The Hunt for the Best Energy Weapon in Fallout New Vegas 

Any weapons you like to use that you think should have been on this list? Let me get your thoughts! Also let me know what type of weapons you’d love to see next in this… series? Yeah I guess it’s a series.

The holorifle actually is bugged with the durability upgrade. If you fully repair the weapon and apply the upgrade, it will never lose any condition again and stay fully repaired forever.

Pros: you can get the Holo rifle just by starting dead money Cons: you have to start dead money

One note: the gun runner’s variant of the plasma pistol also has a mod doubling its projectile speed from the usual plasma shot and has a crit modifier of x1.5 It’s biggest con is looking like garbled spaghetti in your hand.

" I dont like wild wasteland" bro what

I think you can get the YCS/186 and Alien Blaster in one playthrough. If you do OWB and deselect wild wasteland as a trait after getting the alien blaster, the mercenary camp will spawn. It's either that or the other way around.

I love how Elijah just took a China Lake, said "Hey, I can turn this into an energy weapon" and we got the Holorifle

Important thing about the mf hyperbreeder. It recharges while firing. Meaning it starts with ~19 shots iirc because it charges at a good rate

tbh, I prefer a fully modded standard Laser Rifle to a Tri-Beam, at least in vanilla, simply because of the glory of scopes.

The fact you didn’t mention the plasma defender is a crime. That bad boy using Max Charge ammo, the Fast Shot trait, and plasma spaz, makes quick work of the divide deathclaws with their lack of armor Seriously, that thing fully perked out becomes a one handed Smitty Special dishing out 300+ dps

I remember first playing. Picking Energy Weapons, as I lived them in 3. Throughout NV, you don’t come across many. Then you find all these legendaries. It became the most fun I’ve had in NV

You can use a glitch to use any ammo with any weapon you wish. If you're fine with using this glitch, then the alien blaster is undoubtedly THE best energy weapon. ...unless you use the same glitch with, say, the laser designator and, perhaps, mini nukes. But... who would do such a thing?

Why don’t you ever use VATS in your videos or talk about a weapons effectiveness while using VATS? Plasma weaponry isn’t amazing but it’s way better when you consider its use VATS.

The best energy weapon is the sonic emitter - tarantula with the right build setup (pyromaniac and laser commander) u can get an insta kill that blows up all ur enemies limbs and head and lights them on fire and u can achieve a 43% or 48% crit chance with it that means a nearly 50% chance to automatically one shot EVERYTHING I’ve one shotted the glowing bloat fly the giant roboscorpion and Ulysses without stealth using this, the auto kill is also confirmed by the wiki

Amazing video. More people need to use energy weapons. They are far too overlooked despite how good they are. Couple of things though. the Plasma weapons while rough in real time combat are much better for VATS builds due to the Plasma Spaz perk which reduces AP cost by 20%. This is huge since being in VATS gives a bonus crit chance and allows you to bypass the plasma's projectile weakness. It's in this instance the Multiplas and the Smitty Special end up being far better than their counterparts. Especially the Smitty Special. As we already know, the standard Plasma Caster does 65 base damage while the Smitty Special does 35. Now it's specifically because the Smitty Special is both full auto and plasma that makes it so strong. This means that for every action taken in VATS it will shoot a burst instead of a single shot. This means that the Smitty Special in VATS will end up doing 105 damage per action in VATS with a burst of 3 shots. When you throw in the perk Center of Mass which raises damage by a whopping 15% it will boost each shot's damage raising it to 120. Finally crits work different in VATs. If you crit with a full auto weapon that crit is applied to the whole burst. Potentially giving you a damage output of 225 if you crit while having the Center of Mass perk within a single action of VATS. Even with Smitty Special's crit chance being low you can end up consistently critting with a full crit build still. The true downside of the Smitty Special is how demanding it is. You'll need at least 100 Energy Weapons and 70 Guns in order to truly optimize the weapon properly because a number of key VATS perks are locked behind the gun skill for some reason. This makes it a very endgame focused weapon. (also the name Smitty Special is badass because it's a reference to the Turbo Plasma Rifle which was the best weapon in Fallout 1) Oh and the Sonic Emitter definitely deserved to be mentioned as one of the best energy pistols. Specifically the Tarantula variant. While it is a projectile weapon like Plasma weapons are, it is effected by Laser Commander and it is effected by the Pyromaniac perk because it can set things on fire with crits (50% damage increase). Making it very powerful when taking the right perks.

My personal favorite energy weapon in NV is the AER14 Prototype. It just looks so clean and is very reliable even into the late game. Only con is really the durability, but I run around with like thousands of caps on me at all times so I can just pay Major Knight to repair it when it gets low. Or buy a laser rifle from Chet to repair it.

Weapon durability doesn't matter that much when you've got weapon repair kits coming out your ears. For that reason, I like to run the Sprtel-Wood with Max ammo. The additional raw damage per shot means you need less of the expensive ammo per target.

Set laser to fun, light touch, and laser commander are flat crit bonuses. Allowing the hypedbreeder alpha to have a crit chance of 19%. Ed-e perk also adds a flat 5 damage to lasers, so toghther its a tiny gatling laser that only weighs 7 pounds

13:08 when you check the sheet you see that this weapon is actually top 1 highest DPS ranged weapon in game. Absolute powerhouse

i didnt know there were so many laser weapons, and i didnt know you were such a small youtuber

plasma weapons are supposed to be used with vats, there is a perk that makes plasma weapons cost less AP

Fantastic video, glad to see you follow up with this after the guns and I'm excited to see your thoughts on the other weapon types. Great editing, music, and script again!

Just got this video in my recommended after a big FNV binge and it surprised me that you only just started doing videos recently! You have a really fun personality and sense of humor blended with game knowledge. Hope to see more from you!

Another less talked about laser weapon is just the regular old laser rifle once you mod it. Idk if a lot of performance patches on pc fix this because I play on console, Bit the weapon mod that gives it a second projectile is bugged so that instead of lowering the damage of each laser it literally just doubles the damage of the weapon. Especially considering that the lasers are right on top of each other so you’re basically always hitting with both. It’s extremely strong

I despise the Compliance Regulator, not because i find it too strong but i just find it too weak, like just kill shit with your regular weapons instead of using this gimmicky shit to trivialize combat

I think there's also 2 more Elija's LAERs one is in some random cave and the other is after the giant roboscorpion in one of the side rooms

Your videos are always on point, great work man

Great video! Can’t wait to see what you do next

love your vid man i thought you were some underground veteran fallot youtuber bc of the quality of the vid great work man keep it up!

Such a good video, can’t believe I haven’t come across your content before. Subbed and liked :) can’t wait to see what else you come out with

Can we just agree that Elijah is a jerk but his weapons are top tier.

You actually came pretty close to the truth even though you barely did any testing by just playing through the game.Here's my testing results.Note:i used all relevant perks on a full crit build,best mods,damage chems and the best ammo on a standing still immortal deathclaw i spawned in firing for an entire minute,reloads included.Camaraderie perk boosts multi-shot weapons way too much as you will see.I didnt test ycs since my save file was on wild wasteland but i highly doubt it would rank very high since its damage uptime is very low. DPS COMPARISON Tribeam rifle-800 dps Elijas LAER and LAER-750dps Laser Rifle-580 Gatling Laser-550 SPRTLwood-500 AER14-450 Plasma caster-425 q35-350 elijahs tesla cannon-300 alien blaster-280 plasma defender-270 multiplas rifle -250 holorifle-240 smitty special-220 laser rcw-200 pewpew-190 heavy incinerator-40 Conclusion:Tribeam for general play,any LAER for higher than 20dt enemies and Gatling laser for emergencies.

God I need a video like this rn thanks for uploading

bro over hyping that compliance regulator

I remember when i did an energy weapons run. The ycs to snipe and the tri-beam for everything else, and the scorched sierra power armor for style

As a video idea for the future, I’d love to see you revisit these videos and consider how VATS and other specific build types can influence the result. Love your channel, hope more people catch on soon!

Bro was being held hostage to put complince regulator keeping him paralized until he calls it not cheese

Can you please talk about Mercy if you ever do an explosive weapons video? I feel like im the only player who realised that you can load it with 40mm Plasma Grenades from GRA and im loosing my mind.

This is a highly enjoyable video, and you have a new subscriber. However, I think you’re really sleeping one weapon in particular. All I need is a laser rifle with a beam splitter and focus optics and fast shot. There’s nothing that can’t be taken down with that. The laser rifle is king in my book, though it does have some stiff competition.

The Alien blaster is that one weapon where I say it is a very high up on the power scale which make sense, but very lower low due to needing special ammo which is very scarce.

Brother I love this video, please keep making quality stuff like this! The tri-beam is also my favorite weapon in the game too lol. I was curious what mod did you use to get those cool looking reticles on the weapons?

Pew Pew and the YCS/186 are my favorite energy weapons. The sheer amount of single shot damage make me happy.

Love the videos! Optimising the early game is one of the most interesting aspects of New Vegas for me. It would be great to see a sort of early game video from you, perhaps how you spend the first 1-4 hours of the game, edited into key moments or chunks, I've been working on an early game route and I'd love to see how mine differs from yours.

I got pew pew at lvl 11, I’m well acquainted with every star bottle cap location on the way to new vegas

Enjoyed the video, still surprised on what you can learn and find all these years later.

Fun fact: you can shoot more than twice before reloading

In the REPCONN HQ i find 610 MF cells, like 30 was in the ammo boxes in one of the 3 locked doors, but all the ammo is on the first floor

Honestly I had no idea that the compliance regulator was even in the game. And it does look cool though

The correct answer is the holorifle solely because it looks cool and is very satisfying

This list has made me want to give energy weapons a chance. I never did before

I use the Q35 with the explosive energy weapons perk (I forgot what it’s called) and it makes it so that crits make the target explode doing AOE as well, does good work for me

Holorifle fun fact: a fully upgraded holorifle, when fully repaired, loses no durability when using normal MFCs, meaning once you get it to that point, you never need to repair it.

I subbed, I want to see tomorow the melee/unarmed list. Superheated Saturnite powerfist with pyromaniac by any chance?

No point in using energy unless ur running a crit build,in the case the Gauss rifle would be the best,especially the unique one

Dude I’ve put in 200 hours into fallout new Vegas and watch hundreds of play thru and weapons reviews how have I never heard of the compliance regulator

thanks for giving energy weapons some love.. underappreciated compared to the hordes of gun nuts in FNV

Sadly, never used YCS, as I always seem to fall into mainly using guns when I do an Energy Weapons playthrough...that and I always use wild wasteland, just something about Wild Wasteland makes me love it.

Completely forgot about the regulator! Good list!

Sad to see the sonjaculated emitter at the beginning but never actually mentioned throughout, it's variants are not weak by any stretch so I don't see them simply not making the cut, perhaps a video all on it's own about them and their little quirks is the reason?

How you got less than 1.5k subs? This channel is awesome. I love your editing style.

So, I'm kind of ammo stingy, and I don't like the new vegas thing of using more ammo per shot on more "powerful" weapons. It made me do the math, and _per ammo spent,_ my napkin math told me I would do best seeking out the Holorifle. It uses one fusion cell per shot, with four in the barrel, and with the right mod, it never breaks. Combine this with the powerful and fast hologram poison DOT effect, and it's one of the most efficiently powerful weapons in the game. And this is all before you make a build for it. I like plasma spaz because melee enemies bunch up, and it'll proc off the poison.

You forgot one of the strongest parts of the holorifle, the durability mod is broken giving it infinite durability.

fully modded LAER is pretty hard to beat

You can get the alien blaster and ycs186 just pick different traits at big mt

You deserve more subs you have good content

i must admit its scummy, but you can quicksave before entering the brewers bootlegging hut, and reload until the gaussrifle spawns in the cabinet

I loveeee the compliance regulator. Also, I still have fun in NV cause I don’t use it too often. My other favorite energy weapons are Pew Pew, AER 14 Prototype, Holorifle and Elijah’s LAER. In my opinion, I think the Tri-Beam is kinda mediocre, I guess it’s cause I prefer Unique Weapons. Also the science or lockpick to get the Q-35 is 100 not 50.

Should do a video on best armors and outfits

In your comparison of gatling lasers you are forgetting DT. Base damage matters a lot especially for lower dmg

EDE can do weapon repairs so I just do that with the holorifle.

wouldnt the sprtel pull way ahead when dealing with targets with good dt?

I’m on a Luck based energy play through and every shot is a crit when I use the tri beam Laser Rifle 🤣

There is a glitch that lets you use bbs to shoot the alien blaster.

mid playthrough rn and I swear when I got my hands on the tri-beam bro my reaction is just the same as yours! EVERYONE CONVERT!!

You should make a steam guide for your weapon videos and the caps video

The fact normal Laer ranked higher than HoloRifle is so sad of a video. It is literally the highest dot damage and direct source of impact damage compared to every other weapon. And with OC rounds and 25% damage buff weapon mod you can literally two tap most boss type enemies

What's the deal with Wild Wasteland being a drawback? It's not like you really need to have 2 traits, and it's either on or off, so it's really just a choice in-game between the alien blaster and the YCS. If having it is a drawback, then not having it should also be a drawback.

Holorifle best weapon in the game

“If you had a way to beat the durability problem, it would be a very fine weapon.” Bro it’s literally a laser pistol. One of the most common weapons in the entire game. Buying one in full condition is like 150 caps without any barter skill

What mods are u using?

Q35 matter modulator. Nuff said

You can say the other downside of the holo rifle is actually playing dead money, eff that dlc

Can you do these with ttw fo3 guns too

Another high quality video, good job mate.

I can’t even use the Sprtel-Wood 9700 cause every time I fire it, it crashes my game. 💀💀💀

Woe, anti material rifle explosive ammo sneak attack upon ye.

Don't use Elijah's LAER it has less damage potential.l than a common one.

Pew pew doesnt really have a downside, your gonna get Jury riging anyway so there shouldnt be anything wrong

Anyway to just make better plasma rifle give them fire rate like it was on f3 :)

What about the laser Tommy Gun?

Mf hyperbreeder alpha and Tesla-Beaton prototype my beloveds

Honestly I think the (gra) laser rifle can rivle the the (gra) tri beem

Huh no fully upgraded lazer rifle or pistol?

I got my pew pew in level 10, (""i did an Speedrun for get it"")

Recharger rifle 🗿

Alien blaster

My only issue with videos like this is how modded their games are. You cant make a review if mods are installed because its not how everyone would experience these weapons

No Sonic emitter - Tarantula. Man, are you serious?

Gatling laser ❤

Hey the MF-H-A got a shoutout! My fav cause im a cheapskate.