Institute Weapons

[CalibanX]

Do Institute weapons have better recoil (or lower weight) over regular laser weapons? The damage & range stats seem to be better with laser weapons, so I'm wondering if there is any tactical or otherwise non-obvious reason to use them?

I have an odd attraction to the Institute weapons. My level 50 character has been using a maxed out Institute rifle and though it doesn't have a Legendary effect, I find it does a good job taking care of business despite having a trunk of legendary weapons with higher damage ratios at my base. Does anyone else enjoy using Institute weapons?

[TheGadget1945]

The only advantage they have to me is that they are free. When I encounter a Synth I use the Spray N Pray and it dispatches them pretty quickly. I used to have a laser sniper rifle which was pretty lethal but I don't think it was an Institute weapon.

[noahdvs]

The damage upgrades are higher than the normal laser damage upgrades, so they should be at about the same damage as normal lasers at the high end.

[TheBoogerMan]

The prewar lasers have a base damage of 24. The Institute lasers have base damage of 21, but an overall higher rate of fire - that's the main difference. And yeah, I like 'em.

 

On a side note, at game launch the Institute weapons originally only had a base damage of 15... which caused a lot of complaints. I think Bethesda up their damage with the first patch.

[jjb54]

I was not impressed with Institute weapons.

 

But then as I was inside the Institute, it dawned on me why their weapons are 'weak'. They only try them on Target Ranges in the Institute and sadly most / if not all the Synths never make it back to tell them, "... the weapons suck! .." ;)