I remember before all the patches, energy weapons were really weak and regular guns were very strong. Now it seems to be the other way around. I'm currently using the Light Machine Gun. My companion is Arcade and he is able to destroy everyone with a few shots from his plasma pistol. My gun skill is at 100 so i should be doing very high damage to everyone, but he seems to be able to destroy things faster and easier. Has anyone else notice this?

Did you check the balance tweaks in patch release?

read it. Doesn't mention guns getting weaker.

edit: at least not the guns i've been using...

It doesn't?


http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout:_New_Vegas_patch_1.3.0.444#Weapons

it mentioned a few of them getting weaker, but not the Light Machine Gun. It also didn't mention that the plasma pistol would be able to take out a radscorpion in a matter of a few shots.

It seems they beefed the LMG up.

■Light machine gun

■Condition/Health up from 400 to 800
■Min spread down from 3.2 to 1.5
■Spread down from 6 to 0
■AP usage down from 30 to 18
■Crit mult up from 0 to 1.

Guess i'll have to use energy weapons from now on...

Huh? They made your gun better.

Sure doesn't seem that way when Arcades crappy plasma pistol can take out super mutants in 3 shots and it takes me about 50-75 rounds to put one down.., Maybe my strength isn't high enough...

Uh, Arcade's http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Plasma_Defenderis not a crappy energy weapon. It's not the "best", but it's not crap either. It does 95-120ish dps (for players) and it's hard to get him to use anything else but the most powerful EW weapons in the game.
If you're highish lvl, so is he, and his accuracy/dmg with the defender is not too shabby.

Edit:LMG takes 8 STR, btw.

Remember that Charisma affects Companion Nerve which increases their combat proficiency.

The guns are about the same the only thing that's been nerfed is the Sniper Rifle which was a dumb thing to do. I mean the Hunting Rifle's stronger, then the Sniper Rifle, really :shakehead:

I also noticed that they nerfed boone... I mean he used to be all one shot one kill... now he's 5 shots and he'll probably get the hit...

Of the Guns, only the Cowboy Repeater, Trail Carbine, and Brush Gun were notably downgraded. Automatic Guns were almost universally improved. The Plasma Defender is a pretty strong EW and is most comparable to a .44 Magnum Revolver. The Plasma Defender really only loses out in health (the .44 Magnum Revolver is 2.5x more durable), projectile speed, and cost to fire (4 caps per shot vs. 3 caps per shot). Because Arcade's is a companion weapon, durability and cost to fire aren't really an issue.

The only thing that was "nerfed" about Boone was the Crit DAM on his Hunting Rifle. This is because of an engine bug that causes his beret (actually, any clothing item, but in his case, it's really conspicuous) to re-apply its bonuses every time you manipulate his inventory or toggle his melee/ranged stance. Very quickly, Boone's Crit Chance could be over 100%, meaning that his rifle would do over 100 damage with every shot. We're looking at fixing the underlying bug.


The Sniper Rifle has almost twice the DPS and can be silenced. Weapons filling a similar role to one a tier above it will typically (by design) have one or two aspects that are marginally superior so players have to engage in more anolysis to decide which to use. If the Sniper Rifle were better in all ways than the Hunting Rifle, there wouldn't be much of a decision to make.

Bam word to your mother!
Sorry my ice ice baby came out

Thank you Mr Sawyer for doing a better job of what i was just about to

although Energy weapons DID get a buff a patch ago or so
they no longer svck wind

Well, i dont have him using his default weapon. I gave him an anti-material rifle with custom ammo. But it seems to take him a few extra shots to hit his targets. I also have him decked out with Elite Ranger gear.

Do you think that's fixable? I seem to recall hearing that it was also in FO3. It would be great if you could, but...

While the bug is a valid reason to 'nerf' Boone (or the other companions) I suppose but I still find it annoying that it was done (especially as a stop-gap measure). Considering the buggy behavior he currently has that already makes him an annoying companion to anyone w/out the PC mod, it seems unnecessary to add more on top of that, while waiting to see if you can maybe fix the clothing-stat stacking bug. Especially since you can remove that beret, fire Boone, and give it to another companion. ie the beret is not Boone-specific. *minor gripe*

Most players don't realize what's occurring with Boone, nor the source of the problem. Since the underlying bug requires a more comprehensive fix, mitigating it on his default weapon seemed fine for the time being. If you give him a normal weapon, he will behave just as he used to.

I can/do understand that, even if I don't like it. Like I said, minor gripe -fave NPC and all that, heh. Usually try to keep my mouth shut re:such personal gripes, failed that time. So appreciate you taking the time to reply to a persnickety ol' gal's mumbling.

And to reiterate, am very pleased to know you guys are working on the item-stat bug. It would be very nice to be able to use clothing for companions w/out worrying about that occurring anymore (vs copying/re-creating fave clothing & removing the +stats enchants, like I do now).

Why downgrade the Cowboy Rep and the other two?

if I had to guess I'd say it was because the lever actions rifles have high rates of fire with decent accuracy and good damage, or in other words, were just too damned good

this is especially true when combined with the Cowboy perk (which I may do on my next Legion playthrough)

Their RoF was excessively high and their AP cost was much too low considering their accuracy and high DAM output. They're still great weapons.

Heh, no doubt. Even after the 'nerf' from last patch, when I come up on something I want to reach out and give a real love-tap to, I just pull out ol' Brushy, center the crosshairs on their brisket, and pop a round of HP/JWC into 'em from sneak. Very few varmints of any size need more than one, maybe two (100 guns, Cowboy, etc.) I only use the Gobi if I want to try to stay stealthy for some reason. Rarely need to, anymore.