If the game that you are playing requires a projectile-fired weapon, there is a chance that you need something for that weapon-ammo. Fallout 4 is no different from any other game in that aspect. Without ammunition, you are going to die quite frequently as the enemies are often better armed than you are.
With that being said, ammunition can be much harder to come by in Fallout 4 compared to other games. After all, there is a post-nuclear apocalypse going on. Ammunition is very valuable, and it is typically very well-protected. You will have to get your hands dirty.
Early on in the game, you will likely find yourself using melee weapons as ammunition is hard to come by. That is a completely valid strategy that will serve you well into the main campaign.
However, as the game progresses, you will yourself in situations where picking enemies off from afar is the only way to successfully complete the mission. To do that, you will need plenty of ammunition. This article will help point you in the right direction and provide the best ways to get ammo.
Kill a Lot of Enemies
This is the most obvious tip. As you progress the the city of Boston and the surrounding areas, you will come across a plethora of different enemies. They all have different strengths and weakness, and they all are trying to kill you.
Because of how many enemies there are in certain areas, you will often find yourselves in large shootouts. This may seem like an inconvenience, but it is a simple way to get ammo. Simply put, when you go through a large gun battle, make sure that you loot every single one of the enemies that you have killed.
Something that you may not realize is that even enemies that don’t carry guns may still have ammunition on them. This includes those annoying ghouls and the fearsome club-wielding super-mutants that you come across.
In general, it is always a good habit to search any and every dead body that you come across. Even if you vaporize them with a laser weapon, be sure to check their ashy remains.
Search the Key Locations
The post-apocalyptic world of Boston and the surrounding communities such as Lexington, Concord, Diamond City, and other places have an abundance of abandoned (and some not so abandoned) houses, stores, attractions, stations, and more for you to search.
If you are wanting to find something like Nuka-Cola and Sugar Bombs, don’t be afraid to hit up a gas station or grocery store. Just as those places would have had those things before the War, those items are still available (though you will likely have to fight off something or someone for it).
Ammunition can be found in the exact way. Make sure that you search every inch of places like police stations, military bases, and underground bunkers to find those much needed bullets and missiles.
Ammunition crates and cans are often found just lying on or next to shelves in these areas’ armories. Inside them, you will find lots of various rounds as well as explosives. Be sure to have your lock pick ready though, as many of them are locked up tight.
Trade Some to Get Some
As you progress through the game, you will come across a wide variety of weapons and weapon mods. Part of enhancing your gameplay is figuring out what weapons and mods work best for your play-style.
For instance, pipe weapons that fire the .38 round are quite abundant as many of the lower-level raider factions and some super-mutants use them. Thus, the .38 round is plentiful.
However, as you progress to higher levels, guns that fire the .38 round become extremely underpowered. Because of this, you will likely find yourself scrapping or selling your all of your pipe weapons.
Make sure that you don’t forget about the .38 ammo that goes along with those relatively useless pipe weapons. If you do not have a weapon that uses .38, there is no reason to even have .38. So go and trade it away for a caliber that you do use frequently.
For all of your trades, remember that Diamond City is unlocked early on, and has quite a few vendors. You can likely make all of your trades there (including items other than ammo) without exhausting the vendor’s resources.
Enhance Your Abilities
There are two abilities that will primarily assist with finding ammunition. The first one is lock picking. Lock picking is extremely important when it comes to searching areas that are more likely to have ammunition.
It has been mentioned, but places like military bases and police stations will have a higher percentage of ammo compared to other places. However, a good majority of this ammo is locked away. This is where having a high lock-picking skill comes into play.
Each level of lock-picking, found underneath the Perception tree of S.P.E.C.I.A.L., allows you to pick more and more advanced locks. Make sure to invest in this before going ammo hunting.
Also, don’t forget that Cait can open locked items as well. If you find yourself in an area that you do not have a high enough level of lock-picking, don’t be afraid to call on her.
Along with lock-picking skill is the Scrounger perk. The Scrounger perk affects the amount of ammunition found in containers (such as cabinets, crates, cans, etc.). This does not affect ammunition found on dead bodies.
The Scrounger perk can be found under the Luck tree of S.P.E.C.I.A.L. With each level of the Scrounger perk, you increase your chances of finding ammunition in various containers.
When you reach the final level of Scrounger, it also gives you a chance to gain ammo when firing the last round in your magazine of your firearm.
Although it may not seem like much, both of these perks will greatly increase your ability to gain ammo from the world around you.
Manufacture It
Note: this method does require the “Contraptions Workshop” DLC. If you are having a difficult time finding ammo, the contraptions provided are well-worth the money.
An ammunition plant can actually be built in your settlements if you so desire. This is a great passive way to get ammunition as it constantly works while you are out conquering the wasteland. All it requires is some resources and space in your settlement to build it.
Building the ammunition plant isn’t cheap, but doesn’t cost as much as you would think-2 Circuitry, 3 Gears, 4 Rubber, and 10 Steel. It does require 8 electricity as well.
On top of that, you will likely want conveyor storage hooked to the end. This is cheap as well, requiring only 8 Steel, 1 Screw, 2 Rubber, and 1 Gear.
To top everything off, connect it to a terminal which require 2 Rubber, 2 Copper, 2 Circuitry, and 4 Aluminum. This will allow you to input what type of ammunition to make. Even if this seems costly to you, the dividends will really pay off.
You obviously needs the parts for the ammunition as well. The ammunition can be made with various combinations of: fertilizer, lead, copper, steel, oil, and plastic.
The types of ammunition that you can make include: 10mm, 2mm EC, .308, .38, .44, .45, .50 Cal, 5.56mm, 5mm, and Shotgun shells. As you can see, some of these rounds are quite rare in the game, so being able to manufacture them are a huge plus. It will also save you some caps in the long run as the rarer cartridges typically cost more.
It is important to note that some of the more advanced rounds do require advanced levels of perks such as Gun Nut and Science!, so be sure to invest in those if you find yourself firing weapons that use those rare rounds.
Once you have all your materials, open the terminal menu. From there, you will be able to control the ammunition plant. Select which cartridge you would like to produce, and it will inform you what resources you need. Transfer the required resources to the ammunition plant, and voila! You will have your very own steady supply of ammo.
If you set everything up correctly, you will see the top part of the ammunition plant begin to move as it manufacturers the ammunition. From that point on, you will have 10 rounds every 10 seconds as long as you keep the power on and enough resources to produce the rounds.
Conclusion
As the old saying goes, there are plenty of ways to skin this cat. While some are more active and require more skill than others, it is likely that you can find a way to get as much ammunition as your heart desires-or as your gun requires.
No matter which method you choose to focus on though, it is a good idea to have a variety of methods of increasing your ammunition count. What I mean by this is to make sure to have a passive method such as manufacturing or enhancing your perks as well as an active method such as getting in the habit of looting everything. This will greatly increase the amount of ammo that you pull in all throughout the game.