Basher

Basher is a perk in Fallout 4, Fallout 76, and Fallout 2d20.

Effects
Gun bashing will not deal as much damage as melee or unarmed weapons, especially when the latter have been modded or paired with Iron Fist or Big Leagues. This is because:
 * The "best" gun bashing weapons are essentially limited to common-place mods such as the Large Bayonet muzzle mod; so there is a hard early-game cap on itemization for gun bashing.
 * Gun bashing does not benefit from Big Leagues itself despite being a melee attack.
 * Gun bashing also does not benefit from any of the characteristics of the gun itself (such as bonuses from Commando or legendary weapon effects).

That being said, gun bashing is still very useful; it is virtually guaranteed to stagger enemies, so it can buy valuable time against enemies who have gotten too close for comfort. By mixing up gun bashes with normal weapon shots, one can keep an enemy staggered while also conserving ammo by doing some damage for free (albeit at a small AP cost). Moreover, gun bashing can be used to artificially shorten the reload time of a weapon: while naively gun bashing while reloading will cancel the reload, gun bashing after a new magazine has been inserted into the gun will let you perform a quick melee attack and then have a fully loaded gun upon completion of the melee attack.

In addition, starting with rank 2 of Basher, being able to potentially cripple your opponent with a gun bash can be very helpful, especially if you cripple legs to allow yourself a retreat.

Fallout 2d20
When making a melee attack by gun bashing (see gun bashing stats on p. 111 of the sourcebook), the attack gains the Vicious damage effect.

Gallery
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