Can they do enough damage to be viable even in early missions such as corvega (spelling). I have a lot of that type of ammo

I cleaned out Corvega my first time using a pipe gun as my primary weapon.

They're not bad, and they get some evil looking upgrades. I don't think they're ever as good as "proper" weapons, but they're not so bad that you couldn't use one for RP purposes if you wanted.

Yeah, when I get Corvega early, I usually buy a suppressed pipe gun and go clean the place out with it. the thing to watch for with pipe guns is whether they are bolt-action, and if so is the fire rate 2 or 3. Believe me, you're going to want 3 or better. I prefer the automatic or even the .45 pipe gun revolver.

As long as you only find pipe guns, mod them. This is the best you will receive at lower levels. And the 10mm pistols too - modded they are not bad. It also depends on the perks you select. There are 3 perks: Rifleman (works with any semiautomatic (*) ballistic rifle, including the shotgun), Gunslinger (works with ballistic semiautomatic pistols/revolvers) and Commando (works with all automatic weapons).

(*) Semiautomatic means the weapon does not need to be reloaded after each shot, but you must press the trigger for the next shot. Automatic means you press the trigger once and the weapon shoots until you let go of the trigger. Ballistic means every projectile weapon.

So - to become better with the 10mm pistol, and every pistol/revolver you will find later (includes also pipe variants) you take the perk Gunslinger.

To become better with all rifles take Rifleman. IMO this is the best option, since rifles are very efficient and you can shoot them very well. I am level 38 now and still use a fully modded Combat Rifle.

To become better with all automatic weapons (including automatic 10mm, submachinegun, and so on) take Commando.

I would not recommend to use automatic weapons. They are much more realistic now - you will not hit well, and it will cost you a lot of ammo. You should take the Scrounger perk, or you will be out of ammo all the time. If you want to try automatic weapons, use an automatic pipe weapon later because the .38 ammunition is more than plenty.

But on early missions try to go with semiautomatic. Also try hunting rifles, they hit very well and make decent damage and you will find them at lower levels too. The shotguns make very decent damage, but are usable only in near distances or you will hit nothing.

When I started to receive better weapons I gave all the often first rate modded pipe guns (which Raiders will have by then) to my settlers. Now I find enough combat rifles to give them to settlers. Energy weapons are a bit disappointing, since they do smaller damage and often seem to miss in cases where I hit (without VATS) well with my combat rifle. But the plasma sniper gun shows promises...

They're mediocre at best, but cheap as heck to upgrade and keep stocked in bullets.

You'll want to swap to a real weapon as soon as possible, but if you're going to go with a pipe weapon, use one with a decently high fire rate to make up for the low individual bullet damage.

My current commando build loves using his fully modded out pipe gun when other ammo is low. With a high rate of fire and a huge ammo clip you can really unload on enemies.

I find this is partially offset by the fact that many enemies - especially early ones - have lower energy resistance than ballistic resistance.

Anything's viable, although unless it suits your RP I would suggest using something different. A great legendary effect might justify it, though - with full Demolition Expert and Gunslinger, my Explosive .308 Pipe Revolver Pistol is amazing.

I don't think pipe weapons are supposed to be "inferior" as much as they are supposed to be "modern" manufacture. Whereas the 10mm, assault rifles, etc are supposed to be pre-war relics.

if you find the Legendary Double-shot or Explosive pipe-guns, mod those out to your taste. they are quite awesome and cheap to run! good to have a common round, high-damage gun in your arsenal!

True. But I am a bit disappointed because they are not as precise as before (in FO3). The laser rifles in FO3 were very precise, and also had lower damage. But now in F)4, even a laser rifle with a sniper barrel and all mods to make it more precise will miss, while a combat rifle with a short barrel, a long scope and modded for precision will hit without troubles. My .50 sniper rifle hits extremely long distances and is very powerful, but slow. The combat rifle is not for very long distance sniping, but works well in long distances and very well in medium distances.

I tested one of the best modded laser sniper rifles - and it misses often. No idea why, maybe I miss a perk or have one SPECIAL attribute too low. Much better worked a plasma sniper rifle, modded very high. It has only half the energy damage of my combat rifle, but fires very fast, and since it has both, physical (projectile) and energy damage it makes in sum around the same damage. But I do not yet find many plasma cartridges so I have it stored for now.

But I find that they have now much more 'realistic' weapons. Hip fire for example is important, it makes a huge difference if I use my .50 rifle in hip fire mode - it is bad in hip fire. My combat rifle does well in hip fire mode in short distances, because of the short (light) barrel. While modding it is important to read and compare the comments and watch the values.

This is true. One of my characters found himself a Wounding Automatic Pipe Rifle and I literally didn't need another weapon for the rest of the game.

Pipe Weapons are much easier to keep fed early in the Game.

Pipe Weapons are easy to Mod, and nice Mods can be removed from found Weapons to upgrade Your current Weapon.

My first characters used Pipe Weapons, until finding a good Pre-War replacement for at close and range.

Pipe weapons can be half-decent with mods, but they're never going to be "great." A fully modded pipe rifle is always my main gun earlier in the game. But as soon as I find a combat rifle, the pipe rifle gets stored away. They tend to be very limited in how much damage they can deal. They work well early on, but once you start getting into areas with higher level enemies and start facing deathclaws and behemoths and such, that don't work so well.

Yes, main issue is that the good pipe weapon mods require going for .45 or .308 who are rare early.

Pretty useless at higher levels except for legendary ones modded to be full-auto special-effects firehoses.