Fallout 76: Heavy Weapons Build Guide

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  • The Best Weapon For A Heavy Weapon Build
  • The Best Stats For A Heavy Weapon Build

Choosing a weapon type is the first thing you should do when starting a new build in Fallout 76, as it creates the base for your entire character. Heavy weapons are a common choice for builds, but it's a difficult weapon type to use because of the variety and rare ammo types. There are a few heavy weapons that rise above the rest in terms of power and efficiency.

Once you decide to use heavy weapons, you need to know about the best heavy weapons in the game, along with the strongest Perk Cards and mutations. Here's how to create a powerful Heavy Weapon build in Fallout 76.

The Best Weapon For A Heavy Weapon Build

Heavy weapons are a diverse group of equipment. Fortunately, some of them do outshine the others in certain ways, which is why it's easy to select the best weaponry for your build. These are the three best heavy weapons in Fallout 76.

Gauss Minigun

The Gauss Minigun is one of the strongest weapons in Fallout 76. It deals 48-58 base damage, and its bullets explode upon impact, which deals an extra 15 percent damage. Unfortunately, ammo for this gun is expensive, and it takes up a lot of inventory weight.

If you want to get your hands on a Gauss Minigun, then you need to purchase Plan: Gauss Minigun from Mortimer once you're an Ally to the Raiders. The crafting recipe requires 15 Steel, four Silver, two Legendary Modules, six Springs, six Circuitry, 15 Screws, and 18 Aluminum.

Flamer

The Flamer is a fun weapon to use, and it's very powerful. You can use this gun to set enemies on fire and consecutively blast them with flames. Flamers deal 29-36 base damage per shot, which is a lot since they have a high fire rate.

The Flamer's primary downside is that it can only hit enemies at a short range, which is less of an issue for other heavy weapons. You can find a Flamer sitting next to the dead doctor in the Grafton Steel Underground.

Gatling Laser

The Gatling Laser is a good choice if you need a heavy weapon that can reach mid-range and defeat enemies quickly. Gatling Lasers deal 18-25 base damage, which is a lot considering their quick fire rate.

You can get a Gatling Laser by searching US Government Supply Crates. Since Fusion Cores are the ammo type for Gatling Lasers, you'll need to have access to them if you want to use this weapon. This guide will show you how to get Fusion Cores in Fallout 76.

The Best Legendary Effect For A Heavy Weapon Build

Heavy weapons have a reputation for their quick rate of fire. Although this doesn't apply to every heavy gun, it's true for many of the heavy weapons worth using, such as the Minigun and Gatling Laser.

The best legendary effect for most heavy weapons is Furious. The Furious effect causes you to deal more damage to enemies you hit with consecutive attacks. For example, if you hit an enemy with a Minigun repeatedly, then you'll deal extra damage with each hit.

The Best Stats For A Heavy Weapon Build

This section will explain everything you need to know about customizing an efficient heavy weapon build. You'll learn about which perk cards to use, mutations to acquire, and how to properly distribute your SPECIAL stats.

The Best SPECIAL Stat Allocation For A Heavy Weapon Build

SPECIAL stats are a vital part of every build in Fallout 76. They allow you to equip certain Perk Cards and grant you important bonuses. You unlock one SPECIAL point every time you level up until you hit level 50. Since you have seven SPECIAL points by default after creating your character, you can earn 56 SPECIAL points without equipping Legendary Perks.

The following SPECIAL stats aren't the only way to customize a heavy weapons build, but they will provide you with a base for investing your SPECIAL points. You may need to relocate your SPECIAL stats if you want to use certain Perk Cards.

SPECIAL Stat Number Of Points
Strength 15
Perception 4
Endurance 7
Charisma 6
Intelligence 10
Agility 6
Luck 8

The Best Perk Cards For A Heavy Weapon Build

Perk Cards are a system in Fallout 76 that allows you to equip perks if you have the necessary SPECIAL stats available. If you have a Luck Perk Card with the number three next to its name, then you need at least three Luck to use it.

There are dozens of Perk Cards in Fallout 76, and you should know which ones are useful for a heavy weapons build. The following eight cards aren't the only Perk Cards worth using with heavy weapons, but they're a few that are essential for any build that uses this weapon type.

Perk Card SPECIAL Stat Requirement Base Effect Level Requirement
Gunsmith Intelligence 1 You Can Craft Tier 1 Guns, And Guns Lose Durability 10% Slower Level 11
One Gun Army Luck 1 4% Chance To Break An Enemy's Limb Or Stagger Them When You Hit Them With A Heavy Weapon Level 31
Radicool Endurance 1 Gain Up To 5 Extra Strength Points When You're Irradiated Level 38
Heavy Gunner Strength 1 Non-Explosive Heavy Weapons Deal 10% More Damage Level 30
Adrenaline Agility 1 Deal +6% More Damage When You Kill An Enemy, Lasts For 30 Seconds And Tops Out At 36% Level 49
Bloody Mess Luck 1 Deal 5% More Damage With All Weapons Level 42
Lock And Load Strength 1 Heavy Weapons Reload 30% Quicker Level 37
Bear Arms Strength 1 Heavy Weapons Require 30% Less Carry Weight Level 35

The Best Legendary Perks For A Heavy Weapon Build

You first unlock Legendary Perks at level 50. You unlock a new Legendary Perk slot at levels 50, 75, 100, 150, 200, and 300. Legendary Perks each have a unique ability that's often stronger than regular Perk Cards. The following six Legendary Perks are best equipped for a heavy weapon build.

Legendary Perk Base Effect
Legendary Strength Gain 1 Strength And Strength Perk Point
Legendary Endurance Gain 1 Endurance And Endurance Perk Point
Taking One For The Team Deal 10% More Damage To Enemies That Attack You While Part Of A Team
Ammo Factory Gain 50% Extra Rounds When You Craft Ammo
Far-Flung Fireworks Enemies Have A 10% Chance To Explode When You Kill Them With A Ranged Weapon
Follow Through Damage Dealt To An Enemy Is 10% Higher After You Hit Them With A Sneak Attack

The Best Mutation For A Heavy Weapon Build

You gain mutations by becoming irradiated and each one grants you a unique effect. Marsupial is a very useful mutation if you use heavy weapons. The first effect of this mutation is an extra 20 points of carrying weight, which is necessary if you plan to carry big weapons or their heavy ammo types.

However, the usefulness doesn't stop there because Marsupial also allows you to jump higher, which means you can get on top of buildings and objects more easily to shoot your enemies from above. This is particularly helpful if you use explosive heavy weapons since you need to avoid getting caught in the blast, and being above your enemies is an easy way to do so.

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