Forum:On paper it sounded good...

Hey, guys, me again with another personal opinion topic.

So, we've all run through Fallout 3, checking out all the weapons and armor and whatnot, and of course, we've seen and/or used weapons that, though they may look cool, are really just impractical for combat. Ideally, give a brief description of the item in question, and your opinions on why it looks good on paper, but utterly fails in practice. And don't forget to include weapons from add-ons, if relevant.

For me, there's a number of items, but I'll get the most glaring examples people first think of out of the way.

First off, the Experimental MIRV. Next up, we have the Railway Rifle. Rounding out this bunch, we've got the T-51b Power Armor - no, not the Winterized edition, the one locked away in Fort Constantine. Finally, let's finish things off with the Auto-Axe and its variants. These are just some of the big offenders, but I'm certain that the rest of you can name others. And with that, I leave the discussion to you. =) Titan AEX4 03:46, August 29, 2010 (UTC)
 * DESCRIPTION: The unique version of the Fat Man, this little apocalypse-in-a-can fires eight mini-nukes at once.
 * ON PAPER: Eight Mini-nukes. EIGHT. Even just ONE is enough to wipe the floor with virtually any creature out there, barring Overlords or Reavers on higher difficulties - when you absolutely, positively have to kill every last motherf@$!er in range, accept no substitutes. Plus, there's something just disturbingly beautiful about seeing eight mushroom clouds lighting up the landscape as you vaporize your foes.
 * IN PRACTICE: Firstly, there's the matter of just getting the MIRV, requiring you to scour the wastes for tapes 2-5 of the Keller Family. Sure, if you know where to go, that's not so big a deal, but the gun itself poses problems. At 250 caps per nuke, it costs a bank-breaking 2000 caps to fire this thing ONCE. And it's also horribly inaccurate. Not to mention the risk of firing it indoors...in the end, it's a weapon you may try out for fun just to witness it in action, but never actually use in combat.
 * DESCRIPTION: A crafted weapon, this gun fires railway spikes at a lethal velocity, and requires a Steam Gauge Assembly, Fission Battery, Crutch, and Pressure Cooker to be built.
 * ON PAPER: The gun's a fun little novelty item - when you fire, a stereotypical train whistle can be heard. Perhaps its most outstanding feature, though, is that it deals 3x limb damage per shot - a couple of rounds with this gun is often all you need. It fires at a reasonably fast rate (I don't know exactly, but it's around once a second). It also hilariously pins enemy limbs (and heads!) to nearby walls on a killing blow.
 * IN PRACTICE: For the gun to be of ANY use, you pretty much need to nab at least 2 of the 3 schematics for it. The gun's damage is also somewhat "meh," unless you get a critical with it. In addition, the Dart Gun cripples the target's legs, and is silent - for stealth-based builds, unless there's only one other enemy in the room, the act of firing this weapon is a risky proposition.
 * DESCRIPTION: It's a 200-year-old suit of T-51b Power Armor. What more needs to be said?
 * ON PAPER: The T-51b. Very much the face of Fallout, as seen in the very first game. It also sports the highest DR of almost any other armor there is - only Enclave Hellfire Power Armor is capable of matching it for DR, but the T-51b has a higher rad resistance. And unlike other power armor, it doesn't penalize your AGI when you wear it.
 * IN PRACTICE: Getting the armor requires you to jump through a few hoops - and the place the armor resides in is absolutely crawling with renegade robots. Also, just like any other power armor, you need Power Armor Training before you can actually heft this stuff; with OA, that's not such a big detail, but by and far its biggest strike is that it CANNOT be repaired, except at Vendors. In the end, sure, it'll start at 50 DR, but unless you have addons, that armor will never be as good as when you first got it - and even then, there's limits. As previously mentioned, Enclave Hellfire Armor provides the same DR as the T-51b, and it also adds to your fire resist, and can be repaired with other pieces of Hellfire Armor. Of course, Hellfire Armor has its own set of problems, but that's another can of worms entirely.
 * DESCRIPTION: Found in The Pitt DLC, these are more or less weaponized concrete saws. Pitt Slaves carry them, and you can also find a few lying around - one variant, The Mauler, is obtained by getting 80 Steel Ingots in The Pitt's Steelyard and factory.
 * ON PAPER: Just LOOKING at the Auto-Axe and its big brothers Man-Opener and Mauler is intimidating - with the right perks, these makeshift weapons can chew through all but the toughest enemies in seconds, and keep on going. In fact, I'd almost be willing to say that if you're not a stealth-based build but want to go melee, these are the weapons to use.
 * IN PRACTICE: Notice how I said "almost willing?" Well, there's reasons for that. Probably the biggest strike the Auto-Axe family has against itself is that they weigh 20 pounds apiece, which makes them very cumbersome to take along, even with 10 to all SPECIAL stats and Strong Back. In addition, if you get hit even once while that blade of death is spinning, you stagger for a second. Plus, you need other Auto-Axes (which requires returning to the Pitt, if there are any left), or vendors to repair them. Again, like the T-51b, they'll never be as capable as they would be if you managed to repair them to their best state.
 * The T-51b not being repairable is more than likely a bug; the real Winter version could be repaired.
 * In the same vein, all of the Broken Steel perks belong here. They all sound nice, but suck at making the game fun. Nitty Tok. 03:52, August 29, 2010 (UTC)
 * What about Almost Perfect? =P


 * Sorry, had to razz on you for a second. But on the subject of the T-51b, it is, indeed, only repairable by NPCs. T-45d Power Armor or other flavors can't repair it. Titan AEX4 04:09, August 29, 2010 (UTC)
 * Yeah, I know that. But it's likely a bug. In addition, early previews of OA said that there would be a way to repair the T-51b, just like how early MZ previews said there would be a way to get many more alien power cells. There isn't.
 * And the real Winter T-51b CAN be repaired, so it's a bug. Nitty Tok. 04:15, August 29, 2010 (UTC)
 * Hold on Nitty i thought the Winterized Version was invincible as i'm walking around it on my female characters file and it hasn't degraded one bit. -bleep196- 03:55, August 29, 2010 (UTC)
 * That's the Sim version. The real-world version is bugged so that you can't actually get it. Nitty Tok. 03:56, August 29, 2010 (UTC)
 * No i acctually have the Real world version on my female characters file i've been walking around in it and have been in 10-20 firefights and it hasn't sustained an ounce of damage. -bleep196- 03:58, August 29, 2010 (UTC)
 * Trust me, bleep, that's the sim version. Without the Unofficial Fallout 3 patch for O:A, or another mod that fixes this bug, or console commands, there's no way to get the wasteland version of the Winterized T-51b. -- Kris mailbox 04:37, August 29, 2010 (UTC)

Titan, since you didn't know, you can also repair auto-axes with rippers. Olney Dweller 22:34, August 30, 2010 (UTC)

Huh. Even so, there's still the issue of weight, but, eh.

Anyway, before this descends any further off-topic, I'll re-rail this thread with The Terrible Shotgun. Don't get me wrong, it's still a good gun nonetheless, but to use it to its maximum potential, it requires the right alignment of the stars. Titan AEX4 23:15, August 29, 2010 (UTC)
 * DESCRIPTION: A unique Combat Shotgun carried by Smiling Jack in Evergreen Mills.
 * ON PAPER: The Terrible Shotgun is touted as the highest-damaging gun in the game. Since each pellet is checked individually for a critical hit, The Terrible Shotgun is capable of one-shotting even a Super Mutant Overlord, with the right perks and maxed stats. As it's repairable with other combat shotguns, you can fairly easily keep it at maximum operating capacity.
 * IN PRACTICE: The Terrible Shotgun, just like any other shotgun, requires you to get in the enemy's face to use it properly - indeed, you'll likely have to aim at their face to get the most out of it. In addition, each pellet checks for a critical hit only outside of VATS - thus, for VATS-intensive players, the gun, while still powerful, is drastically reduced in power. It's also got rather limited use for stealth-based builds - you've only got one shot, and if you don't kill the target outright, the game over music likely isn't far away...

i love the terrible shotgun, and i have found a good way of haveing my ninja play (well its best for if there is a sneek fail and i need to get my ass out). its a really grate gun but there is something u missed, the terrible shotgun needs to be repared so often that some times i just use it for a sneek fail MrDot01 20:10, September 2, 2010 (UTC)

plasma rifle and ol' painless. also recently found out that missile launcher is bad on paper but good in a fight. missiles are everywhere in the DC ruins if you scavenge in buildings. although they weigh a lot they are worth it. they take out any super mutant bar overlords. and you can get the winterized T-51b power armor, all you have to do is complete OA and take it from the room that is now unlocked. by the way who cares that some items can only be repaired by NPCs are you all realy that poor? (Sign your entries, please!)


 * It's not so much a matter of being poor that's the issue - the issue is that, barring a couple exceptions (Somah and Haley come to mind), you'll never be able to get those items to 100% repair condition. I'd have to agree with you on the Plasma Rifles as well. Just never was really that impressed. Titan AEX4 15:39, September 2, 2010 (UTC)
 * Okay, why is it that everyone here always has to whine about most weapons they come into contact with? I know there have only been four weapns stated here, but the creator of this page essentialy asked people to find more weapons that they think are awful. So what if my Man-Opener weighs 20 pounds? It is still one of my favourite melee weapons out there because the amount of limbs exploding/being cut off is almost comical. So what if the Railway Rifle only does mild damage? Once again, the effect it has is almost comical. I'm just saying that everyone is aways trying to find a way to make Bethesda look bad. Instead of whinning about stats, why don't you just go out there and try to beat everything to death with a Lead Pipe? 81.154.151.55 16:58, September 4, 2010 (UTC)
 * I see a rebuttal is demanded. Very well, I shall indulge you with the details.
 * The point I'm trying to make in this topic is that there's a few weapons that, while they look and/or sound absolutely awesome, they have some flaws that either make the awesome points moot, or severely limits their use. Weapons like Lead Pipes, as you have brought up, have little or no attractive points to even merit being mentioned, as they are mostly considered "joke" weapons. Granted, the Lead Pipe does have a decent DPS value, but that alone doesn't particularly justify its use in combat. Titan AEX4 17:18, September 4, 2010 (UTC)
 * I see a rebuttal is demanded. Very well, I shall indulge you with the details.
 * The point I'm trying to make in this topic is that there's a few weapons that, while they look and/or sound absolutely awesome, they have some flaws that either make the awesome points moot, or severely limits their use. Weapons like Lead Pipes, as you have brought up, have little or no attractive points to even merit being mentioned, as they are mostly considered "joke" weapons. Granted, the Lead Pipe does have a decent DPS value, but that alone doesn't particularly justify its use in combat. Titan AEX4 17:18, September 4, 2010 (UTC)