Plasma pistol (GRA) vs. Plasma defender (GRA)

[MrGrumpsman]

Which of these two guns do you think is better and why? This discussion assumes that you are using the GRA weapons with all modifications on them with the only exception being the scope for the defender.

[Bread]

Even though I don't have the GRA DLC, I can still easily compare the two Plasma weapons thanks to the wiki.

The Plasma Pistol deals slightly less damage than the Defender, and suffers from a lower firing rate.Of course, this is without any modifications to either of them.

With most of the mods attached, the Pistol deals more damage per shot, but it still has a lower DPS due to its slow firing rate.On the Plasma Pistol, the recycler is somewhat useful, but I shouldn't rely on a modifcation to conserve ammo.The Defender would still be superior in long-range engagements thanks to it's high ammunition capacity and a decreased spread that was already lower than that of the Pistol.

My choice is the Defender, by far.

[Bansheebutt]

By design, weaponsr in New Vegas tend to progress linearly, so I agree the Defender is better than the Pistol.

However, there is redundancy to consider. The Pistol will be just fine for most of the enemies you encounter, making the defender overkill. Lonesome Road and the final boss are just about the only things I think would make you feel like you need top-tier equipment.

[Vassago Rain]

The plasma defender is one of the best weapons in the game, and has incredibly low requirements and ammo consumption for what it is. With the right perks and stats, you can fire extremely fast, and the only limit to your destruction is the weapon's durability.

[the big m]

I'd prefer the Defender.

But honestly, if you're buying these energy weapons from the Silver Rush just steal their Plasma Caster.

[Vassago Rain]

Originally posted by lukernuker:

I'd prefer the Defender.

But honestly, if you're buying these energy weapons from the Silver Rush just steal their Plasma Caster.

The plasma caster has huge requirements and eats ammo. The plasma defender is a better general purpose weapon, and doesn't need ultra high strength to wield.

[Papa Shekels]

I would say it depends situationally. For early on the plasma pistol is a better choice simply because it's "good enough", much cheaper, and the recycler helps with ammo if you main only energy weapons. However, if you have cash to burn and just want the best there is, plasma defender is the way to go.

[Vassago Rain]

Originally posted by Papa Shekels | Kickback.com:

I would say it depends situationally. For early on the plasma pistol is a better choice simply because it's "good enough", much cheaper, and the recycler helps with ammo if you main only energy weapons. However, if you have cash to burn and just want the best there is, plasma defender is the way to go.

You get superior damage per cell, DPS, and overall damage by feeding your cells through the plasma defender.

Remember that 90% of all the bright brotherhood guys scattered all over the place have a pretty big chance to have one on them, even at fairly low levels.

[MrGrumpsman]

This is generally what I thought of the two also especially considering how much more the defender is worth compared to the pistol.

[Papa Shekels]

Originally posted by Vassago Rain:

Remember that 90% of all the bright brotherhood guys scattered all over the place have a pretty big chance to have one on them, even at fairly low levels.

The biggest problem with that is that they have the default variants, not the GRA ones, unless you have TTW or another mod that makes every version the GRA one. If you're trying to compare the fully modded ones at their max performance, the ones you'd find lying around are just a good way of getting enough money to buy one.

[Dustin81]

The Defender and Caster were the plasma pistol and rifle respectively in the early Fallout games. Though the plasma rifle in Tactics was a lighter version of the Caster in a more rifle form.