little Flea

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