Are laser weapons bad?

[[CULT] Siren]

I dont see very many people using them at all
i would like to use laser weapons but if there bad i dont think i really want to lol

[AbsynthMinded]

overall, they are not 'optimal'. Short of the Full Auto Heavy Energy weapons, the DPS falls short.

[Serath]

I swear my automatic laser rifle ROF has been buffed at some point through updates and it is a mosnter.

Case in point, anything is better if you spec into it.

[PotatoBasket]

Auto laser pistol is a lot of fun. Certain legendary effects make the standard laser gun great as pistol or rifle - I've really only seen good auto example, though. Enclave plasma is top tier for energy rifles, while plasma generally outdoes laser by a tiny margine; may not be so in all instances. The Plasma Caster is the real pseudo-meta's though, great damage, great ammo conservation.

The real advantage of plasma is that it leaves Nuclear Material as a drop on melted enemies, while laser does not have that advantage... kinda more burn for no real advantage, thus the popularity difference.

[cougarshamn]

Laser rifles are a lower tier weapon, plasma rifles are an upgrade to them, and enclave plasma rifles are better. They recently made the Science perks add to energy weapon damage, which improved them all. I have an energy based commando build that works well enough, but isn't the greatest.
If you're chasing the Meta, a laser rifle ain't it. With the right mods, and enclave plasma can be though, but getting the right one can be a chore

[Phantom]

Energy weapons are generally niche

Aside from

Plasma Caster = its a one hit beast heavy energy weapon

Holy Fire = if you consider that energy

Cremator = if you consider that energy

Energy Peppershaker + 6 strangler PA parts for PvP is a niche weapon... sucks for pve

Tesla Rifle = mostly as a quad faster fire (weapon speed) variant to tag mobs in a couple events

Gauss shotgun = if you consider that energy and its mid tier

[AbsynthMinded]

Gauss Mini-gun is the Bees Knees in my opinion. Tho, results may vary. In theory it is supposed to fall under both Heavy Weapon and Science Perks. As well, Explosive/Grenader.

The Weapon is listed as Heavy, the Ammo is classified as Energy, that Ammo is applied as explosive.

[lucg]

Long time user, here ... !!! The only problem I see with them is you run short of AP very quickly. So, when in VATS, you must find a way to refill that AP bar to be efficient ... .

lol ... , once you discover "The Fixer", it's hard to play them again ... !!!