The Ultimate Fallout New Vegas - Energy Rifle Tier List

Welcome to our comprehensive guide to the ultimate Energy Rifle Tier List for Fallout New Vegas! In this video, we dive deep into the fascinating world of futuristic weaponry, ranking and discussing the most formidable energy rifles in the Mojave Wasteland. Whether you're a seasoned player or new to the game, this tier list will help you make informed decisions about which energy rifles to acquire and master.
Join us as we analyze the stats, damage output, unique features, and overall effectiveness of each energy rifle on our list. From the iconic AER14 Prototype to the game-changing YCS/186 Gauss Rifle, we've meticulously evaluated every aspect to provide you with the most accurate rankings.
In addition to the standard energy rifles, we explore unique variants, such as the Multiplas Rifle, Q-35 Matter Modulator, and the powerful Laser RCW, to uncover their strengths and weaknesses. Our aim is to equip you with the knowledge needed to dominate your enemies and conquer the wasteland with these incredible weapons.
We also take into account various factors such as ammunition availability, weapon mods, and skill requirements. Our tier list not only considers raw damage potential but also factors in versatility, ease of use, and overall value for different playstyles.
Whether you prefer to unleash devastating laser beams or melt enemies with plasma projectiles, this tier list will guide you towards the perfect energy rifle for your playthrough. No matter if you're a stealthy sniper, a close-quarters brawler, or a tactical commando, we've got you covered with our comprehensive rankings.
So, grab your Pip-Boy and prepare for an epic journey through the best energy rifles in Fallout New Vegas. Join us as we rank, debate, and showcase the immense power these weapons can bring to your wasteland adventures. Get ready to rewrite the history of the Mojave with the deadliest energy rifles in the game!
Don't forget to like, subscribe, and hit that notification bell to stay updated on all our Fallout New Vegas content. Share your thoughts and experiences with energy rifles in the comments below, and let us know which energy rifle you think deserves the top spot on our tier list.
❤️ Join this channel to get access to perks:
/ @reapeeron
❤️ Subscribe For More : / @reapeeron
🏆 Share this video with a friend:
👍 Watch next:
🎮 Recommended Playlist:
🎮 Series Playlist:
🎁 ReapeeRon Merch: teespring.com/...
Social Media:
✨ Discord: / discord
✨ Twitch: / reapeeron
✨ Twitter: / reapeeron
✨ Facebook: / reapeerongaming
✨ Patreon: www.patreon.co...
👉 Find All Livestreams Here: www.facebook.c...
🎵 Music Provided By: Kevin MacLeod
🎵 Music Provided By: incompetech.com...
🎵 Music Provided By: Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
linktr.ee/Reap...
Things I Use To Record And Stream -
Mic - amzn.to/3y35S0p
Power Supply To Mic - amzn.to/2VdxbWY
Speakers - amzn.to/2VaxhPa
Mouse - amzn.to/3eVvjt0
Keyboard - amzn.to/3wXIFeJ
Monitor - amzn.to/3eNWw0T
CPU - amzn.to/3xYCFDH
GPU - amzn.to/3zyNQDm
Motherboard - amzn.to/3BB919R
Ram - amzn.to/3zumUok
Headset - amzn.to/3y3A5fR
Controller - amzn.to/3ByKAtL
#falloutnewvegas #fallout #tierlist

[@christianotto5553]

The beam splitter on the laser rifle is bugged and actually splits into THREE. Extremely effective on crit builds!

[@ReapeeRon]

Awesome, I thought that was only for the LAER.

[@Gabriel-ip6me]

No, it's not. The laser rifle doesn't have good critical damage in the first place. It would be decent, but not extremely effective.

[@spiraljumper74]

@@Gabriel-ip6me Yeah but on an energy weapon build crit damage doesn’t matter as much because of the perk that causes plasma explosions on crits.

[@Gabriel-ip6me]

​@@spiraljumper74 That perk is extremely gimmicky and seriously dangerous for both you and your companions. In a unmodded game, I'd never take that. Then again, I guess in 2023 nobody is playing unmodded NV

[@FumbleSquid]

@@Gabriel-ip6me It actually is really good with a crit build (as long as you aren't using vats) The listed crit damage for a shotgun is per pellet, this means that both the laser rifle and tri-beam have a 22 dmg crit for each beam. So theoretically you could crit with all beams and get an extra 66 damage. Or to put it another way, you are basically getting at least one if not two 22 dmg crits with every shot if you have a good build. Inside vats however, a shotgun's crit damage is only applied once if you both hit and crit. It also doesn't treat each beam separate for crit damage calculations, it's all or nothing. All of this also means sneak attacks outside of vats while using a multishot weapon does more damage in general, as each projectile will crit the full damage. Btw I'm using "shotgun" to mean any weapon with multiple projectiles. The beam splitter just adds +2 to the projectile count in the files. When it does that, it only divides the base damage, not the crit damage.

[@rykermeinel6153]

The Holorifle bug is actually a good thing, and offsets one of the flaws you mentioned. If you repair it to 100% condition with the mod attached, it just... doesn't take damage. It can take damage from over/max charge ammo, unless you have Raul, but it's actually a really nice and unique feature to have. Glad to see so many other people who appreciate the Holorifle

[@ReapeeRon]

That's awesome, I thought it just didn't work overall.

[@Gabriel-ip6me]

Why are you guys playing NV in 2023 without using bug fixes? 🧐

[@youknowwhoitis.itsmyname4746]

@@Gabriel-ip6me console gaming

[@Gabriel-ip6me]

@@youknowwhoitis.itsmyname4746 Consoles can still run NV?

[@orcatwar9810]

@@Gabriel-ip6me yep cause 360s are offline which means we can play for hours

[@BreakdancePeach]

Glad to see the normal low-level laser rifle get some recognition as an A-ranker. That weapon is a secret BEAST. I'm not sure I was even level 10 yet. I just reached Novac. I did a luck + high-crit build on very hard, and I used a regular laser rifle with all upgrades to destroy the deathclaws at Quarry Junction. No cheese required. They just died that easily. Laser weapons are MADE for criticals, esp bc of the two obscure perks for it: Laser Commander and Set Lasers for Fun. Nobody ever talks about lasers, weirdly.

[@ReapeeRon]

It is really strong, and I have never really been disappointed with the laser rifle in any of the fallout games.

[@Gabriel-ip6me]

I'll explain you the problem: Bethesda has seriously downgraded energy weapons. Lasers ought to be this super poweful, extremely accurate high tech weapons. What ypu actually get is a goofy-looking, sightless box that is less accurate than a similar gun. People who go for crit builds are also likely going for sniper/stealth builds and, which lasers don't do well. And if you're going for an energy build you don't stick with lasers.

[@Rj-pw7zs]

Dude what? The laser rifle with a scope is great for sniper builds. It'll shreed through most things. Add to that it's easy to get off multiple rapid shots and it's a beast.

[@st.gallenthegreat4027]

Fully modded laser rifle is awesome. Mods are cheap, just about 1000 caps each. A combination of mods, high luck, Finesse, Laser Commander, and optimized MF cells turns a humble laser rifle into a rapid fire sniper shotgun of death and destruction. And ammo is extremely common, you can loot a lot MF cells from REPCONN and Fiends right from the start. Lowkey one of the best weapons, great damage and sustainability. I beat very hard/hardcore permadeath of base game, Honest Hearts, Old World Blues, and Lonesome Road mostly using it. Crappy base stats are really deceiving.

[@BreakdancePeach]

​@@st.gallenthegreat4027 THIS. All of this is 110% true. - Funny part is the laser rifle has a measly crit damage of 22, but the beam splitter gives it 3 beams, EACH ONE having their own crits. 3 x 22 = 66! - Then get your crit rate close to 100%, and a majority of your shots will be doing +66 crit damage **on top** of the base damage, plus a high firerate. Hahaha brush guns? Those fancy AMR's? GImme my dirtcheap laser box from the bargain bin, and I will show you death. imagine my shock when I accidentally wiped quarry junction, after I thought this was only a neat gimmick build. I was giggling like a kid that was handed a death beam.

[@zackfake1253]

I love Elijah's LAER but man, it is the only gun in fnv that I feel like I can watch its condition actively degrading during a fight, and it has to be repaired with other LAERS or gauss rifles even with jury rigging so its hard to justify using without Raul around

[@ReapeeRon]

Yeah it is strong, but if you are used to using something like This Machine it breaks so quick.

[@Psychonautical89]

I love it. The only time you simply cannot handle using it primarily is if you A) don't take Jury Rigging, B) don't have high LCK to milk the Madre for chips to make Repair Kits, and C) don't use companions. 80% of builds are likely taking Jury Rigging and/or bringing at least a few thousand chips back from the Madre. As long as that applies, it's perfectly viable as an endgame weapon even with Max Charge ammo. And it 1-2 shots pretty much everything on Very Hard once you've gotten a few damage perks and upgraded ammo stashed away.

[@yeahey5947]

Am I the only one going around picking up every wonderglue, wrench, scrap metal and electronics i can find?

[@johnblue4082]

I just use repair kits. After dead money, it’s extremely easy to get them, and makes the laer last a lot longer

[@OblivionDust2719]

Once you can create repair kit out of sierra Andre coin it’s not a huge problem 😂

[@Buzterer]

It's worth mentioning that the holoriffle can trigger the Meltdown perk but only if the shot itself kills the target, not the DoT

[@drew_taylor2475]

Actually I played today and the dot does trigger meltdown

[@ReapeeRon]

Awesome!

[@allhailjojo4708]

You forgot to mention that Q35’s projectile speed is way higher than standard plasma rifle’s. Definitely my favorite energy weapon in the game

[@qwormuli77]

It essentially has the mod pre-attached.

[@hikermrsblood1]

Definitely one of the coolest plasma weapons

[@zackfake1253]

FYI for anyone trying to reroll the Sink's shop you have to spend 3 days in Big MT, cant be anywhere but the dlc area or time won't progress for it

[@ReapeeRon]

Yeah that is strange, you can also go to one of the factories and pass out a little faster then you can rest.

[@gabrielmontesinos6435]

People should also know that the 3 days need to be spent outside of The Sink, standing on the balcony is fine.

[@apemon57]

Sleeping in Higg's village in a queen bed gets the well rested bonus if you're killing time. And lobotobears.

[@shadow9774]

One thing to note is that the Gauss rifle is bugged. It's a bug holdover from fallout 3. Both the normal Gauss rifle and the YCS-186 don't do full damage in vats. If you rely on vats or use it to save you it might be a better idea to look elsewhere.

[@KevinConner-vq7cs]

That seems to be the case with a few other weapons also. I've encountered it with scoped guns as well

[@SaltyLobster]

Glad to see laser rifle getting some love. For me fully modded laser rifle is the real gem of New Vegas, hidden in plain sight, that easily outclasses all weapons mentioned in the video. I know, when you look at power of it's single shot it doesn't look that impressive on paper - but that's what makes is so unbelievable about how effective it is at killing stuff. When used in real time I'd say it's energy based rapid-fire sniper rifle (mods provide scope and lower spread) that is: easy to obtain early, easy to repair, conserves ammo, has large magazine size and zero knockback when shooting. Stack 'Laser Commander', 'Set lasers for fun' and 'Vigilant recycler' perks on top of that for even better performance (Laser commander is too awesome to pass, the other two are not mandatory). Just give me my trusty laser rifle+ and I'll gladly solo the game and clear any location for you, even that deathclaw infested hidden area on the other side of the river with Enclave and Brotherhood corpses to loot - no problem. At least that's what I did right after I 'discovered' (very late during my first playthrou) how good laser rifle realy was :)

[@hasanhaskovic4307]

the AER14 is better

[@EA_SP0RTCENTER]

​@@hasanhaskovic4307 with no mods, sure the aer14 is better. Once you get the beam splitter though, the laser rifle easily outclasses aer14.

[@hasanhaskovic4307]

@@EA_SP0RTCENTER not in your dreams bub, but keep it up 😁

[@joolsmacgrools1288]

​@@hasanhaskovic4307nah, he's definitely right. The AER14 is cool as hell, but it pales in comparison to a modded laser rifle. Try clearing quarry junction with the AER14, then try with a fully modded laser rifle. Hell, omit the scope even. It's nice but not really necessary.

[@melissazadrozny5167]

I started playing New Vegas again recently and it made me happy to see that content is still made on this game as recently as this.

[@andresgarduno6830]

With the van graff plasma rifle if you loot the entire place and/or buy up their invisible inventory and let the guy with the bomb in when doing the missions afterwards, you get even more gear from the dead guys and keep the armor plus the rifle feels like collector's items to me

[@warblackjack5565]

Biggest problem with the holorifle is the VATS bug where your character just won’t fire it… Gets me killed too often, especially back in Dead Money.

[@ReapeeRon]

Yeah I remember that now, I usually don't use vats for it. It's the same way in Fallout 3 with the railway rifle. Although that one caused crashes.

[@Gabriel-ip6me]

Imagine using VATS.

[@Icannothandleany]

Mods are the only solution assuming you're playing on pc

[@uggycyvhvyvyv7322]

All single reload weapons do that, its the only reason I don’t do a cowboy build

[@OhNoTheFace]

@@Gabriel-ip6me Imagine playing fallout without. Now you are playing just a meh shooter with a dumb story

[@gaigeriel]

Been really enjoying your tier lists! they've got me playing NV again :]

[@ReapeeRon]

Awesome, glad that you are enjoying the videos and I hope that you have a bunch of fun in your games!

[@ZonsoAvalune]

I have pretty much only played energy builds and this guide is pretty accurate. The matter modulator is my favorite weapon in the whole game.

[@ReapeeRon]

Thanks, I don't use them a ton. But I do like them overall. Mostly the rifles, the larger weapons and the pistols sometimes feel a little bit strange.

[@resm-oe9ji]

Energy weapons are overall stronger than guns, but they require you to optimize your point investment to be good (science and high luck are required to get the full potential of these weapons). Laser rifle is a better All American; no rifle in the game comes close to the tri beam and both versions of the last in terms of dps; and Gatling laser has the highest DPS of any non-explosive ranged weapon.

[@raystinger6261]

Recharger Rifle - No, it's not strong, and heavy too, but you can buy it from Chet in Goodsprings. It's an early energy rifle and you don't need ammo for it, so you can save your cells for later. It's a solid C in my books. It paves the way for your Energy Weapons game. Plasma Rifle - Not strong enough for its ammo cost. My problem with it is: why bother? By that point, you'll probably already have a Laser Rifle and the HyperBreeder and Q-35 aren't that far away from you. So I just never use the Plasma Rifle and I don't miss it one bit. That's a D for me. Yes, it's worse than the Recharger Rifle. What good is a weapon that I won't use? Holorifle - It's great! However, it has to be great. You'll only carry this weapon in the wastelands after you finish the hardest DLC in the game, so it's better be worth the trouble! A tier is an acceptable judgement. Laser Rifle - When fully upgraded, it's one of the most versatile weapons in the game. Good at any range. The damage is kinda... well it's not low, but not high either. I would personally rank it S, but A is good enough. Q-35 - A direct upgrade to the Plasma Rifle, and it solves all the problems the Plasma Rifle has. You can get it halfway to New Vegas and with the right skills you won't even have to fight for it. S tier. Tri-Beam - Overrated. The spread of this weapon is terrible! B tier. Laser RCW - It's the "panic weapon" of the Energy Weapons. Great at dealing with multiple enemies at close range, but not as heavy as a flamethrower. A tier.

[@cardboard255]

In defence of the Recharger Rifle, it's very good early game when you buy it at Goodsprings for not a whole lot of caps, and can carry you for quite a while. I usually ditch it when i get to Novac, since all of the weapons you can get there outclasses it

[@Icannothandleany]

On very hard difficulty it's very hard to defend this weapon, considering how slow it recharges and how low the dps is compared to the laser rifle

[@jigthh]

One thing which i disliked about FNV is the lack of options for recharger rifle. It's a really cool looking gun, but there's no mods for it, and there's no unique variant neither. Of course we got the awesome GRA variant for the recharger pistol which kicks ass, but i was hoping some love for the rifle too.

[@ReapeeRon]

Yeah that would have been cool if we could have gotten a unique version of the Recharger Rifle the idea is really cool.

[@joolsmacgrools1288]

Agreed. I’d like to see a recharger rifle rendition of Paciencia, for instance. Give it like four shots but a scope and a good recharge rate.

[@MorglortheMangler]

I love using the Q 35 Matter Modulator, it’s my favorite energy weapon in the game. It goes great with a crit build and I think it looks awesome. I have been waiting for you to do a energy rifles video for a long time, thank you.

[@paulrobbins4879]

Regular laser rifle plus the beam splitter and focus optics is always my workhorse on my energy weapon builds. I'll use it right from start to finish, it's still very strong in the late game once you have higher skill and energy weapon perks. Love that thing.

[@skullthrower8904]

Reminds me of the cowboy repeater

[@nathanford6640]

I'd also like to add a couple things about the Gauss rifles. They do splash damage with a small AOE and have a great chance to cripple limbs and destroy/drop weapons. This can be a double edged sword as you can hit yourself with the splash damage, or ruin a weapon you wanted if you're not careful.

[@newpeupyoass]

The nice thing about the Holorifle is that it's has the most damage per cell of any energy rifle.

[@Horesmi]

While the beam splitter is not splitting into three like one of the users here suggests, laser rifle still scales really, really well into the late game. In practice it is quite a bit better than the AR14 on DPS, and is almost as good as LAER. However, it is more convenient by being easier to repair and is easier to aim with that scope. With all possible perks, Elijah's LAER and tri-beam do 866 dps, while the laser rifle does 589 dps. In practice you'll be using optimized ammo most of the time, but it's still better than basically anything else in the game. I just love to use it because it is convenient to use against basically everything in the game, and then you can pull out LAER if you really need to prove a point to some deathclaw or something.

[@joolsmacgrools1288]

No, it does split into three unless you have a bug fix patch.

[@thorobliterator1934]

I'm glad to see some love in the comments for how ridiculously good the laser rifle is fully modded and in a crit build. Disappointed you don't use the scope and glossed over in the video. The laser rifle is an extremely effective sniper rifle - while still being accurate at any range, it has a much higher rate of fire and ammo capacity than any other sniper option in the game. You can take out whole packs of enemies without even coming off scope to reload. Also, even without all the min/maxing below, a sneak attack critical will have all 3 beams crit, which is massive damage. I built an min/maxed crit build which nets a total of [10 (luck) + 5 (finesse) + 3 (built to destroy) + 5 (Boone's Beret) + 5 (ulysses duster) + 4 (set lasers for fun)x1.5 (laser rifle mod)] + 5 (Light Touch) + 15 (Laser Commander) = 68% chance to crit. When this is combined with the beam splitter splitting it 3 times means 97% of the time at least one of the three beams will crit, and a 30% chance that all three beams will crit. And if you really want to max out damage people always seem to forget about the energy weapon ammo options. Max charge are usually not worth it but because laser rifles are so easy to repair, it's perfectly viable, although I usually stick to optimized.

[@et34t34fdf]

It may lack a bit in power late game, but i personally think the laser rifle is an s-tier weapon.

[@ReapeeRon]

That's fair, it is really strong.

[@resm-oe9ji]

Laser rifle maxed out is actually significantly better than the All American, even against armored enemies.

[@joolsmacgrools1288]

It might be a bit lacking in power in the late game on paper, but if you have a high crit chance you'll be landing crits so often it won't matter what you're up against. I'd also mention it benefits immensely from fast shot.

[@gordonf5553]

I wholeheartedly agree. It crits like a beast, just melts through enemies, esp at longer ranges

[@BlackCrossCrusader]

As a guy who loves lists and listing things, I hope you keep these coming out! :D

[@ReapeeRon]

More to come!

[@carldalord]

Laser rifle fucking CARRIED me the first time I played. Shit melts anything and everything the whole game.

[@Gamblore101]

Laser RCW probs my fav weapon. Laser commander + Max/Optimized charge rounds and it is a straight beast of a weapon with its rate of fire. Electron Charge packs super easy to get ammo for too if you convert small energy cells into them as well

[@soniablanche5672]

on my energy weapon playthrough, my 2 main weapon were a fully moded Laser Rifle (later replaced with Holorifle) for close range and YCS for long range combat

[@malekiththeeternityking5433]

Holorifle is S tier for me, probably my favorite weapon

[@starkill877]

Same. Once I get it, it's basically the only weapon I use lol especially with it's durability bug that makes it practically indestructible

[@vahlen5281]

Another nice thing about the laser rifle is that it is quite easy to get early on, with there being multiple guaranteed spawn locations near Goodsprings.

[@atempestrages5059]

AER14, with Built to Destroy, Vigilant Recycler and Jury Rigging is not just effective, but it gives you an amazing sense of immersion. First you're converting other cell types into Microfusion Cells, upgrading them to the Max Charge or Optimised. Second you're taking apart other laser weapons to repair your main gun. So you're *scavenging*. It takes effort and it's satisfying. Also you can tear apart any enemy in seconds. The AER14 is effective at any range and will chop even the nastiest enemies apart. I slept on Energy Weapons for years, favouring a Hunting Rifle and SMG combination in 3 and 4. But went back, did took the laser rifle and made it my own. Best run I ever did.

[@Bongwater47]

The basic laser rifle with all the upgrades and related perks is the best overall energy weapon in the game, fight me. It's actually kind of boring how overpowered it is but I still love it.

[@ReapeeRon]

Yeah it gets kinda crazy.

[@FumbleSquid]

The laser RCW can actually be pretty strong if you build for crits that add after the multiplier. Most of the time when something adds crits (Finesse/BuiltToDestroy/clothing/luck), it's affected by the multiplier. Normally that's good, but not on full auto weapons. BUT some crit modifiers are added after the multiplier. Laser commander, for example, adds its 10 crit chance after the multiplier. Meaning you just get a flat 10% even with the RCW. Other perks that work like this include Light Touch (5% with anything), Set Lasers For Fun (4% for energy weapons), Fight the Power (5% versus NCR/Legion/BoS). So you could have a flat 19% crit chance with every RCW shot (and add 5% if fighting those enemies). For a full auto weapon, that can be pretty crazy. Especially if you have mods that let you put a beam splitter on the RCW.

[@druf5962]

Bad weapon. Does not penetrate armored targets, low rate of fire. Gatling-laser or Sprtel-Wood 9700 so much better

[@DarkOmegaMK2]

RCW is a good weapon, don't listen to @D ruf, he's a moron.

[@calebdavis1323]

Friendly reminder that if you use Stewie’s tweaks or maybe YUP I can’t remember which one. (Pretty standard stability/QOL mods every PC player should have) you’ll have to turn off the “wild wasteland always on” setting to get the YCS.

[@heartless2147]

Elijah's Advanced LAER is my favorite Energy Weapon, the amount of damage you can do with all the right modifiers is insane. The only downside is weapon health, but I have hundreds of repair kits thanks to the SINK appliances giving me materials to craft.

[@gabrielmontesinos6435]

The LAER is weird due to the fact that if you spam a full clip (20) you actually get around 27 shots. I constantly use the LAER and maintaining it isn’t very difficult. Having ED-E repair, finding Laser RCWs or making weapon repair kits isn’t every difficult

[@nerdicusdorkum2923]

30 round clip on a high damage semi auto with reliable accuracy, and it reloads it's entire clip at once? gtfo Medicine Stick and All-American, this is the better general purpose semi-auto rifle!

[@Bigdaddyslasher]

Ha! I am replaying New Vegas right now for who knows how many time and I still love the game after all these years. Great video!

[@ReapeeRon]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@liampouncy7808]

Elijah's LAER can take the regular LAER mods, but it doesn't split the beam, just gives 30% more damage. The objectively correct way to use it is with turbo, rushing water (yes, it works, ridiculously well in slow down), and max ammo: you spam the fire button to obliterate everything in your path whilst also using hotkeyed weapon repair kits. You only get 5 reloads from full condition -> zero condition. :D Best weapon in the game, no contest.

[@joolsmacgrools1288]

If you can keep it healthy and fed, it’s way up there for sure.

[@holyomnissiah9624]

My favorite energy weapon in the advanced LAER. Both buffed by laser commander and, for whatever reason, you can still put the normal LAER mods on it

[@Fernthe_plant]

I thought the advanced laer was already suppose to take the regular laer mods since its the samething just tinkered with by Elijah. Fun fact for those out there is if if you do the beam splitter the advanced laer it stays as one beam but counts as 3

[@vahlen5281]

The reason for why Elijah's LAER can take mods is that the game technically doesn't consider it a unique weapon like Lucky for example.

[@islayprettylies9485]

The humble Laser Rifle deserves S Tier. Available early, easy to repair, good upgrades, good ammo to damage ratio, hitscans the crap out of anything from long-range in any exterior area. It's only bad against high DT enemies but that can be offset somewhat with Optimised Ammo and what Energy Weapons build doesn't take the recycler perk? Regular LAER is my late game weapon of choice. The fire rate and DPS is just so wildly above curve. It's still very accurate but it can be a bit harder to place shots at extreme range without a scope. Energy rifles in general are damn good weapons, so you can kind of just choose the one you like though.

[@ReapeeRon]

Agree with you that the energy rifles are pretty solid!

[@BaeBunni]

to give some defense to the RCW. laser commander and set lasers to fun are flat crit bonuses. This is a massive advantage to the RCW because that is 14% flat crit chance on the RCW, add in light touch and essentially you have about 1 in 5 chance of crits so your dps can be really good though obviously not gonna be beating deathclaws easily with it. The q-35 can be obtained at level 1 with 0 lockpicking and science. When you first enter as long as it isn't night time a Mr.Handy named Tour guide can take you on a guide and will eventually open a door to the buildings planetarium (you can also just kill him for the key to the planetarium but if you don't do it fast enough or seen done it by other mr handies in the building they will summon sentry bots) You get an ID and a Key from the back off of the planetarium which can open the 50 lock/science door. Facial recognition bots give you about 20 seconds to leave the floor so you can have enough time to just chat then run to the next spot. Get to the top floor if you don't have high luck same thing with the other facial recognition bots. find a suitcase it has another key go back down to the second floor to open a door with 75 lockpick and you got the gun.

[@ThogDontCare]

The thing about armored/non armored enemies in vegas is that most guns are viable due to the fact that you can swap ammo out. So with the laser rcw not being good against armored targets, try swpping ammo.

[@FrenchToastandSyrup]

ive been digging these tier lists! ive learn alot from these!

[@walkerhall9243]

No slandering the recharger rifle it has killed many Joe cobbs in this world

[@ReapeeRon]

That's probably very true.

[@professionallycasual3808]

I'd actually swap the LAER's placement to top of S tier, with a good enough investment in crits, the Laser Commander perk & the prismatic lens, the normal LAER becomes an engine of destruction, nothing short of Deathclaws can hope to challenge you, it's that strong!

[@nerdicusdorkum2923]

Nah, even deathclaws die. Though you will be reliant on crits and maybe some slightly stronger energy cells to bypass the 15 damage resistance if ya got the prismatic lens mod. Still, you can easily down one in several shots with enough firerate that they're dead before they get close. Especially if ya hit them with a sneak attack.

[@revan3675]

the fact that light guns degrade faster than guns meant to use gunpowder based bullets is insane to me it would make more sense if laser rifles were some lightweight metal or plastic even but nah they are heavy and metal

[@cdsbeo5747]

Finally, all is complete

[@retierashia]

Tri-beam Laser Rifle is extremely busted. I also really enjoy using Elijah’s LAER.

[@asdrubaelvect3995]

The big thing with lasers are the crits, with the beam splitter you double your chance of crits ( one per beam ) and it's also true for the tri-beam and the multiplas.

[@ReapeeRon]

That is very true.

[@TheSprinkler]

laer with the tri beam upgrade shud definitely be s tier its only slightly less powerful than the tri beam but more accurate and more shots in 1 clip

[@kamik1ng]

i really like those tier lists, hope to see on fo4

[@ReapeeRon]

I will be doing Fallout 4 eventually.

[@nopayoff3552]

Now we wait for all explosive weapons and granades tier list

[@ReapeeRon]

Heavy Energy weapons are going to be next. Then Explosive... I think.

[@pheo4156]

this is what ive been waiting for baby! love me some energy weapon rifles

[@ReapeeRon]

Hope that you enjoy!

[@O-D-X]

I love the Recharger rifle ... IF ... I can get one while still in Goodsprings. It helps me start building up my energy and microfusion cell count until it is no longer useful.

[@ReapeeRon]

Yeah that is true.

[@karkinos5398]

12:05 DRG creeping in lol

[@ReapeeRon]

Yeah, i didn't even notice that in the editing. It sounded right to me.

[@DarthWall275]

Even if the damage is improved, the Gauss Rifle no longer causing knockdown is a big deal breaker for me, that was a big part of its utility in 3, yet Obsidian just relegated it to another generic sniper rifle.

[@thewanderers97]

I love energy weapons, but ive never really tried out the heavy weapons. Cant wait for the heavy energy weapon tier list!

[@kinographer5926]

it should be noted that you can add the beam splitter to elijah's LAER , which will incrase damage without actually splitting the beam for some reason (bug?). very powerful

[@loveblues9633]

A melee tier list would be dope

[@joelb9921]

Right off the bat mentioning jury rigging before weapon repair kits is nuts. Repair kits are soo easy to make once you know what to look out for. Use a spot like good springs to horde up your loot (misc/extra crafted kits) and use the mail boxes to ship your stuff there, and you can EASILY amass enough repair kits to carry you through the whole game no matter the weapon; made even easier if you’ve got the big MT dlc for electronic bits. I’ve never needed jury rigging except for on my very first play through when I didn’t know any better. Peek into merchants selections for items needed for repair kits as you go (it’s not too uncommon to find wrenches, wonderglues or even duct tape in bulk) and you’ll be golden Only exception for this is if you can’t swing the repair skill req, but 50 repair has never been an issue for me to reach, and is plenty useful in addition to the extremely useful repair kits

[@TheRealLTJRH512]

I saw someone else suggest “builds” videos in another video. I’d also like to suggest a Top weapons for Crits and Top weapons for VATS

[@ReapeeRon]

Those all sound like really fun ideas.

[@jariheimoluoto4959]

Matter modulator is not hard to get but you need atleast 75 lockpick or 65 and a magazine in order to get it by dropping down from the second floor.

[@thecore8605]

Recharge Rifle is really good early on, like the first 5 to 8 levels at least, it feels really nice until you can build up caps for the big expensive energy weapons

[@ReapeeRon]

That is true, it is pretty nice to get in the early game.

[@funnyman2067]

The Holorifle mod that helps increase condition is bugged in the sense that it doesn’t increase it to the intended amount, only increasing it by something like 2%.

[@qwormuli77]

And removing all normal condition deegredation it has, making it essentially indestructible with normal cell.

[@slinkysloth1305]

Holorifle is my all time favorite gun in any game. It’s simple but unique, over powered (with Max Charge at least) and PUMP ACTION! Also I love the fact its projectiles are little cubes of holographic energy that somehow hurt you.

[@Mistblute]

You get basically unlimited weapon kits in dead money if you pick up the holotape that has it plus the free chips you get after completing the casino dlc or just make slug chips you have more than enough

[@_hanz73]

Never really a fan of Energy weapons but I really love that you can turn the enemy into ashes!

[@RandalfElVikingo]

Gauss Rifle my favorite. Basically throwing magnets on their faces.

[@Arkaskas1]

Laser rifle is definetely s tier in vanilla game. The beam splitter splits the shot in three beams instead of two and each beam can crit for full damage. There is basically no spread, extremely acurate and fast. A crit laser build uses laser rifle end game for meadium to long range targets.

[@Arkaskas1]

@@rogovnin I mean non modded.

[@temxasred3086]

One interesting thing about the holorifle is that, no matter the durability, it will never jam

[@Coltonh65]

Been waiting for this one! Cheers :)

[@ReapeeRon]

Hope that you enjoy!

[@TristenApblanc]

1st Holorifle 2nd Elijah’s Advanced LAER 3rd AER14 Prototype Honorable mention Q-35 Matter Modulator

[@kagekun1198]

A fully modded laser rifle is endgame level gear. I have turned Deathclaws, Cazadors, Nightstalkers, and Legionaries into ashes with that gun.

[@lVladimirl]

4:44 he started shooting on the beat. Nice

[@adiabeticjedi3278]

The Recharger weapons always felt like the energy version of the BB gun.

[@mups4016]

Holo rifle, pew pew and ycs are the best energy weapons in the game. They're all a cut above the rest.

[@flaggy185]

Random tier list for companions in energy weapon builds -7. Cass. You dont have any benefit having her around, really, her only bonus to you is already too specific, making her of no use apart from being backup, which is not bad, sure, but not other benefit apart from it 6. Lily, She covers you kinda of better, letting you shoot more freely but again, nothing else (Do people even remember this lad?) 5. Boone. Can spot targets for you and do some jumpscares, not many benefits but at least it can help a little with more specific weapon types, like the Gauss Rifle 4. Rex. Again, not many benefits, but you can carry him everywhere since he can travel with any companion (except ED-E), so its kinda of a little bonus 3. Raúl. Our friend Raul haves one of the best perks in the entire game, and one that is really useful with weapons that get damaged really often, so its nice, also if you go to his shack he can repair your stuff, so there is that 2. Veronica. Kinda a litte bit better than Raul ins some, worse in others, lets call it a tie, you lose the repair perk but you have a walking working bench, something useful por Energy Weapon builds, since you dont have to travel to anywhere to recharge your munition, i like it 1. Ed-E. Its always the best companion, to carry around, not only he occupies the "Non-Humanoid companion" space, meaning you can go with him anywhere you like with other companion, but also he can give you ammo if you upgrade him by Lonesome Road Also he drops a cowboy beat when in battle, which is also a win

[@Charsept]

Elijah's LAER and YCS186 are my bread and butter on an Energy Weapons playthrough.

[@VioletSilence]

Easy trick to get consistent hits with plasma weapons: crit the shit from stealth, if it still moves, retreat in a straight line and fire follow-up shots in the same line because the shit you critted will chase you by the shortest path which happen to be your line of retreat. Can't miss it. Also doesn't work with cazadores because it's really hard to snipe them and they're flying which means they rarely chase you in a straight line.

[@sonsofmothers]

Q-35 is my favorite gun in the game. I usually rush to get it, maxing science and picking up Vigilant Recycler by time I get there. There's like 500-800 MFCs in the building leaving me with plenty of optimized MFCs for a good portion of the game

[@i_am_ergo]

Team holorifle here. The base damage is ridiculous and the reload speed is tolerable. As a fan of "one shot, one kill" gameplay, that's all I really care about. Well, that, and the little white holocubes look cute.

[@md.zayanshajid4209]

YCS/186 is my fav energy weapon, high damage, scope for long range and OP in VATS, only thing i dislike about the gauss rifles being how i have to reload every bullet, still its worth it ngl

[@Treasure_hunter_21]

Upgraded lazer rifle is one of the most good looking energy weapons in fnv.😊

[@ReapeeRon]

Yeah it is pretty great!

[@joolsmacgrools1288]

One of the best performing, too.

[@padraigdowney7407]

I enjoy this tier list.

[@aPoorsPerspective]

Just subscribed really like these videos 👍🏼

[@ReapeeRon]

Awesome, thank you!

[@stickmannnn]

I knew there was something about Elijah's Advanced LAER. I was dealing so much damage with that thing

[@ReapeeRon]

Yeah that one is really strong.

[@Mr.Collect]

i love this game, i just got into modding because of it

[@ReapeeRon]

Awesome, that is very fun!

[@Psychonautical89]

Laser RCW is lowkey one of the best weapons in the game, at least once you've hoarded plenty of Max Charged ECPs. I was astounded at how much it just cut everything down in no time once I started using the upgraded rounds. Very nice.

[@druf5962]

Bad weapon. Does not penetrate armored targets, low rate of fire. Gatling-laser or Sprtel-Wood 9700 so much better

[@Josh_1312]

My only complaint about the YCS/186 as an active user of it is that it's pretty hard to hit even the enemies that are standing still. Sometimes I can swear the scope dot is exactly at the enemy's head, but the projectile flies right through without dealing any damage, so getting headshots is really hard with this one. For the record, all requirements for the gun have been surpassed (Energy weapons skill at 100, strength at 7). I Might as well switch to the Q-35 Modulator, but I love sniping so much.

[@skulltechstuff2530]

The recharger rifle is pretty decent for the early game for conserving that rarer energy ammo. Will serve you well until you get a Recharger Pistol.

[@thornescapes7707]

I think that it needs to be mentioned that some of these are attainable for "free" at any level by carrying them to the washroom area of the Silver Rush. Guaranteed multiplas, recharger pistol & rifle, etc. It's impossible to fail stealing these if you're patient enough to try. The only tricky part of stealing these at level 1 is getting to New Vegas at level 1, but that's not hard if you know the way. (I like to get the Intelligence implant before level 2)

[@nerdicusdorkum2923]

One of my personal favorites is the q-35 matter modulator. Mainly because of how easy and early it is to acquire, how generally reliable it is, how ammo efficient it is compared to a normal plasma rifle, and most importantly, you get like 1000+ microfusion cells along with it! A very solid early game weapon for any aspiring energy weapon user. Afterwards, my goto is just a normal laer. Not the jury rigged one, that one breaks too fast and is IMO less practical. Ya don't need fire rate, ya need durability, and to a lesser extent, a solid magazine size. It's damage is solid enough that a slight fire rate increase is practically worthless. It's otherwise a perfect semi-auto generalist rifle. Good against everything and in all situations. But it does need jury rigging to see it go from niche to practical use. My final goto is the triple laser. It's not ammo efficient like the laer, and does suffer slight accuracy issues at longer ranges. But otherwise, this is is a laser rifle that solves laser rifle's main damage issue by adding two more laser rifles to it! XD. Triple the dps at 1/3rd the ammo efficiency is a great trade off, considering how ammo efficient a normal laser rifle is. It's my goto in vanilla New Vegas.

[@FoxtrotSierra951]

Woohoo! I've been waiting for this video since I started watching your channel

[@luissantiago5163]

YCS-186 is my baby!! Awesome

[@onionknight777]

Van Graff armor and rifle can be acquired permanently by failing the quest a specific way. I got to keep mine. Cass was pretty proud of me when I finally met her too lol

[@LenKusov]

My workhorse energy guns for, like, the ENTIRE GAME are the AER14 and Q-35. The Q-35 is real efficient and high-damage and you can get it at Level 1 with the Black Mountain shortcut and sitting through the museum tour, lasts forever before it breaks, plasma travel speed's fast enough to be negligible, and with overcharged shots I cleared Quarry Junction with it several times. The AP cost sucks for it tho, which is what the AER14 is for - with Grim Reaper's Sprint that thing turns cazadors into a non-issue, the accuracy's crazy both in AND out of vats, and unlike the Q-35 it can do quite a good job as a free sniper rifle - it's accurate, hitscan, and the aim-down-sights zoom on it is comparable to a lotta the early game SCOPED weapons. The AER14 requires actually fighting things, but if you start with the Black Mountain shortcut you can turn all the mantises and spore carriers into green goo with the Q-35 in one shot each. That's the short/long range combo for any good energy weaps build, and is a lot more USABLE in the later game than lugging around a massive plasma caster and trying to find repair kit components to maintain the holorifle. Side note, I somehow managed to discover the Black Mountain shortcut on my literal FIRST PLAYTHROUGH OF THE GAME back in 9th grade and everybody at school thought I was crazy for saying "yea just strip naked and bunnyhop past the deathclaws, once you make it to Neil you're safe, fight the mutants, then climb up where those rocks fall from"

[@m-ditzydoo3908]

I feel like if we aren't counting "need to beat Dead Money" as a con Holorifle deserves bumbed up to S for sheer ammo efficiency of having the best damage to MF Cell ratio. Imo not being able to be jury rigged is off set by the fact Dead Money has vendor codes for Weapon Repair Kits, so by the time you have access to it you already have a steady stream of free repairs

[@colonian83]

Dead money is straight up just broken. Don't even have to glitch out gold bars, you'll be set for the rest of the playthrough after it

[@maxmontana6742]

Modifications make the regular variant of the laser rifle much better than the unique

[@twat9192]

you can put mods on elijas laer and the beam splitter shots combine into one making it very strong, probably the strongest energy weapon in the game

[@twat9192]

@@rogovnin it isnt, jury rigging and repair kits mean you can fix it and it can get both mods for the laer on it

[@twat9192]

@@rogovnin they literally do the exact same damage but ejijas one has a faster firing rate and does more damage if you split it

[@xdlol1177]

The standard laser rifle should have been S tier, simply due to the fact that it is an early game weapon that is completely viable in the end game, and can be used for single wrapon play throughs without much difficulty.

[@ReapeeRon]

It is quite good.

[@xdlol1177]

@@ReapeeRon The laser rifle is not just good, it can be used to cover for any of the weaknesses the S rank weapons may have.

[@Mayihavesomeoats1886]

Even though there are better energy weapons than the laser rifle i still use it. I just love the way it looks and it brings nostalgia from my first time playing fo3