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The holorifle is a unique weapon in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Dead Money.

Background[]

While on his quest to find a way to overturn the Brotherhood's defeat at HELIOS One by the NCR, Father Elijah continued tinkering with various technologies that he came across; the holorifle was one of them, of which he innovated more than once and produced multiple models of varying superiority along with custom modifications.[1][2]

The original holorifle was constructed utilizing components that he obtained from the Big Empty[3] and later enhanced by the hologram technology once he arrived at the Sierra Madre.[2] The unique, unprecedented design of the holorifle enabled him to circumvent the security of the Sierra Madre, which normally confiscates items with even trace amounts of contamination and returns them to the owner's home.

When the Courier was brought by Dog to the Sierra Madre after being caught in one of Elijah's traps at the abandoned Brotherhood of Steel bunker in the Mojave Wasteland in 2281,[4] the weapon ended up in their possession by Elijah's choice to ensure their cooperation in breaking into the casino, though he later regrets relinquishing it.[5]

Characteristics[]

Holorifle blown up

Holorifle expanded

A scoped, pump-action energy-based sniper rifle. The weapon's frame is similar in appearance to that of a grenade launcher. The scope of the weapon also appears similar to that of a laser rifle scope, but with the advantage of integrated night vision. However, the magnification level of the holorifle scope is only 2.86x, compared to the 3.5x magnification of the laser rifle scope.

The weapon's primary unique trait in that the projectile it fires is neither a bullet, ball of plasma, laser, gust of flame, electromagnetic pulse, or electrical charge. Since the holorifle adapts hologram technology, it fires a concentrated photon-based energy projectile, and so is most similar to photonic energy weapons (i.e., lasers). On impact, the projectile applies a "holorifle damage" effect, dealing an additional 15 damage over three seconds and visualized by glowing flakes wafting off the target (similar to the "flame damage" done by a flamer or incinerator) and knocking the target back. As with most other energy weapons, the holorifle's projectile will ignite any gas traps and other flammable hazards that it comes in contact with.

The holorifle uses microfusion cells for ammunition, loading up to four cells in a tubular under-barrel magazine. As the magazine is internal and like the tube of a pump-action shotgun, the weapon must be reloaded by hand, one cell at a time, resulting in longer reload times compared to other energy weapons. However, the reloading process can be interrupted for immediate firing. The holorifle thus has the singular advantage of being able to immediately fire again if less than a full magazine is needed.

Due to the unique nature of the holorifle, being the only one of its kind found in the entire game, the Jury Rigging perk cannot be used to repair it as it has no equivalent in other weapons. Therefore, repairing it must come from either weapon repair kits, merchants, or, if the Lonesome Road add-on is installed, through ED-E with at least one rank of the Camarader-E perk.

Durability[]

The holorifle can fire a total of about 495 times using standard cells, the equivalent of 124 reloads, from full condition before breaking. Because of a bug, the reinforced components only improve overall weapon durability by 8 more shots, or only 2 more full reloads.

Ammunition typeUnmodifiedW/ Reinforced components
ShotsReloadsShotsReloads
Standard495124503 126
Bulk584146593 149
Optimized450113457 115
Over charge32983334 84
Max charge19549198 50

Modifications[]

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 secondAttacks per secondCritical Chance % multiplierCritical damageAction Point costDamage per action pointWeapon spreadMagazine capacity (shots per reload)Durability (number of attacks before breaking)WeightValue in capsValue to weight ratioSkill requiredStrength required
Holorifle Dead Money80
88.91.11x180302.70.4449583000375504
Holorifle With all weapon mods attached Dead Money105
116.71.11x180303.50.15450383650456.3504

Location[]

The holorifle is automatically acquired at the beginning of Dead Money when waking up at the Villa fountain. It is not possible to obtain any additional holorifles without the use of console commands.

Notes[]

  • There are no other holorifle variants in either Dead Money or Old World Blues, despite Elijah's claims that he made other models of superior quality.[2]
  • A fully modified holorifle used with a high Energy Weapons skill is, in terms of damage, better than the anti-materiel rifle without utilizing special ammunition; although the holorifle's increased spread and comparatively slower projectile speed limit its long-range capabilities.
  • The magnification of the scope on the holorifle is 2.86x, same as the marksman carbine.
  • The holorifle makes efficient use of ammunition, using only one microfusion cell per shot, in comparison to the five used by the standard Gauss rifle, or four by the YCS/186 Gauss rifle. This, along with higher damage than a Tesla cannon, means it is the most powerful weapon in terms of damage per cell.
  • When viewed in V.A.T.S. or through the scope, the projectiles fired by the holorifle appear to be small clusters of glowing holographic cubes.
  • Unlike laser, plasma or Gauss rifles, the holorifle does not count towards the Beam (Weapon) Me Up challenge. It does, however, count towards the Condition Critical and The Rifleman challenges, meaning that it is considered a rifle-grip (in general) instead of a rifle-grip energy weapon for the purpose of these challenges. However, the holorifle does count as an energy weapon for the More Energetic and Energetic challenges.
  • While loading a laser rifle with one physical microfusion cell grants 24 MFC charges worth of energy, MFCs loaded into the holorifle only grant a single MFC charge per physical cell put in the weapon.
  • The scope reticule of the holorifle appears identical to that of the laser rifle scope mod, Codac R9000 and Red Glare.

Behind the scenes[]

It was initially (always) designed to actually be a grenade launcher that Elijah adapted for his own wacky purposes, loading in MFCs and ejecting them like spent shells. Something I wish we could have done to make it stand out more (but could not do for technical reasons) is make the ejected MFCs look like smoking, burned out batteries.J.E. Sawyer

Bugs[]

  • PCPC Playstation 3Playstation 3Playstation 3 Xbox 360Xbox 360 With the reinforced components modification and 100% condition, the holorifle will not take damage while firing regular microfusion cells. With Raul as an active companion applying the Full Maintenance companion perk, the holorifle will not take any damage even while firing overcharged, max charge or optimized cells, and even with the Built to Destroy trait. [verified]
  • Playstation 3Playstation 3Playstation 3 Xbox 360Xbox 360 When using a weapon repair kit on a fully repaired holorifle, it is possible to raise the weapon's value to high amounts, thus increasing its total hit points. In other words, the more repair kits one uses, the higher its value and total HP become. [verified]
  • Playstation 3Playstation 3Playstation 3 The holorifle will sometimes be affected by the same scope bug as many other weapons: while aiming with the scope, brightly colored shapes will appear instead of the standard scope image, obscuring much of the screen. [verified]
    • Unequipping the rifle and then reequipping it will fix this.
  • PCPC Playstation 3Playstation 3Playstation 3 Xbox 360Xbox 360 During V.A.T.S., it will not fire. The player character will be stuck in V.A.T.S., leaving them vulnerable. One must reload a save to fix it. Alternatively, one can also wait and V.A.T.S. will end after a while. [verified]
    • Xbox 360Xbox 360 Disconnecting and reconnecting the controller will fix this.
  • PCPC Xbox 360Xbox 360 When switching ammunition types, it may infinitely loop the reload animation. This can be fixed by switching ammo types again. [verified]
  • PCPC Playstation 3Playstation 3Playstation 3 Xbox 360Xbox 360 The weapon will not jam, even at near-breaking conditions. [verified]

Sounds[]

SingleShotVB ReloadVB

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. Elijah: "Wish I... still had that damn Holorifle. Spent forever making it... need to find it when this is all done."
    (Elijah's dialogue)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Courier: "What is this rifle?"
    Elijah: "It is a Holorifle, a weapon I constructed when I arrived... I have since made superior models - and modifications. For now, that tool will have to do until you find other weapons... and I suggest you do, the Holorifle's ammo is limited. Still, it should serve well enough. I fashioned it from the Holograms of the Villa and used it against the Villa's... living inhabitants."
    (Elijah's dialogue)
  3. The Courier: "I've never heard of the place you're talking about."
    Elijah: "Big Empty's a treasure box, a scientific graveyard of Old World misery. Like the Sierra Madre... there's treasures there, sleeping. Some, awake. The Holorifle, the Saturnite alloy... the hologram technology, hibernation chambers, Securitrons, the collars... ...even the suits attached to those things stalking the Villa... that's only the surface of what's there. Right now, the Sierra Madre is what I want."
    (Elijah's dialogue)
  4. Events of Dead Money
  5. 743.00HZ radio signal
    Elijah: "Wish I... still had that damn Holorifle. Spent forever making it... need to find it when this is all done."
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