The Best Weapons in Fallout 4: Pistols, Rifles, Carbines, Shotguns, Rifles, Exotics

The developers of Fallout 4 have provided a very flexible weapon crafting system, allowing any gun for any ammunition to be turned into a rifle, carbine, or shotgun. However, which options are the best? We've reviewed all the weapons in the game and its expansions to answer this question. Be warned, the text contains spoilers.

Let's start our guide by breaking down the main properties of weapons in Fallout 4. Understanding these will come in handy when you're choosing your gun or modifying it — not all unique weapons in Fallout 4 can compete with a properly modified standard one.

Weapons can be divided into four types based on the damage they deal, with the damage per second decreasing as you go further:

Types of Weapons in Fallout 4:

Key Legendary Weapon Properties, always useful against any opponent, in order of impact strength:

This is far from an exhaustive list, so don't forget about the playstyle you're roleplaying. For example, for stealth kills, legendary properties related to VATS may be more suitable.

Although the above weapon classification options are official, it's more effective to divide weapons by the type of ammunition used and describe the limits of the weapon built on its basis.

Let's look at the difference between ammunitions. Starting with ballistic weapons:

Let's look at energy weapon ammunition. Always remember that using energy weapons completely reveals your character:

After carefully reviewing all the weapons in the game and its expansions, we have selected only those that deal guaranteed damage regardless of the enemy's type, armor, and resistance to damage. Few weapon options meet all these criteria:

To maximize the effectiveness of pistols, you need to level up the Gunslinger perk. At the fifth level, non-automatic pistols deal 100% more damage, shots from them are more likely to disarm the enemy and can even cripple them. However, leveling up this branch is not always rational, as rifles and carbines are more effective in intense combat.

Therefore, the list is topped by the ordinary 10mm automatic pistol, very common in the Commonwealth, which players from level 4-15 can easily modify. We recommend upgrading it as follows:

There are many modifications, and if you make improvements continuously, the weapon will keep up with the increasing difficulty of enemies at the beginning of the game.

The pistol allows for effective combat at knife or point-blank range, has a low VATS shot cost, and having a legendary property (optimally: wounding, incendiary, explosive, crippling) is only a plus.

This weapon is unique, exists in a single copy, and has no legendary property. It shoots blue plasma, which flies faster than the usual green plasma. To obtain the weapon, the character must be level 20 or higher, then a falling UFO will appear in the sky over the Commonwealth. All that remains is to complete the simplest quest to search for it, then track down the alien and take the gun:

If you have the Nuka-World DLC, then, after completing the local Hubologists' quest, you can get a version with a unique legendary property and deal more critical damage. Both versions of the Alien Blaster have excellent firepower and extremely low VATS shot cost:

They can be modified to use nuclear batteries at the expense of a slight loss of power, which will be compensated by an increased magazine. Like all plasma weapons, it is not suitable for intense shooting, but, unlike terrestrial ones, it shoots accurately at long distances.

If you urgently need a good pistol, you can take The Deliverer. This six-shot revolver under the rare .44 caliber cartridge provides excellent damage of 96 points and adds 15 points of fire damage. The main thing is to cope with the recoil.

It can be picked up from the hands of a corpse located on the unmarked map level Pumping Station (strictly to the east of Finch Farm, across the bay). After loading the level, you need to go down to the basement and enter the code 10 4 5 1. Take everything immediately, as the code may not work a second time.

Another unique weapon, which can be obtained by completing the lengthy quest The Secret of Cabot House with the correct ending for Jack Cabot. Based on a gamma gun, but this specimen is much more effective due to the damage mechanics, as the gamma gun can hardly be called a weapon at all. Requires expensive and rare gamma rounds for firing.

Lorenzo's Pistol deals two types of damage: explosive, comparable in power and range to the explosion of a full grenade at the point of impact, and radiation, which penetrates any armor, any immunity, and affects all enemies.

In the end, we get a compact and the most powerful pistol in Fallout 4. Also, due to the explosion, it is possible to knock down any enemy or stun them. You can install three modifications, but the Gunslinger perk does not affect the damage from this weapon.

For close combat, a compact, rapid-fire assault rifle equipped with a reflex sight is ideal. To maximize effectiveness, it's advisable to upgrade the Commando perk: at level five, all automatic weapons deal 100% more damage and have an increased chance to stagger enemies.

Let's start the category overview with the most accessible .38 caliber. Despite its weak cartridge, this weapon has the most modifications and can be upgraded from the third level of the Survivor.

A high-capacity magazine and the availability of ammunition allow for peppering enemies with bullets like stuffing a scarecrow with straw. Even towards the end of the game, this weapon will be useful for taking down light targets, which are too insignificant to waste good bullets on. Characteristics and modifications of the rifle:

A weapon based on the .45 caliber cartridge is also best used as a rifle. Sacrificing recoil for rate of fire, you can get a very powerful barrel, and a high-capacity magazine will come in handy in a fight against several Deathclaws. Even without legendary properties, it will be a dangerous weapon if upgraded accordingly:

This is a unique submachine gun in Fallout 4, dealing explosive damage of 15 points, but the weapon can be fully upgraded to become a real killing machine. It uses .45 caliber rounds:

You can buy Spray and Pray from the vendor Cricket, who travels between Vault 81, Bunker Hill, and Diamond City. In the Commonwealth, you may encounter standard submachine guns with different legendary properties, but due to the rarity of this weapon, the likelihood of acquiring it in battle is very low, so it's easier to purchase.

In Fallout 4, laser weapons are available from the start and do not require special skills to use. They excellently destroy most enemies, so you should have such a weapon in your inventory. In our opinion, it works best as a rifle, for example, in this modification variant:

In the early stages of the game, you're unlikely to find laser weapons with a legendary property, such as a 25% power increase, but there are two ways to quickly acquire a unique one. The first is to take the Prototype UP-77, which does not require reloading. To do this, head southwest to University Point, find the Credit Union building, and go down to the basement.

Hack the lock leading to the bank vault room, and then carefully open all the locked safes. Find the one with a big red button inside. Press it and enter the secret room. On the table lies such a weapon, without any restrictions in terms of modifications:

The second option requires finishing the game for the Institute. After the ending, find the synth boy named Shaun upstairs in the underground complex, who will ask you to collect various junk three times. Do this and wait 24 hours, after which you will receive the unique weapon Gauss Rifle with an infinite, i.e., not consuming nuclear charges, ammunition supply:

The weapon can be further improved to your liking, but even the stock version is very good.

In our opinion, in Fallout 4, the pinnacle of plasma weaponry is a close-range automatic. In the Wasteland, you can find several plasma weapons with legendary properties, but the best among them can be purchased from a synth who deals in supplies at the Institute. It's called Experiment 18-A and costs a couple thousand credits:

The weapon is sold almost fully modified, meaning you can use it right from the start. Its rate of fire allows you to stuff enemies with plasma in just seconds. The ammunition consumption is very high, so it's not the cheapest weapon to maintain.

If you like shooting through VATS, then you should try a plasma automatic with a suitable legendary property. It will save 25% of action points and increase shooting accuracy, although you'll still miss now and then:

Confidently managing mid-range combat can be achieved with carbines of 5.56 mm, .308, and .45 caliber due to their better bullet grouping and accuracy than the automatics mentioned above. To maximize damage, you'll need to upgrade the Rifleman perk, which makes non-automatic rifles deal twice the damage, ignore 30% of armor, and can cripple limbs.

This high-tech carbine chambered for 5.56 mm rounds is commonly found on high-level enemies throughout the Commonwealth. It can be converted into a combat automatic, or you can keep it as a carbine — the choice is yours. We would recommend choosing the carbine for its high accuracy, massive damage, and economical ammunition use. Be sure to install a suitable scope:

On higher difficulty levels, you can quickly get a barrel with some legendary property. The best ones are weapons with bleeding properties, followed by powerful, incendiary, and explosive. However, if you set up your own production of 5.56 mm caliber cartridges, you can also make it an automatic:

The standard .45 caliber carbine is better converted to a .308 caliber — this way, you can achieve much greater firepower, albeit at the cost of a slight loss in accuracy. Both carbine variants shoot slowly, have high recoil, but in our opinion, the .308 caliber is better suited for long-range shootouts, especially if it has a legendary property:

We recommend modifying the weapon as shown in the screenshot above. Properties in descending order of advantage: bleeding, powerful, VATS-compatible, explosive, and incendiary.

Requires the Far Harbor add-on. This is a unique .45 caliber carbine that deals physical, explosive, and radiation damage, and is sold in a modified form. To buy the Kiloton, visit Brother Kane in The Nucleus after completing the Visions in the Fog quest.

This weapon is worth its money, and its explosive bullets deal significant damage to the limbs of all creatures, including Behemoths, Deathclaws, or even the player themselves (be careful). Kiloton is specifically made this powerful to simplify the player's confrontation with the creatures that have occupied Far Harbor.

In Fallout 4, there are very few shotguns: two types of firearms, three types of energy weapons. However, we will not consider the latter. They are less powerful, harder to control, and more expensive to operate since energy ammunition costs more than regular bullets.

Any Combat Shotgun will suit your needs, so get one as soon as possible. The semi-automatic firing mode will save you from constant reloading, and as your character develops (from levels 3 to 35), you can add a bunch of modifications:

In the Commonwealth, you can find shotguns with legendary properties. The best properties are: bleeding, explosive, and incendiary, as each pellet is counted separately and the damage does not decrease with distance. You can even carry two shotguns for each situation separately, and make the second one converted for different caliber bullets.

Effectively picking off enemies from long distances in Fallout 4 can be done with several types of weapons, based on .308, .45, .50, 2mm calibers.

The legendary property double-shot is considered extremely useful for sniper rifles. It fires two bullets at the target instead of one at the cost of one round, while increasing recoil and decreasing accuracy. Be warned that not all players have been able to master shooting with such a weapon due to the game mechanics implementation. If you are among them, then use a rifle with another legendary property.

Any sniper weapon combines well with the perks Sniper, Sandman (when using a suppressor), Ninja, and Critical Damage, increasing damage from sneak attacks.

You should make your first rifle out of the Hunting Rifle, which is available from the first hours of the game. The rifle will be useful in the early and middle stages of Fallout 4, while enemies are not too resilient or well-armored. Here is the most effective modification for it:

Converting to .50 caliber ammunition will squeeze a bit more firepower out of the weapon:

If desired, you can install a suppressor, which hides the sound of the shot.

Although it's a carbine, its legendary property double-shot and availability (sold by Alexis in Vault 81 for 3,000 credits) allow for an interesting sniper rifle configuration. It uses .45 caliber, but you can change the barrel to .308 caliber, depending on what ammunition you currently have.

Note that the game displays the total damage of the weapon considering its legendary property, but the damage from the second shot will not increase with barrel modifications (they only affect the first shot).

This railgun is one of the most powerful weapon options in Fallout 4, its unique property allows it to deal +50% damage to limbs, so it's best to aim for the head or leg. Additionally, the weapon is sold already modified, though you can tinker with some components. It uses rare and expensive 2mm rounds:

You can buy it from Ronnie Shaw at The Castle after completing the Old Guns quest. Note that any Railgun needs to be charged for 2-3 seconds before firing. This limitation can be bypassed if you make the shot through VATS.

However, if you don't want to buy this particular model, you can obtain a Railgun with a different legendary property by killing some legendary creature. For this, your character level must be above 40, although the chance of a Railgun dropping is extremely low.

Our review would be incomplete if we didn't mention melee weapons. They are better than unarmed combat, as they are self-sufficient. We recommend fully upgrading the Big Leagues perk to deal double damage, gain the ability to damage all enemies within the weapon's reach, not just the targeted one. There's also a chance to cripple a limb or decapitate.

We consider the Children of Atom's super sledge, named Atom's Judgement, to be the most effective. It requires the Far Harbor expansion. It is awarded by Grand Zealot Richter as a reward for the The Heretic quest:

In addition to the base melee damage of 40 points, Atom's Judgement deals up to 400 units of radiation damage to the target, and its legendary radiation property adds another 100 units of damage. Like any hammer, it has a slow attack speed.

If you haven't allied with the Children of Atom, you can upgrade any legendary super sledge to deal devastating damage. Even better if you attack enemies in power armor in third-person mode to increase attack speed. Remember, the final damage is calculated taking into account the Strength ability — 11 points in it will give +110% damage.

This is a unique Gatling laser in Fallout 4, which reloads 15% faster and is 25% more rapid-fire than the standard Gatling. The downside of this weapon is the difficulty in obtaining it — if you finish the game for the Brotherhood of Steel, you'll never get it.

The thing is, the weapon is used by Elder Maxson. During the ending for the Institute, Maxson can be found running around the Boston airport and could be anywhere, even on the roof. In the ensuing chaos, he might not be noticed and killed as a regular enemy. If you leave the location without finding Maxson's body, it's unlikely you'll find this weapon among the wreckage later. There are no such issues if you're ending for the Railroad — Maxson is killed on the Prydwen.

In terms of modifications, the Final Judgment is no different from a regular Gatling Laser, but one should experiment with caution. In terms of its characteristics and weight, this weapon is superior to another unique Gatling Laser, the Aeternus from Nuka-World, which has an infinite ammo supply.

This melee weapon, in addition to dealing its base physical damage, inflicts 30 points of poison damage to any target over 10 seconds, and retains all the possibilities for its modification (like a regular machete). The attack speed is average. If you are a fan of melee combat, this weapon will become a staple in your inventory.

The thing is, it consists of a handle and a blade. So, the ritual blade can be detached from this weapon and attached to another machete with some legendary property, obtaining a weapon with two effects.

Head over to the Dunwich Borers location, descend to the lower floors while clearing out hordes of raiders, and reach the dead end with the water-filled well. Dive without power armor, at the very bottom you will find a ritual bed, where two nuclear charges and Kremvh's Tooth lie.

In addition to the standard damage of 8 points, this minigun inflicts 15 points of fire damage with each shot. The second most effective weapon, after the Last Day. It uses standard 5 mm rounds, and a modification for shooting range can be applied. It can be obtained from a female character named Fahrenheit, upon completing the Big Dig quest:

Despite the fact that at the highest difficulty levels in the Commonwealth, you can loot a standard minigun with some other property, getting the Incinerator is significantly easier and faster, and it is available at any difficulty.

Any standard rocket launcher can become deadly. The rockets themselves are very common, and the number of charges can be increased to four. Even better if you find a version with the legendary bleeding property and modify the weapon correctly, as shown in the picture:

This unique Fat Man launches two nuclear mini-nukes using only one. Thus, the damage from the weapon is doubled. It is considered to be the most powerful weapon in Fallout 4, however, it does not always shoot accurately and the second mini-nuke does not always deal damage to the enemy.

A minor modification can be made at the workbench, which will cause the nuclear charges to split into several striking elements, dealing area damage. The item can be purchased from Arturo Rodriguez in Diamond City, for about 12,500 credits.

This rather unusual knife can be found by visiting the eerie Pikman Gallery. After destroying an entire army of raiders and the boss, you can save Pikman, who will give you the key to his safe where the blade lies. It stands out for dealing one and a half times more damage and a bleeding effect, which also works on robots and synths.

The blade's modifications are similar to the set of a standard combat knife, but you won't need to upgrade it since it is already the final modification. The insufficient damage is compensated for by a high attack speed.

Requires the Automatron expansion. The Tesla Rifle is perhaps the most unconventional weapon in Fallout 4. It fires an arc of electricity that can hit multiple enemies if they stand close to each other. You can experiment with it on the workbench and create something akin to a shotgun or a mortar:

This weapon, quite common among Raiders and Gunners, consists of a curved blade of medium length with a fuel reservoir. Several modifications can be made. When attacking, the blade is engulfed in flames, which deals additional damage:

This weapon first appears during the quest Out of the Fire from the raider boss Slag, who hides on the second level of the Saugus Ironworks factory. The Shishkebab has a medium attack speed, and its power is only sufficient until the mid-game, but there are legendary variants that are much more effective.