Which is better for companions?


I want to give McCready a full auto assault rifle, but I worry that he will just burn through ammo. Does giving companions semi auto weapons conserve ammo while maintaining firepower?


Are they good enough shots to be effective on semi, or do they benefit from full auto?

I wouldn't even recommend full auto for my character I'm playing now, let alone my companion. Full auto in this game is a complete waste of ammo (IMO). Take that with the fact that companions are immortal, along with the use of ballistic weave, and there really is no good reason to give them a full auto weapon...unless you enjoy wasting money and ammo.

X-6 comes with a pretty powerful auto weapons, but he has unlimited ammo. You burn through ammo quickly if you give the companions auto weapons, you wouldn't even be able to buy enough. Danse's gun is pretty powerful in itself, so if you want a tank with decent damage, just use Danse. If you side with the Institute, X-6 can pretty much demolish anything.

Confirming my suspicion - thanks! Semi-auto it is.

In my direct observation, the spread for companion weapons, not to mention their tendency to blind fire into walls and other obstacles as they lock on to targets, rules out automatic weapons...unless you have no problem with wasting a metric ton of ammunition.

I personally stick to semi-auto weapons for companions, but it is more than just for reasons of economy. I have yet to find an equivalent to Craig Boone as a combat companion.

I give my companion a full automatic weapon and a semi automatic weapon both using different types of ammo. I switch their weapon depending on the general situation. Yes, companions can burn through ammo quickly when using full auto weapons which is why I generally give them about 2k rounds of ammo. Most times they are just using semi automatic.

Companions will blaze away at any threat, regardless of range/cover, so full-auto is like throwing bullets away. I gave Strong a minigun and 700 rounds - burned thru it in two fights.


Strong guards Red Rocket now. Doesn't burn ammo when he's not following you. Also, never, ever shuts up...

I ask them stand at fast pos, give them a long range weapon and doing a sniper job, I'm afraid they blow me up with a bobby trap.

Full auto is broken in this game anyway. I assume it's balanced on a DPS basis, but considered by damage per cap cost basis, it's nuts.

They do well with the minigun. I tend to give them sniper rifles and anything I'm not good at as i am full auto. i also wont upgrade their clip so they get less shots and have to reload more often. I try to match it as close as possible to their base gun in case they're a hand gun or rifle expert but dont think that matters.

only problem with a minigun is make sure you stay clear of the cars...I have been blown up because my companion shot the car (collateral damage)...lol

Auto is a total jip. How does an automatic receiver halve the damage per bullet? If it worked like that irl we would still be using rifles in battle. Totally silly mechanic. I can't see a use for automatics.

Full Auto is really workable ONLY if you are planning to Console yourself up a few million rounds of Ammo.

Console commands to the rescue!




A combatnion?

They will burn ammo at the maximum rate of fire the weapon allows. Just for fun I gave Curie a never-ending legendary laser modded to full auto. She went through 300 rounds of ammo in just one firefight with a handful of raiders.

It's fun to watch, and she was wasting dudes something serious, but it'll take your breath away how much ammo they eat.