Why did Beth forgo this, do you think? I mean if Raiders can do it, why can't I?

Because there's a limit on what you can make.

Most people can create a pipe pistol from scavanged materials if they have the basics of gunsmithing down. It requires skilll, specialized tools, and good-quality material if you want to make a proper revolver, even moreso if you're making a combat rifle or combat shotgun, as tolerances are reaching the point where you need precision machines.

Handmaking a laser rifle or plasma pistol from scratch is going to be outright impossible, as both would require exotic and/or rare materials and highly specialized machines. It should be telling that only the Gunrunners and Van Graffs, who come from a post-scauaging and industrialized Wasteland society, are the only ones shown to be producing such weaponry, along with both the Enclave and the Institute, both of whom have survived the Apocalypse with more-or-less a prewar standard of living and industry.

By comparison, making a sword or suit of armor is easy and straightforward. Just about any bronze-age society made them.

Hard to talk about realism when we can make Sniper Rifles out of a pipe, rechamber a weapon between .38 and .50 rounds, and build Recon Scopes and Power Armor upgrades out of telephones, coffee mugs, and gold watches.

My guess is, they did it to make sure weapon and armor drops remain useful for builds focused on crafting. I don't really mind much, since the customizing is the interesting part anyway.

It doesn't really bog down the gameplay or anything. Just boggling. I'm referring to advanced weaponry. Just Raider/Leather armor and a Pipe Pistol.

Edit: Double Post

I assume meant not refferring to advanced weaponry, in which case why bother with a whole gear crafting mechanic if its only gonna apply to a small % of the overall gear of the game?

Mostly for kitting out settlers. Some basic gear make all the difference when defending a settlement. Also be able to make slightly advanced stuff with maxed out perks such as gun nut and science. If you have the materials and the know-how it only make sense.

i just want to say it outright that i have no idea what this post is about even though i read it

PS : crafting weapons and armor adds NOTHING to the game

- making crafted weapons is simple with FO4edit , and i am sure there are mods that let u craft them out there

I mean, first of all, I play on XBox and mods haven't made it to console yet.

Secondly, by that logic, weapon/armor crafting added nothing to Skyrim.

I for one, like to give people a uniform look for each settlement, for instance, everyone in Sanctuary

wears treated leather and Vault Jumpsuits and all my merchants in Sanctuary wear Vaul-Tech Lab Coats.

The pipe weapons, Raider armor, leather armor and metal armor are all obviously hand-made.

Why should I have to spend a bunch of time looking for a specific piece to complete an outfit if I could just make it?

There have been several times that I was looking for specific armor pieces that I couldn't find.

Not to mention that Arturo in Diamond City states that all of his pieces are hand tooled, meaning he made them himself.

If Arturo can hand craft a Combat Rifle with nothing but a Weapon Bench then why can't I?


It would be fairly simple

Pipe Firearms (Rank 1 Gun Nut)

Low Tier Firearms (Rank 2 Gun Nut)

Mid Tier Firearms (Rank 3 Gun Nut)

High Tier Firearms (Rank 4 Gun Nut)


Raider Armor (No Rank)

Leather Armor +Sturdy Raider Armor (Rank 1 Armorer)

Metal Armor +Sturdy Leather Armor +Heavy Raider (Rank 2 Armorer)

Sturdy Metal Armor +Heavy Leather (Rank 3 Armorer)

Heavy Metal Armor (Rank 4 Armorer)


Laser Weapons (Rank 2 Science)

Plasma Weapons (Rank 4 Gun Nut + Rank 4 Science)


I mean the whole system balances fairly well and would just serve to make more complete sets and a less luck-based loot system.

So let me get this straight, I'm able to craft missile turrets from random bits of scrap, but I'm not smart enough to figure out how to make a proper revolver?

Thank you. If you can build a MOUNTED missile launcher, what's stopping you from just not mounting it?

Less "smart enough" and more "lacking proper equipment".

A missile launcher turret is basically a tube that can fire off the missle itself, enough electronics in it to tell the missle where to hit (which is easily scavanged from pre-war turrets), and a vice attached to a tripod and electric motor.

A non-pipe revolver requires proper gunsmithing tools, good-quality steel of a specific type (thus making most scrap worthless and/or too large), and a steady enough hand to machine the parts to within tolerances measured in thousands of an inch (as anything significantly more is going to negatively impact the entire weapon's performance, or cause vital components to lock up/jam). For instance, the parts for a stock AR-15 requires percisions down to +/- 15 thousanths of an inch. If you cannot make that tolerance, that gun is going to jam or fail to consistently hit targets.

and yet I can make a scope that can track my enemies ?

I really think that given the player's ability to create advanced machines, complex water purifiers, advanced generators, pristine weapon modifications and more, they should eventually earn the ability to create simple gear and eventually more advanced gear from scratch. The "flimsiness" of the scrap is NEVER taken into account for anything else, so why take it into account here? When you craft the modifications, you're crafting the individual parts from scratch and attaching them to the common piece. If you have ALL of the standard revolver parts, why not just put them together to make a standard revolver?

Maybe? I mean, do robots and turrets come with parts that, with a little know-how, can be used to create the vital components for pre-war weapons like combat rifles, 10mm pistols, and Fat-Men?


A robot or turret's targeting systems can be co-opted for recon scopes. The same can't be said for a gun's hammer, reciever, or barrel.

I mean, you just seem to be kind of twisting things and over-thinking them to make your point but the logic that you're presenting is absent from the game in all other areas. If your reasons are THE reasons then they would apply to everything else, too.

I love how people on here are trying to desperately make this nonsensical issue into a sensible reason. Especially when I'm reading the specifics on gunsmithing in Marss post, and laughing while I take one look at the Pipe Revolver and Pipe Pistol, one with a body that's literally just a block of WOOD. Seeing someone craft a giant water purifier, or worst, a huge engine or wind turbine engine is already enough to make me laugh at the reasoning of 'why we can't just craft pure weapons'.

OP: I think it's Bethesda's way to limit players from simply creating all the weapons that are known in the game and just blaze through the content even faster, therefore they placed a level-wall to limit the players unless they grind enough to get to it, which then defeats the purpose of said weapon because you most likely can kill Deathclaws by merely farting in their direction.

Hey, if you want to make weapons, you can play Shelter.


I made a .44 out of a magnifying glass and a toy car. Realistic!


But really, seeing how expensive mods are, I'm sure crafting a weapon would take ALOT of resources.

Yes almighty Vault Tec PLEASE! Its a right pain in the bum trying to outfit all my settlers properly scavenging off the dead.