Fallout VI: Shotguns and Six-Shooters

[Balmas]

Now in one handy package

Welcome to the sixth thread where we discuss, enthuse about, and rag on our favorite post-apocalyptic roleplaying game.

Previous threads:
Fallout 4: It's Happening!
Fallout 4: It Happened!
Fallout Thread III: Preston Garvey Demands BLOOD!
Fallout 404: GECK Not Found
Fallout V: Old Thread Blues

Have at it!

[Triaxx]

Okay, well, favorite Shotguns, Vanilla and modded? Same question but for Six shooters.

And also, why has no one ported that beauty into a game yet. :D

[DigoDragon]

Oh hey, a new thread.

Odd, I'm clicking on it, but it just reloads this page. #ThatsTheJoke

Okay, well, favorite Shotguns, Vanilla and modded? Same question but for Six shooters.

Didn't use shotguns all that much, unless energy versions count? The Captain's sidearm is kind of shotgun-ish.

For revolvers, I love the scoped .44 "Little Mac" mod. It's the handgun that wants to grow up and be a sniper rifle. :D

Vanilla .44 is pretty sweet on it's own too, but fairly rare to grab without going out of your way for one.

[Balmas]

Okay, well, favorite Shotguns, Vanilla and modded? Same question but for Six shooters.

And also, why has no one ported that beauty into a game yet. :D

Well, let's answer the second question first, I think. It probably hasn't been ported to any game yet, I suspect, because it's probably a sawed-off version of a Russian-made MTs-225 shotgun.

Lessee, let's start with favorite shotguns. The selection is kind of limited, as I just don't really use shotguns in the more recent games.

• Fallout 3, Vanilla: Terrible Shotgun. You can't really go wrong with this one, even if it is just "more damage, less accuracy."
• Fallout 3, Modded: That'd probably be the Pancor Jackhammer from Fallout: Wanderer's Edition.
• New Vegas, Vanilla: I kinda want to say a tie between the Riot Shotgun and Dinner Bell, but the Lever Action shotgun has a special place in my heart.
• New Vegas, Modded: The only one that comes to mind is the Ithaca 37 from Millenia's weapon pack. I really don't use shotguns very much in New Vegas if I'm not building especially for Shotguns.
• Fallout 4: Explosive Combat Shotgun. Because you can't go wrong with multiple explosive pellets.

And now revolvers! I use these much more, as they're usually much more versatile. Plus, who doesn't love a good revolver?

• Fallout 3, Vanilla: Tossup between Blackhawk and the .32 revolver you find in the dead slave in the Pitt.
• Fallout 3, Modded: Li'l Macintosh, a custom ivory-handled .44 revolver that does an incredible amount of damage.
• New Vegas, Vanilla: I'm going to go with the Ranger Sequoia. It's just a beautiful model.
• New Vegas, Modded: Sweet Revenge, from New Vegas Bounties I. It's a blue-steel 1851 Navy revolver that hits like a Mack truck, and it is gorgeous.
• Fallout 4: Kellogg's Pistol.

[GloatingSwine]

[*]Fallout 4: Explosive Combat Shotgun. Because you can't go wrong with multiple explosive pellets.

Well you could stand too close....

[LibraryOgre]

Just reposting my PSA....

So, I finally got to play Tale of Two Wastelands again, after months of absence. Apparently, I still need to do The Pitt and Point Lookout, in addition to the main quest. However, I figured out WHY I was having such trouble.

Friday, I tried again. New installs of EVERYTHING, its mother, and its little dog, too. Fresh downloads from steam and TTW.com. I unpack the mod, notice a weird message, try to run the installer, and it stalls on meshes again. But, then, the boy is crying and the wife needs sleep, so I leave it alone.

When I got home Saturday, I checked my copy of 7zip. It is version 4. From 2008. I have downloaded version *16*, and run the installer pretty well. It's cheerily doing all the things it refused to do before.

So, yeah. Check your programs for updates, people. Especially when you've been running the same system since 2008.

[Triaxx]

I never really played Fallout 1, but in Fallout 2, it was all about the Combat shotgun. Burst mode, or single shots, and it was easy to get early on.

Fallout Tactics: Double Barrel shotguns were the absolute bomb. Oh, you're charging at me? Splat. The Pancor was too heavy for the character I used for shotguns, so the Neostead was my weapon of choice.

Fallout 3, I always stuck with the normal Combat Shotgun, until I got my hands on the double barrel because that was awesome for stealth kills.

Modded Shotguns, I never found any I liked better than the vanilla ones.

Fallout New Vegas, I adore the Lever Action, but Dinner Bell is nice as well. Never could bring myself to love the Riot Shotgun.

Modded... Oh boy, here we go. The M1897 Trench Gun. I'm using Millenia's, but there's also one by SpamPTRS. I also love the Three-Shooter added by Project Nevada, which is a unique Sawed-off with a third barrel. Combined with Selective Fire and it's hilariously powerful. Nevada also ports over several F3 weapons, and the Double Barrel is just as stupidly good at stealth as ever.

Fallout 4, I've fallen in love with the Double Barrel, for reason's I can't fully explain, though a large part of it is laziness of the Devs with the Combat Shotgun being just a rechambered Combat Rifle. Haven't found a Legendary Double Barrel, but I'm hoping for Plasma Infused.

That said, a Plasma Scattergun is an epic piece of kit if you can put your hands on one. Crippling is stupidly over powered, but so is Rapid.

Revolvers:

Fallout 2, it was all about the Speedloader .44. With enough ammo, you could continually empty six shots every time your turn came up and have it reloaded for the next one. I built a pistol user once, and she used just this, and stomped 90% of the game without much issue.

Fallout Tactics: The Casull was cool, but it was all about the 44 S&W M29. Six shots for six AP? And the ability to carry two? Yeah, SMG Rate of Fire, for standard shot accuracy. And fairly insane damage. (Technically you couldn't make aimed shots because you had to have Better Rate of Fire and Fast Shot, but it was worth it.)

Fallout 3, Blackhawk is the gun of choice. Super easy to get your hands on, and then it mows through most enemies, or is accurate enough to cripple them for bigger guns to finish.

Again, didn't find any modded revolvers I liked for F3.

Fallout New Vegas. Lucky is an early favorite and for a high-crit build, it's an absolute monster. Mysterious Magnum is a bit harder to get, but even a basic .44 is awesome. I like it with Project Nevada so there's an option NOT to have a scope. Hunting Revolver is awesome as well.

Modded: So many options. The Mateba Unica 6, again by Millenia is beautiful, and sounds awesome. I have used a .50 BMG Revolver that's incredibly overpowered, but since you won't find ammo for it for a long time, it's not so bad. But it's my weapon of choice for a pistoleer hunting Deathclaws. Sweet Revenge is cool, but it's a gun I save for one man, and then I start using it. And of course, I cannot possibly forget my chosen .357 (Because something is hilariously wrong with the retexture for the vanilla one.) The MP412 Rex, which is slightly stronger than the vanilla .357, but is balanced because it's unmoddable. And looks amazing, because Millenia did it, just like everything else.

Fallout 4: The Pipe revolver actually. I use it in multiple forms, and early on, it's actually a superior option to the 'normal' sniper rifles, because .45 ammo is much, much easier to come across. I found an incendiary one in my first play through that makes for an awesome sniper rifle.

Kellogg's gun is nice, but I prefer a Two-shot .44 myself.

Haven't really got into modded Fallout 4 weapons.

---

I do have one 'shotgun' for NV that's an odd case. I use CASE, which adds new ammo types. One of those is 40mm Buckshot. Which turns the Grenade Rifle/Launcher into shotguns. But they also fit into Mercy...

So yeah.

[LibraryOgre]

My TTW character is MOSTLY unarmed, but she also carries a Combat Shotgun, loaded alternately with Magnum Buckshot or Pulse rounds. I used to carry a 9mm as a scoped weapon, but realized I wasn't using AND was carrying 17 pounds of +P ammo for it.

[Triaxx]

Pistol? Or are you using PNV so you can use the awesome Homemade rifle which is much more accurate.

[LibraryOgre]

Pistol? Or are you using PNV so you can use the awesome Homemade rifle which is much more accurate.

Nope, pistol. I realized that, with Pack Rat, a 9mm pistol was only .75 pounds, even modded up with a scope and longer magazine. The idea was that it was a low-weight backup. But, as the game went on, I just had a ton of ammo, and got better with Unarmed, and the pistol became a relic.

[Triaxx]

Ah. Yeah, when I finished NV, I'm going to play through TTW. I'll have to do a bit of experimenting with mods to see what I can bring over from NV.

[Balmas]

What kinds of mods are you looking to install on your TTW playthrough, Triaxx?

In my experience, mods that only affect New Vegas will work perfectly inside of the Mojave, but not inside the Capital Wasteland. This includes stuff like Millenia's weapon packs--you'll find the weapons scattered across the Mojave, but it doesn't edit the leveled lists for the Capital Wasteland. Luckily, there's usually patches to bring Mojave mods to the Capital, and I recall a mod to do the opposite.

NVInteriors and AWOP both have compatibility versions that include the content of both Fallout 3 and NV versions.

CASE works with NV weapons, but I think you might have to do a custom mod to bring CASE to TTW weapons.

Texture mods for both should be compatible.

A good number of the Puce Moose from F3 have been TTW-ified, if that's your thing.

[GloatingSwine]

To honour the new thread and because I can't be doing with Lightning Returns this evening I've started a new game of Fallout 3 using the Xbox One backwards compatibility (which makes the textures a bit better (maybe I'll stick with it)).

I'm aiming to be the dumbest brick in the Wasteland who's still absolutely fantastic at everything without spending a perk on skill points without some other value to it. I have deliberately not installed Broken Steel so I'm capped at 20 and can't take Almost Perfect, but on the other hand that means I can collect the stat bobbleheads as soon as it's convenient. (also none of the stupid bullet sponge enemies so hooray) and I'm going to play entirely without VATS or Fast Travel because I am hard like that.

This is the build I'm going with:

Spoiler: The Wunderbrick

Show

Strength 8
Perception 6
Endurance 9
Charisma 3
Intelligence 2
Agility 6
Luck 6

With the following perks:

Intense Training (I) - Need Int to hit 4 for Comprehension
Black Widow - There are significantly more male human enemies than female. 10% damage to them.
Comprehension - For the skill books, this is the key skill for getting all our skills to 100.
Entomologist - Basically makes Those! easier at lower levels, plus damage is damage.
Toughness - DR is good, don't want to use cheese armour.
Bloody Mess - 5% Damage is good
Strong Back - More carrying.
Scrounger - More ammo, plus no real good perks at level 9.
Finesse - More crits.
Rad Resistance - No other good perks at this level.
Fast Metabolism - More healing.
Robotics Expert - Because **** Sentry Bots.
Light Step - Can't sell 'em if they blow up
Silent Running - More sneaking for more sneak criticals.
Better Criticals - One of if not the best damage perk.
Adamantium Skeleton - Kinda running out of good perks now.
Life Giver - Some hitpoints I guess?
Cyborg - More DR, Rad resist, replace the EW bobblehead.
Ninja - None of the other level 20 perks are good.

I'm going to be grabbing Ranger Battle Armour, Lucky Shades, and the Lucky 8 Ball to bring my luck to 10.

So far, I've endured one of Bethesda's tediously long intros again, gotten into two fights with the class bully, beaten basically every member of the civil authority of vault 101 to death with a baseball bat, and disarmed a nuclear bomb.

Now, quite why that nice Mr Simms allowed someone who is obviously a hulking drooler (Int 3 at this point) fiddle around with the innards of his town's main tourist attraction I do not know, but thanks to some nice colourful pills I found in the Overseer's office it all seemed to go well and I have somewhere to stash my inevitable massive hoard of loot (since I get twitchy if I'm not over about 75% carry capacity and with my strength that's a fair bit).

The bright lights of Rivet City are calling me now though, I have an appointment with the Int bobblehead and I need to make it before I ding level 4.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

You know, I am working with some friends writing a piece of 'fic wherein one of the characters (a big beefy seven foot plus fellow with hands like ham hocks and enough strength to bend steel rebar) asks for a pistol with a somewhat more commanding voice than the current options. Even the biggest of pistols looks ridiculously small in his massive hands, to the point that it makes it difficult for him to get his finger on the trigger because of the guard. Building up the grip and trigger would work, only the gun would then look like a dinky Mauser. The solution was to build him a seven-shot 12 gage revolver, with break-forward action (like a saturday night special or the British Webley) and custom speedloaders.

In F:NV my favorite shotgun was the Riot Shotgun. Yes, damage per shot was actually less than with Dinner Bell, but rate of fire and reload rate were what decided me. If I'm going to use a close-range weapon, I want one that will be able to drop whatever is in front of me ASAP, and higher rate of fire lets me ensure that, if the first shot doesn't do it, the other twenty-nine in the drum sure as hell will.

As for pistols? Light Shining in Darkness was a really damn sweet pistol. Granted, it used its own unique ammo (.45ACP), but it was probably the highest damage-per-shot handgun that could be silenced. So I guess it serves as the F:NV's version of the Deliverer. The Li'l Devil was the other high-damage pistol, using 12.7mm ammo. So if you ran with the Survivalist's Rifle, it used the same ammo. Can you call the sawed-off shotgun as a pistol in this game, since it's used one-handed and has a pistol grip? Other than that, I didn't much go in for pistols.

In FO4, the Combat Shotgun is the only shotgun for me. Okay, so I may limp along with a double-barrel shotgun until I get the Combat Shotgun, but this baby is pretty much the only 'real' shotgun in the game, to my mind (I don't consider plasma with scattergun mod to be a true shotgun). If you can't find a good legendary affix, Le Fusil Teribles has a not-bad affix, with a flat 25% damage boost at the cost of recoil.

For pistols, you have a real plethora of options, depending on what kind of build you're going for.

If you are going to for an automatic build, the humble Automatic Pipe Pistol is actually not a *bad* option. With Gun Nut 2, you can have it upgraded to the Advanced Automatic Receiver, for 16 damage a shot, fully auto, using the inexpensive and extremely common .38 ammo. Other than that, your only other automatic pistol available is the 10mm. However, you can't use the Deliverer for automatic, since it cannot be modded with an automatic receiver, meaning either use Wastelander's Friend (and Crippling isn't exactly the worst legendary effect for an auto-pistol to have), or go farm yourself up either Explosive or Kneecapper 10mm.

For your Gunslinger builds, there's a couple of options. First off, we can't talk about pistols without the overly popular Deliverer. For stealth builds, this is pretty much your go-to choice. However, for those who don't mind a more 'loud and proud' weapon with a somewhat more commanding voice, the Cowboy Revolver is a really damn nice pistol. High damage per shot, using .44 ammo (although really, since it looks like the Colt Peacemaker, it really should be firing .45 ammo), can put good sights (though I wouldn't bother with the optional scope), and about the highest damage per shot of any pistol in the game, before perks.

There's one other pistol I feel deserves a special mention, though. The Thirst Zapper, or as I like to call it 'Fat Man in a can'. Basically, for the size and weight of a small pistol, once you unlock the Project Cobalt recipes, the quantum ammo deals about as much damage and has about the same range as a Fat Man. Granted, you have to make your own ammo out of Nuka Cola Quantum, which can get rare-ish, but it's your big bing-badda-boom that fits in your pocket.

[Triaxx]

I went through the Intro once, then made a save at the exit to the cave, just before the menu pops up and started from that ever after. Almost nothing you do in the Vault ever makes any difference again.

Trouble on the Homefront? Yeah, it's ugly out here too. *Fires MIRV at cave entrance*

Editing Leveled Lists is no problem. And as long as they're all using the New Vegas ammo categories, CASE should work just fine. It basically injects itself into the 'what ammo can this gun use' list, so as long as it uses the normal lists, it shouldn't be a problem to use CASE ammo. I mean, the Weathered 10mm works fine, (Both versions.), so anything from TTW should as well. Snowglobes should work as well, which I love. And if Signature Weapon/Armor work, I'll be totally happy. I'll be doing something I don't normally do, which is leave RobCo Certified out of the load order. Shneekey made the suggestion, so I'm going to try that.

Of course reading the install instructions is giving me a headache, so I'm going to go record some plain ol' modded NV. :D

[LibraryOgre]

I have so many missiles, I wish I could just get a rocket launcher and convert them all.

[Balmas]

Editing Leveled Lists is no problem. And as long as they're all using the New Vegas ammo categories, CASE should work just fine. It basically injects itself into the 'what ammo can this gun use' list, so as long as it uses the normal lists, it shouldn't be a problem to use CASE ammo. I mean, the Weathered 10mm works fine, (Both versions.), so anything from TTW should as well. Snowglobes should work as well, which I love. And if Signature Weapon/Armor work, I'll be totally happy. I'll be doing something I don't normally do, which is leave RobCo Certified out of the load order. Shneekey made the suggestion, so I'm going to try that.

If that's the case, then CASE should probably work fine. I've used Signature Armor in my TTW game, so I don't think you'll have any problems there.

Of course reading the install instructions is giving me a headache, so I'm going to go record some plain ol' modded NV. :D

It really isn't hard, I don't think. Install both the GOTY version of FO3 and the Ultimate Edition of New Vegas. Point the TTW installer at the install locations of both, and an empty folder where you want the modded files to go, and let it go forth and do what it wants.

[Triaxx]

Fair enough. Just seems more complicated, but I suppose it's one of those things with the mod authors who want to ensure you can't mess up.

[Morphic tide]

So. Nukaclaws. They are, apparently, a canceled Nuka-world Deathclaw variant. Like the Nukalurk, only using Deathclaws as the basis instead of the Mirelurks. How horrifying would they be if they were as much stronger than the "default" Deathclaws as Nukalurks are stronger than the "default" Mirelurks?

As a side note to this question, they look absolutely awesome. Seriously, they were canceled after being made fully working creatures: stats, animations, texture, sound, everything is there, in game. Just... not in use...

Another thing: There's a rather big question that seems like a plot hole to me in regards to Fallout 4: Why did the Institute keep making the Synths more human to the point of having the Gen 3 Synths be more human than machine? Seriously, you'd think that the dev team for the things would recognize that the Gen 3 Synths were closer to human than some of the actual people they worked with(looking at you, Kellog). Like, why the heck did the Institute refuse to consider the Gen 3 synths human when the entire point of the things was to be able to do absolutely everything a human could with the same effectiveness?

[Spore]

After playing from Level 15-45 with Power Armor, my character has gotten some much needed fresh air. And along with a few movement speed increases I now feel so agile. I mean, I am still used to tanking rockets face first. But the gameplay difference is tremendous.

[Triaxx]

Yeah, I love being in power armor, but the difference in mobility is night and day. But so is Survivability.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

So, for all those Energy Weapon lovers in FO4, particularly those who love the rat-tat-tat of automatic weapons, I've come up with an unusual, if effective, weapon for Commando builds. This only requires Science! 2, which means it is available by level 17, assuming you can find the base weapon and enough ammo to keep it supplied at that time.

Maximized Capacitor, Improved Automatic Barrel, Sharpshooter's Grip, Reflex Sight, and Amplified Beam Splitter. Base 35 damage per shot puts both the Auto Pipe Pistol and the SMG to shame, with twice the damage per shot, and achievable at roughly the same time. This is your 'get out of my face' toy. While not having the best range, it isn't intended as a sniper's toy, it's intended to take whatever was getting up in your grill and turn it into an ash pile rapidly and decisively.

Useful for up-and-coming Commando builds as an intemediary step between your Auto Pipe Pistol and your Splattercannon/Problem Solver, you can probably afford to keep it around for most of your career. As a pistol, it's somewhat more nimble than a rifle would be, with minimal impact on the weapon's overall utility where it counts.

[GloatingSwine]

Another thing: There's a rather big question that seems like a plot hole to me in regards to Fallout 4: Why did the Institute keep making the Synths more human to the point of having the Gen 3 Synths be more human than machine? Seriously, you'd think that the dev team for the things would recognize that the Gen 3 Synths were closer to human than some of the actual people they worked with(looking at you, Kellog). Like, why the heck did the Institute refuse to consider the Gen 3 synths human when the entire point of the things was to be able to do absolutely everything a human could with the same effectiveness?

Because they had that one questline in Fallout 3, and they were too busy working out if they could spin it out into the premise for a whole game they didn't stop to consider whether they should.

[Triaxx]

If you're going with an auto-laser shotgun, I suggest grabbing Old Faithful. UP77 is better, but more trouble to get.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

If you're going with an auto-laser shotgun, I suggest grabbing Old Faithful. UP77 is better, but more trouble to get.

Instigating only has an effect on the first shot. Since this is full-auto, that's far less important. However, the fact that it is vendor-sold in Diamond City means it is possible to obtain at level 17 when you can get the combo to work. And hey, any legendary is better than no legendary. Usually.

It was just an idea for Commando builds wanting something to get stuff out of their face safely, since early-game automatics tend to have sub-par damage performance.

[Morphic tide]

If you're going with an auto-laser shotgun, I suggest grabbing Old Faithful. UP77 is better, but more trouble to get.

Old Faithful is garbage for shotguns. It is far, far better as a sniper. I should know, I frequently kill Deathclaws in 3 hits. I've killed enemies in the skull zone of levels above me in one hit, as well as more that one Legendary enemy. Instigating OP, plz don't nerf

[Triaxx]

Unless the shots hit at different times, it should be absurdly OP. And when it comes to automatic weapons you want that first shot to start the stunlock. And higher damage will do that. Yes, it's much better for a sniper, but for an early build, it's better than nothing. The other option is of course Righteous Authority, but I don't like that as much, since I don't use VATS much.

[Blackhawk748]

Im a fan of the Combat Shotgun, but i do like me a good ol fashioned Double Barrel

[Spore]

Logic would dictate that for anything other than recon missions in confined areas I should go for my Power Armor (which I have heavily invested in). My male survivor's booty and guns however disagree. I would have never guessed that Fallout's body models would be more enjoyable to me than Skyrim's where the default race of Nord gets bonusses on a playstyle to charge in with a twohanded weapon (with a Fur Armor not covering the chest of course!) and wrecking house.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Logic would dictate that for anything other than recon missions in confined areas I should go for my Power Armor (which I have heavily invested in). My male survivor's booty and guns however disagree. I would have never guessed that Fallout's body models would be more enjoyable to me than Skyrim's where the default race of Nord gets bonusses on a playstyle to charge in with a twohanded weapon (with a Fur Armor not covering the chest of course!) and wrecking house.

You'd actually be surprised at how unusful power armor frequently is. Deep Pocketed Combat Armor over Army Fatigues is VERY effective. Not only does it have effectively negative weight for carrying capacity (it gives you more carry capacity than it weighs), but if you can manage to get the right legendary affixes, you can get some serious stat-boosting going. +1 to Str/End per slot? That's +6 all told. You want to talk cargo capacity and being able to face-block a missile launcher? There you go.