There are lots of weapons in Fallout 76. From enormous weapons like the Fatman and the Minigun to small weapons like hunting knives and pipe pistols, there are all sorts of weapon types for players to use and enjoy. One of those weapons is the Railway Rifle.
This powerful weapon often gets overlooked by new players due to its terrible recoil. However, there are lots of reasons why players shouldn't skip out on using the Railway Rifle. It's very powerful, and can be used efficiently alongside multiple different build types. With the right effects, the Railway Rifle is actually one of the most powerful weapons in Fallout 76. Here are a few reasons why.
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6 An Easy Weapon To Get
Get it Early on
For the most part, Fallout 76 players will learn how to craft weapons by reading plans. While some plans can only be obtained through quests and as event rewards, the Railway Rifle plan can be purchased from a vendor bot.
Fallout 76: How To Get The Railway Rifle
The Railway Rifle is one of the best guns in Fallout 76 thanks to its high damage and supreme ammo efficiency. Here's how to get one.
The robot vendor in Berkeley Springs Station sells the plan for roughly 1800 Caps. While players can receive the plan as a reward for completing events or purchase it from a player vendor, buying the plan from the Berkeley Springs Station robot is the fastest way to learn how to craft it.
5 Ammo is Easy To Obtain
A Daily Ops Ammo Factory
Daily Ops is a fantastic way of quickly acquiring large quantities of ammo, and this is especially true for the Railway Rifle. For some reason, players get much more ammo for the Railway Rifle than with any other weapon during Daily Ops. And because the Railway Rifle has a high damage output, players typically don't need to use too many spikes to take down enemies.
It is also possible to craft Railway Rifle ammo. While it's not the cheapest ammo to craft, with the right perks, players can craft large quantities of spikes with relatively few materials. In fact, crafting spikes only requires steel, which is is one of the most common components in Fallout 76.
4 Good Up Close And From A Distance
A Versatile Weapon
While the Railway Rifle doesn't have the highest range, it's pretty good for a hard-hitting, fast-firing rifle. It's important to note that being too close or too far away from the enemy will hinder this weapon. So, it's best to keep a short distance away from enemies to maximize its usefulness.
Using the perks Concentrated Fire and Gun Fu will dramatically increase the Railway Rifle's effectiveness. Concentrated Fire allows the player to select specific body parts in VATS. Meanwhile, Gun Fu will automatically switch to the next enemy in VATS after each kill.
3 Fast Firing
Take Down Enemies Quickly
While this weapon can be used as a single-shot rifle, it should almost always be used as an automatic weapon. Being able to fire spikes in rapid succession is a great way to take down enemies fast.
The only other requirement for getting the most out of the Railway Rifle as an automatic weapon is to get one with the quad prefix. The standard ammo capacity for the Railway Rifle is only 10 spikes, which is very low for an automatic weapon. However, with the quad effect, the ammo capacity increases to 40. Even if it's just a 1-star Railway Rifle, it's important to aim for one with the quad effect.
2 High Damage Per Shot
Kill Bosses With Ease
It's possible to cause more than 200 points of damage per shot with the Railway Rifle, not including damage caused by critical hits. With the right build, it's possible for players to perform critical hits that cause more than quadruple the damage when compared to a regular shot.
By using the weapon as an automatic rifle, it's possible to cause literally hundreds of points of damage per second. The Railway Rifle, with the right perks, can be a true boss killer. If the player is fortunate enough to have a quad railway rifle with either the explosive or +50% critical damage effects, then they can take down pretty much every enemy that Fallout 76 has to offer.
1 A Must-Have For VATS Fans
Low VATS Cost
Every weapon has its downside. For the Railway Rifle, as has been mentioned before, it's the high recoil. While the recoil is indeed awful, using the weapon in VATS dramatically reduces its recoil per shot. Not only that, but the weapon is very accurate in VATS, especially with the right perk cards.
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Without any mods or perks, the automatic Railway Rifle has a cost of 10 AP per shot in VATS, which is lower than other popular automatic weapons like the Handmade and The Fixer. Players can lower the VATS cost even further with the -25% Action Point Cost legendary effect and the Reflex Sight. It's possible to get the cost down to 2 AP per shot. Using perks like Better Criticals and Adrenaline can also help boost this weapon to its full potential. While it may not be ideal for those who don't enjoy VATS, the Railway Rifle is among the best weapons in all of Fallout 76.
