With the release of Fallout 3, the post-apocalyptic role-playing game series was no longer the same as before.
Gone were the days of isometric views and complex RPG rules, and welcome were the days of first-person combat and exploration.
With an expanded experience, also came expanded modding options.
This page lists all weapons in Fallout 3. The content is not described in full detail on this page. For details, please see the respective articles. For weapons in other Fallout games, please see 'Weapon.' For an overview of Fallout 3 content, please refer to 'Portal:Fallout 3.' I recently mad a video on what I think is the best weapon in Fallout 3. All of my opinions are in the video, regardless if you don't want to watch it, I thought that the Lincoln's repeater was the best overall, but really of the weapons in the video are good. This post is part of the series: Fallout 3 Weapons Guide. So, you have the best perks, your skills are high, and you think you’re ready to take on a thousand Deathclaws at once. But wait - you’re missing perhaps the most important part of survival. Fallout 3 Weapons Guide: Unarmed And Melee; Fallout 3 Weapons Guide: Big Guns.
Being such a sprawling game, there was plenty of room for modders to have some fun. Plus the Fallout 3 modding scene is so active, that the game is still receiving mods today that try to keep the game fresh.
Picking a handful for this list was a very difficult task. But I love the Wasteland so much, that I’ve ventured out of the Vault of the vanilla game to bring you the very best must-have Fallout 3 mods.
25. Fallout 3 Mod Manager
If you’re a huge fan of mods, you really can’t skip the incredibly useful Fallout 3 Mod Manager.
This mod doesn’t just provide a way to keep track of all the mods currently installed for the game… it also prevents failed installations from messing up your game.
Plus it can upgrade mods automatically and even turn them on and off at will.
And if you’re a modder, the Mod Manager also provides some useful tools that will make your quest to change the Capital Wasteland much easier.
24. Followers Relax
Fallout 3 followers see an increase in their happiness of over 150% after their leader installs the Followers Relax mod, a study from the Roosevelt Academy reveals.
The Followers Relax mod changes the basic “Wait” AI package from “Guard” to “Sandbox”.
This means your followers will not just stand there once they’re told to wait… Instead they’ll move around the immediate location and even interact with the environment.
They really look like normal people now, don’t they?
23. Fallout 3 Redesigned
Even in 2008, Fallout 3 was far from being the best looking game out there.
While locations were alright, human characters definitely were not.
Fallout 3 Redesigned fixes the appearance of most NPCs in the game by redesigning their facial structures, and removing the weird skin tone that made humans look like another monstrous byproduct of the nuclear holocaust.
Note this mod is not compatible with others that change NPCs, so make sure to deactivate this to avoid messing up your game if you install some others.
22. Mart’s Mutant Mod
For a post-apocalyptic world, the Capital Wasteland lacks those horrifying beings you’d expect to see in such a world.
If you don’t install Mart’s Mutant Mod, that is.
Mart’s Mutant Mod brings the diversity that Fallout 3 mysteriously lacks, introducing a lot of different creatures to the game.
These range from all sorts of robots to twisted, grotesque…things that are truly the stuff of nightmares.
As such, always keep your weapon locked and loaded: you’ll need it.
21. Megaton House and Theme Overhaul
Time for some painless renovation work, Vault Dwellers!
The Megaton House and Theme Overhaul mod brings a complete internal and external redesign of the Megaton House.
This includes new furniture that better matches the new design, and a brand new basement featuring weapon displays, Armory Storage, and all those facilities you expect to find in a post-apocalyptic house.
But you’ll have to work to get into the basement: complete the mini-quests and enjoy the benefits of renovation.
20. Sydney Follower
Sydney is an extremely faithful companion, and one that has a lot to teach players.
Sadly, she stays with us for a very short time. But modders are here once again to save the day!
And to save a beautiful friendship.
The Sydney Follower mod allows you to make Syndey a follower, introducing new dialogues, side quests, and more stuff that’ll let you get to know this character better, and receive her aid whenever needed.
She doesn’t even feel tacked on, as all new dialogues are fully voiced and complete with lypsynch. Modders give what Bethesdoesn’t.
19. Fallout 3 Reanimated
A nuclear holocaust brings about a great many things. Some of them bad, some of them good.
Among the good things it brings, is reanimation.
I’m not talking about bringing the dead back to life. I’m talking about new animations!
Fallout 3 Reanimated adds 80 new animations for human characters that are so much better than the clunky animations of the vanilla game.
So much better that you’ll wonder why you thought they looked acceptable in the first place. Must have been the fumes.
18. Better High Detail Map and Icons
Maps are very important in sprawling role-playing games. But sometimes, it seems like developers forget that a well-detailed map only makes the game better.
While the Fallout 3 map is more than decent, it pales in comparison to the new, highly-detail map introduced by the Better High Detail Map and Icons.
The tweaks are pretty lengthy so it would take a while to list them all… just do yourself a favor and check out the mod page, you’ll be impressed.
17. NMC’s Texture Pack
It’s never truly enough for modders.
You get perfectly balanced gameplay, and someone changes it up. You get decent graphics, but someone thinks they can do better. And we thank them for it!
NMC’s Texture Pack is an amazing pack that brings new, high-quality textures for terrain, trees, interiors, exteriors, and most vehicles.
This effectively improves the game’s visuals considerably, no matter if you’re playing on an old laptop with a 720p resolution, or on your brand new 4K monitor.
16. FWE Weapons Pack
More weapons, more fun!
The FWE Weapons Pack brings 30 new weapons to Fallout 3, assuming you have the Fallout 3 Wanderers Edition mod installed.
The new weapons have some unique capabilities such as different fire modes, the ability to use multiple ammo types, and a few more features.
Not a massive overhaul, to be honest. But a welcome one nonetheless.
15. Energy Weapons Advanced
I don’t know about you, but I think energy weapons in Fallout 3 are pretty bad.
In the vanilla game, that is.
Energy Weapons Advanced completely overhauls the behavior of energy weapons by tweaking damage, critical hit rate, status effects, fire rate, and more.
It also brings new weapons lifted from the first two entries of the series, plus Fallout Tactics, into Fallout 3. I think in the attempt to heal you from the most dangerous sickness of the Capital Wasteland: nostalgia.
14. Energy Visuals Enhanced
Now that energy weapons have been made awesome, Fallout 3 has become even more awesome. But there’s still something missing.
The Energy Visuals Enhanced brings that oomph factor that the Fallout 3 energy weapons lack.
It introduces 32 new animated critical kills, plus new enhanced projectiles, new animated impacts, new textures for all laser and plasma weapons, new sounds, and pretty much anything you can think of that can improve the feel of these weapons.
Lovely!
13. Tenpenny Tower Reborn
Tenpenny Tower is an already majestic location in the Capital Wasteland. But anything can be made better.
This Tenpenny Tower Reborn mod tries to improve pretty much everything regarding the iconic location, from visuals to quests and events that happen inside of it.
Without spoiling anything, we’ll just say that a quest with a very sad outcome has been tweaked so you’ll have the chance to end things in a much better way!
12. Weapon Mod Kits
If you want to make the many weapons in Fallout 3 feel unique, this Weapon Mod Kits is worth snagging.
It’s a modification that works in conjunction with the Fallout 3 Wanderers Edition mod, to introduce the ability for you to… well, mod mod weapons.
You can do this with stuff like silencers, extended magazines, auto-fire mechanisms, and more.
And each weapon mod also improves weapon durability, so you really have no reason to skip this mod as soon as you start the game: you’ll be thankful for it later.
11. DarNified UI F3
Do you know what I really like in role-playing games?
Having multiple interface options. The same ones Fallout 3 is missing.
With the game’s vanilla user interface not being particularly customizable, the DarNified UI is a true godsend. Because it adds smaller fonts, better clarity for items in lists, scaling of several elements, plus other visual changes that makes everything cleaner and much more functional.
I didn’t buy a 4K monitor to see letters take up half the screen, after all!
10. FOOK 2
Time to FOOK Fallout 3 up!
Don’t worry, I haven’t just gone mad. I’m talking about FOOK 2, the Fallout Overhaul Kit, which adds hundreds of new items, high-quality retextures, and many new gameplay features to boot.
Great care went into the creation of the new gameplay mechanics here, as they’re perfectly balanced and fully integrated into the game.
Sounds good, doesn’t it?
9. A Note Easily Missed
Take a deep dive into the Fallout universe lore with one of the best quest mods ever released for Fallout 3.
A Note Easily Missed allows you to learn more about the lives of several different individuals before the nuclear holocaust happened, and the world changed forever.
This mod features a lot of reading and a lot of puzzle-solving.
So it may not be for everyone.
But it is worth a shot for those who enjoy the series lore.
8. 20th Century Weapons
Given the state of the Capital Wasteland, you may think that regular weapons wouldn’t be enough to take down all these pesky mutants.
Oh, how wrong you are.
20th Century Weapons proves how a good old fashioned AK-74, a Desert Eagle, or a Remington M-24 are more than enough to show anything in Fallout 3 that you really mean business.
And it couldn’t be any other way, with over 900 new weapons at your disposal: surviving the post-atomic apocalypse has never been more fun!
7. Enhanced Weather
I really don’t need to explain what a mod called “Enhanced Weather” does, do I?
Well since I am a nice Vault Dweller, I’ll summarize.
The Enhanced Weather mod combines a couple of different weather mods that introduce rain and snow to the game.
This is complete with new sound effects and some tweaks that prevent the game from running poorly when this mod is active.
Never before has the rain looked so good.
Or so mysterious: it can get inside buildings with the roof intact, and it doesn’t make anything wet? Scary.
6. Fellout
I love Fallout 3 as much as anyone.
But I have to admit that the green tint looks horrible, no matter how you look at it.
Thankfully, you don’tt have to put up with it thanks to modding.
Fellout is a weather and lighting mod that gets rid of the awful green tint, and makes a few tweaks to give the Capital Wasteland a slightly different feel that’s closer to our own world, but still rather ominous.
It’s a feeling that most Fallout 3 players will appreciate, as it’s way more pleasing to the eye.
5. Enhanced Camera
The first-person view should enhance immersion, right?
Then why the fridge can’t I look at my own boots?
The limitations of the Fallout 3 first-person view are a thing of the past with the Enhanced Camera mod.
Just install this mod (free, of course) and you’ll be able to check out your shiny boots and your equipped weapons all day long.
Fallout 3 Best Melee Weapon
And you’ll not be forced into third-person view when sitting or dying, either. Now that’s what I call true immersion: staring death right in the face!
4. Vault 101 Revisited
It took a long time, but Vault 101 finally opened its door and established contact with the outside world.
But did this influence the life of its dwellers? Time to find out.
Vault 101 Revisited is among the best Fallout 3 quest mods ever made.
It features a story that doesn’t stray too far from canon, but still gives players ample possibilities on how to deal with the new quests and steer the destiny of the Vault.
Highly recommended, especially if your character is strong enough to deal with the dangers ahead.
3. Combat Overhaul
Is Fallout 3 too easy for you?
Well you’ve come to the right place.
ThisCombat Overhaul mod, which is an add-on for the Fallout 3 Wanderers Edition mod, introduces tons of combat changes which aim to make the game way more hardcore.
There’s nothing more hardcore in a first-person game than a dynamic crosshair which grows and shrinks to show your current weapon’s accuracy.
2. Fallout 3 Wanderers Edition
Fallout 3 Wanderers Edition isn’t just a simple mod that’ll spice up your experience for a few minutes, then return you to the vanilla game.
No, it’s a massive overhaul. And one you’ll not want to play without once you try it.
Listing all of the changes here would take quite a while. Definitely check out the mod page for more details, but as a quick overview: the Wanderers Edition changes the game’s fundamental mechanics, while keeping a very tight balance to present an experience that’s radically different from the vanilla game.
As the saying goes, seeing is believing! Absolutely give this one a try.
1. Updated Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch
The Capital Wasteland is very dangerous.
Not just for the mutants that prowl all over, but also for the inordinate amount of bugs you have to deal with.
And no, I’m not talking about insects.
The Updated Unofficial Fallout 3 Patch brings a lot of fixes to both the base game and the DLC packs. And it restores cut content, or at least the stuff that can be integrated properly into the game.
There’s actually plenty of it, so if you know the Wasteland like the back of your hand, this mod will improve your next playthrough on a lot of different levels.
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Being a lone soldier in the Wasteland is no easy feat.
Having access to a massive arsenal of weapons, however, does make it much easier to deal with whatever type of trouble comes your way.
If the vanilla options aren’t cutting it then check out these free Fallout 3 weapon mods that you’ll find on another desolate wasteland called “the internet”.
I’ve laid them all out for you to pick whichever one you prefer, as you’ll come across various mods that improve different aspects of your weaponry.
Just bear in mind that some of these replace certain weapons in the game, while others serve as completely new additions and overhauls. It’s up to you to choose whatever you like most!
15. Combat Shotgun Replacer
Let’s start with the Combat Shotgun Replacer, one that replaces textures only.
This amazing mod was made from scratch and the entire texture of the weapon was custom-made by the creator of this gun.
If you’re looking for a completely new Combat Shotgun that suits the art style of Fallout 3 and looks way better than vanilla, you’ve found your match my friend.
14. FPS Grenade Hotkey
Alright, this might not be a special mod that adds a new weapon to the game.
But the functionality that it brings is just too good for me to pass up.
If you’ve played games like COD or Halo in the past (or basically any modern FPS) you probably have an idea of what this mod does.
You’ll have the option to press a single button (which you can assign) and have a grenade thrown out as soon as you press it.
You don’t need to swap anything in the menus or even unequip your weapon – simply press the designated hotkey and you will throw a grenade wherever you’re aiming.
In terms of functionality, this is the best mod that I’ve added to this list.
13. Cross Repair Weapons
How frustrating it is to have your favorite weapon about to break down, and just when you find another weapon that you think it can be used to fix it, it just doesn’t work?
This mod changes that completely.
And given how much of an annoying feature it is in Fallout 3, it’s already become one of my favorite mods since the game released.
For example, you’ll be able to repair the Plasma Pistol with Plasma Rifles and vice versa.
The Super Sledge will be fully repairable with the Sledgehammer, and so on.
A fantastic little mod that changes the game for the better!
12. FWE – Combat Overhaul
If you’re looking to overhaul the entire shooting system of the game, you’ll want to install this sucker.
It changes the way accuracy works and turns Fallout 3 into more of a modern FPS by adding a whole lot of new functions.
Check this out and rejoice at the new methods of killing your enemies.
11. AK-47 Replacer
The Chinese Assault Rifle is just “meh”, isn’t it?
I think so too, and this mod changes it for a beautiful AK-47 that was completely made from scratch by the creator of the mod.
Don’t worry, I know that the AK-47 is not a Chinese rifle. And so does the creator of the mod!
It doesn’t only change the model of the weapon, but it also changes its name and information to suit the change quite perfectly.
Gone are the days of you firing old weaponry – it’s time to use what the crazy Russians use.
10. HK PSG 1
Man, the PSG-1 might not be the most popular sniper rifle in the world.
But for a particular niche of gamers that played titles where this rifle was available, it’s a must-have to install it in Fallout 3.
A cool rifle that fires quite quickly and deals a ton of damage to your foes. Be sure to check it out.
9. Energy Weapons Enhanced
Don’t you feel that the energy weapons in Fallout 3 simply aren’t as useful as they were in the older installments of the game?
I mean, if you played Fallout 1 and 2, you probably know that these weapons used to be far more powerful than they are in the third game.
This mod aims to correct that.
But it doesn’t really break the gameplay at all. They become far more useful, but these don’t become your go-to for every battle.
It’s just a cool addition for those looking to have Fallout 3 feel more like the classic games.
8. Better Arsenal Desert Eagles
Everyone’s favorite pistol (or, should I say “hand cannon” instead?) has now made its way to Fallout 3 thanks to the fantastic work of a group of very talented modders.
This adds two version of the Deagle to the game, which will surely destroy the heads and skulls of plenty of baddies.
But one complaint: this weapon is quite challenging to handle. Although you get used to it over time so give it atrysee how it goes!
7. SVD Dragunov
If you’ve played Call of Duty before, you probably know all about the Dragunov.
By far one of the most popular sniper rifles in the world.
It was only a matter of time before someone made a mod that incorporated it into the Fallout 3 world.
It’s a semi-auto rifle that shoots very heavy rounds, capable of putting an end to the most annoying of enemies.
The model looks quite fitting to the world of the Wastelands, as most Russian weapons do.
I’m assuming that’s why the AK’s and the Dragunov were made as Fallout mods in the first place.
Best Fallout 3 Dlc Weapons
6. Zeaoletlees ACR
This fully customizable weapon is basically a variation of the all-time favorite gun known as the SCAR, which was popularized in the days of Modern Warfare 2.
It has now managed to make its way to Fallout 3, and the Wasteland has never been more ready for this.
The cool thing about this weapon is that it’s fully customizable, provided that you have the FOSE mod installed.
Add a silencer for better stealth or increase its ammo capacity for deadlier firepower – your choice!
5. AKS-74u
This smaller version of the AK-47 has become quite a cult hero in recent years with the addition of this weapon to many first-person shooters.
However it makes a modded appearance in Fallout 3 with a standalone version of the weapon, which means this weapon doesn’t replace any other gun in-game.
The model is super detailed and you will be able to see how it damages over time thanks to the multiple designs that come with it. Definitely give this a go and see what you think.
4. M4 Carabines
By far the most recognizable name in shooter gaming industry, the M4 is a fantastic assault weapon that is often used by the US military.
And it can now be found in Fallout 3 (with this mod).
The weapon is just as detailed as the AKS-47u, and the mod adds four versions of it to the game.
Each version offers different design attributes, such as a reflex sight or a regular iron sight.
In any case, you’ll be able to feel the firepower of an M4 for the first time in Fallout history with this fantastic addition.
3. Weapons Retexture Project
Now this mod adds quite a selection of new gun textures, all of which look fantastic and have a great level of detail put into them.
The mod changes the way some of the vanilla weapons look to make them feel more realistic as well.
But it doesn’t focus on improving the vanilla looks per se, but rather change them. A great mod nonetheless.
2. Classic Fallout Weapons
This bad boy adds a whole bunch of the best classic Fallout weapons to the Wastelands in Fallout 3.
It’s your job to find them, though, and it’s going to be quite tough to kill enemies that wield them.
Still, the weapons are well balanced and shouldn’t make you feel like the game is broken at all.
They fit quite well to the game and they will offer something totally different compared to vanilla. Worth a try for veteran players.
1. Community Ammunition Library
This is by far the best mod out there if you intend to install various weapon mods at once.
The main objective is to standardize the ammunition used by weapons in various mods, so you don’t end up with hundreds of types of assault rifle ammunition that only fit a particular type of weapon.
As its name suggests, this is basically a library that aims to offer the best Fallout 3 mods in one place.
This way players can use them much more comfortably without clogging up their inventories with different types of ammo.Neat, right?
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