Fallout: New Vegas Walkthrough -> Unique rifles in the game
As in Fallout 3, many weapons in Fallout: New Vegas have a unique, named counterpart, each unique in the game. Unique weapons typically deal more damage and often possess unique properties, such as a critical hit multiplier (e.g., a weapon with a x3 multiplier triples the critical hit chance). They can be repaired as before, using standard counterparts.
The surprising thing is that the ability to modify weapons in New Vegas doesn't apply to unique weapons. A standard weapon with upgrades is often more effective than a named weapon. Describing New Vegas's entire arsenal is pointless, so we'll focus on the most interesting examples:
Gobi Campaign Scout Rifle
- Strength Requirement: 6
- Skill: 75 Guns
- Ammo: .308
- Damage: 60
- DPS: 106.07
Every Fallout game has a superweapon that, while not known for its stratospheric damage output, is unrivaled in its combination of lethal force, versatility, and ammo availability. A worthy successor to the Turbo Plasma Rifle and the Bozar is the Gobi Campaign Scout Rifle (hereafter simply referred to as the "Gobi"). It can be found in a locked crate in Sniper's Nest northwest of Cottonwood Cove. Lockpicking requires 100 skill. Inside, we find an elegant sniper rifle, painted in stylish desert camouflage. Its only redeeming feature is a 5x critical hit multiplier.
With high luck, the Finesse perk, and the 1st Scout Beret, the critical hit chance becomes 100%, more than doubling DPS. Virtually no human enemy can withstand more than one headshot from the Gobi. A Deathclaw or Super Mutant will require three headshots in a worst-case scenario. The rifle is equally effective in both modes and at any range. Its extended six-round magazine and decent rate of fire make it suitable for use indoors. And the .308 rounds are among the most common in the game, so there's no need to skimp.
Sniper Rifle
- Strength Required: 6
- Skill: 75 Guns
- Ammo: .308
- Damage: 62
- DPS: 99
The Gobi is inferior to a standard sniper rifle in that it cannot be equipped with a silencer, which allows for picking off enemies without risking alerting their comrades. With some skill, a silenced sniper rifle can eliminate large groups of enemies without drawing any fire, which is practically a cheat. However, it's best to do this alone—teammates tend to engage before the enemy realizes who's firing and from where. Both the silencer and the sniper rifle can be purchased at Trading Post 188 or from Gun Runner OB.
Anti-Materiel Rifle (Anti-Machine Rifle)
- Strength Requirement: 8
- Skill: 100 Guns
- Ammo: .50
- Damage: 110
- DPS: 49.2
A huge, pompous "elephant rifle," vaguely reminiscent of the famous M82 Barrett rifle (whose sprite was used for the Bozar in Fallout 2, so the AMR will bring tears of nostalgia to veterans). For all its power, the AMR is inferior to the Gobi in every metric except direct damage—its reload speed and sheer weight, coupled with the rarity of ammunition, make it difficult to use as a primary weapon.
Its true purpose is to hunt Deathclaws. If you attack from stealth, it's quite possible to kill even a Legendary Deathclaw with one shot. With the Jury Rigger perk, any lever-action rifle can be used to repair the AMR—even the simple Varmint Rifle, available at level 1. The AMR is available for purchase after reaching level 16.
Pew Pew (Pew-pew)
- Required Strength: 1
- Skill: 0 Energy Weapons
- Ammunition: Energy Cell
- Damage: 75
- DPS: 149
A laser pistol you'll receive by turning in 50 Star Caps to Festus the Cowboy Robot in the Sunset Sarsaparilla Headquarters (southwest of Vegas). Don't be fooled by its resemblance to a standard laser scare tactic. With the Laser Commander perk (increasing laser damage by 15%), the Pew Pew is one of the most powerful energy weapons.
In fact, the perk, which is usually useless, is worth getting for its own sake. Unfortunately, its massive damage and 2.5x critical multiplier are offset by its energy consumption—the Pew Pew consumes 15 Energy Cells per shot! Therefore, save it for special occasions.
Multiples Rifle (Multiple Plasma Rifle)
- Strength Requirement: 4
- Skill: 50 Energy Weapons
- Ammo: Microfusion Cell
- Damage: 95
- DPS: 31
The infamous plasma shotgun. It fires a triple plasma blast, consuming two Energy Cells per shot (6 per volley), and deals insane damage at medium range—few enemies can survive more than two well-aimed shots. The MR is especially effective in VATS mode—all three blasts are guaranteed to hit their target. While this weapon isn't particularly effective at long range, as its spread is too wide, it's the best choice for an energy weapon specialist in close quarters combat.
There are five Multiples Rifles in the game, and the one found on the Van Graffs is the easiest to obtain—it can be stolen or purchased. Conveniently, the MR can be repaired with regular plasma rifles, provided you have Jury Rigging.
Plasma Caster (Plasmoliv)
- Required Strength: 8
- Skill: 100 Energy Weapons
- Ammo: Microfusion Cell
- Damage: 65
- DPS: 195
The trusty old plasma rifle from the original Fallout duology. It looks impressive and shoots well, too. But its main advantage is the ability to install the Plasma Caster HS Electrode upgrade: for some reason, the Plasma Caster isn't considered a unique weapon (even though there's only one available in the Van Graff shop).
With this upgrade, the PC becomes a turbo plasma rifle, increasing its rate of fire by 15%. Considering that each shot consumes only one Microfusion Cell and deals quite decent damage, you get an accurate, powerful, and rapid-fire weapon that's a real all-rounder. The only downside is that the Plasma Caster isn't all that effective in VATS mode. Furthermore, the PC can only be repaired with heavy energy weapons—flamethrowers, incendiaries, and Gatling Lasers.
Alien Blaster
- Required Strength: 1
- Skill: 75 Energy Weapons
- Ammo: Alien Power Cell
- Damage: 100
- DPS: 249
What would Fallout be without an alien blaster? You can only get it with the Wild Wasteland trait. North of Horowitz Farmstead (a farm northwest of the Strip), you'll encounter a flying saucer and three aliens from Mothership Zeta. Kill them, and the blaster is yours! The blaster has a 100% critical hit chance and a decent rate of fire, along with lethal force.
Essentially, it's the most powerful energy weapon in the game. Unfortunately, it uses unique ammunition that can only be looted from the corpse of the same alien (140-250 rounds). Once that ammunition runs out, the blaster becomes useless. If you don't have the Wild Wasteland perk, instead of aliens, you'll encounter a group of mercenaries, one of whom carries a YCS/186 Gauss Rifle.
YCS/186 Gauss Rifle (YCS/186 Gauss Rifle)
- Required Strength: 5
- Skill: 75 Energy Weapons
- Ammo: Microfusion Cell
- Damage: 140
- DPS: 420
Next to this gun, even the Anti-Materiel Rifle feels like a toy. 40% critical hit chance, monstrous power, and a long reload after each shot—if you've been leveling up Energy Weapons instead of Guns, this weapon will become a replacement for the AMR when hunting especially large game. Keep in mind, however, that due to a bug in VATS mode, the YCS/186 deals less damage than it should.
Use manual aiming or wait for a patch. Incidentally, this weapon is quite easy to obtain (see above), and it can be repaired using regular Plasma Rifles (with Jury Rigging); buying a regular Gauss Rifle is pointless.
Pulse Gun
- Power Required: 2
- Skill: 25 Energy Weapons
- Ammo: Energy Cell
- Damage: 5
- DPS: 5.1
The Pulse Gun's damage output seems laughable compared to what we saw in Fallout 2. But wait until you see a robot or a Brotherhood paladin in your sights! The Pulse Gun short-circuits any mechanical target, killing them in 1-2 hits. Power armor is also susceptible to this effect.
According to the story, the Pulse Gun was developed specifically to combat Chinese armored infantry. The Pulse Gun is located in the Vault 34 armory. To open the crate containing this weapon, you need a Lockpick 100 or Pearl's key from Nellis Base. The armory itself is opened from the Overseer's computer.
Euclid's C-Finder (Euclid's Algorithm)
- Required Strength: 1
- Skill: 0 Energy Weapons
- Ammo: ARCHIMEDES II Charge
- Damage: 150
- DPS: Unknown
When solving the quest "That Lucky Old Sun," you're faced with a choice: redirect power to one of the Vegas districts or to an orbital station housing a high-power laser. The latter option is generally considered preferable for an "evil" character, as it involves testing the orbital weapon—this will result in the death of all NCR soldiers on Helios One and a loss of karma. Furthermore, in this case, the power station will soon be captured by the Legion.
However, there's an option to redirect the power to ARCHIMEDES II (not to be confused with ARCHIMEDES I, which would have dire consequences)—a weaker version of the laser system that can be controlled from Earth. Simply select ARCHIMEDES II from the list of available districts, but don't activate the orbital weapon testing afterward. This will leave the Followers of the Apocalypse and the NCR unharmed, and you'll be able to use the weapon of mass destruction once per day.
However, first you'll need to find a device for transmitting coordinates—Euclid's C-Finder, carried by Max from Freeside. When completing Veronica's quest, you can pay for it honestly (1,000 caps, or 20 if Barter is leveled up) or, even without the quest, steal it.
Euclid's C-Finder can fire once every 28 hours. It doesn't deal the highest amount of damage, but it covers a large area. Hitting a moving target is difficult, as it doesn't work in VATS mode. It can't be used indoors. Overall, it's a bit of a gimmick, but a very effective one.
Sources: svxg.su
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