Firelance

Firelance is a lightweight, yet powerful, weapon of alien origin.

Tips
With the Pyromaniac perk, the maximum damage is raised to 120. However, since most hits are critical, it has a good chance to do a whopping 360 points of damage per shot. Combine this with the Better Criticals perk, and your damage with this weapon is increased to a colossal 540 damage, making it a viable emergency weapon replacement for the Fat Man if your Energy Weapons is high enough, since it's significantly lighter, you normally have more ammo for it, it fires faster, it is easier to aim, and you will not accidentally kill yourself or any allies with it.

With the right Perks and enough skill in Energy Weapons -- or at least a high number of Action Points -- the Firelance can reduce a normal difficulty Super Mutant Behemoth to a smoking pile of dust in a single combat round in VATS.

Appearances
The Firelance appears only in Fallout 3. It can only be obtained through the UFO random encounter.

The random event has a better chance of happening with a higher luck stat. There will be a sound like a jet flying overhead, followed by an explosion. Then something crashing and skittering across the ground will be heard, similar to knocking over a large object.The explosion looks similar to a plasma rifle shot impacting.


 * The explosion is a random encounter and can happen in any location of the game.

After the explosion, the immediate area will be strewn with Alien Power Cell ammo and the Firelance. Unfortunately, it is in no particular pattern, and the player will have to search the immediate area to find the ammo (there are 24 total) and the Firelance on their own.

The Firelance will need some careful searching for (best by daylight) as it is small and blends in with the surroundings. Dogmeat is incredibly useful for this situation, as he can be told to search for a weapon and he'll fetch the Firelance. Dogmeat can also search for ammo and retrieve the alien power cells. Alternatively, wait until night time and look for the ammo, which glows blue in the dark. It is important to note that if an NPC discovers the Firelance during a combat situation they will pick up and equip the weapon. Confirmed NPC's include Raiders, Enclave and wasteland scavengers.

The items can sometimes become stuck in the sky, you can turn off clipping (console command: ) to get them.

Unfortunately, the weapon is likely to get stuck on buildings like a water tower in the wasteland. Your best bet is to try and blast it off with explosives, ideally frag grenades

In Wasteland, which served as an inspiration for the Fallout games, the Firelance is a weapon mentioned in the Paragraph Book included with the game.

In the event that a raider DOES pick up the Firelance, dodge as much as you possibly can. For lower levels one hit of the Firelance will kill you. Aim for the head as it will damage their accuracy considerably.

The Firelance Event
(watch the video below for demonstration)


 * Firelance event is a unique encounter, meaning it can happen only once for a character. Even going to another unique random encounter location will not trigger it anymore.


 * Once a random encounter has occurred at a specific random encounter location, a different random encounter will not occur in the same location for the rest of the game.


 * When trying to force this event at a specific random encounter location, you may see blue or red bars symbolizing living creatures. In this case, you can quickload immediately without checking the situation.


 * It is possible to miss the sound effects or visual clues to indicate that the Firelance has fallen. If you find yourself approaching a random encounter location, there are no creatures on radar, and your Geiger counter starts registering trace amounts of radiation, start looking for the power cells.


 * Dogmeat (Fallout 3) is very helpful for locating both the Firelance and the alien power cells: simply ask him to scavenge for a weapon or ammo in the area where the event triggers. It may be a good idea to follow him closely, however.


 * If you do not find the weapon and all the ammo on PC, and do not have Dogmeat with you: and   console commands can help as some of the cells might be invisible because of their placement. Using  you can find and get those cells too.


 * With luck, the Firelance can be discovered right after completing Escape!. Behind the entrance of Vault 101 is a small farm with a barn and a silo. The barn itself is a random encounter location and the Firelance can drop there. The benefit to obtaining the Firelance early is self evident, as it eliminates the risk that would be incurred by immediately traveling to Rivet city or the Deathclaw Sanctuary.


 * The quickest method to trigger this event at Rockopolis: Travel to Smith Casey's Garage, enter and save. Then exit, and immediately turn right and go west until the building does not cover the view. You now should see big rock(s) in front of you nearby. In the distance right of it there is a group of trees around some large boulders. Go to the right side of that formation - now to your left should be two large and a small tree. If you look west-northwest you see the top of a large tree over the slope. Go there, turn SW and quicksave. Now if you head SW - there is a big rock nearby and a large tree behind it - you should arrive to the 3-way crossing in front of Rockopolis. The random event is triggered just as you arrive to/pass the big rock.


 * The Firelance may be found on NPC's: it has been found on Enclave Soldiers, a Raider in front of Super-Duper Mart, and in perfect condition on a Talon Company Mercenary at Fort Bannister, along with 1 Alien Power Cell. Be careful should this be the case; it could prove deadly should you be attacked, and even a 1-hit-kill if you're a low level.


 * Another way to get this weapon is to finish the quest Head of State the good way by moving the slaves to The Lincoln Memorial, as this then makes the Temple of the Union a random encounter spot. Then save, quick travel there, go up to the second floor and see what encounter happens. If it isn't the Firelance event, reload and try again.


 * The easiest way to get it may be at Anchorage War Memorial, especially if you don't have Dogmeat. From Wilhelm's Wharf you go to the north edge of the parking lot, swimming ONLY, make sure you are standing directly north of the statue as well as facing it, and save. Then walk straight towards the statue until you discover it (so yes, this only works if you haven't discovered the area). Hopefully, but not always, the Firelance will be sitting on the statue "shelf" or on the ground on the north side of it, if it doesn't then look in the concrete area around the statue. Not only that but you can find about 23 of the power cells in less than a minute, they're just scattered around the statue.


 * Though this event can be triggered at the Deathclaw Sanctuary, locating all of the ammo could prove difficult.


 * A very good encounter to use for this would be the Dunwich Building. It is a nice open space with few enemies (although there may be a Sentry Bot). There is a radioactive pool. North of it there is a canyon which can be accessed only from the pool. You must approach it on the road from the building, jumping down the cliffs will not trigger. When up upon the cliff, search it for two cars and get between them. Then look up (to see if the explosion happens), and then down the small space there you can see to find your prize. I only had to it about 5 times, but I found events not listed on the wiki's normal list for this particular spot, even though they are listed for other groups (e.g. Ghouls who failed to reach Underworld). It is the easiest way for PS3 users, as I have found through experience.


 * Another way to obtain this item is to go into Agatha's House, save, and exit. After exiting, go west to the Meresti Trainyard. You should come to a cliff with some trains below. A random event should be triggered when you drop down into the trainyard. If its not the Firelance event, load back to Agatha's House and go back. Also this is easiest if you have Dogmeat with you. There is a good chance that the Firelance and the alien power cells will land on a train or a roof. Send Dogmeat to retrieve the weapon. After you have the Firelance, send him to collect ammo. He might get railway spikes and darts, but he will start picking up power cells.

Other Methods

 * Another method of obtaining the Firelance is to travel to Chaste Acres Dairy Farm. Make a save and then head west. When you come to a road turn right and follow the road passing a nuka-cola truck to the gas station with a red rocket in the center. Passing that nuka-cola truck triggers a random encounter. If it's not the Firelance event just reload your save and repeat this process.


 * Travel to the Nuka-Cola Plant and make a save. Head east following the road. You should come up to Flooded Metro. It is at this location you should trigger a random encounter. If it's not the one firelance event, reload your save and repeat the process.

You can also see the random encounter list for a complete list of static locations of these random events.

YouTube Videos
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