Plasma or laser?

[Tranquillus]

So I've played many games of FO3 and on my second NV game, but this is the first time I've tried being an energy weapon user (instead of guns/small guns). I'm at level 12 or 13 now. Initially, due to lasers having such low damage and how damage reduction is implemented (DT versus DR) I figured that plasma weapons were a better idea... but I've been gravitating towards laser - plasma just chews through ammo too fast, and energy weapon ammo aren't plentiful like regular bullets are. Now I'm mainly using a laser rifle and laser RCW, though I still carry a plasma rifle around.

 

To you guys with more experience in energy weapons, do you prefer plasma or laser? Any energy weapons in particular that are useful?

Edited October 11, 2011 by Tranquillus

[Azrael120782]

Depends on where I am. Im a guns guy. Il keep a Recharger pistol handy for that OH F*&K moment.

[drakeelvin]

Totally depends on situation.

 

For me, lasers for general use they consumes less ammo and fire much faster so they are useful for clearing easy targts.

 

For high DT targets, plasma is a no brainer unless you are sneaking and ignoring DT. Also, even though it has no scope, the Plasma Rifle is pretty deadly on a sneak shot against anything, but the laser rifle can be scoped and on a sneak shot is still deadly.

 

Gauss is good for a one shot kill on pretty near anything but otherwise pretty not that useful in a close fight given its low rate of fire and reload after every shot. Use it for the sneak shot then switch out.

 

For general purpose work against tougher targets, the Plasma Caster works quite well. Good damage and rate of fire. Deadly weapon. Still, the Gauss is always incredible if you can sneak in and get a scope shot -- usually you only need one shot.

Edited October 11, 2011 by drakeelvin

[marharth]

I like plasma weapons quite a lot, but laser weapons are also pretty cool.

 

I don't use the gatling laser or the plasma caster because I don't like heavy weapons. I can't remember the name, but the unique plasma rifle is one of my favorite vanilla weapons. I like the laser rifle a lot at the start of the game since you can mod it for a sight, and pretty much make it something of a sniper.

 

I also like that you can recharge some ammo for energy weapons.

[saintjimmyz]

Get GRA. It adds two weapons that every energy weapon character of mine ALWAYS has as part of their weapon setup.

 

The Plasma Defender is the definition of refinement. Its a beautiful pistol, with a heafty DAM and a half decent rate of fire too, as well as using up energy cells which are cheap and common to find.

 

The Tri-Beam Laser Rifle. This really adds punch to the standard laser rifle, and although it cannot be scoped up it can be modded for a large ammo capacity; 48 MF cells. The downside; it uses up three MF cells per shot. With the high rate of fire the gun has, you can really burn through the ammo. Best for mid to late game, but definately worth having.

 

I usually also have a scoped up standard Laser Rifle for sniping, and a Multiplas for melting high DT targets. Im not a massive fan of the Gauss Rifle, but it can 1 hit most creatures out there, so is well worth while getting.

 

With regards to energy ammo being rare; I have to disagree with you. You are more likely to find conventional ammo than energy ammo; but the sheer number of types of conventional ammo means you are far more likely to find energy ammo than a specific type of conventional ammo. While you can convert some conventional ammo into some other types, most of the ammo you pick up if you are using guns will be useless, unless you lug around a dozen different weapons to have every situation covered. All standard energy ammo can be converted into other types, so I have found that keeping energy weapons stocked is far easier than keeping a gun stocked up.

[ModelV]

Those 2 weapons you mentioned were Vanilla weapons not new GRA weapons...

 

Id have to go with Plasma stemming from my hate for Laser weapons in this game that do not fire in a continuous beam...

 

That and i always loved goo more then ash and enjoy the Plasma caster. But honestly i dont really use energy weapons im more of an explosives man but i have been thinking about going back to energy weapons lately.

[drakeelvin]

Yeah I forgot the Plasma Defender, that rare pistol. It is vanilla, and it is a very good weapon. The recharger pistol is pretty good too especially early on. IIRC the Plasma Defender is Arcade Gannon's companion weapon, he has a unique version of it. There is also a vanilla Tri-Plasma weapon which is quite powerful you don't see it very often.

 

Thing is wiith ranged weapons, unlike melee weapons, it doesn't really matter if its guns or energy, you want to be ready with at least two and maybe three decent options depending on the distance, number and type of targets, and stealth.

[NetBomb]

I prefer laser mostly because its quick easy and ammo is real easy to get. As soon as I got the scope for my laser rifle I fell head over heels in love with it, A fully conditioned fully modded laser rifle will never let you down. Plasma is usually to slow for me anyway Unless your luck is up all the way its hard to hit anyone, otherwise with high luck you can literally watch the the plasma bolt curve to hit your enemy when shooting with vats.

[minngarm]

I prefer laser mostly because its quick easy and ammo is real easy to get. As soon as I got the scope for my laser rifle I fell head over heels in love with it, A fully conditioned fully modded laser rifle will never let you down. Plasma is usually to slow for me anyway Unless your luck is up all the way its hard to hit anyone, otherwise with high luck you can literally watch the the plasma bolt curve to hit your enemy when shooting with vats.

 

 

I use a mod that basicly negates the auto aim so this doesnt work for me lol. But plasma is preferable for anything but pack animals/people. Then Ill go with my modded laser RCW, infact even on heavy armor it puts out enough dmg to put down a deathclaw before it can take you out.

[saintjimmyz]

Plasma defender, scoped laser rifle, gatling laser, multiplas. Thats my energy weapon layout most of the time. The gatling laser is fun, but burns energy cells so fast its not even funny; but its great for crowd control. The plasma defender looks beautiful, is incredibly ammo efficient, and packs a decent punch for a pistol. The scoped laser rifle is great for long distance encounters, as well as close range stuff due to its high fire rate. The multiplas is great for power armoured troops and other tough targets; make sure you thin out the numbers of lightly armoured supporting enemies first, as it is fairly slow.