In addition to its high damage-per-second, the Plasma Rifle adds a great deal of damage to critical hits, more than even a Sniper Rifle, although the Plasma Rifle’s crit chance is far lower. Its damage compares favorably to the primary high-end weapons in the Small Guns line, such as the Sniper Rifle and the Chinese Assault Rifle. Plasma Rifle - DPS: 42 - The Plasma Rifle is the mainstay high-level rifle for Energy Weapon experts. It pays for these traits with lower than average damage. This, combined with its remarkable range, means you’ll probably always carry a Laser Rifle on you for use in long-range conflict. Its primary advantage over an Assault rifle is that it fire quick bursts which, as you’d expect, exhibit little lag-time between when you pull the trigger and when your target is hit. Laser Rifle - DPS: 21 - The Energy Weapon equivalent to an Assault Rifle, the Laser Rifle will be your main weapon until you get your hands on the Plasma Rifle. Should you ever run out of ammo for your primary weapon, this should be enough to get by in meantime, as long as you don’t get hit by a hoard of Deathclaws. Once you get your hands on the Plasma Pistol, you’ve found your side-arm of choice for the rest of the game.
Its damage is high for a pistol, and doubly so for a pistol which runs off extremely common ammo. Plasma Pistol - DPS: 23 - Not a bad little gun, this one. But it doesn’t really matter how good the Laser Pistol is, because it is the only low-end Energy Weapon. It less power than the 10mm Pistol, but ammo is still plentiful. That said, the Laser Pistol, in comparison to most of the other low-end weapons you can get your hands on, isn’t bad. It has low damage per second and low damage per hit. Laser Pistol - DPS: 11 - Likely the first energy weapon you’ll come across, the Laser Pistol is nothing fancy. This is a better indicator of overall firepower than the damage stat show in your Pipboy. You should also know that the DPS stat shown with each weapon stands for damage-over-time, and indicates how much damage a weapon can do in approximately one second. It is not the intention of this guide to include spoilers. Unique weapons are not covered because they are rare, and you’d have to perform specific steps to get a hold of them. Ammo for them isn’t hard to come by, they pack a deadly punch, and they’re easy to carry around. Despite their advanced technology, Energy Weapons are in many ways similar to Small Guns.
#FALLOUT 3 WEAPON LIST SERIES#
This article is the fourth in a series covering the weapons of Fallout 3, and as you might have guessed, this section covers Energy Weapons. All of them can come in handy in a fight, but some are far more deadly than others. Among these, Energy Weapons are among the most advanced, and despite their high-tech nature, both Energy Weapons and their ammo are plentiful.
In fact, guns seem to be nearly as common as canned beans - some sort of weapon can be found on the corpse of nearly every humanoid enemy. While the Wasteland may have lost most of the technology required to meet basic requirements like water and food, weapons-grade technology is still easy to come across. Armed To The Teeth: Fallout 3 Weapons Guide Part 4