Ammo crafting is a mechanic that allows the player to recycle parts of their ammunition after it has been fired, in addition to creating their own, more powerful ammo that cannot be purchased anywhere else in the game.
This guide will only focus on the crafting of energy ammo, another guide focused on the crafting of ballistic weapon ammo can be found here.
Crafting energy weapon ammo
Energy ammo, unlike ballistic ammo, is very simple and far less varied, making it much simpler to craft.
To craft energy ammo, you must find a Workbench somewhere within the Mojave.
Next, you’ll need the required ingredients and skill, just like with the regular crafting mechanics.
All energy ammo crafting uses the Science skill.
There are two ways of making energy weapon ammo, either by recycling drained energy weapon ammo or by converting other energy weapon ammo types to the ammo type you need.
Recycling
Every time you fire an energy weapon (other than a “Breeder” type weapon, which all generate their own ammo) you have a 25% chance of receiving a “drained” version of the ammo you fired, such as a “drained energy cell”.
4 of those drained cells can be used to create 1 fully charged cell, ready to be fired once again.
If you have the Vigilant Recycler perk, you unlock “efficient” versions of each crafting recipe, allowing you to only use 3 drained cells instead.
Converting
Energy ammo types can also be converted between one another, allowing the player to convert any ammunition they don’t need into something more useful.
- Electron Charge Packs can be converted to: Microfusion Cells in a 3:1 ratio and to Energy Cells in a 2:1 Ratio
- Microfusion Cells can be converted to: Electron Charge Packs in a 1:3 ratio, and to Energy Cells in a 2:3 ratio
- Energy Cells can be converted to: Electron Charge Packs in a 1:2 ratio, and to Microfusion Cells in a 3:2 ratio
Special Ammo Variants
There are 2 special ammo variants that can be made on the workbench for each type of energy weapon ammo. Here is an overview:
| Name | Effects |
| Over Charge | +25% Damage, The target has -5 DT, The weapon degrades 50% faster |
| Max Charge | +5% Damage, The target has -10 DT, The weapon degrades 150% faster |
Vigilant Recycler
As mentioned previously, the Vigilant Recycler perk adds the option to recycle energy ammo more efficiently, however, if you have the Gun Runners Arsenal DLC, it also allows you to craft optimized variants of every type of energy ammo.
Optimized variants of energy ammo have the same crafting ratio as Over Charge ammo, but they have different effects.
| Name | Effects |
| Electron Charge Pack, Optimized | +30% Damage, Target has -5 DT, The weapon degrades 10% faster |
| Microfusion Cell, Optimized | +30% Damage, Target has -5 DT, The weapon degrades 10% faster |
| Energy Cell, Optimized | +30% Damage, Target has -5 DT, The weapon degrades 10% faster |
All of these ammo types also have a 60% decreased weight in Hardcore mode
