“We were sending robots to stop him and he was slicing and cutting through their shells with some suped-up laser gun like they were cheese... paper.”— Doctor 0
Elijah's advanced LAER is a semi-unique weapon in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Old World Blues.
Background[]
After the Mojave Brotherhood of Steel was defeated by the NCR at HELIOS One, the chapter's former elder Elijah went rogue and began searching for a means to strike back at the NCR. His search brought him to the Big Empty, and while there, he recovered a pair of LAERs which he then modified. Through a series of upsets, however, they were abandoned while Elijah escaped the crater to find the Sierra Madre after Ulysses told him about it, where they remained until the arrival of the Courier in 2281.
Characteristics[]
The advanced LAER is identical to the standard model in appearance, but differs in ammunition capacity by having five fewer shots per magazine and a slightly increased rate of fire. This gives it a higher damage-per-second (DPS), but also makes it much less durable. Given the original variant's fragility, its condition is a major concern, especially when using over-charged, optimized, or max charge ammunition.
Unlike most other unique weapons, both weapon mods applicable to the standard LAER can also be applied to this weapon.
Durability[]
Elijah's advanced LAER can fire a total of about 245 times using standard cells, the equivalent of 17 reloads (or 13 reloads when modified with the auxiliary recharger chip), from full condition before breaking.
| Ammunition type | Unmodified | W/ Auxiliary recharger chip | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shots | Reloads | Shots | Reloads | |
| Standard | 245 | 17 | 245 | 13 |
| Bulk | 290 | 20 | 290 | 15 |
| Optimized | 223 | 15 | 223 | 12 |
| Over charge | 162 | 11 | 162 | 9 |
| Max charge | 95 | 7 | 95 | 5 |
Modifications[]
- LAER mod - auxiliary recharger chip - Recycles one round per four shots.
- LAER mod - prismatic lens - Increases damage by 30% per shot. Unlike applying this to the regular LAER, this variant retains its single beam, increasing its usefulness against targets with high Damage Threshold.
Variants[]
Comparison[]
| Legend | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | - Weapon name (melee or unarmed) |  | - Attacks in V.A.T.S. | |
 | - Weapon name (gun, energy or explosive) |  | - Action point cost | |
 | - Damage per attack (damage per projectile) |  | - Damage per action point | |
 | - Damage per second |  | - Weapon spread | |
 | - Area of effect damage |  | - Magazine capacity (shots per reload) | |
 | - Effect damage & duration |  | - Durability (number of attacks before breaking) | |
 | - Bonus effects |  | - Weight | |
 | - Attacks per second |  | - Value in caps | |
 | - Critical chance % multiplier |  | - Value to weight ratio | |
 | - Critical damage |  | - Skill required | |
 | - Critical effect damage & duration |  | - Strength required | |
 | - With all mods attached | |||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LAER | 65 | 162.5 | 2.5 | x1.5 | 15 | 32 | 2 | 0.08 | 20 | 370 | 4 | 8000 | 2000 | 75 | 4 |
| LAER | 84.5 (28.2x3) | 211.3 | 2.5 | x1.5 | 15 | 32 | 2.6 | 0.08 | 20(26.7) | 370 | 4 | 13500 | 3375 | 75 | 4 |
| Elijah's advanced LAER | 65 | 178.8 | 2.75 | x1.5 | 15 | 32 | 2 | 0.08 | 15 | 245 | 4 | 8500 | 2125 | 75 | 4 |
| Elijah's advanced LAER | 84.5 | 232.4 | 2.75 | x1.5 | 15 | 32 | 2.6 | 0.08 | 15(20) | 245 | 4 | 14000 | 3500 | 75 | 4 |
Locations[]
- The first instance of the weapon is found on the roof of the Signal Hills transmitter, next to four ammunition boxes and the "prismatic lens" upgrade holotape. Once taken, three lobotomites will spawn to the north.
- The second instance is located on the porch of the watchtower outside the southeast corner of the fence around Little Yangtze.
Notes[]
- The weapon's condition only has 50 HP, so it degrades incredibly fast. Using bulk ammunition can prolong this weapon's life, at the cost of reduced damage.
- Raul Tejada's companion perk(s) Regular Maintenance or Full Maintenance will largely negate the weapon's bad durability, making the weapon viable for longer terms of use.
- This weapon can prove to be effective if companions use it, as the weapon will never decay (unless if the weapon is damaged and/or disarmed by any enemy). Arcade Gannon and Veronica Santangelo will use the weapon effectively, as they both have the Energy Weapons skill tagged.
- This weapon is one of the rarest semi-unique weapons in the game, with only two being obtainable.
- With the Built to Destroy trait and max charge ammunition, this weapon can go from perfect to poor condition in an unprecedented 84 shots.
- Fully upgraded, this weapon makes use of special microfusion cells more effective, as it refunds 25% of the cells used, and its high per-hit damage makes better use of optimal charge microfusion cells than any other energy weapon.
Behind the scenes[]
Elijah's advanced LAER uses the same electric beam weapons technology also developed in the Corporate Vault in Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel.[clarification needed]
Gallery[]
Elijah's advanced LAER on the Signal Hills transmitter's roof
Elijah's LAER leaning against Little Yangtze's watchtower
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
