Alien Atomizer (Mothership Zeta)

The  is an energy weapon of Alien origin which is added to Fallout 3 with the release of the Mothership Zeta add-on. It is a standard sidearm that is carried by many Aliens found throughout the ship.

Characteristics
The Atomizer is an Alien pistol that is very commonly used by Aliens onboard Mothership Zeta. It, along with the other ranged Alien weapons found on the ship, uses Alien Power Modules for ammunition (1 per shot). It has an average rate of fire and does relatively high damage when compared to other sidearms found throughout the Capital Wasteland, second only to Scoped .44 Magnums and their unique versions. It is also dead-on accurate with a 0 spread rating, making shots fire exactly on the crosshair for a 100 Energy Weapons skill user. In comparison to the Alien Disintegrator, which also uses 1 APM per shot, it is weaker but more accurate. This makes it less efficient than the Disintegrator at closer ranges, which has a much higher damage per shot rating. The higher accuracy, however, allows for more effectiveness over longer ranges since the Disintegrator has more spread and might not land as many shots. Like the Disintegrator, it has a very high item HP, so the weapon does not need to be repaired often. After the This Galaxy Ain't Big Enough... quest, the player can return to the mothership periodically to ask Elliot and Sally for more Atomizers and Alien Epoxy as well as to find and kill consistently respawning Aliens in the Engineering Core, making spare parts for maintenance very easy to find. These are also good to sell, as they fetch 500 caps at 100 Barter and are very light.

Variants

 * Atomic Pulverizer - Although only slightly more powerful than the Atomizer, the Pulverizer uses only 12 AP to fire a shot.
 * Captain's Sidearm - While identical in appearance to an Alien Blaster, the Captain's Sidearm is essentially an Atomizer. It fires a shotgun-esque volley of energy bolts, like Protectron's Gaze.

Obtaining
This weapon, along with the Shock Baton, can be found on almost any non-shielded Alien. Some shielded Aliens may also be equipped with Atomizers. They can also be obtained by looting Alien containers, as many can be found in those as well.

Bugs

 * The projectile for the Atomizer is extremely long. The actual projectile is located at the end of the "tail" created by the weapon's discharge. This makes it appear to go through walls and bodies before making impact. However, it is simply a visual glitch, and has no effect on gameplay.

Appearances
The appears in the Mothership Zeta add-on for Fallout 3.