What guns/energy weapons are good for hardcore mode?

[scissorhands]

I was thinking of doing my 1st proper hardcore playthrough, meaning no gatling laser madness for me :( I don't want to just use melee though, so what guns would you recommend? I was thinking the ratslayer, with enough gear for 20% critical chance, but it seems kinda cheap for a weapon that's so easy to use. I might have trouble with other sniper weapons since ammo is both heavy and pretty rare (even .308 rounds are annoying early on). Energy weapons are out of the question - seriously, a microfusion cell weighs 0.1 pounds?!? Ridiculous.

 

By the way, since guns are all but banned in the UK, I thought i'd ask you Americans: how heavy is ammo IRL? How unrealistic is lugging around a bunch of bullets for my in-game assault rifle?

[Madcat221]

The heavy E-weap ammo is absurd, IMO. If anything, it should be drastically lighter.

[scissorhands]

The heavy E-weap ammo is absurd, IMO. If anything, it should be drastically lighter.

Ikr? Funnily enough the optimised ammo from GRA weighs a bit less, meaning a YCS/186 with optimised MC cells could be viable... I'd have to save it for tough enemies like deathclaws though.

[AnvilOfWar]

Ratslayer is a great choice as you mentioned, 5.56 is light weight, common, and usually available from most traveling vendors.

 

La Longue Carabine (with WMX mods) I've found is also an outstanding overall gun, .357 is common and available from many enemies and raiders, the only problem is obtaining it, as it's carried by Corporal Sterling @Camp McCarran. So stealing/killing him for it (and not getting caught in the process) is difficult. Or console command it... :sweat: (But i've "never" done that before. :whistling: )

 

And even if your not doing melee for hardcore, a good Knife or single handed weapon is always a fine choice for weak foes and to help conserve bullets for things that matter, since your not likely to be dragging around 5000 rounds of ammo. :laugh: