When it was released, Fallout 76 received a lot of negative reviews. Players didn't enjoy the story, it was filled with bugs, and there were no NPCs. Fast-forward to today, and the game is nothing like it used to be. It is now a very popular game that is filled with all sorts of fun quests and events that players can do.

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Fallout 76: Which Legendary Weapons Are Worth Keeping?

With the wide variety of legendary weapons in Fallout 76, here's a guide to which ones players should hold onto.

One of the biggest features of Fallout 76 is the legendary effect system. Legendary effects enhance a weapon or armor piece by giving it a boost. There are tons of legendary effects available in the game, but not every effect is worth it.

It's important to note that this list is made up of a mix of 1-star, 2-star, and 3-star legendary effects. Each effect will be labeled, stating what star it represents.

Article updated on May 1, 2024, by Benjamin Joe: since this article was last updated, Fallout 76 has received several updates that have affected the way that some legendary effects work. Because of this, the list needed a fresh overhaul. Also, thanks to the release of the Fallout TV series, lots of new players are exploring post-war Appalachia for the first time. This updated guide aims to help those newer players learn which legendary effects are worth keeping an eye out for. It can also be a useful reminder to veteran players returning to Appalachia thanks to the success of the TV show and the renewed popularity of the franchise.

13 Strength

3-Star Legendary Effect: +1 To Strength

The Strengtheffect can only be obtained on melee weapons. Strength increases how much melee damage a player can inflict. It is a very useful effect. While it isn't the best legendary perk for melee weapons, it is a highly sought-after effect for players who play using a high-Strength build.

It works particularly well when used on non-automatic melee weapons like Sledgehammers and Deathclaw Gauntlets. By having this effect alongside the faster swing speed effect, it can transform a decent melee weapon into a great melee weapon.

12 Power Attack While Standing Still

Secondary Effect: Inflict 25% More Damage When Standing Still

This effect is only available on melee weapons. While there are better 2-Star effects in Fallout 76, this effect can still be very useful. If the player is using an automatic melee weapon while taking down a boss, then this could be a good effect to have. It is best used alongside the Vampire's effect, since the player will take more hits while standing still.

Players who enjoy this effect typically use full health builds and use all the perk cards that offer boosts to the player's overall health.

11 Two Shot

Primary Legendary Effect: Fires Two Projectiles Per Shot

The Two-Shot effect can be useful on the right weapon. While it isn't the best primary legendary effect, it definitely has its place in the game. Unfortunately, this weapon doesn't do double damage. The Two-Shot effect does 25% extra damage, but still, it can be a very good effect if it's used alongside other useful perks like Rapid and VATS Reduction.

A Two-Shot automatic rifle can be great for low level players who are trying to survive in high-level areas like the Cranberry Bog region.

10 Swing Speed

Secondary Effect: Increases A Weapon's Swing Speed By 40%

This effect has already been mentioned in the Strength entry at the start of this list. It can be a very useful perk for weapons such as the Deathclaw Gauntlet. Unfortunately, this weapon does have one downside: it doesn't work on automatic melee weapons.

Since weapons like the Chainsaw and Auto Axe already have an incredibly fast swing speed, it isn't possible to boost how fast they swing. So, if this effect is on an automatic melee weapon, it won't actually do anything. However, this effect can be great when used on non-automatic melee weapons.

9 Power Attack Damage

Secondary Effect: Increases A Weapon's Power Attack Damage By 40%

Unlike the previous entry, this legendary effect is very powerful when applied to an automatic melee weapon. This is because every attack with an automatic melee weapon is considered a Power Attack. Basically, this effect increases the damage output of automatic melee weapons by 40%.

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Players who enjoy melee combat in Fallout 76 should stay away from the following melee weapons that are less than ideal.

Should a player come across a Chainsaw with the Vampire's effect and the Power Attack Damage effect, then it can be used to take down enemy bosses with relative ease. Overall, this effect is very useful for both low-level and high-level players.

8 Rapid

Secondary Effect: Makes A Weapon Fire 25% Faster

The Rapid effect is best used on automatic rifles. Automatic rifles usually have pretty high rates of fire. So, by boosting their fire rate even more, the player can inflict much more damage on their enemies. The only downside of this weapon effect is that it can be negatively affected by frame rates. If a particular server is slow, then it can sometimes impact how fast a weapon can fire.

That said, this is still a must-have perk on certain weapons. In fact, with good first Primary and Third Star effects on the right weapon, the Rapid effect is seen as one of the best secondary legendary effects in all of Fallout 76.

7 VATS Reduction

3-Star Legendary Effect: Reduces VATS Cost By 25%

Like with all legendary effects in Fallout 76, when the VATS Reduction effect is applied to the right weapon, it can be an incredibly overpowered effect. There are some high-damage weapons that have a high VATS cost. Weapons like the Railway Rifle cost quite a lot of VAT points to use. This can make them less effective due to the amount of recoil per shot, as the player will find themselves shooting up into the sky quite often.

That said, this effect is a must-have for VATS builds, as it means that players can hit an enemy 25% more before running out of AP.

6 Vital

Secondary Effect: Critical Hits Do +50% Damage

When used with the previous entry (25% VATS cost reduction), the Critical Damage effect is seen as one of the best secondary effects in the whole game. Being able to do an extra 50% damage each time the player unleashes a critical hit is a very powerful effect to have.

There are also several buffs in the game that increase critical damage beyond the 50% that this effect offers. All of these buffs stack with this effect, meaning that the player can do astronomical amounts of damage each time they do a critical hit.

5 Vampire's

Primary Legendary Effect: Heal While Hurting Enemies

If recovering health while hurting one's enemies sounds like a desirable trait in a gun, be sure to seek out the Vampire's legendary effect on any melee or ranged weapon. The health regeneration gained is minimal yet frequent, and it stacks while hitting multiple foes at the same time.

This means that guns that do damage in an area, due to explosive qualities or otherwise, can drain health from multiple targets at once to restore more health than is taken from incoming attacks, making it one of the most overpowered legendary effects in the game. This effect is particularly good on weapons like the Handmade, The Fixer, and the Enclave Plasma rifle due to their ability to fire bullets quickly.

4 Explosive

Secondary Legendary Effect: Bullets Explode For Area Damage

This is one of the most highly sought-after secondary legendary effects in the game. That's because the Explosive effect is great for earning extra XP. The Explosive effect causes area damage. This means that it will cause a small amount of damage to enemies who are close to where the player shoots. Events like Radiation Rumble have lots of enemies. By being able to tag every enemy, the player will receive lots more XP. The player doesn't need to kill an enemy to earn XP, they just need to inflict some damage.

The perk itself is also very powerful when used on an automatic weapon, as it can cause lots of additional damage. If this perk has the Bloodied prefix, then it can become unstoppable.

3 Anti-Armor

Primary Effect: Ignores 50% Of A Target's Armor

Some enemies are pretty well-armored in Fallout 76. Beings like Super Mutants tend to be quite tough to kill, especially for lower-level players. Being able to ignore 50% of a target's armor means that players can inflict much more damage than they would usually be able to do.

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Like with many effects on this list, the Anti-Armor effect is best used on automatic weapons. Like with most video games, being able to cause damage as fast as possible is the best way to take down enemies. The Anti-Armor effect is useful for both low-level and high-level players.

2 Bloodied

Primary Effect: The Lower The Player's Health, The Higher Their Damage Output

To the untrained eye, this may not seem like a good effect. However, it is actually one of the best effects in all of Fallout 76. Newer players will have noticed that many high-level players go around with low health. Having low health (a Bloodied build) is a great way to earn more XP while inflicting more damage on enemies.

This effect scales with the player's health bar. If the player's health is below 20%, then the player will do a whopping 95% more damage. While this may not be the best perk to have on low-level characters, after the player hits the weapon level cap of 50, Bloodied weapons can be very effective. This effect works great on guns, rocket launchers, and melee weapons, making it very versatile.

1 Quad

Primary Legendary Effect: 300% More Ammo Capacity

When on the right weapon, the Quad effect is the best legendary effect in all of Fallout 76. This effect works on guns, bows, and any other weapon that requires ammo. As the name suggests, the Quad effect means that a weapon can fire 300% as many bullets before it needs to be reloaded.

This effect is particularly useful on the Railway Rifle. The Railway Rifle is one of the most powerful weapons in the game, but it has a very low ammo capacity. The Quad effect on the Railway Rifle really makes this weapon shine. It is also great for weapons like The Fixer and the Handmade. Being able to shoot for longer before having to reload is a great effect to have in Fallout 76.