Between the selection of legendary effects and the innately powerful nature of the items themselves, Fallout 4 has an incredibly vast array of overpowered weapons and tank-like armor sets for the Sole Survivor to take advantage of. It's an essential part of what makes the game so fun! But even with that taken into consideration, there are some weapons that, once in the player's hands, seem to render any challenge posed by the game's combat absolutely trivial.
Today, we're here to take a look at some of those very weapons. Bear in mind that some of these weapons do depend on particular legendary effects to reach their maximum game-breaking potential, and we'll notate there where it applies. That said, let's dig in and check out ten weapons that turn Fallout 4's hostile wasteland into a particularly violent walk through the post-nuclear park.
10 The Deliverer
The Deliverer is not an outright and immensely overpowered weapon but is more along the lines of a weapon that is so incredibly well-rounded that few characters with their perks specialized towards using VATS and pistols will ever have the need to pick up anything else.
Its low AP cost coupled with its "VATS-Enhanced" legendary effect make the Deliverer absolutely brutal when used in VATS, and the built-in silencer makes it compatible with the "Ace Operator" perk, further enhancing its already solid damage rating.
9 Pickman's Blade
Pickman's Blade is a plain-looking and unassuming combat knife, but looks are extremely deceiving in this particular case. Its fast attack speed (as is the case with the base combat knife) makes its DPS rating decent, to begin with, and stacking stealthy melee-based perks like Blitz and Ninja make it a force to be reckoned with.
But that's not all! Pickman's Blade comes stock with the "Wounding" legendary effect, inflicting damage over time that stacks with each rapid strike. It also has the Stealth Blade mod already attached, with adds another 10 points of damage to this DOT effect. This makes for a huge amount of damage and will chew throw all tiers of enemies throughout the game.
8 Spray n' Pray
Make no mistake, you can do much better than the Spray n' Pray. The "Explosive" effect that it comes with, which converts your bullets into AOE high explosive rounds, is indeed powerful, but it can come attached to much better base weapons than this submachine gun.
What makes it stand apart is how incredibly easy this weapon is to access. So long as you can get a few caps and track down traveling merchant Cricket, you can get this weapon very early in the game, and it'll remain extremely effective for a long time. Until you find a better weapon with the "Explosive" effect, anyway.
7 Throatslicer
The Throatslicer, introduced with the Nuka-World DLC, is essentially an even better version of Pickman's Blade. It has a higher base damage rating but still retains a fast attack speed, alongside the same "Wounding" legendary effect.
The only downside is, naturally, the fact that it only appears in the Nuka-World DLC. So long as you don't mind a trip through Nuka-Cola's raider-infested theme park, the Throatslicer is easily a superior option for stealthy, melee-inclined characters, especially once it's been modded for maximum damage output.
6 Overseer's Guardian
Farming up weapons with top-tier legendary effects like "Two Shot" can be an arduous and sometimes entirely thankless task. However, going after the Overseer's Guardian (which is easily purchased at Vault 81) guarantees a solid, Two-Shot combat rifle fairly early in the game.
It uses .45 ammunition, which is generally plentiful, comes with some of the better available modifications already attached, and can be successfully relied upon to completely demolish the greater majority of enemies you meet if you take the relevant rifle damage perks.
5 Explosive Combat Shotgun
The "Explosive" legendary effect transforms any weapon it's attached to into something that is immensely more powerful. There are a few weapons on which it feels entirely ridiculous, and one of them is most definitely the combat shotgun.
Since it depends on a particular legendary effect showing up on a normal weapon, it can be difficult to get your hands on, but once you do, the game's pretty much over. It's worth noting that weapons with the "Explosive" effect benefit from the Demolitions perk in addition to their core weapon perks, allowing for insanely destructive damage potential.
4 Furious Power Fist
Getting a weapon with the "Furious" legendary effect guarantees a 15% damage increase after each consecutive hit, meaning getting a good weapon with this effect practically means that you'll be able to kill anything in the game if you steadily land your strikes. But why the Power Fist, specifically?
Because you can reliably get one that will definitely have this effect by killing the infamous mutant behemoth, Swan, in Boston Common. Of course, killing him is a task unto itself, but beyond being well worth the effort, it's actually sort of a breeze so long as you cripple his legs.
3 Instigating Gauss Rifle
One shot, one kill. The sniper's adage will never prove truer than when you manage to get your hands on a Gauss Rifle with the "Instigating" legendary effect. The Gauss Rifle is a sniper's dream, to begin with, packing in high damage and high accuracy in fine fashion.
But the "Instigating" legendary effect takes it to a whole new level. It flat out doubles the damage dealt to enemies with full health. Of course, this is a lot less impressive after the first shot, but with a damage increase like that, the first shot's usually all you're going to need. It's going to be hard to find, but entirely worth it.
2 Aeternus
The Aeternus is about as ridiculous as ridiculous can get. It's just a gatling laser at its core, but it has the "Never Ending" legendary effect. Conventionally, this removes the need to reload but still consumes ammunition. However, it has a funny way of interacting with the fusion-core consuming Aeternus.
There are a few different bugs and oddities reported, but most commonly, this essentially manifests with the Aeternus never needing to reload, and never running out of ammo. To completely contextualize this, you can fire the Aeternus eternally. That is to say forever, without letting go of the trigger. If that's not overpowered, then nothing fits the description.
1 Explosive Minigun
The minigun is a beast of a weapon. Its blistering fire rate and massive magazine size make it a popular go-to for people that like their weapons heavy and their firepower withering. However, the low damage per shot tends to keep it from being flatly "overpowered." Until you find one with the "Explosive" legendary effect, that is.
At that point what you have is essentially a miniature, belt-fed rocket launcher. Watching enemies of all kinds absolutely melt in front of your crosshairs is immensely satisfying, if almost entirely devoid of challenge.