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The Fat Man is a tactical nuclear catapult in Fallout 3.
Gameplay
The Fat Man is a pre-War heavy weapon that launches Mini Nukes. The blast zone will be irradiated for a short time after detonation, giving out up to 8 rads per second.
Publications
“Aside from the Unique “Experimental MIRV” Fat Man, there are 9 of these astonishingly devastating weapons to locate across the blasted countryside. You can occasionally buy one from Flak and Shrapnel’s in Rivet City. Naturally, you don’t need to find them all, but it helps to use the parts to Repair your main weapon, or you can sell these for around 1,000 Caps per weapon.”— Fallout 3 Official Game Guide
“This collectible weapon is the most devastating type found in the Wasteland. Launch using V.A.T.S. for pinpoint accuracy. This heavy, single-projectile weapon causes massive exploding radiation upon contact. If firing manually, point the launcher upward slightly to avoid a too-short and deadly launch. Usually found in poor condition, use only on Behemoths or large clusters of enemies.”— Fallout 3 Official Game Guide
Durability
It can fire a total of about 167 Mini Nukes from full condition before breaking.
Variants
- Experimental MIRV - An incredibly destructive weapon, the MIRV fires eight Mini Nukes in a single shot.
Sim version - A sim-only version of the weapon, which has the same health.
Comparison
| Legend | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Weapon name (melee or unarmed) |  |
Weapon name (gun, energy or explosive) |
 |
Damage per attack (damage per projectile) |  |
Damage per second |
 |
Area of effect damage |  |
Effect damage & duration |
 |
Bonus effects |  |
Attacks per second |
 |
Critical chance % multiplier |  |
Critical damage |
 |
Critical effect damage & duration |  |
With all mods attached |
 |
Attacks in V.A.T.S. |  |
Action point cost |
 |
Damage per action point |  |
Weapon spread |
 |
Magazine capacity (shots per reload) |  |
Durability (number of attacks before breaking) |
 |
Weight |  |
Value in caps |
 |
Value to weight ratio |  |
Skill required |
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Strength required | ||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fat Man | 10 | 2542 | 1600 | +10  /12s | 1.58 | x0 | 0 | 65 | 24.8 | 2.0 | 1 | 167 | 30 | 1000 | 33.3 |
| Experimental MIRV | 80 (10x8) | 20336.2 | 12800 | +80 /12s | 1.58 | x0 | 0 | 65 | 198.2 | 13.0 | 8(1) | 63 | 30 | 2498 | 83.3 |
Locations
- Capitol Building, during or after the fight with the Super Mutant Behemoth. One of the Talon mercs is armed with it, as well as a single Mini Nuke.
- Evergreen Mills - At the top of the foundry in a locked room.
- Fort Bannister - In the main Fort Bannister building in an Average locked room at the bottom of the concrete stairs.
- Fort Constantine - Along with two Mini Nukes. One will need all three of the special keys from the You Gotta Shoot 'Em in the Head quest to access the room.
- GNR building plaza, on a dead Brotherhood soldier with eight Mini Nukes, during the quest Following in His Footsteps. The corpse of the Brotherhood soldier will not appear if the normal GNR quest is skipped and Sentinel Lyons is not encountered.
- Germantown Police HQ - In the basement armory in an Average locked closet near the firing range.
- Olney Sewers - In a small room in the center of the sewer. The same room has three locked safes and a Missile Launcher.
- White House - In the ruins, near a skeleton. Next to the Fat Man are three Mini Nukes. The White House can be accessed from a utility manhole at the White House plaza, south of the building on Pennsylvania Ave.
- Flak and Shrapnel in Rivet City sell one.
- The first time one goes to Bannister Crater after The Waters of Life, they will encounter an Enclave soldier carrying one, plus a Mini Nuke.
- In a random encounter, a dead Scavenger is carrying a Fat Man and a Mini Nuke.
Notes
- Sometimes the Fat Man (or Experimental MIRV), is set up such that using it in V.A.T.S. will cause the Lone Wanderer to aim directly at the enemy, without aiming upwards to compensate for the distance.
- The Fat Man does have a jamming sound but even with a low condition, the weapon doesn't show a jam animation.
- When fired, the Fat Man's Mini Nukes will make a whistling sound when flying through the air and then detonate when they hit the ground.
Behind the scenes
- Fat Man was the codename for the atomic bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki, Japan by the United States on August 9, 1945.
- The weapon was renamed "Nuka Launcher" in the Japanese version of Fallout including Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas.[Ext 1]
- For additional real world information about this topic, check out the Independent Fallout Wiki's Real World article.
Gallery
Scouts Life
Video
References
External
Sounds
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Gallery
A Fat Man in action`
Mini Nuke
Videos
Prepare for the Future 1 - Jimmy & the Fatman - Fallout 3
