I'll post a few thoughts here about weaponry in FO3... coz it makes me cry. Really.
What we seen in FO/FO2? GUNS! Lots of em. Diff shape, size and, whats more important, each has its role. Well you could, for sure, go for Bozar and spoil it all completely
, but apart from that it was interesting at least. Big guns were useful, small guns were useful, energy weapons were useful. You could always go for just one of em, but killing robots using Sniper rifle = "good luck mate, u'll need it".
Why it all became crap? Easy - changes to armor and how it works. Its just DR now and nothing more. Your armor does not give a damn if it's feral ghoul or gatling laser. Crap? I think so.
What we have now: you can safely ignore everything xept small guns. Lincoln's repeater + Xuanlong + Terrible shotgun... and you are all set. LR with 100 skill and better Crits = SM Brute down in one Sneak headshot and SM Master down in 3(Very hard). They never noticed me. I really tried to achieve same results with minigun(dont ask), and A3-21 rifle(at least it wasnt better). Terrible SG is great when u have 3+ muties on you(tear em apart) and Xuan is for mid-long range killing of groups of enemies.
It gets better towards the mid-late game? HELL NO! It gets worse. Action boy + maxed agility + Rangers armor + Grim Sprint = Deathclaws dying one by one. My best spree was like... 5? They never had a chance. Mirelurk hunters? One-shotted in the face.
I never bothered to use Fat Man. I never bothered to use Power Armor(really... -2 agi? +5%DR compared to Ranger armor? you must be kiddin).
Last but not least... Robots. Guns don't work well against em(except turrets, they suck). But.... you do NOT need guns! Robotics Expert - and you have em all on a plate. Just keep a Laser Pistol with ya (Protectron's Gaze is my fav) and shoot those Sentry bots in the face from Sneak. 3 shots - he's down.
I must admit i haven't tried melee weapons at all, so i wont say a word about em. But guns really make me cry...
*Hands tomatoes to everyone*
What we seen in FO/FO2? GUNS! Lots of em. Diff shape, size and, whats more important, each has its role. Well you could, for sure, go for Bozar and spoil it all completely

Why it all became crap? Easy - changes to armor and how it works. Its just DR now and nothing more. Your armor does not give a damn if it's feral ghoul or gatling laser. Crap? I think so.
What we have now: you can safely ignore everything xept small guns. Lincoln's repeater + Xuanlong + Terrible shotgun... and you are all set. LR with 100 skill and better Crits = SM Brute down in one Sneak headshot and SM Master down in 3(Very hard). They never noticed me. I really tried to achieve same results with minigun(dont ask), and A3-21 rifle(at least it wasnt better). Terrible SG is great when u have 3+ muties on you(tear em apart) and Xuan is for mid-long range killing of groups of enemies.
It gets better towards the mid-late game? HELL NO! It gets worse. Action boy + maxed agility + Rangers armor + Grim Sprint = Deathclaws dying one by one. My best spree was like... 5? They never had a chance. Mirelurk hunters? One-shotted in the face.
I never bothered to use Fat Man. I never bothered to use Power Armor(really... -2 agi? +5%DR compared to Ranger armor? you must be kiddin).
Last but not least... Robots. Guns don't work well against em(except turrets, they suck). But.... you do NOT need guns! Robotics Expert - and you have em all on a plate. Just keep a Laser Pistol with ya (Protectron's Gaze is my fav) and shoot those Sentry bots in the face from Sneak. 3 shots - he's down.
I must admit i haven't tried melee weapons at all, so i wont say a word about em. But guns really make me cry...
*Hands tomatoes to everyone*