Fallout 3 weapons

This page constitutes a comprehensive reference to attributes of all Fallout 3 weaponry.

All values are accurate with a predominate ±1 margin of error unless otherwise defined with an approximation (≈) prefix. All values reflect weapon durability of 100% CND (condition), and Melee Weapons are calculated in based Str of 5, if you have 10 in Str it will have +5 DMG/Hit from the table below. Details on such value controls are provided underneath each table for review.

PLEASE NOTE: We've recently made some changes to the damage stats based on user requests. Before you go nuts changing this page because the stats below don't match the DAM stat in the in-game user interface, please read this explanation first:

Column Explanations

 * DMG / HIT or SHOT: This information comes straight from the GECK and shows the damage caused by a single click of the mouse/trigger. For most Small Guns, that's a single bullet, but for shotguns it's a single shell (containing several small BB-like projectiles) and for the Gatling Laser it's a single beam.  This stat is mostly useful for semi-automatic weapons like rifles, where you can see the full damage caused by a single shot, regardless of how long it takes to load and fire the next one.
 * DPS: This is damage per second and also comes straight from the GECK. It is a GECK-calculated number that you cannot change manually.  It takes into account things like reload time and weapon animation to provide you with a single common basis of measurement (1 second) to compare weapons of different fire rates.  This stat is most useful when comparing automatic weapons like assault rifles and the minigun because those weapons fire several shots per second.  You will note that the DPS for some rifles is often less than the DMG / SHOT.  This is because it takes some rifles more than 1 second to fire one shot and load another.
 * DAM: This is the DAM stat from the in-game interface. Some weapons on this page have not yet been updated with a DPS column, so the DAM stat remains.  The DAM stat is another number calculated by the game that attempts to give you a common basis of measurement (similar to DPS) to compare weapons.  Unfortunately, we don't yet know what the basis of measurement is.  It may be damage per x frames but it's not clearly displayed or explained in the GECK.
 * SPRD: This is the Min Spread stat from the GECK (the Spread stat is not used). It refers to the accuracy of a ranged weapon.  0 means the weapon fires perfectly straight, though gravity may still make bullets drop over time.  Anything above 0 means the shots may deviate from center by that many degrees.
 * CRIT % MULT: The multiplier applied to your character's critical hit chance. This modifier applies to each individual attack you make (e.g. each 5mm bullet fired from your Minigun).  For example, if your character has a critical hit chance of 5%, and the weapon you're using has a CRIT % MULT of x2, then each shot has a 5% x 2 = 10% chance to critically hit.  Please note that, for automatic weapons (assault rifles, SMGs, Miniguns, etc.) the Crit % Mult stat in the GECK is divided by the Fire Rate stat.  Hence the very small modifiers for automatic weapons.
 * CRIT DMG: The amount of damage that is added when you score a critical hit. This damage ignores armor.

Unique - only one instance exist in the game - weapons in green.

For more information about ammo, see: Fallout 3 ammunition.

Melee Weapons

 * ( Damage calculated under Pyromaniac perk (1 Rank). ).

Submachine Guns

 * SMGs fire in 5-round bursts in VATS.

Assault Rifles

 * All assault rifles fire in 3-round bursts in VATS.

Shotguns

 * Sawed-Off Shotgun and The Kneecapper are affected by Gunslinger; Combat Shotgun and The Terrible Shotgun are affected by Commando

Direct-Fire

 *  Damage calculated under Pyromaniac perk (1 Rank). ; ¹ Damage is unaffected by Pyromaniac perk

Energy Pistols

 * ( Damage calculated under Pyromaniac perk (1 Rank). .), (Energy Pistols can be affected by Gunslinger.)

Energy Rifles

 * (Energy Rifles are affected by Commando perk.)

Other Energy Weapons

 * (The Cryolator is not listed, it was removed from the final version of the game.)

Explosives

 * († Damage is unaffected by Demolition Expert perk.), ( Damage listed under influence by Demolition Expert (3 Ranks). )

Custom Built Weapons

 * (¹ Damage is unaffected by Demolition Expert perk.), ( Schematic CODE. ), (The Cryolator was also a custom-built weapon removed from the game.)

DLC-only weapons
These weapons will appear in the upcoming Fallout 3 downloadable content.

Cheat-only weapons

 * These weapons are only available through console commands.