You could just cheat and use Fallout 4's console commands to enjoy an unlimited bounty of rare guns, but that's not as fun as finding them legitimately. Well, semi-legitimately, because we're going to tell you exactly where they are with a good old fashioned rare weapons guide. Spoilers, obviously, for the locations of these unique guns. (For the spoiler-free version of this article, look at the ceiling while scrolling.)
On this first page, we go over firearms, with energy weapons on page two, and melee weapons on page three. For each we've included screenshots of their locations—click the little arrows in the upper right-hand corner of the images to enlarge them. There are a few more we haven't covered here (these are our favorites), so if you don't find the specific one you're looking for, you might check the Wikia page.
Location
Big Boy
A modified Fat Man nuke launcher. If you can afford it, Big Boy packs the biggest punch of any gun in the game.
Special Power: Shoots two mini nukes per shot while expending only one piece of ammo.
Where to find it: The Big Boy is refreshingly easy to find. Head to Arturo s stall in Diamond City. Be ready to pay out the nose for it.
Look out for: Credit card debt.
Location
Justice
This powerful combat shotgun has a real chip on its shoulder: with a name like Justice, you know it s got something to prove.
Special Power: Chance to stagger targets on contact.
Where to find it: Head to Covenant, a perfect little town with perfect people where everyone smiles a little too wide. After you convince the door guard to let you in, look for Penny in the general goods shop. She ll hook you up.
Look out for: Stepford Wives.
Le Fusil Terribles
Location
This monstrous shotgun is so powerful, the world s leaders held a summit and agreed that it should be locked away in a secure location forever. Nah, just kidding. Some raider leaves it on a box.
Special Power: Extra 25% limb damage, huge recoil.
Where to find it: The coastal raider camp known as Libertalia is a bunch of boats, some more boat-shaped than others, all nailed together to form a city. Fight your way through every pirate raider until you reach the captain s quarters at the top of the sunken container ship. Walk in, and The Terrible Shotgun will be sitting on a box nearby.
Look out for: Don t wear power armor on the platforms. You will almost certainly end up in the water at some point, and you don t want to sink like a brick.
location
Reba II
A powerful hunting rifle chambered in .50 caliber.
Special Power: 50% extra damage to Mirelurks and bugs.
Where to find it: Once in the town of Salem, you ll find a heavily fortified house belonging to the Rook family. Barney Rook will need your help killing a few Mirelurks. Once you ve gained his trust, he ll let you inside the house. Inside, you ll find Barney and his favorite rifle, Reba. In a back room, you ll find Reba II. You ll have to kill Barney or pickpocket him for the key, then steal Reba II.
Look out for: Feeling a bit guilty about poor Barney.
location
Partystarter
The Partystarter is a gross misnomer.
Special Power: 50% extra damage to all humans.
Where to find it: The charming settlement of Goodneighbor is in the dense urban sprawl to the southeast of Diamond City. Walk right in, try not to get on the wrong side of the take-no-bullshit local mayor, and talk to KL-E-0, the saucy robot storekeeper. She ll gladly sell you a missile launcher that kills all humans, for some reason.
Look out for: A thug nearby tries to extort you for protection money. Tell him to piss off.
location
Alien Blaster
The futuristic space pistol can be found in the hands of a wounded UFO pilot. It does exceptional damage, but its ammo is a bit rare.
Special Power: Its sleek good looks.
Where to find it: While adventuring, you will randomly see a streak of fire in the sky and a UFO come crashing into the ground. Track its crater to the woods between Vault 81 and Oberland Station. Splashes of Vulcan-green blood will lead to a small cave. The alien pilot is inside, where you can make first contact by putting a bullet in him.
Look out for: The Prime Directive.
location
Cryolator
It s a flamethrower, but it makes things cold instead of hot.
Special Power: Theoretically, it could be used to cryogenically freeze unwilling subjects from several yards away.
Where to find it: Every Fallout 4 player passes it in the first half-hour. Inside Vault 111, the Vault Overseer office has a secure lockup. Inside, the Cryolator sits inside a sealed case.
Look out for: It s master-level lock, so level up your lockpicking before you make that return trip to the old shivering grounds.
location
Old Faithful
This special laser pistol is great for sneaky characters or anyone who wants to go into a fight punching hard. Because it multiplies damage to uninjured enemies, a sneaking character can make a first strike of up to 4x damage. Old Faithful is fully moddable, so it s possible to turn it into the greatest laser sniper rifle in the Commonwealth.
Special Power: Double damage to enemies at full health.
Where to find it: Rob several banks, then head to Arturo in Diamond City.
Look out for: A sobbing, broken wallet.
location
Prototype UP77 Limitless Potential
This experimental laser rifle has an unlimited clip, so it never has to be reloaded. Equipping it, the ammo count shows whatever your total stock of ammo is. You can keep blasting until you run out.
Special Power: Will make your stock of Fusion Cells disappear.
Where to find it: Inside University Point, pick your way past dozens of Synths to find the Student Union. A door to the side leads to a bank. Cracking it leads to a vault door. Cracking that leads to a room full of safes. Cracking a safe leads to a button. Pressing the button leads to the gun.
Look out for: Most of these locks and terminals are quite easy to bypass, but the safe holding the button is a master-level lock.
location
Survivor's Special
A high-ranking, but no-longer-active, Brotherhood of Steel Paladin keeps this laser pistol close. And you can see why: it s a fully automatic laser scattergun. At close quarters, this thing will fry raiders like a cracked microwave.
Special Power: Does more damage the lower your health is.
Where to find it: After meeting the Brotherhood of Steel recon team in the Cambridge Police building, keep working until you get dispatched on The Lost Patrol. A few dozens missions, several miles, and 20 super mutants later, you ll end up at Recon Bunker Theta. Talk to Paladin Brandis, and he may give you the gun. If he doesn t, kill that old geezer and bounce.
Look out for: Brandis loves to put landmines in doorways. Watch your step.
Head to the next page for melee weapons...
location
2076 World Series Baseball Bat
This bat is a relic of the 2076 World Series. It looks just like every other baseball bat, except for a shiny logo.
Special Power: Has a chance of making an excellent crack noise and flinging your target into orbit.
Where to find it: The small town of Jamaica Plain. Head to the town hall and look for the basement. Once there, you ll need to get past ghouls, robots, and a few dozen traps. Find the museum display celebrating Jamaica Plain s town heritage, then steal that heritage and bash noggins with it.
Look out for: Two Protectrons.
location
Big Jim
This sturdy pipe wrench is a must-have for busy settlement builders. There s no way to manage tricky plumbing repairs without a proper wrench. Oh, and you can smack punks in the knee with it.
Special Power: Every hit has a 20% chance of crippling a target s leg.
Where to find it: Travel to picturesque Walden Pond. Admire its gentle glow, and head to the gift shop. The backroom door in the gift shop leads to an underground tunnel network crawling with raiders.
Look out for: The gift shop is fully stocked with improvised mines. It s the thought that counts.
location
General Chao s Revenge
The Chinese officer s sword is ubiquitous in the Commonwealth, but General Chao s Revenge is a fast-slashing powerhouse. Melee players won t find a better sword anywhere.
Special Power: 50% extra damage to robots.
Where to find it: Stop by the Drumlin Diner for a milkshake, burger, and a drug dealer intervention. Once you help Trudy out, she ll sell you the sword.
Look out for: Pushy drug dealers with pipe revolvers.
Location
Grognak s Axe
Grognak the Barbarian s adventures are enjoyed by radioactive nerds all over the wasteland. No surprise that a bunch of comic book fans would hold onto a full-size sharpened replica of Grognak s signature weapon.
Special Power: Staggers target, target takes bleeding damage.
Where to find it: Hubris Comics in the outskirts of the Diamond City area is a popular spot. Walk right in, wave hello to several dozen ghouls, and head behind the front counter. Opposite the cash registers, a special locked case holds the axe.
Look out for: The skeletal remains of Comic Book Guy. Worst. Tibia. Ever.
location
Kremvh s Tooth
This nasty little molerat-sticker is found on a sacrificial altar deep underground. Dark rumblings sound in the distance. Slowly, Cthulu rises from the depths...and realizes he s 200 years late to end the world. Cthulu knocks off early for a pint.
Special Power: Target takes bleeding damage and poison damage.
Where to find it: The open-pit quarry at Dunwich Borers holds a lot of mysteries, some supernatural weirdness, and an army of raiders. Fight your way through them to a flooded mine shaft. Dive in, swim to the bottom, swim through a side tunnel, and find Kremvh s Tooth on a wooden altar with two mini-nukes.
Look out for: The Sneak bobblehead is on a table in the same tunnel section.
