Lack of Energy weapons in NV : Fallout: New Vegas

» Tue May 17, 2011 11:01 am

im sure there will be more "bullet" weapons then energy weapons. but energy weapons are going to be much more powerful then small guns.

there has already been more then 5 energy weapons confirmed

Pistols-
Plasma defender
Plasma pistol

Rifles-
Laser riflle
Shotguns-
Multiplas rifle
Tri-beam laser rifle

Heavy Weapons-
Flamer
Gatling laser
Plasma caster
Portable laser beacon

im sure more are on the way. like the plasma rifle and laser pistol

:cryvaultboy:
you left out the regular plasma rifle, i already seen it in a screenshot plus josh sawyer mentioned in specifically when talking about a mod that increases the speed of the bolt on the plasma rifle, but i though the plasma pistol worked great in FO3 even later on, i hardly used it except for maybe here and there but it was about as powerfull as the combat shotgun, it worked good, i usually used the plasma rifle or ol painless late in the game, but i would like to see the guass rifle return and i sure hope it doesn't require a 7 or 8 strength to use it.

» Tue May 17, 2011 1:25 pm

Dont forget small cells...

Also remember the game has changed greatly to better balance the weapons types so some of the former cannon material might be wrong now.

» Tue May 17, 2011 6:48 am

BrotherGrimm is right. I posted long ago much the same thing.

2066

"Summer: Adding further insult to the Sino-American relations, the first crude fusion cell is unveiled, one of the results of the Power Armor project. Devices designed for the fusion cell begin to be manufactured. Incorporating fusion power into the general U.S. infrastructure begins, but the process is too slow to supply power to the regions that need it. Nearly eleven years later, few sections of the United States were supplied with fusion power."

Since the Great War was October 23, 2077 that only gives less then 11 years for Lazer/Plasma weapons. Stands to reason that there should only be a few types.

Also: seeing as how civilians were only able to get their hands on low powered Wattz lazer weapons, the usa did not have the material to make enough for civilian use. Also backed up by the whole point of the Great War "to many humans not enough resources to go around."

This.

Lore wise, Energy based weaponry is too new to the Fallout Universe to be as abundant as projectile based weaponry.

» Tue May 17, 2011 5:13 am

J.E. Sawyer mentioned some of this in another thread. Weapons like the Laser Pistol/Rifle are going to be very good against lightly or un-armored opponents. They have great accuracy, high ammo capacity, high rate of fire, and all around good DPS. Weapons like the Plasma Pistol/Rifle are going to be less accurate, have low ammo capacity, low rate of fire, but will have pretty much the highest DAM of any weapon in its "tier". It's not the amount of Energy Weapons that count, it's the incredible firepower that matters. There will certainly be more Guns, but Energy Weapons will definitely be a dominating force.

» Tue May 17, 2011 2:26 pm

BrotherGrimm is right. I posted long ago much the same thing.

2066

"Summer: Adding further insult to the Sino-American relations, the first crude fusion cell is unveiled, one of the results of the Power Armor project. Devices designed for the fusion cell begin to be manufactured. Incorporating fusion power into the general U.S. infrastructure begins, but the process is too slow to supply power to the regions that need it. Nearly eleven years later, few sections of the United States were supplied with fusion power."

Since the Great War was October 23, 2077 that only gives less then 11 years for Lazer/Plasma weapons. Stands to reason that there should only be a few types.

Also: seeing as how civilians were only able to get their hands on low powered Wattz lazer weapons, the usa did not have the material to make enough for civilian use. Also backed up by the whole point of the Great War "to many humans not enough resources to go around."

There's a loophole in that. The fallout bible specifically talks about "fusion" cells, not the very generic and broad "energy" cells. High-powered rifles use fusion cells, but low-powered pistols use energy cells.

» Tue May 17, 2011 3:08 pm

Won't bother me in the least. I never liked the energy weapons to begin with. they don't have any authoritah. Fire off a large projectile weapon and you get a large boom. Fire off a large energy weapon? You get a pathetically weak "Ptchew" that you could easily talk over.

Well that and they didn't do any more damage than projectile weapons.

» Tue May 17, 2011 1:04 pm

I'm fine with the list of EW right now but there will definately be more in the actual game. And yes the energy weapons should be rare to come across and by doing so make them demi-god weapons (not god weapons but so close) and it would be balanced out between energypower and the resources to fix/shoot them

» Tue May 17, 2011 5:38 am

There's a loophole in that. The fallout bible specifically talks about "fusion" cells, not the very generic and broad "energy" cells. High-powered rifles use fusion cells, but low-powered pistols use energy cells.

Yes Low powered energy cells. For Low powered weapons like Wattz energy pistols and cattle prod. They could not power lazer rifles or gattlings. They did not power plasma weapons. So unless people want more crap energy pistols then this might support that but it will not support new plasma weapons or rifles.

» Tue May 17, 2011 3:14 pm

Um the plasma pistol is also powered by energy cells and not micro fusion cells. So was the pulse pistol for that matter.

» Tue May 17, 2011 5:55 am

I think the consensus is that energy weapons should be rarer but much more powerful. Since we know that we'll be able to find them as early as directly after character creation, they'll probably just be a lot less common than Guns in early levels but still have a presence. EW characters will probably have an advantage now that they can just repair them with Repair Kits. I remember in Fallout 3 getting a Laser Rifle from that Talon Company outpost and then having to put it on the sidelines soon after because I couldn't find anything to repair it with. That was extremely disappointing. I also think that EW would be more likely to survive over time since the only moving parts are the trigger assembly and the handle to eject the battery. Plasma weapons are much more fragile than Laser ones, but as for the Laser weapons, all that needs to stay intact is the crystal focusing array.

» Tue May 17, 2011 4:45 pm

I also think that EW would be more likely to survive over time since the only moving parts are the trigger assembly and the handle to eject the battery. Plasma weapons are much more fragile than Laser ones, but as for the Laser weapons, all that needs to stay intact is the crystal focusing array.

Really? Because, sure, if traditional mechanical weapons aren't oiled and stored, they'll probably rust, but almost any Joe Blow can then buff or sand the rust off and re-oil all the moving parts and the weapon will work like a charm. EW may only have a moving trigger assembly and ejection port, but what goes on inside the weapon? Wires, circuits, a honking impressive vacuum tube? If circuits rust or corrode, or wires do the same from laying in some damp area for 200 years, or the tubes break from a sudden impact or fall, who is going to know how to repair that? Even if you had the know-how, I'm betting parts would be an issue. You can't just make a new circuit board on a workbench if you need one. EW are perhaps the best case for the way repair worked in FO3. (Though I am greatful we will now have repair kits in New Vegas.)

» Tue May 17, 2011 11:47 am

Well, if Laser Weaponry conforms to FO1/2 standards, then they are practically useless if fire against Metal Armor wielding foes. As Laser were considered pretty crap against armored foes, with Plasma & Pulse weapons been the exception. Give me a YK42B Pulse Rifle, and watch everything disintegrate around you. Its like the Ultimate Godly Single shot weapon ever!

» Tue May 17, 2011 1:26 pm

What about getting pulse weapons like the rifle and pistol found in previous games?

» Tue May 17, 2011 2:25 am

What about getting pulse weapons like the rifle and pistol found in previous games?

The pulse weapons are very rare, unique even. To see them mass produced in New Vegas will be out of place. If there is a story about the BoS,Shi or another faction mass produced them then that would be ok.

» Tue May 17, 2011 1:08 am

The pulse weapons are very rare, unique even. To see them mass produced in New Vegas will be out of place. If there is a story about the BoS,Shi or another faction mass produced them then that would be ok.

Understood.

Actually it's pretty understood that energy weapons are going to be rare, and variation even more so.

Hopefully they can come up with a convincing storyline and implement a good amount of unique energy weapons.

Hey, if they're so rare and hard to maintain, you'd figure that the ones that made it through would have to be well taken care of, and possibly heavily modified.

Whatever though, so long as there are some cool options, good mods, and they're fun to use, I don't really care.

I was just hoping a developer would drop in here and be like "Yeah man, mad energy weapons. We got you guys who love to make things turn to dust/goo."