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The ballistic fist is a weapon in Fallout: New Vegas.

Characteristics[]

An unarmed weapon consisting of a dark-colored, dirtied gauntlet with a wrist-mounted shotgun and a pressure plate worn over the knuckles of a dark-colored glove. The impact of the plate against the intended target triggers the shotgun's firing mechanism. It deals the highest amount of damage per strike of all unarmed weapons, albeit at the slowest attack speed (same as its unique variant Two-Step Goodbye Gun Runners' Arsenal, the bear trap fist Dead Money, the power fist, and the corrosive glove Old World Blues (add-on). It also deals the highest amount of critical hit damage, albeit with low-end durability and a high-end caps value. It requires the maximum 100 Unarmed skill level and 9 Strength to use effectively.

V.A.T.S. Special Attacks[]

Legend
Type of attack- Type of attackSkill required- Skill required
Damage per attack in V.A.T.S.- Damage per attack in V.A.T.S.Action point cost- Action point cost
Damage per action point- Damage per action pointAdditional effects- Additional effects
Type of attackSkill requiredDamage per attack in V.A.T.S.Action point costDamage per action pointAdditional effects
Normal0160285.71
Stomp503202016Only on knocked down enemies
Uppercut50184209.2
Cross75176208.82.5x damage to limbs
Note: Unarmed weapons do double normal damage in V.A.T.S.

Durability[]

The ballistic fist can successfully strike about 395 times from full condition before breaking.

Variants[]

Comparison[]

Legend 
Weapon name (current weapon is highlighted)- Weapon name (melee or unarmed)Attacks in V.A.T.S.- Attacks in V.A.T.S.
Weapon name (current weapon is highlighted)- Weapon name (gun, energy or explosive)Action point cost- Action point cost
Damage per attack (damage per projectile)- Damage per attack (damage per projectile)Damage per action point- Damage per action point
Damage per second- Damage per secondWeapon spread- Weapon spread
Area of effect damage- Area of effect damageMagazine capacity (shots per reload)- Magazine capacity (shots per reload)
Effect damage & duration- Effect damage & durationDurability (number of attacks before breaking)- Durability (number of attacks before breaking)
Bonus effects- Bonus effectsWeight- Weight
Attacks per second- Attacks per secondValue in caps- Value in caps
Critical chance % multiplier- Critical chance % multiplierValue to weight ratio- Value to weight ratio
Critical damage- Critical damageSkill required- Skill required
Critical effect damage & duration- Critical effect damage & durationStrength required- Strength required
With all mods attached- With all mods attached
Weapon name (current weapon is highlighted)Damage per attack (damage per projectile)Damage per secondBonus effectsAttacks per secondCritical Chance % multiplierCritical damageCritical effect damage and durationAction Point costDamage per action pointDurability (number of attacks before breaking)WeightValue in capsValue to weight ratioSkill requiredStrength required
Ballistic fist 80
87.31.09x180285.73956780013001009
Two-Step Goodbye Gun Runners' Arsenal70
76.41.09x410175Explosion2853956200003333.31009
Displacer glove 50
68.21.36x150283.649563500583.31004
Pushy 60
88.41.47x160284.3595642007001002
Zap glove 35
57.3+50Electromagnetic pulseRobots
+20Electromagnetic pulsePower armor
1.64x135282.549565200866.7754
Paladin Toaster 41
67.1+50Electromagnetic pulseRobots
+20Electromagnetic pulsePower armor
1.64x141282.9395668001133.3754
Note: Unarmed damage is doubled in V.A.T.S.

Locations[]

Notes[]

  • If the Ranger Takedown is used with this weapon, the target of the attack will take normal damage even though the pressure plate would not be touched. In the third person, the player character hits with their leg. In first-person, they use their palm, which would also be in the direct path of the shotgun.
  • When using the Khan Trick, the sand thrown with this move shares the same explosion animation with the successful ballistic fist strike, although the pressure plate is left untouched.
  • When using the Scribe Counter, the explosion comes from the player character's left hand, even though the ballistic fist is worn on the right.
  • When the special attack Stomp is used in V.A.T.S., the explosion appears to originate from the player character's foot. This can cause a reaction in the gibbed NPC's body physics, such as flinging a corpse's limbs away in different directions due to the explosion.
  • Despite the ballistic nature of the weapon, it can be used to make silent sneak kills like other unarmed and melee weapons.
  • When using full armor suits, such as the T-51b power armor or Remnants power armor, the shotgun appears to be grafted or welded to the suit. This is unlike the displacer glove or Pushy, which appear to overlap. This is caused by the armor and the ballistic fist clipping into one another.
  • When punching any type of grate that would allow bullets to pass through it, the weapon may actually deal damage to NPCs on the other side (like cashiers in casinos).
  • This weapon is similar to the punch gun from Fallout Tactics.
  • At 9 Strength, this weapon and its unique variant Two-Step Goodbye have the highest Strength requirement of any Unarmed weapon.
  • This weapon can be used for the Gun Runners' Arsenal challenge Armed For Bear.

Behind the scenes[]

Despite firing shotgun shells upon a successful hit, the weapon does not drain 20 gauge or 12 gauge shells from the player character's inventory if present. This is the result of an engine limitation: melee and unarmed weapons cannot be assigned an ammo type, nor set to drain them. Joshua Sawyer stated the developers encountered problems attempting to implement this feature with several unarmed weapons including the ballistic fist as a way to distinguish their value against other weapons, but ultimately were forced to program it with an independent, invisible, infinite ammo supply.[1]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. "Did you ever intend for the Ballistic Fist in Fallout: New Vegas to use shotgun shells as ammo?"
    J.E. Sawyer: I intended for several of the Unarmed weapons to use ammo, but we encountered some problems with implementing it. I would have liked to continue with it because I think ammo use/reloading could have helped distinguish those weapons in more interesting ways."
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