Ratslayer is a unique weapon in Fallout: New Vegas.
Characteristics[]
Ratslayer expanded
Compared to the standard varmint rifle, Ratslayer is lighter, boasts a higher damage-per-second, a much higher critical multiplier, and comes pre-installed with all the possible varmint rifle modifications: extended magazine, silencer, and night scope with superior magnification (3.5x compared to the 2.86x on a standard varmint rifle scope).
In terms of appearance, the weapon has a black synthetic stock instead of the standard rifle's wood, parts that appear to be made from stainless steel, and has 69 tally marks on the stock next to an image of a mole rat's skull.
Durability[]
Ratslayer can fire a total of about 995 standard rounds, the equivalent of 125 reloads, from full condition before breaking.
| Ammunition type | Durability | |
|---|---|---|
| Shots | Reloads | |
| Standard, HP, AP & match | 995 | 125 |
| Surplus | 329 | 42 |
| .223 caliber round | 1245 | 156 |
Variants[]
- Varmint rifle - The standard variant found throughout the Mojave Wasteland.
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 | |||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Varmint rifle | 18 | 21.9 | 1.22 | x1 | 18 | 35 | 0.5 | 0.024 | 5 | 595 | 5.5 | 75 | 13.6 | 0 | 3 |
| Varmint rifle | 18 | 21.9 | 1.22 | x1 | 18 | 35 | 0.5 | 0.024 | 8 | 595 | 5.5 | 375 | 68.2 | 0 | 3 |
| Ratslayer | 23 | 30 | 1.3 | x5 | 23 | 33 | 0.7 | 0.0225 | 8 | 995 | 4.5 | 2000 | 444.4 | 0 | 3 |
Location[]
The weapon can be found in the Broc flower cave, leaning against a desk in the makeshift laboratory on the upper level. Reaching the lab can be difficult as there are lots of giant rats near the room and around the cave system. With the Wild Wasteland trait, the rats become "rodents of unusual size" that are stronger and more durable.
Notes[]
- Ratslayer has a very high critical multiplier of x5, making it the gun with the third highest multiplier (after alien blaster and Euclid's C-Finder). This fact alone makes the Ratslayer a very powerful gun; a shooter with a critical chance of 20 or higher would score a critical strike on every hit. This can be achieved very early by having Finesse, 10 Luck, and the 1st Recon beret.
- Ratslayer also has the smallest spread of any 5.56mm chambered rifle, making it a valuable choice for sniping targets at great distance.
- 5.56 ammunition and standard varmint rifles to repair Ratslayer with are easily found during early-game, though obtaining the weapon itself can be difficult for a low-level character due to the increased power of the giant rats, even more so with the Wild Wasteland trait that turns them into "rodents of unusual size".
Bugs[]
When looking down the scope and entering VATS, the screen will have the night vision filter. [verification overdue]- When looking through the scope, the screen might appear green and pink, making it impossible to use the scope. This may happen on any scoped weapon (including binoculars). To fix this, save the game, shut down the PS3, then restart the game and the problem should be fixed. [verified]
- When using the "player sight" final/first kill cam, the scope will momentarily turn clear, no matter what time of day it is. [verified]
- The on hit effect for this weapon is defined as "Dismember only" (the weapon will only calculate the chance to sever limbs), as opposed to the varmint rifle, which uses "No Dismember/Explode" on hit effect (all limbs hit by the weapon will remain intact). There is a bug associated with the "dismember only" effect, which will immediately alarm all enemies in the vicinity of the killed enemy. This is not triggered by the sound level of Ratslayer, which is the same as the standard varmint rifle's sound level, but by the on hit effect itself. Because of this bug, this weapon is mostly useless for sneak attacks, as only one sneak attack is possible before enemies become alarmed. [verified]
- This is a bug that only happens while being in third-person, in motion, wearing the NCR Ranger patrol armor, and holstering Ratslayer: the weapon clips inside the body and only shows the barrel of the gun protruding through the left shoulder. This can be fixed by drawing the weapon, stopping motion, and holstering it again. [verified]
Sounds[]
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