Laser Sniper too strong. Amidoinitrite?

[DrxVL]

For my first playthrough I'm focusing on guns and energy weapons equally so I can get a feel for the balance between them, and what I might enjoy focusing on more the next time. I'm finding the Laser Rifle to be stupidly strong. Ammo isn't really an issue (ammo has never been an issue for energy weapons in Fallout afaik), it has crazy range, accuracy, and damage. Despite the sniper barrel I can still hip-fire to my hearts content at a high fire rate without a care in the world. I'm considering trashing it because it feels like cheating. :-/

 

Does this change? Am I doing something wrong?

Edited January 25, 2016 by Ronin Silfar

[JuJooGuppy]

Huh. In my Survival play through, even at high levels, I find Laser weapons to be very underpowered compared to the kinetic ones.. I have a maxed out laser sniper that also has the 30% armor penetration legendary mod, and its damage numbers state that it is better than my .308 Combat sniper on pure numbers (not even adding in the 30% AP), and yet, I find my .308 vastly out damages it o.O

I do love the lack of real recoil on a laser sniper tho. Maybe my experience is wrong, idk!

[Warmaker01]

First, I want to layout some old screenshots from within a month of the game's launch, before I installed any weapon mods. These screenies are with the different "Sniper Configured" rifles in the game and with all crafting mods unlocked because my character learned all the perks.

 

Combat Sniper Rifle

 

http://i.imgur.com/qIxYuuv.jpg

 

 

.50 Sniper Rifle

 

http://i.imgur.com/vgVGm9u.jpg

 

 

Institute Rifle

 

http://i.imgur.com/WUnaVlF.jpg

 

 

Laser Sniper Rifle

 

http://i.imgur.com/lbvkJ6S.jpg

 

Plasma Sniper Rifle

 

http://i.imgur.com/htKpz0P.jpg

 

Gauss Rifle

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/uwfZtAV.jpg

 

 

6-Crank Laser Musket

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/ppVuMs5.jpg

 

 

 

IMO, the Laser Sniper Rifle strikes a very good, overall balance.

- Lightweight energy weapon compared to the 20+ lbs of regular, physical projectile sniper rifles.

- More abundant energy weapon ammo than plasma.

- Longest possible range of all sniper rifle types and configurations.

- Good hitting power

- Better accuracy than normal projectile sniper rifles.

 

However, they are not the "End-All-Be-All" Sniper Rifles. They're great but there are other valid ones, especially Plasma.

 

Plasma Sniper Rifles though are quite nasty.

- Same lightweight energy weapon benefit as Laser.

- Far superior damage capability even over Laser. It's not close.

- Highest possible accuracy stats I've seen. Nothing else comes close.

 

There are 2 aspects where Plasma Sniper Rifles are awful at.

1. Noticeably bright firing "flash" in your scope, annoying when you're manually firing and trying to track the target(s).

2. Plasma Sniper Rifle shots seem to travel slow. In manual fire, this is annoying as hell when you're going for moving targets.

 

IMO, there's really not a bad situation for Laser Sniper Rifles, though more range of course is better for it's game. Plasma Sniper Rifles can be annoying to use in manual fire. HOWEVER, use Plasma Sniper Rifles in VATS fire? That's a whole different story. VATS doesn't care about the slow shots basically, unless the target has gone into hiding. That is because VATS is a stats-driven game aspect compared to manual fire. And in terms of stats, Plasma Sniper can have stupid damage values and the best accuracy. Throw in enough Action Points and VATS fire with these things makes them quite lethal.

 

Gauss Rifles are magnificent in manual fire because you can charge up the shot for even MORE damage. With proper shot placement by the player, Gauss Rifles are very efficient in their shots and damage caused. Sneak Attack with a Gauss is no f***ing joke. The problem with the Gauss is that it's a very late game weapon and ROF isn't great if you want to maintain high damage.

- Note: I got my first Gauss Rifle with a purchase from Cricket when I stumbled into Vault 81, where she was sitting outside. It was a Legendary Gauss Rifle to top it off.

 

The screenshot for the Laser Musket doesn't do it justice. Because you cycling the crank increases the damage and it can go pretty high for each shot. The weapon is available quite early. It's major failing IMO is the crank nature of the weapon. If you don't do it's cranks before firing, the damage is worthless.

Edited January 25, 2016 by Warmaker01

[DrxVL]

@Warmaker01. It's like you said the laser sniper doesn't have a bad situation. I think that's my issue with it. I don't think there should be a jack of all trades weapon, especially one that does so well. Close range, long range, scoped aiming, hip-fire, or vats I can pretty much take on anything and not worry about ammo. I might not be able to alpha-strike some of the tougher opponents, but they'll die in the next hit.

 

Oh well, maybe I'll find a mod that "fixes" it. Only one I've tried so far made some great changes, but the laser sniper still feels too strong to me. Maybe the more I play that will stop being the case.

Edited January 25, 2016 by Ronin Silfar

[Raycheetah]

Could also reflect the damage resistances of what you're shooting at. More stuff seems to be resistant to ballistic damage than energy, generally. =^[.]^=

[Warmaker01]

@Warmaker01. It's like you said the laser sniper doesn't have a bad situation. I think that's my issue with it. I don't think there should be a jack of all trades weapon, especially one that does so well. Close range, long range, scoped aiming, hip-fire, or vats I can pretty much take on anything and not worry about ammo. I might not be able to alpha-strike some of the tougher opponents, but they'll die in the next hit.

 

Oh well, maybe I'll find a mod that "fixes" it. Only one I've tried so far made some great changes, but the laser sniper still feels too strong to me. Maybe the more I play that will stop being the case.

Sniper Laser Rifle is an in-between. Does a lot of things right. In the mid and early upper levels of the game Laser does very well.

 

However, a key thing to remember is this: In higher difficulty and higher levels, there are groups of NPCs that get A LOT tougher in resistances. Either you use stuff that penetrates resistances (certain weapons, certain receivers, or if you're lucky, the Penetration Legendary trait) or attack with sheer power. Laser starts losing out because Plasma's damage starts shining through. Not to mention Plasma, unlike Gauss Rifle, has a ROF that's equivalent to Laser. So not only can Plasma shoot in roughly the same rate as Laser, it's very high damage sets her way apart in upper end play. Gauss Rifle is simply a wrecking ball if you like to hold your fire for that right shot.

 

Side note: There is a common plasma configuration with Automatic that turns that thing into a buzzsaw. Combine Plasma's damage, automatic fire, Commando Perk, and the very high Accuracy of Plasmas, it's quite OP. Hell, if you want the best, all around effective settler / companion weapon, give them Automatic Plasma weaponry with high Accuracy.

[TheOriginalEvilD]

Increase the difficulty, or remove some of the weapon mods.

Or, play with the Institute weapons, they do less damage.

 

[tomomi1922]

Warmaker01, great breakdown. But unlike Mass Effect and Skyrim, I don't even bother with the survival mode. In the 2 games, it is almost like survival mode is the "true mode". This is particularly true for Mass Effect because there was not much (if any) mod that I got with. But the way I feel about survival mode is simply bullet sponge. And there are tons of mods that "rebalance" weapons". So this thread is particularly not applying to people who "rebalance" weapon. Bethesda will also reblance weapons from time to time.

 

That said, there are 2 things I dislike about energy weapon:

- You have to "clean up" the ash piles because they don't seem to go away. Out of sight out of mind, but they are all in your save, so some "environment protection" maintenance work go along way, to the point now I almost want to eliminate energy weapon altogether from my game. Take all laser weapons from settlers (literately take and scrap them, not just give settlers new weapons).

 

- Energy weapons cannot be muffled and can be detected.

 

Although I still question FO4 on how the whole sneak thing works. I shoot at a guy, doesnt kill him. He seems to know EXACTLY where I am and coming for me (when I am about 2 miles away). What about his buddy? A silenced weapon will not alert his buddy? Even he witnessed the kill right in front of him?

[DrxVL]

@tomomi1922, I have gore disabled in the ini which seems to disable the ash piles too unfortunately so I don't have that issue specifically. All the bodies seem to stick around anyway. That's an issue that's plagued every recent FO/ES game. Same deal with sneaking. As best I can tell they haven't even bothered *trying* to improve on the dated and broken stealth mechanics, much like most of the systems in the game. The opposite of the situation you describe also occurs. There are plenty of times I'm walking around in power armor, not even crouching, and no one even recognizes me. Some NV mods attempted to address the issue in that game, with minor success.

 

Anyway, in regards to the original topic I'll probably just take a mod off like Evil D said. I wish I didn't have to do that though.

[oldspice2625]

You have to remember that the Laser rifle is not a dedicated sniper rifle, like the hunting rifle, so it doesn't have the inherent problems that the hunting rifle has (slow ROF, big recoil, etc...)

 

The recoil stock, beam focuser, and other goodies make it essentially an assault rifle with sniper accuracy, damage, and range, without sniper recoil.

 

I use it for weak mobs, and save the plasma for tougher guys, I have the improved sniper on the plasma as well, and the thing with improved sights, recoil comp stock, hits like a TRUCK and has almost no recoil, fires quickly, and in third person, has no visual issues when aiming whatsoever.

 

The automatic barrel is s#*! though, don't use it, use the improved long barrel or improved sniper with recoil comp stock. Marksman's if you feel like it sways too much.