Fallout 4 boasts one of the simplest yet most extensive weapon systems the franchise has ever known. It allows you to craft, upgrade, and customize your weapons of destruction as you make your way across the wasteland that is The Commonwealth. Not only can you upgrade any weapon in the game, you can also find legendary ones with extra abilities and modifiers. These will drastically alter your ability to kill anything from the smallest Radroach to the mighty Deathclaws of the Glowing Sea.
With such a wide variety, it’s tricky to know which weapons are the best, but this rundown is here to help. Melee weapons will be included as well, and these rankings will be determined by damage potential, usefulness, and difficulty to obtain.
10/10 The Ripper
The Ripper is a solid melee weapon that can be a great addition to any character’s build. It boasts very fast speed as well as decent damage for close range engagements. It can be upgraded to have a Curved or Extended blade. The first adds the ability to disarm enemies and increase its damage, and the second adds bleed damage as well as a boost to normal damage. It is worth noting that the Extended Blade upgrade requires you to have three levels in the Blacksmith perk.
A base version of this weapon can be found in a shack next to a yellow house in the West Everett Estates. The Ripper can be found just inside the doorway, sitting on a cabinet. The weapon can also be purchased fairly early in your Fallout 4 playthrough by visiting Arturo in Diamond City or KL-E-0 in Goodneighbor.
9/10 Kellogg’s Pistol
Kellogg’s Pistol is a great weapon for anyone using a character based on the Luck stat and landing as many critical hits as possible. The pistol is not only as customizable as the normal .44 Magnum in the game, it also has the Relentless Perk that makes any critical hits refill your Action Points. This firearm drops with a bull barrel, standard receiver, comfort grip, and standard sights, all of which can be switched out and exchanged for other attachments. The .44 ammo it uses can be pretty rare, so it’s best used on challenging enemies.
If you want this great hand cannon for yourself, it can only be obtained by killing Kellogg in Fort Hagen during the main quest, Reunions. It will either be found on his body in his inventory or on the ground next to him.
8/10 Deliverer
Keeping the pistol theme going, another great weapon is the 10 mm Deliverer pistol. From a stealth build to V.A.T.S. build, this weapon will have your bases covered. The Deliverer’s perk, V.A.T.S Enhanced, grants additional hit chance in V.A.T.S. as well as a 25% lower Action Points cost. Not to mention that the gun comes with an attached suppressor, which is great for stealth and adding to your secret agent aesthetic. The gun also fires 10 mm ammo, which is one of the most common drops in the game.
The legendary Deliverer can only be found by completing the Tradecraft side-quest(one of the game’s many memorable side-quests) given by Deacon of the Railroad faction, after finding Tommy Whisper’s body. This is a mid-game item that is totally worth the wait when you get it.
7/10 Righteous Authority
Righteous Authority makes this list because of its perk, Lucky, which gives the weapon double damage on critical hits and fills the critical meter in V.A.T.S. 15 percent faster. This weapon rewards precise shots and comes complete with a high capacity magazine, so reloading its Fusion Cell ammunition is less of a strain. Its ammo being a fairly common commodity also adds to this weapon’s worth.
You can grab this weapon by completing the quest called Call to Arms, given to you by Paladin Danse in the Cambridge Police Station. This beauty can also be found if you meet Paladin Danse after completing any faction’s quest line besides the Brotherhood of Steel.
6/10 Spray N’ Pray
For something a little less accurate but still very deadly, look no further than the SMG called Spray N’ Pray. This weapon is an absolute beast at close to medium range, thanks to its perk that adds an area-of-effect explosion that deals an additional 15 damage. This weapon also benefits from putting skill points into the Demolition Expert character perk. Be careful with it, though, as you can easily damage yourself and any companions near you.
This weapon can be kind of tricky to find, however, as it is sold by a wandering merchant named Cricket. The best place to find her is Bunker Hill, but she can also be found at the Warwick Homestead, outside of Vault 81, or occasionally inside of Diamond City.
5/10 Kremvh’s Tooth
Another great melee weapon is Kremvh’s Tooth. This sacrificial knife does solid base damage, but also has the ability to deal both bleeding and poison damage for a short duration. It also has a unique shape, unlike any other melee weapon in the game. It could even be mistaken for a sword from another of Bethesda’s iconic titles, Skyrim. Unlike other legendary weapons, it is possible for the sacrificial blade on this weapon to be transferred to another machete.
Kremvh’s Tooth can be unearthed by finding it at the bottom of Dunwich Mines, down an underwater shaft next to two mini nukes on an altar.
4/10 Gamma Gun
The Gamma Gun makes this list because of its uniqueness, as well as how powerful it is against human enemies. It also has a great spread for taking down multiple targets at the same time. This weapon can also drop from legendary enemies with all sorts of useful perks to boost the gun’s performance further. This weapon also inflicts radiation damage, which ignores most armor types and is great for fighting heavily armored bosses.
The Gamma Gun is a common loot drop from any Child of Atom cultist corpse. These enemies can be found in the Decayed Reactor Site, randomly in the Glowing Sea, and the Kingsport Lighthouse. The gamma rounds it fires can also be a bit rare, so make sure you have plenty of caps to buy them from merchants across the wasteland.
3/10 Atom’s Judgement
Just in case you thought radiation damage wasn’t overpowered enough, there is a great melee weapon that can do it too. Atom’s Judgement is a highly modified super sledge, outfitted to do huge amounts of normal damage as well as radiation damage. It’s all thanks to the cracked fusion cores that the Children of Atom have attached to the hammer’s head. Atom’s Judgement is also one of the best melee weapons in the game, topping the damage charts. It can even be modded with the original super sledge’s attachments to deal even more ludicrous amounts of damage.
This super powered hammer is given to you on completion of the Children of Atom quest, The Heretic, by speaking to Grand Zealot Richter in the Nucleus.
2/10 Admiral’s Friend
This weapon is a part of the Far Harbor DLC and fires ammo unique to that area, harpoons. It deals a whopping 300 base damage, which gets doubled if the target is a full health! The fire rate is not great, but with a stealth bonus, all you will need is one shot. Be sure to be close enough to your target, as the iron sights of this weapon can be kind of hard to use.
This weapon can be purchased for 1,005 caps from Alan Lee in the small town of Far Harbor.
1/10 Big Boy
Coming in at number one in our list is this amazing weapon. The Big Boy is a legendary Fat Man mini nuke launcher that simply fires two nukes for the price of one! This weapon is also the highest damage one-shot weapon in the game. When the MIRV launcher attachment is added to this weapon, it is capable of firing 12 mini nukes while only consuming one from your inventory.
This weapon is also the most expensive in the game, and can only be purchased for 14,000 caps from Arturo Rodriguez in the Diamond City market. A worthy investment indeed, though, and truly formidable.
