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While capable of dealing a massive amount of ballistic damage in a short period of time, the Minigun needs a moment to "spin up" before it can be fired.Fallout 4 loading screens

The minigun is a weapon in Fallout 4.

Characteristics[]

The minigun is a motorized Gatling-style rapid fire weapon commonly employed by the military, or other lesser factions that managed to acquire such a weapon. Miniguns can be found as mounted door guns on Vertibirds or as a handheld heavy assault and support weapon. It uses 5mm rounds as ammo.

It requires a moment to spin up before it actually starts firing, but makes up for the delay with a high rate of fire and large ammunition capacity. As can be expected from a motorized rotary gun, it expends ammunition at a high rate, even more so when equipped with accelerated barrels.

The minigun fires large volumes of low-damage shots with a high spread, rendering it difficult to take down enemies with larger defensive stats, even with investment in the Heavy Gunner perk. When fired continuously, the minigun's barrel cluster glows ever hotter, eventually reaching a bright yellow color.

A minigun can easily be obtained at low levels by completing the quest When Freedom Calls, as the Sole Survivor is given one to defend the Museum of Freedom from raiders and a deathclaw.

Weapon modifications[]

Barrel
ModDescriptionWeapon prefixDamage per shot changeFire rate changeRange changeAccuracy changeMagazine capacity (shots per reload) changeWeight changeWeapon value change in capsEffect(s)Perk(s) requiredComponentsForm ID
Standard barrelStandard.+1.5% iron sights transition
+40% AP cost
-50% hipfire accuracy
Adhesive x4
Gears x9
Oil x6
Screw x8
Spring x8
Steel x12
0013630E
Accelerated barrelImproved damage and rate of fire. Inferior range and accuracy.High speed+1+41-36-9-4.5+45+25% AP cost
-80% hipfire accuracy
Gun Nut 3Adhesive x8
Gears x16
Oil x8
Screw x10
Spring x10
Steel x13
0013630F
Tri barrelInferior rate of fire. Better damage, range, accuracy, and recoil.High powered+3-95+48+7+2.7+75+3% iron sights transition
+50% AP cost
-20% hipfire accuracy
-15% recoil
Gun Nut 4Adhesive x10
Aluminum x18
Gears x18
Oil x12
Screw x12
Spring x14
0013630D
Sights
ModDescriptionWeapon prefixDamage per shot changeFire rate changeRange changeAccuracy changeMagazine capacity (shots per reload) changeWeight changeWeapon value change in capsEffect(s)Perk(s) requiredComponentsForm ID
Standard sightsStandard.Steel x2001A8A8A
Gunner sightBetter focus and sighted accuracy.Tactical+12+1.3+68-10% iron sights transition
-15% AP cost
1.5x zoom
+15% hipfire accuracy
Adhesive x6
Glass x4
Steel x6
00136310
Muzzle
ModDescriptionWeapon prefixDamage per shot changeFire rate changeRange changeAccuracy changeMagazine capacity (shots per reload) changeWeight changeWeapon value change in capsEffect(s)Perk(s) requiredComponentsForm ID
No muzzle
ShredderSuperior bash. Inferior range.Bayoneted shredding-18+4.5+60+100% bash damageGun Nut 2Adhesive x4
Screw x5
Steel x7
00136311

Variants[]

Locations[]

Notes[]

  • This is the first animated belt-fed weapon in the series. The ammunition is housed in a magazine below the gun itself.
  • Characters wearing power armor hold the minigun in a relaxed stance with the muzzle pointing left and down while they are standing around or moving, provided they haven't aimed at anything for some seconds. This sort of idle animation is missing for everyone clad in any type of regular armor though - they always hold the weapon pointed forward instead, even while sprinting.
  • The barrel spins clockwise while in first-person and counter-clockwise while in third-person when using power armor.
  • Without any ammunition and the shredder modification, the minigun can be used as an automatic attack melee weapon using the normal firing button instead of the bash button. This attack, like bashing, will drain AP. There is no drain, however, if this is used while wearing power armor.
  • The DPS of this weapon with each of its barrel mods (standard, accelerated, and tri) are 217.6, 281.7, and 194.7, respectively.

Behind the scenes[]

With Fallout 4, Bethesda designers moved away from the concept of using the "backpack ammo" design for heavy weapons, such as the minigun and flamer. Although a backpack of ammunition would be more realistic, considering the amount of ammunition that would be lugged around for heavy weapons, they found that the backpacks limited them in their costume and armor design.[1]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. The Art of Fallout 4, p. 236: "FLAMER
    We went away from using backpacks for our heavy guns, such as the flamer and the minigun. Although they're realistic given the amount of ammo you'd lug around, the backpacks really limited us in our costume and armor design."
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