The LAER ("Laser Assisted Electrical Rifle") is a weapon in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Old World Blues.
Characteristics[]
An all-around effective energy-based rifle. As opposed to a weapon like the laser rifle, it includes several drawbacks however, such as its low critical hit damage, low durability and the relative uniqueness of the weapon; there are only a few of them found in the entire game, so repairing it will require using certain vendors, taking the Jury Rigging perk or carrying weapon repair kits, especially if using over or max charged ammunition. It also has a very high spread for an energy rifle, limiting its usefulness at longer ranges.
Durability[]
The LAER can fire a total of about 370 times using standard cells, the equivalent of 19 reloads, or 14 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 | 370 | 19 | 370 | 14 |
| Bulk | 437 | 22 | 437 | 17 |
| Optimized | 336 | 17 | 336 | 13 |
| Over charge | 245 | 13 | 245 | 10 |
| Max charge | 145 | 8 | 145 | 6 |
Modifications[]
- LAER mod - auxiliary recharger chip - recycles one round per four shots.
- LAER mod - prismatic lens - splits the beam into three beams increasing total damage by 30% similar to the Laser rifle beam splitter.
Variants[]
- Elijah's advanced LAER - a semi-unique variant found in a few places around Big MT.
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[]
There are at least seven instances of the weapon that can be found in Big MT:
- One can be found in the Big MT north tunnel, toward the northernmost side of the lower level below the force field.
- Another one can be found at the X-8 research center on Gabe's corpse.
- One can be found at X-7a "Left Field" artillery launch on the remains of the unique sentry bot, RY-589 Ultimo bot.
- Three can be found in the X-42 robo-warfare facility:
- One on the remains of the giant robo-scorpion.
- In the same room, in a chamber connected to the exit platform. It is on a table in the middle of the room, and it is in good condition. This one requires a force field to be disabled in order to gain access to it.
- Another one is in the Forbidden Zone's dome section, in the second floor room, just left of the brain tank.
- One can be found on top of the X-13 research facility. In order to reach it, the player character must jump down from the cliff to the north. The cliff can be climbed by jumping up a pile of rocks just to the west of the Big MT west tunnel.
Notes[]
The weapon's design resembles a mashup of elements from many existing energy weapons: the barrel is similar to the pulse gun, the microfusion cell is held in a basket on the bottom like a plasma rifle, the stock is similar to a laser rifle, and it displays vacuum tubes similar to a recharger rifle. It also offers very high damage on par with the plasma caster.
Behind the scenes[]
- The weapon uses the same concept of weaponized electric beams that was also developed in the Corporate Vault.
- It was initially a cut weapon that was removed from the base game, appearing in the concept art section of the Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's edition complete with its own icon in the game file, before being included in Old World Blues.
- The weapon name implies a function like modern attempts at making electrolasers which use lasers to create a conductive plasma conduit in the air and then discharge an electrical differential across the conduit. While practical devices do not yet exist, the concept has been proven and the effect on the target is dependent upon the amount of energy delivered. At lower powers the effect would be much like a stun gun and higher energies being close to replicating a bolt of lightning.
Gallery[]
In a room in the Forbidden Zone's dome`
LAER on the roof of the X-13 research facility
3D model summary
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