Wasteland 3 weapons

This page covers Wasteland 3 weapons. There are many weapons in the game, tied to overhauled skills and their damage will generally scale with skill level. Damage is also affected by weapon mods.

Note the armor and penetration mechanics. The game uses a simple method to determine armor effectiveness: Armor - Penetration. The results are:


 * Penetration > Armor = 100% Damage
 * Penetration < Armor = Damage proportional to the penetration (eg. Penetration 5 vs. Armor 10 = 50% damage) and cannot exceed 80% base damage.

List
All the weapons are grouped by skill, however, even within the skill there are subtypes.
 * Melee Combat
 * Bladed: Your best friend in the wastes is a finely honed blade. Blades and are perfect for fighters who like to get up close and personal. They strike often, and deal high damage to enemies with light armor.
 * Blunt: It doesn’t get more basic than hitting people with a stick - or more satisfying! Blunt weapons deal high damage to enemies in heavy armor, and with a little training, you can stun with them too.
 * Brawling
 * Sometimes you just wanna haul off and sock somebody. Brawlers start out weak but have huge potential at higher levels. They also gain critical hit bonuses for each consecutive strike, so make with the jabby-jabby.
 * Automatic
 * Assault rifles are the wasteland all-rounders. Mobile, quick to fire, with decent range, and decent damage. They also penetrate all but the heaviest of armor. Get one for everyone on your Christmas list.
 * SMG: If you’ve got a clear shot (like you’re shooting some punk in the back) an SMG is devastating. They’re not so great against enemies in cover or heavy armor, so you’ve gotta be mobile and pick your targets. But when you do - damn!
 * Small arms
 * Pistols are accurate and quick, and deal solid damage to unarmored enemies, but have a hard time penetrating armor. On the plus side, if you want to quickly build your Strike Meter, they're a terrific choice!
 * Shotguns: You won’t do a lot of damage to single enemies with a shotty, but if you wanna hurt two or three at once, they’re the way to go. Everyone in front of you will catch some lead. They’re also great for blowing away enemy cover.
 * Sniper rifles
 * Sniper rifles are too slow and too heavy to fire on the move, but they have fantastic range, high armor penetration, and do a ton of damage. So find a nice, quiet spot, sit yourself down, and get to sniping.
 * Big guns
 * Heavy machine guns deal tons of damage and punch through armor with ease. Shooting them while moving, however, is almost impossible. They’re far too heavy and inaccurate. But with training they’re great for laying down covering fire.
 * Flamethrowers: Is there anything more badass than a flamethrower? No. There isn’t. One shot from a flamethrower can literally set a whole squad of bad-guys on fire. Of course it’s heavy and awkward to operate, but who cares? It’s a fucking flamethrower!

Damage types


 * Physical damage - low to medium penetration, equally effective against any targets.
 * Energy damage - scales with Weird Science, maximum penetration, effective against non-organic targets (+30% damage), ineffective against organic targets (-30% damage), often has a chance to apply Shocked (-10% CON per turn, -2 AP and -2 Max AP).
 * Cold damage - scales with Weird Science, maximum penetration, effective against organic targets (+30% damage), ineffective against non-organic targets (-30% damage), often has a chance to apply Frozen (-4 AP and -4 Max AP).
 * Fire damage - scales with Weird Science, maximum penetration, effective against organic targets (+30% damage), ineffective against non-organic targets (-30% damage), often has a chance to apply Burning (-15% CON per turn).
 * Explosive damage - scales with Explosives, maximum penetration, equally effective against any targets.

Automatic Weapons
Submachine guns and assault rifles. Recommended Attributes: Coordination, Awareness, Speed

Big Guns
Heavy machine guns, flamethrowers, and other oversized weapons. Recommended Attributes: Awareness, Coordination, Strength

Brawling
Fist-based weapons. Brawlers start out weak but have great potential at high levels. Recommended Attributes: Coordination, Intelligence, Charisma

Melee Combat
Bladed and blunt weapons. Recommended Attributes: Strength, Coordination, Speed

Small Arms
Handguns and shotguns. Recommended Attributes: Coordination, Luck, Awareness

Sniper Rifles
Sniper rifles. Recommended Attributes: Intelligence, Awareness, Luck

Explosives
Exactly what it says on the tin.

Weird Science
Unconventional types of weapons.