Whilst I've seen some seemingly huge critical damage from them, making them good for firing from stealth, I've also seen that in a stand-up fight they seem to be somewhat ineffective, and I'm forced to use various automatic weapons, plink with the Hunting Rifle from range, or use the high-power/accuracy SGs to simply end a situation. Like Unferth, I have 40 more points in EW than SG, but for most purposes I have to use Small Guns, for three reasons:ДЎ) Hard to keep in good repair as they're rarely used by the enemy (unlike most Small Guns).Дў) Ammo rarely found, costs 3-4x as much as ammo for most small guns (and the three with more expensive ammo tend to kill in a single or very small number of shots, which isn't the case with laser weapons).ДЈ) Don't do enough damage. However, the power of the weapons has steadily declined, relatively to the effectiveness of Small Guns. I started over and went Energy Weapons, and initially, the Laser Pistol seemed tremendous, killing a lot of people in a very small number of shots, particularly when fired from stealth (which is an auto-crit, if they've not detected you at all). They become more plentiful so you don't eat a arm and a leg in repair costs.

At max Energy Weapons your Laser Rifle hits like a Combat Shotgun that has twice the ammo capacity, faster fire rate, better accuracy and less AP usage. Don't seem so effective against enemies like Giant Radscorpions or Deathclaws, but I think that's their sheer level of health.Д®: They just get better as you go on. Especially noticable with the Laser Rifle which with I can currently get 5 shots off before running out of AP.Д: I'm not entirely sure if it's true, but I find energy weapons tend to eat through enemies with high armor-based DR(like power armor wearers and Super Mutants).

Plasma weapons are the shit.Д¬: Laser weapons and Plasma weapons cost very little AP in VATS for their effectiveness compared to many Small Guns and Big Guns. Plasma weapons don't appear(Except for a unique plasma rifle reward for doing the Replicated Man a certain way) until about half way through the main storyline.

They aren't cheap, but you generally don't eat through Energy Weapon ammo like you do with most Small Guns and Big Guns ammo.Д«: Push the main storyline forward. Just buy cells as need be in Rivet City where the weapon store usually has several hundred in stock of both types. Re: When do energy weapons become good?ДЄs someone deep in playing a Energy Weapons user the advantages seem to be:ДЄ: The ammo is actually fairly plentiful.

Sniper rifle fallout 3