Blackhawk (Fallout 3)



The Blackhawk is a unique Scoped .44 Magnum.

Characteristics

 * The Blackhawk can be repaired with any Scoped .44 Magnum.
 * Its accuracy is surprisingly high, with just (0.3) spread.
 * The scope offers long range semiautomatic sniping ability, very good for non-V.A.T.S. usage.
 * It is the single most destructive mid-to-long range small gun in the game, with (55) base damage and a (+45) point critical bonus.
 * Enclave Soldiers and Super Mutants can easily be decapitated with one well-aimed (VATS) shot to the head.
 * On normal difficulty, with maxed skill, a single sneak attack headshot to any of the toughest creatures in the wasteland: Deathclaws, Super Mutant Brutes, or Super Mutant Masters is always fatal.
 * This pistol is named after the Ruger Blackhawk, a popular single action pistol manufactured by the Sturm, Ruger & Co, Inc. The Blackhawk is chambered in a variety of calibers not just .44 magnum, when chambered in .44 magnum or above they receive the "Super" moniker.  The sister line of the Blackhawk is the Redhawk which fires in double action as well, perhaps the developers should have called this the Redhawk?

How to get it

 * This weapon is given as a reward from Agatha if you give her music sheet paper after the quest Agatha's Song. The sheet music can be found at any time. If you failed to locate the sheet music inside Vault 92, there are copies in Springvale Elementary, Arlington Library, L.O.B. Enterprises, Roosevelt Academy, and on the roof of The Statesman Hotel.
 * When Agatha gives you the pistol, its condition seems scaled with player's level and/or luck.
 * To get the weapon in full condition when you receive it, be polite to Agatha when both accepting the quest and receiving the pistol after giving her the Music Paper. (Also called Sheet Music Book)

Quest Notes

 * When giving Agatha the music sheet, you MUST request a reward, or else she will not give it to you.
 * Once you've given Agatha sheet music for the first time, she's no longer interested in receiving any more, so you've got only one chance to get the Blackhawk.
 * It's possible to receive the revolver at full condition. There is a higher likelihood of this being the case if the player is polite and/or civil in dialogue with Agatha.

Opinions

 * An interesting revelation that goes over most peoples heads is that the Blackhawk renders Lincoln's Repeater nearly useless, as it uses the same ammo, shoots significantly faster, is much lighter, is slightly more powerful, and even has a scope. One thing the repeater tops out on is clip size (15 as opposed to 6) but to quote Revolver Ocelot, "Six shots is more than enough to kill any living thing that moves." The exception to the rule being the Behemoth, of course.


 * There are some weak points in comparison to the Lincoln's Repeater, though. Those include less durability (360 vs 600), higher spread (0.3 vs 0.0) and higher AP cost (32 vs 25). It should also be noted that it's much easier to repair a Lincoln's Repeater than the Blackhawk because hunting rifles are commonly found on super mutants, mercenaries, and wastelanders in general.


 * This class of weapon is best used as a finisher. With it's superior rate of fire to the repeater, the Blackhawk dominates in this role.  Open with a named sniper rifle and use this to finish.  Sell bottlecap mines to offset the cost of ammo and purchasing vanilla magnums to repair it.  It's worth the cost and you need to keep your sniper rifles intact as they are much harder to maintain.  Ol painless lacks hitting power, vanilla sniper rifles wears down fast, and energy weapons suck.  Use the Blackhawk.

Unqualified comments like 'energy weapons suck' are simply not usefull. Why is everybody so obsessed with the idea of THE best weapon. One of the most interesting elements of this game is, that there is none. The usefullness of a weapon depends on the situation. I use VATS a lot, so Repeater > Blackhawk, but it is the other way round in ego-mode.
 * I think this discussion should be moved to the discussion page where it belongs.

YouTube Videos
Obtaining the Blackhawk gEGGESOK6so