 |
For an overview of Gauss rifle models in all games, see Gauss rifle. |
|---|
|
Bug Verification Project
This article is within the scope of the Bug Verification Project. This project is dedicated to increasing the validity of game bugs. For participation, please check the project page.
|
|---|
The Gauss rifle is an advanced sniper rifle included in the Fallout 3 add-on Operation: Anchorage.
Background
The Gauss rifle is a coilgun, a type of projectile accelerator, which uses electromagnetic coils configured as a linear motor to accelerate ferromagnetic or conductive projectiles to extreme velocities. Though these weapons historically suffered from a number of difficulties, focused on discharging the coils in sequence or providing enough power for the coils, these design issues were overcome by German scientists in the 21st century and entered limited service. This class of weapons is named in honor of the German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss, responsible for formulating the math underlying the magnetic acceleration principle of coilguns.
Characteristics
This rifle uses a series of electromagnetic fields to propel 2mm rounds at tremendous speed. It has a knockdown effect that will knock enemies off their feet following a Critical Hit.
Unlike the German M72 Gauss rifle, which uses 2mm EC magazines containing both batteries and ammunition, this gun requires the user to load in the microfusion cells needed to magnetize each pre-loaded round contained in the magazine attached to the side of the weapon.[1] Each round produces a small "explosion" on impact, dealing minor splash damage.
The Gauss rifle has greater reliability per shot than the Victory rifle for knocking down enemies, but its buggy V.A.T.S. performance and low magazine size limits its usefulness in close-quarters combat.
Durability
The Gauss rifle can fire a total of about 375 shots from full condition before breaking.
Variants
- Sim version (Operation: Anchorage add-on) - A sim-only version of the weapon which differs only in health (essentially non-degrading).
 | The following is based on Fallout 3 cut content. |
|---|
- Gauss rifle - There is a beta version of the Gauss rifle that uses the model of a laser rifle and features a five round magazine. It does only about 25% of the damage of the final version, but has a 100% knockdown chance. It is only obtainable through console commands.
| End of information based on Fallout 3 cut content |
|---|
Locations
In the Capital Wasteland:
- One is located in the VSS Armory after completing the Anchorage Reclamation simulation with 300 microfusion cells with it.
In the Anchorage Reclamation simulation:
- During The Guns of Anchorage quest, a paratrooper gets shot down by Chinese soldiers, and leaves behind a Gauss rifle.
- One can be obtained from the Quartermaster at the U.S. Army Field Headquarters after successfully passing a speech check (requires at least 50 Speech).
- One can also be found on an American power armored soldier during the fight with General Jingwei.
Notes
- The version you acquire from the VSS Armory cannot be equipped by followers or any other non-player character, but the simulation version obtained through the glitches or console commands can.
- With 100 Energy Weapons skill, the scope doesn't sway, the same as with other sniper rifles with the Small Guns skill.
- The Gauss rifle is one of the few Energy Weapons that doesn't disintegrate the target when they are killed on a Critical Hit.
- Even though it does have a very large 2mm round magazine located on the right of the gun, no matter how many shots are fired it never needs to be replaced or reloaded. Only the microfusion cells used to charge the 2mm rounds need to be reloaded.
- Although quite a powerful ranged rifle, its firing and reload times are extremely time consuming.
- You can only obtain this weapon once without glitches, so you can only repair it with Alien Epoxy (Mothership Zeta add-on) or ask an NPC to do the repairs.
- If you have the Finesse perk, nearly every shot you fire (V.A.T.S. or not) will score critical. This is useful against enemies like super mutant overlords, feral ghoul reavers, Enclave Hellfire troopers, albino radscorpions, or aliens. This is also an ideal way to take out super mutant behemoths as the high damage combined with the knockdown effect makes it more useful than even the Victory Rifle since the high damage means fewer shots are required to kill.
- If the player were to shoot an enemy's weapon and break it with a critical hit, the enemy will go flying several feet without taking any fall damage.
Bugs
The scope on the Gauss rifle, like on the sniper rifle, is not perfectly zeroed. The shot will travel up and to the right of the target at extreme distances. [verified]- Occasionally, shots dealt from the Gauss rifle will not do damage, regardless of the type of hit it was (crippling hit, critical strike, sneak attack critical). However, it can still knock down enemies and cripple them. [verified]
- This weapon does not deal proper damage when in V.A.T.S. Any hit will do exactly 95.244% of the maximum damage, regardless of enemy DR, critical hits, or sneak attacks. This means that, with 100 energy weapons, a Gauss rifle shot will do 95.244 points of damage with every V.A.T.S. shot. This is still lower than free aiming, and no bonuses are applied to headshots. [verified]
- If your character is knocked down, either by a gas explosion or a frag grenade, the Gauss rifle may go flying. It will stay wherever it lands, and pulling the trigger will cause the rifle to fire from wherever it landed. Holstering the weapon has no effect. Equipping another weapon will fix the issue. [verified]
- If you have any type of power armor equipped at the same time the rifle is equipped, the air tanks and valve on the armor will disappear. This is because it has the "hide backpack" flag marked, despite not having a backpack component like other weapons with this flag (minigun, Gatling laser, etc.). [verified]
- Critical shots to the target's weapon will still knock them down. [verified]
- Critical shots that do not kill will occasionally cause the target to fall through the map. [verified]
- Sometimes in V.A.T.S when firing there will be a slight delay for firing but the firing sound will be normal, like when you reload and the sound for reloading is already done. [verified]
- Sometimes if you fire the Gauss rifle straight down when standing, the camera will be switched to third person and the rifle will be knocked out of your hands until the reload animation finishes. It usually takes more than one shot since it doesn't always do damage. [verified]
Sounds
|
|
|
Gallery
The scope view and the required aim compensation for a head shot.
A Chinese propaganda poster featuring the weapon. Translation: "Long live the People's Liberation Army!"
References
- ↑ We did it this way because we knew we wanted to have an energy weapon equivalent of the sniper rifle, but also have it be consistent with other fictional versions of the Gauss rifle, including the one known in the Fallout universe. We also knew it had to use and existing ammunition type, since the player was going to get access to the Gauss rifle in the Wasteland, and would need to be able to find ammunition for it. It didn't feel right using the sniper rifle ammunition (we had considered it), and instead opted to "power" the weapon with the microfusion cell, but (fictionally) have it fire a standard slug, which is already pre-loaded into the weapon. - Emil Pagliarulo in the Bethesda Game Studios forum
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||