Fallout: New Vegas has an incredible number of energy weapons that can be used in nearly any build, however, thanks to perks like Meltdown, there are certain playstyles only available to this type of weapon. In this guide, I’ll tell you all you need to know to make an energy weapon build that explodes your enemies, causing chain reactions that can easily wipe an entire group of foes in a single attack.

Quick notes about this build:

• Heavy use of explosions that cause friendly fire. The Meltdown perk causes enemies killed using energy weapons to explode, which can injure or kill companions/allied NPCs.
• DLCs required. To really make this build work, having all of the game’s DLC is highly suggested.

Starting Stats

S.P.E.C.I.A.L.

This build partially relies on critical hits. This is because we need to maximize the base damage of our weapon as much as possible, meaning that critical hits (and therefore high Luck) are a requirement.

Besides that, a higher Intelligence stat allows you to get more skill points every time you level up, which is useful for any build.

For this reason, I recommend that you pick starting SPECIAL stats that look like this:

Strength	5
Perception	6
Endurance	5
Charisma	1
Intelligence	7
Agility	6
Luck	10

Skills

For this build, the Energy Weapons and Science skills will be by far the most important.

• Energy Weapons is not only key to using all energy weapons properly but also a must for unlocking many of the perks necessary to make this build work.
• Science allows the player to craft better energy weapons ammunition, as well as recycle used ammunition more efficiently (which is a must due to the high price and scarcity of energy ammo).
• Repair is another skill that you should consider investing in. This build makes use of Max Charge ammunition, which damages your weapons very quickly. Repair will allow you to keep your weapons in usable condition throughout your playthrough.

Traits

Depending on your later choice of weapon, you can pick one of two Trait combinations – Built to Destroy and Fast Shot, or Built to Destroy and Wild Wasteland.

Build to destroy is a must-have, as it increases your critical hit chance, but the other trait depends largely on your personal preference.

Picking up Wild Wasteland allows you to get the Alien Blaster Pistol, which is incredibly powerful and can clear entire rooms of enemies in a few shots, but it has a limited number of shots in any given playthrough.

Forgoing the perk allows you to get the unique YCS/186 Gauss Rifle instead, which isn’t as powerful, but it still deals the highest per-shot damage of all energy weapons in the game, out-damaging even the Anti-Materiel Rifle. It also allows you to pick up Fast Shot instead, which lets you shoot faster (though this only affects weapons that have a magazine size higher than 1).

Perks

Below is a list of perks that I recommend you pick up for this build, alongside any requirements they may have and the DLCs that you must own for the perks to be available. 

They are ordered approximately in the other that you should get them, however, the order isn’t strictly necessary and you can change it depending on your own personal taste.

Perk Name	Requirements	Benefits	DLC
Educated	Level 4, Intelligence 4	+2 skill points every level up
Vigilant Recycler	Level 6, Science 70	Increases the efficiency of recycling energy ammo and gives you more spent energy ammo when you fire energy weapons
Finesse	Level 10	+5% Critical hit chance
Meltdown	Level 16, Energy Weapons 90	Enemies killed with energy weapons explode
Better Criticals	Level 16, Perception 6, Luck 6	+50% damage with critical hits
Implant GRX	Level 30, Endurance 8	Reusable, on-command slow-motion (similar to the Turbo chem)	Old World Blues

Other generally useful perks include: Confirmed Bachelor, Lady Killer, Bloody Mess, Rapid Reload, Toughness, Living Anatomy, and Stonewall.

Optional Perks

The two following perks can be useful, however, their usefulness depends heavily on your weapon choice, as they only boost Plasma and Laser weapons respectively.

Plasma Spaz	Level 10, Energy Weapons 70	AP costs to fire plasma weapons in VATS are reduced by 20%
Laser Commander	Level 22, Energy Weapons 90	+15% damage and +10% critical hit chance with laser weapons

Equipment

Weapons

The number of energy weapons is immense, and there’s no point in covering all of them here, however, the weapons listed in the table below suit this particular build the best.

	Alien Blaster	YCS/186	Holorifle
Pros	Guaranteed to critHigh damage output100% accuracy	High AccuracyBest-in-class damageHigh critical hit chanceComes pre-equipped with an optic	Acquired during the main storyDeals damage over time4 shots per reloadCancellable reload (similar to the Hunting Shotgun)
Cons	Limited number of available shotsWild Wasteland trait required	Single shot -> low fire rate	Dead Money DLC requiredDamage over time does not trigger the Meltdown perkLow critical hit chance
Quick Analysis	An excellent weapon that only has a limited number of uses every playthrough. Saving this weapon for bosses and other difficult encounters is highly suggested.	If you want a workhorse weapon that can carry you through the entire game, look no further. It deals excellent damage, can easily be used over long distances, and it has widely available ammunition.	If you took the Wild Wasteland trait, this is going to be your second-best bet. It deals good damage, fires pretty quickly, and it can fire multiple times before reloading.
Guide	Acquisition	Acquisition	Acquired at the start of the Dead Money DLC.

Armor

For this build, I recommend that you go with the classic mix of the three following items:

• Elite Riot Gear and Elite Riot Gear Helmet. These two items together provide the same amount of DT as some power armor models, while being classified as medium armor. The Elite Riot Gear also gives you a bonus to critical hit chance, which is a must for this build. Guide to acquiring it here.

In case you don’t have the required Lonesome Road DLC, any other suit of armor that fits your playstyle will suffice.

• First Recon Beret. An incredibly easy-to-acquire piece of clothing that boosts your critical hit chance. Thanks to a coding error, it can also be worn alongside the Elite Riot Gear Helmet. Guide to acquiring it here.

Final Tips

• Use max charge ammo. Max Charge ammo can be crafted with a Science skill of 75 or more at any workbench and allows you to (in the case of the most commonly used Microfusion Cells) deal 50% more damage per shot, while also allowing you to ignore 10 points of enemy DT.
• Attack from afar. Especially with weapons like the YCS/186, distance is your best friend, as it will allow you kill your enemies before they overwhealm you.
• Bait your enemies into groups. Try to bait your enemies into narrow corridors or enclosed spaces to then allow chain reactions from Meltdown to occur, just make sure to stay far enough away to not get damaged by the explosion yourself.