Fallout 76: The Best Legacy Weapons, Ranked (2024)

Some of the best weapons in Fallout 76 are the highly sought-after and now unobtainable legacy weapons. This exclusive pool of Laser Rifles, Gatling Plasmas, and more are centerpieces of many Wastelanders' collections, offering unique effects and unparalleled damage.

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Unfortunately, if you were not around in the early days of 76 when they were naturally obtainable, then the only way to find these legacies was via trading with others who claimed these diamonds in the rough. However, be warned: Bethesda stated on the "Inside The Vault" blog that an update coming to the Public Test Server (PTS) will remove legacy effects and "illegal mods attached to weapons that cannot be obtained in-game", so trade at your own peril, as these weapons may not last for long.

10 A 419-Range The Dragon

While most legacy weapons possess legendary effects that are no longer obtainable, The Dragon is a unique case, as its Range stat is what makes it legacy. You can roll the above perks on The Dragon right now, but it will possess a 228 Range stat instead — a far cry from 419.

With its legacy Range, The Dragon is a weapon capable of cross-map kills, and with powerful mutations that increase your Damage Per Second (DPS) such as Explosive and a faster reload, this weapon makes its home among the best in Fallout 76. Be warned that the reload speed is abysmal, so it's highly recommended to have a way to increase it, with the 15 percent effect being the most efficient choice.

9 Anti-Armor Explosive Laser Rifle

Explosive Laser Rifles are workhorses among legendary lasers, as this choice is both the easiest to use and the most common to find. Laser Rifles were once duplicated en-masse on PC, with several console clones also flooding the game's player-run trade market.

While many will be disappointed to lose their legacy Laser Rifles, many non-legacy holders see the change as one that will improve Fallout 76 in the long term. For now, the Anti-Armor Explosive Laser Rifle remains, and this is one of the most powerful choices against armored foes like Raiders, or Super Mutants and their end-game variations.

8 Explosive Harpoon Gun

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The Harpoon Gun is outfitted with enough DPS to take down even some of the strongest enemies in the series. The legacy perks you can obtain on it in Fallout 76 take its DPS to the next level, as the explosive perk adds bonus damage, while the Quad effect lets you fire four harpoons before reloading.

For large targets and bosses, there are few better chunk-damage options, and rarely will you find a weapon that can one-shot such a wide variety of enemies. This weapon will be best suited for a V.A.T.S play style, as one guaranteed critical hit will certainly put your target six feet under.

7 Explosive Tesla Rifle

Exploding laser beams already stretch the realm of possibility, but bolts of explosive electricity? How bizarre. It's no wonder this explosive effect was removed from Tesla Rifles, but the reason becomes even clearer when you see what Teslas can do with the right effects.

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Explosive bolts of arc energy chain from enemy to enemy, dealing massive damage to rooms of foes at once. The Quad effect ensures that you need never stop firing as enemies will disintegrate before you can empty your magazine. Adding the automatic fire mod for one last cherry on top sets this weapon apart when it comes to general add-clear weaponry.

6 Bloodied Explosive Laser Rifle

This Laser Rifle, affectionately named the BE90 by the community, is perhaps Fallout 76's most duplicated legacy weapon. This combination of perks was the version that most modders took a liking to, duplicating and releasing as many copies into the wild as possible.

For those who focus on a Bloodied build, there might not be a better Laser Rifle in the entire game. The extra damage from both the Explosive and Bloodied effects stacks quickly, making most enemies in the game easy to kill, as the majority fall within one and three well-placed shots. The reduced weight will always be a Quality of Life (QoL) enhancement, but it doesn't hurt to have some extra space to haul around thousands of ammo.

5 Explosive Cryolator

The Cryolator is another weapon where the Explosive mod never really made much sense, as it releases a mist of frozen energy that damages and slows targets. How mist can explode repeatedly as it flows out of the Cryolator is perplexing, much like the incredible damage.

The Vampire's effect is an excellent choice for any explosive weapon as you'll sometimes be damaged by your own explosions, but luckily the Cryolator doesn't have bullets, which are frequently the cause of most fatal self-inflicted explosions. The health regeneration should make this weapon an easy choice for any difficult content as it presents very little risk to the user, especially relative to its fellow explosive legacy weapons.

4 Two Shot Explosive Pepper Shaker

The Pepper Shaker on its own is one of the most powerful items in Fallout 76, but combine it with the potent combination of Two Shot and Explosive effects, and you have one of the most deadly close-quarters killing machines available.

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The Pepper Shaker is something like a multi-barrel automatic shotgun that fires a spread of pellets. The Two Shot effect doubles the number of pellets and increases your enemy's chance of dying to about 100 percent. If you're a close-ranged expert, then this is the legacy for you — if you can get your hands on one before they're gone forever.

3 Bloodied Explosive Flamer

The Explosive Flamer is one of the most sought-after legacy weapons in Fallout 76, but its two additional effects can dictate precisely how desirable this weapon is. The Bloodied Explosive variation is highly collected due to the large number of players who prefer Bloodied Builds as it's simple to maintain a low health cap.

Much like other weapons, the Bloodied and Explosive dynamic duo works wonders with this fire-spewing flamethrower as enemies will literally melt away before your eyes. If you managed to get your hand on this Flamer, take it for a spin through a Daily Ops mission and witness true horror.

2 Vampire's Explosive Gatling Plasma

Explosive Gatling Plasmas are at the top of many collectors' wish lists as it stands firmly among the game's rarest holy grails. The most desired version is the Vampire's Explosive Gatling Plasma as this behemoth will allow you to clean out an entire warehouse of enemies while keeping your health topped up.

Despite its flawed damage at range, this weapon benefits from an exceptional damage increase due to the Explosive effect, which applies to every shot the gun fires. Given that the Gatling Plasma can fire about 500 shots in a single reload, it's clear that the sheer number of explosions is enough to overwhelm any adversary.

1 Two Shot Explosive Flamer

The Two Shot Explosive Flamer takes a step up from its Bloodied variation as this weapon fires twice as many damage ticks with its prefix perk alone. When Explosive combines with Two Shot on a Flamer, the results are incredible as each tick of damage is inflicting a world of pain on your foes.

With each trigger pull, your legacy Flamer will be spewing flames more powerful than a dragon's fiery breath, with a cacophony of explosions to greet your unlucky targets. While you will be shredding through ammo like nothing, the fun will be well worth the cost as few weapons can match the satisfaction of deleting everything in the general vicinity like this incredible legacy Flamer.

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