The guide.
The way i see it, the two most dangerous enemies in this wasteland are the Deathclaw, and the Cazadore.

I thought that maybe, by everyone adding their points and advice, we could come up with a guide showing the best way to get around the problem of the Deathclaw.

Post your ideas and comments below, Doesn't matter if it sounds stupid, aslong as it helps.

1. >70 energy weapons.
2. Gauss gun with the improved MF cells.
3. Rock or building roof to stand on.

Add a Psycho if playing on higher difficulty.

Anti-materiel rifle + Armor Piercing Round + Hiding + Distance = Dead Deathclaw
Anti-materiel rifle + Armor Piercing Round + Hiding (Critical) + Distance = One-shot Dead Deathclaw

I think setting them on fire is a good way to spend the day. I mean, BURN BABY BURN

Deathclaw: High damage weapons, preferably ranged, preferably with AP ammo (no, a 9mm will not do when you're dealing with ~30 DT ).
Having said that, stealth crits FTW: killed a Deathclaw with the unique BB gun from stealth

Cazador: HP bullets for faster kills. And go for the wings!

Dinner Bell + sneak + beanbag rounds = goodnight, sweet prince. Then stand over your new sleeping beauty and remove his face however you see fit.

Is the dartgun still in New Vegas? i haven't seen it, but i used to cripple the legs of them with that before taking them out with the combat shotgun in FO3,

Maybe i'll try a poisoned throwing spear or something to cripple them...

No, sadly it isn't.

Oh, and: AMR + 90+ guns= rest in peace, deathclaw.

Deathclaw: Fearsome critters, these things. But they're easy to kill. All you need is an Anti-Materiel Rifle, some AP ammo, and if need be some Steady and/or Buffout. They drop like flies if you headshot them from long range this way. The mother and alpha male may take two or three hits, I haven't gotten a chance to test the AMR out on them yet. Killed them last time exploiting their AI and haven't gotten the rifle yet this time.


Cazadors: These svckers annoy me to no end. I already get annoyed by wasps in real life, and now these things that are pretty damn small yet do more damage than deathclaw?! I reach for the nearest automatic shotgun. If that fails, whether due to not having that mod or playing on console, a riot shotgun also works. Don't bother with slugs or beanbags, just spray 12 gauge shotshells downrange. 20 gauge just bounce off.

Deathclaw - one word, Boone. If that fails, AP rounds + their face + distance = dead them

Cazador - the wings, the wings.

Cattle Prod or Bean Bag rounds for shotguns to knock them unconscious (both will take 2 hits to knock them unconscious), or if you're an energy user like myself Gauss Rifle or Multiplas Rifle with Max Charge rounds.

Cazador are best dealt with when they're not in your face. An armor-upgraded ED-E is a great diversion while you blow their heads off, note you also can't headshot them from the front unless they are stinging due to their head placement, so it really is best to sic them on your follower. Unless you're playing hardcoe Mode that is, in that case you'll just end up with a dead eyebot. Area weapons may seem attractive for the cazador since they swarm but since they fly and like to straife left to right even plasma grenades aren't overly effective. They don't have high DT so a fast-firing weapon is ideal, a 12.7mm SMG or a laser RCW does a treat on them. So does a flamer, they seem to have some sort of innate fire weakness but maybe that's just me seeing things.



For deathclaws, well they're back as the baddest beasts in the wasteland, in FO3 they were almost trivial once you had a dart gun, even before then they weren't too scary. Now that they have massive DT, they're scary again. And you can't just eyeshot them 4 times with a .223 pistol like you could in FO2.

My tip is fear the deathclaw. You cannot just rush them, you will die (unless you're a melee fighter with a mantis claw, but that's later). They can put damage on you faster than you can shoot and pull up your pip-boy to heal. You can't just stumble upon them and hope to come out well, you have to know where they are (easy, they don't randomly spawn at all except in one narrow patch of wasteland) and set up, gear up and plan your assault.

Because you're pulling them to you, booby traps work well, a few plasma mines or even frag mines can cripple their legs and let you kite them around taking pot shots with a high-damage pistol. in addition, you can often get in good damage if you have a sniper weapon like a gauss rifle or an AMR. Boone with an AMR can put a serious hurting on them as well.

Once they get in close, hope they're almost dead, and rip into their head with the highest-damage-hitting weapon you have. DPS is not important your goal is to overcome DT.


For melee characters you're going to be in their strike distance the entire time, but you can block too. Fortunately, melee has some of the hardest-hitting weapons on a damage-per-strike basis in the game. A Thermal Lance is one of the few weapons that can outright beat the DT of a Deathclaw entirely, and Mantis Claws bypass DT entirely.

Oh and on high difficulty levels, don't forget drugs, lots and lots of drugs. Jet+Psycho and headshots in VATS is a good combo.

1. Guns/Energy: Any type of long sniping weapon. Vanilla sniper-rifle does the trick. Anti-Material and the YCS are just over-kill.

2. Melee: Use any weapon with a Vats 100% knockdown ability. (Supersledge, ohbaby, knock-knock) Also take supeslam perk. It's amazing.



I haven't tried explosives yet so I have no comment on that line of weaponry and dealing with Deathclaws.

For Cazadors make sure to shoot their wings. Best weapons to use are the Riot Shotgun (Shotgun Surgeon helps) and the Laser RCW. Haven't come across a single Deathclaw out of the 80 + hours I've played :shrug:

I just use 'Oh, Baby!' and sometimes if there's more than one or two some Psycho/Slasher. I tried guns, but I barely hurt them, even with really good guns and pretty good gun skill. I also sometimes use like powerfist or ballistic fist. It can take a lot of stims, but melee is a lot more effective against them from a pure damage standpoint.

You mean "No, thank goodness it isn't"? That gun made every enemy in the game a joke. Broken game mechanic indeed.

I avoid Deathclaws. I avoided them in FO3 with maxed skills.

They just creep me the f*** out. :nope:

This is a cheat, hint or spoiler? :unsure:

Deathclaw. 50 cal to the face...
Caz. C7 just keep throwing 5.56 at them go Canadians go

Sneak attack crits :ninja:

-.308 sniper rifle with both mods installed.
-Hand pressed JSP ammo
-Sneak attack to the head.

Deathclaws are now a joke thanks to the most overpowered weapon in the game.

lol you had problems with the Cazadore, i just used a hunting rifle and down they go.

What difficulty are you on? What level is your character? And how far into the game are you?

How is your first "equation" any different from your second "equation"...? :facepalm:

Not sure if anyone said the most obvious answer

Game Settings -> Very Easy Difficulty Setting.