New Vegas Weapon Guide 6 - Big Guns

Firing bullets, lobbing grenades, shooting lasers; The number of ways you can deal death in fallout New Vegas are nearly endless. Each weapon type has it's own unique appeal, but the ones that always hold a special place in everyone's mind are as big as people, and as deadly as they look; In other words, over-sized arms or big guns. Though the big gun category was removed from New Vegas over-sized arms are still just as easy to spot. They all either mount on the shoulder, or hang below the waist when held, and their draw and holstering animations are far more cumbersome than any normal weapon. In addition these guns all have some of the highest skill requirements in the game that must be met before they can be used properly. Not to say you can't use them if you don't meet those requirements, but if your special or skill level isn't high enough these arms just won't hit as hard as they can. Something to keep in mind before going through the trouble of finding these larger than life hand cannons. When you talk about heavy weapons it's very difficult not to somehow bring up the mini-gun. While the base model is powerful and worth mention in it's own right, it's enhanced counterpart, the CZ57 Avenger, is superior in many different ways. It comes with some cons though. Amongst which are it's smaller ammunition capacity, lower critical rate, and ability to break down faster. However, those negative elements are countered by it's increased damage per bullet, and significantly reduced spread. To find this gun you need to head to the devils throat located east of bitter springs, and much more north than east of hoover dam. The devil's throat is a crater filled with radioactive barrels, surrounded by feral ghouls, and centaurs. In the middle of the crater is an old truck,and inside is a dead prospector lying next to the CZ57 Avenger. All you gotta do is pick it up, and start shredding enemies with it. If you're an energy weapons fanatic this next arm should make your whole body tingle with delight... figuratively speaking of course. Essentially an energy version of the missile launcher, the Tesla-Beaton Prototype serves as one of the heaviest hitting weapons in New Vegas. Even though it's less durable than the standard Tessla cannon, it boasts increased damage per discharge, and substantially higher critical damage. The biggest advantage regarding this weapon though is how it's usually easier to find than the standard model. The Tesla-Beaton Prototype can be found at the crash site of an old Vertibird, located far south of Novac, and far east of the Mojave Outpost. The downed vertibird is guarded by several high level robots though, so be certain to be well equipped if your interested in trying to pick up this weapon. A machine gun that fires grenades, that idea in and of itself seems very unusual, but none the less deadly, and awesome, at the same time. Shredding enemies with the grenade machine gun is great, but the real way to do it is with the enhanced version called Mercy. Mercy has a smaller magazine, but fires 40mm grenade rounds in stead of 25mm, resulting in an increased damage rating. This over-sized armament can be found in dead wind cavern located east of Primm and southwest of Novac. Dead Wind Cavern is a very dangerous place as it is infested with many death claws of varying power. In the very back of the cave Mercy can be found siting next to the body of a dead brotherhood of steel paladin, and a legendary deathclaw. It should go without saying that getting this gun is one of the more difficult challenges to complete in the game. The missile launcher in general is a very powerful weapon in New Vegas, and being one of the most cumbersome arms available it isn't something you would typically carry around on a regular basis. However if you're interested landing a heavy blow then you should seek out the improved model called Annabelle. Annabelle isn't any stronger than a standard missile launcher, but it's twice a durable, uses less AP in VATS, and is more accurate. If you're interested in this weapon it can be found on a nightkin sniper at black mountain. Black mountain is located almost directly east of Goodsprings, not to far from Sloan and the deathclaw infested quarry junction. The nightkin stands on a radio tower platform at the top of the mountain. To get Annabelle you simply need to kill the mutant, and loot the weapon of it's body. Dealing death by plasma is a rather unusual method in Fallout New Vegas due to the overarching lack of plasma based weapon in the game. However, one of the heavier hitting arms available for use is the Plasma Caster. This weapon is has no superior model, and can be found in only one certain location. The Vangraffs who run the Silver Rush in Freeside stock them. They aren't cheap though, so having plenty of caps is important if you want to get one that's in good condition. There is an alternative method to acquire one for free though, albeit in poor condition. If you go to the silver rush in Freeside a plasma caster can be found on one of the main weapon tables. If you walk up and "grab" the weapon you can carry it to a location where you can steal it without being seen. For those of you who don't know grabbing means you pick up an item without adding it to your inventory, and manipulate it in the world space. You can do this by hovering your cursor over the item, and holding the Z key on the computer or pushing down the right analog stick on your controller. By doing this you "pick up" the item but don't "take" it, so you can drag whatever you want to a location where you can steal it without being seen. While shooting foes is all good and fun, blowing them up is even more fun. And the most spectacular explosions are generated from the one and only Fat Man. A miniature nuclear catapult that allows you to rain down atomic death on your foes, the fat man is the most powerful weapon all around in the entirety of New Vegas. Literally noting compares to this weapon. There are two places in the Mojave where a fat man can always be found. The first is in Nopah Cave, located north east of good springs, and south west of the New Vegas strip. Nopah cave is infested with fire geckos, so caution should be taken. But no matter how you deal with the scaly beasts you can find the fat man on a dead super mutant in the back of the cave. The second, and less advisable instance to acquire, is located in a pool of water more east then north of Goodsprings in quarry junction. If you don't already know quarry junction is one of the most dangerous places in the Mojave wastes, as it's rancid with deathclaws. No one should ever go poking around this area unless fully prepared. You've been warned so enter at your own risk. Obviously there are more weapons in New Vegas than the over-sized arms I mentioned here, but they still represent some of the strongest, and desirable, firepower available. However, if you're looking for shotguns, energy weapons, traditional firearms, or maybe a panoply close range equipment then check out the rest of the Fallout New Vegas weapon suite from Visage Guides and Kerosene Dreams.