Combat rifle?

[Jedithenoooblet]

I'm level 20 with a combat rifle with an automatic receiver + Scope. Should I replace it with anything else? It works really well for me but I wanna know if there are any possible replacements I should look for.

[The Inept European]

Survival difficulty or Tourist class ;-) ?

You want alternative weapons that are gettable around L20? Or you want different ways to mod your Combat Rifle?

[The Inept European]

What are your weapon perks and gun nut perk level? VATS user or free fire? That will be the most relevant to the answer.

You could try an Assault Rifle though it will be harder to find ammo and I believe slightly harder to mod it. Assault Rifle will give you some more firepower but heavier weight. You could play around with it, try switching which is the auto and which is the semi, and see what works for you.

But an auto combat rifle with a scope is not a bad option, I often carry one myself at that level in Survival.

A good mod option is to get another semi combat rifle and mod it light, to get the highest number of VATS attacks, if you are a VATS person. You will always get a crummy number of attacks with an auto in VATS.

I would personally not bother with lasers though they are available at this level. Gauss is hard to find and supply with ammo at this level but if you can get one it's a great Boss Killer.

[Grendalcat]

If you like the combat rifle, pay a visit to Vault 81 and buy the Overseer's Guardian.

[ghpstage]

The combat rifle is one of the games better base weapons, with good stats, good mod parts and using a very common ammo type. It will rank well in any role if built for it, and is well placed for making all-round type guns.

Its a good idea to play around with the available mods. Combat rifles built with short stocks, light barrels (I prefer long), a medium QE mag and reflex sights will do very well in VATS, automatic or not.

[Chaosium]

You'll hardly find anything better than the combat rifle, possibly the assault rifle around level 30 which may be better as an automatic, but at your level, this gem will carry you for a long while

[Jedithenoooblet]

Thank you all for the feedback! I'll take all of it into consideration and decide what I'll do next.

[SP1]

Combat rifle is basically a tier 2 weapon after the Pipe rifle, .45 rounds can be found after you're level ~10 I think, more as you level up.

I recommend getting a Laser weapon asap since most raiders you found on the Commonwealth have pathetic energy defense. On survival, damage is crucial since you want your enemy dead before you do

[Tyrant]

If you have the DLC far harbor id say get a radium rifle from there, it uses .45 ammo too.

If you have the NW DLC you will find there is a great weapon to be had from them,
however ammo for that thing is impossible to come by outside of NW.

[Blax]

download mods or look for a a better weapon

[The Inept European]

Originally posted by Tyrant:

If you have the DLC far harbor id say get a radium rifle from there, it uses .45 ammo too.

Funnily enough the radium rifle, which is basically a combat rifle that does extra rad damage, is most effective off the Island. On the Island everything has insane rad resistance. Back on the mainland there are lots of squishy humans who die very easily from this weapon, particularly on auto.

And it magically changes cheap common .45 lead bullets into enriched uranium slugs for free! XD

[The Inept European]

Originally posted by SP1:

Combat rifle is basically a tier 2 weapon after the Pipe rifle, .45 rounds can be found after you're level ~10 I think, more as you level up.

I recommend getting a Laser weapon asap since most raiders you found on the Commonwealth have pathetic energy defense. On survival, damage is crucial since you want your enemy dead before you do

This is a good argument for lasers, agreed. The problem with lasers is that they don't mod well and don't max out properly due to various bugs. But as base weapons with basic mods they are quite competitive, especially in the sweet spot when you start finding enough fusion cells to make auto viable but before the opposition toughens up. Definitely ideal for clearing raiders. The raiders wish they hadn't traded up their leather armour for metal.