Who in their right mind doesn’t love a good treasure hunt? As long as the treasure hunt is actually worth the trouble in the end at least. Whether it’s a new weapon, a new piece of armor, or just a random piece of unique junk its always cool to find rare and unique. Especially when you had to put in some serious work to get it.
The Fallout series is chock full of items that are worth the time to get and will definitely give you an edge in either appearance or combat, as well as things that are just pretty cool to own!
Between the 3 modern instalments to the highly beloved post-nuclear RPG (Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4), there are a ton of sweet treasures to find and I’m pretty sure that will be several on here that you may not even have known existed.
I have played through each of these games at least 10 separate times and it’s always a pleasure to learn of something brand new that I had never had before. That sense of not knowing what delightful thing you could find around every corner is just one of the reasons that this series is near and dear to my heart as I’m sure it is to many of you!
So, let’s go ahead and get right into it with something that is found in a place that I’m sure most players haven’t been to unless they were specifically looking for this weapon!
25 Humble But Hard
The lead pipe is one of the most underwhelming and unimpressive weapons that you can use in Fallout: New Vegas. However, after playing the game through about 6 times I found out that there exists a unique version of the lead pipe known as the Humble Cudgel.
This tiny little T pipe is the reward of the unmarked quest, Cajoling a Cudgel and can be found deep within the tunnels of the New Vegas Sewers. You will need to navigate your way around the maze of sewer tunnels to find a key and then find the door that it unlocks and then you will have to fight through a large group of overly aggressive Feral Ghouls. Only then will you be able to claim one of the single best melee weapons in the game.
24 Gotta Blast!
Okay, while technically the weapon is one of the easiest to retrieve, it does nothing until you unlock its real potential!
To physically obtain the weapon, all you have to do is either convince Max in Freeside to either give you to, buy it from him, or just steal it when he isn’t looking. Then, you will have to make your way over to the HELIOS One and instead of doing what the NCR ask you to do and divert the power of the station to the NCR states, you must divert it to the ARCHIMEDES II which will power the weapon. This weapon, by the way, is nothing short of an orbital laser strike that can be used once per day. It’s pretty freaking extra, but every bit as powerful as you would think.
23 Not That Machine
Before the Gunner Runner’s Arsenal DLC came out, this unique weapon was the only one of its kind and could only be obtained one way; by completing several random objectives for a drug-dealing NCR soldier.
Found in Camp McCarran, Sgt. Contreras will give you chores to do for him that end up being less than legal but when you actually finish the constant back and forth travelling and having to walk all the way through Camp McCarran about 10 times. He will finally give you the unique Battle Rifle named This Machine. I cannot stress how boring and uninteresting this unmarked quest is and you will likely grow bored as well. But don’t worry, the rifle is worth the time.
22 Armed To The Nines
So, I’m hoping I’m not the only one who didn’t realize for the longest time that this existed and can be found on the eastern side of the Colorado River up a small break in the cliffs. I also didn’t realize you could find Pinto Beans specifically on that side of the riverbank either but that for another time.
The Remnants Power Armor can be found up the walkway, through the cliffs on the body of a dead prospector. However, this comes with a HUGE warning, this unmarked location is called the Deathclaw Promontory and is named this for a very apparent reason. There is no shortage of Deathclaws here and it is extremely dangerous. So, exercise extreme caution getting this half of the suit.
The helmet of this suit can be found inside Silver Peak Mine and is much easier to obtain. I should also state that this is the only way to get this suit other than completing the “Auld Lang Syne” quest. Which leads me to my next point…
21 Keeping It In The Family
Arcade Gannon is personally my favorite companion in Fallout: New Vegas (aside from ED-E of course). I was quite surprised to find out that he is the son of a former Enclave Officer. This ties directly into his companion quest where he asks you to help him round up all of his old Enclave Remnant friends and get them back into action as he believes they could make a difference in the upcoming battle for Hoover Dam.
Once you gather all the Remnants you can convince Arcade to not fight with them during the Second Battle of Hoover Dam and he will give you the Gannon Family Tesla Armor, and then will no longer be recruitable through the rest of the game. So, it’s definitely a double-edged sword.
20 Alien Technology
When we are talking about powerful pistols in Fallout 3 then one particular energy weapon comes to mind rather quickly. If you are one of the people who played the fantastic Mothership Zeta expansion for Fallout 3, then you may have walked right past one of the most powerful energy weapons in the game.
The MPLX Novasurge is a unique Plasma Pistol that can be found within the Cargo Hold of the alien ship. It can be found in a safe that is lying on to of a pile of junk but must first be unlocked using a terminal on the other side of the area.
There is also a catch if you want this weapon, you MUST grab it before destroying all the generators and going on the Space Walk as you will no longer be able to access the area that this weapon is in. It's definitely worth the trouble as it far superior to the standard Plasma Pistol.
19 Mom, I'm A Survival Guru Now!
Alright, let’s get right to it. Nobody likes Moira Brown. This is not an opinion, this is a straight fact. She’s annoying and blissfully ignorant of the danger she is constantly putting you in to finish her book, the Wasteland Survival Guide. But darnit if the benefits aren’t worth it.
Several beneficial things will be given to you through your time with Moira, and should you actually put in the work to do the optional objectives for each chapter you will also receive the Survival Guru perk which provides some pretty sweet bonuses to your stats. But I repeat, you must do all optional objectives. Or you could lie to her about doing each objective, which will get you through the quest quickly but you won’t get anything near as beneficial so it’s really up to you.
18 Great Bear, Red Victory
One of Fallout: New Vegas’ greatest aspects is the telling of Courier Six’s backstory and his relationship with previous courier Ulysses through all the DLC. After 3 DLCs, it finally comes to a climax between the couriers in The Lonesome Road where he threatens to blow up both the Legion and the NCR’s base of operations. If you want these two delightful Grenade Rifles, you will have to go along with this plan and blow up both the Dry Wells and the Long 15.
The areas will become accessible and are highly irradiated, highly loot-filled, and highly dangerous due to a large number of enemies. Plus, you will immediately become vilified by both factions. Although you can be forgiven by both factions if you do this at the appropriate times in the story.
17 Vengeance And Mercy
I know what you’re probably thinking… Wait, those two weapons are in different games and you can’t get them both in the same game. Well, you would be correct, however, the method for getting both of these powerful heavy weapons is pretty much exactly the same.
To get your hands on the unique Gatling Laser, Vengeance, in Fallout 3, and the unique Grenade Machine Gun, Mercy, in Fallout: New Vegas, you will need to conquer the most frightening location in each game. You will need to conquer the Deathclaw Sanctuary and Dead Wind Cavern respectively. As you could probably guess, these caves are riddled with giant man-eating Deathclaws and you will need some heavy firepower and a lot of Stims just to stand a chance.
16 Everyone Needs A Teddy
What could possibly be better than filling your Megaton House or Tennypenny Tower Suite (if you’re a monster) with a ton of adorable teddy bears? Adding the king of all teddy bears in with them!
Within the ravaged city of Washington D.C., there are two teddy bears that can be found that are far larger than the usual teddy bear. These make fantastic decoration and can really spruce up the rust-colored Capital Wasteland.
These two giant teddy bears can be found in the Red Racer Factory sitting on a bicycle that is hanging from the ceiling and the other in the SatCom Array NN-03d and will need to be blasted out from behind a blocked off door.
15 We Built This City
Without a doubt the deadliest weapon in Fallout 3, and perhaps in all of the series as a whole, the Experimental Mirv launches not 1 or 2 mini nukes but a slew of 8 mini nukes in one shot.
Now listen alright, we are WAAAY past acceptable levels of destruction, and are at city ending levels of power, to the point where it is almost a waste to ever use it. However, if you decide to you want what is essentially the hand of God then, by all means, collect all 5 Keller Family holotapes throughout the Capital Wasteland and use the code they provide to get into the National Guard Armory and get your hands on it.
It really should be more a trophy than anything, but hey, maybe you just really don’t like a city and want to get rid of it with minimal effort. Go for it! Be my guest! You psychopath!
14 Pew, Pew!
One of the most prominent quests in Fallout: New Vegas is The Legend of the Star. A quest in which you are tasked by a robotic prospector to collect 50 sunset sarsaparilla star bottle caps throughout the Mojave Wasteland and then you must give them to him for a reward.
Obviously, the reward is this unique Laser Pistol known as Pew Pew and it has a distinctive yellow and red color scheme. I wouldn’t say that this item is necessarily hard to get, but jeez do you have to put in the time if you ever want to get your hands on it. It is much more tedious than difficult but definitely worth it in the end! It’s just going to take a LOT of soda to reach 50 caps.
13 Lincoln Would Be Proud
Fallout 3’s “Head of State” is a pretty fun and enjoyable quest, one that sends you into the ghoul-infested ruins of the Museum of History in the D.C. ruins. While fighting through the many ghoulified monsters, you will find not only a ton of cool Abraham Lincoln memorabilia but also a unique rifle called Lincoln’s Repeater.
This green and gold rifle is not only powerful but quite stylish as well. Before Point Lookout came out, it was also the only lever-action rifle in the game. Along with the rifle, there is also a coin collection, a hat, an action figure, a diary, two very famous documents and of course the poster of the Lincoln Memorial. You will just need to find them scattered about the maze-like museum while not getting hit by Ghouls or turrets.
12 I Think You've Got A Bit Of A Problem...
I’m going to throw you a curve ball here and talk about something that can’t be physically obtained in Fallout: New Vegas, as it is actually an Achievement/Trophy that you will unlock for completing one of the game’s most difficult accomplishments.
In order to get the "Courier Who Broke The Bank" Achievement/Trophy, you will need to take the time to earn enough chips in every casino that you become permanently banned from gambling in them ever again. To be precise you will need to profit exactly 15,000, 10,000, and 9,000 for the Ultra-Luxe, The Tops, and Gomorrah respectively. Good luck spending that much time gambling!
11 Randomly Worth It
Now, of course, there are great weapons in the series that are worth every bit of trouble that it takes to get. They're worth the time that it takes to complete whatever goal you need to in order to get it.
Now imagine a fantastic weapon that would blow your enemies away so fast you wouldn’t even know what to with all the free time you now have. It sounds fantastic, right? Too bad there is nothing that you can do to actually actively get this weapon. Unfortunately, the Firelance is a part of a random event that may randomly occur anywhere in the Capital Wasteland. So, your only option is to keep on playing until you get lucky for it to fall out of the sky.
10 Pretty Snazzy...
I can guarantee that there are several of you who didn’t think this was real, or just had no idea it existed. In order to grab this unbelievably extra and snazzy piece of arm wear to replace that dingy computer on your arm, you will need to meet up with Ralph at Mick & Ralphs. Also, you will need to have the Wild Wasteland trait, or else it doesn’t matter what you do.
Once you talk to Ralph, he will speak about how the Omertas are causing him problems and you will need to sneak around the Gomorrah and take advantage of some well-placed thermite to blow up their supplies. Ralph will then reward you with a nice new arm computer.
9 Free Fallin'
One of the best pieces of armor in Fallout 4, this Freefall Legs leg armor will completely eliminate all manner of falling damage as long as you are wearing both pieces. Obviously, this is super useful and worth whatever trouble it takes to get them.
In order to get these delightful pieces of apparel, all you need to do is get your hands on a jetpack mod and attach it to your power armor and use it to ascend to the 28th floor of the Mass Fusion Building and you will find them right there. But, it will take you until at least level 41 to make your own jetpack, or you can beat the game with the Brotherhood and they will give you one. Otherwise, you can use an exploit to climb the wall all the way up.
8 Robots, Beware
The Mojave Wasteland has a ton of robotic enemies, and they are far more resilient than any clump of fiends or wild dogs. If they are really getting on your nerves, then please let me tell you about the answer to all your problems!
If you don’t spend too much time diving into every vault, you find then you likely won't know about the incredibly amazing Pulse Gun that can be found at the armory of Vault 34. This vault is filled with radiation and just about everybody in a Feral Ghoul. You will need to find passwords and drain sections in order to finally gain access to the armory but darn is it worth it to never have to worry about a rogue Sentry Bot ripping you to shreds.
7 It's Pretty Powerful
The Pitt is one of the most interesting and engaging locations in the Fallout universe, and it is made even more terrifying by the insane regime that has taken up there. The raiders of Uptown make slaves of the Downtown workers and often force them to go retrieve Steel from the Steelyard, which for everyone is essentially a death sentence due to the Trogs overrunning the area.
If you can manage to collect all 100 of the Steel Ingots found inside the Steelyard, you will be gifted a sweet suit of tribal power armor that has great benefits. It is far from easy since they are scattered high and low and in all areas of the yard. It is a very tall order but worth it in the end.
6 The Toughest Loot
A fantastic damage dealer and makes use of a plentiful type of ammo? Who wouldn’t want it? The Xuanlong Assault Rifle is great, but the problem is that is annoyingly difficult to obtain.
In order to grab hold of this weapon, you will need to make your way to the Museum of Technology and complete the unmarked quest Jiggs’ Loot. This requires you to find 3 terminals around the museum and answer the puzzles on it correctly. Only after this is all done will the body of Prime show up at the diner near Jury Street Metro Station. You will find this damage-dealing lead-slinger on his body.