Summary
Fallout 4is known for taking a few deviations away from the standard Fallout formula, introducing new mechanics to the series. One new mechanic introduced in Fallout 4 is legendary equipment. Legendary equipment refers to various types of weapons and armor that come with a unique effect. Think of it like Skyrim’s enchanted equipment system but with added firearms.
Although all legendary effects are meant to be beneficial, some effects seem to give you more bang for your buck, even at end-game levels. If you find something bearing any of these unique effects, you should hold onto them.
Updated on July 04, 2025, by William Quick:With those tantalizing images indicating that the next Fallout game will be taking place in not-the-US, many of us are excited about returning to the Wasteland (though, that’s kind of a scary thought). That being said, it’s a great reason to return to the previous games and their different cities to revisit some of our favorite places and hopefully discover things we missed previous times. Among all those things is the Legendary Effects in Fallout 4 which can make all your weapons more awesome, and here are some of the best.
13Rapid
The Fastest In The Wastes
Although technology has advanced quite a bit, especially when it comes to weaponry, the Wasteland is a dangerous place. You may spend the first few hours running around with various objects to hit things, but you’ll soon start picking up a nice collection of ranged weapons. If you do that, you’d better hope they’re Rapid.
When you’re in a firefight, speed is everything, with just one mistake being enough to decide whether you win or lose. This is why Rapid is necessary for solid support in giving you the edge when it comes to shooting and returning fire. This effect will significantly boost your firing rate and nicely raise your reload speed for any weapon that has it.
12Freezing
A Chilling Effect
Following the Fallout, the Wasteland definitely went more for the arid desert look than the nuclear winter one. As a result, ice has become pretty valuable for more things than just making your drinks more refreshing. Being able to freeze enemies in the middle of battle is not only super effective, but it also looks cool.
To make this a reality, you need to add the Freezing effect to whatever weapon is the most chilling. Every time you land a hit on an enemy, you’ll deal Cryo damage, something that many enemy types can’t resist. The main attraction is that all your critical hits will freeze enemies on contact, which becomes more devastating the more you boost your Crit Rate.
11Poisoner’s
Chipping Health From Within
Ah, the recognizable and classic poison effect. You could say that Poison has been present since the early days of gaming and still has people divided. Namely, you love it when it’s happening to enemies, but you hate it when it’s happening to you. To swing it in your favor in the Wasteland, you’ll need to become a Poisoner.
This is an effect that makes the weapon you add gain the ability to poison targets with every hit (and will also sometimes give them a sweet green sheen). Instead of direct damage, each hit gives a poison effect that lingers for a few seconds with every strike. It’s a great way to whittle down tough and armored enemies, so you can move in for the final blow.
10Bloodied
Wipe Yourself Off
If you’re a fan of playing it fast and loose or like high-risk, high-rewards, then the “Bloodied” legendary effect is just what you’re looking for. This effect makes whatever weapon it’s on deal more damage the lower your health is. This means that, when you’re walking between life and death, every shot you take will be extremely powerful.
A guaranteed weapon with this attribute is the Survivor’s Special laser gun. This is carried by Paladin Brandis, who is part of the quest The Lost Patrol. you’re able to steal it from him or have him give it to you by convincing him to go back to the Brotherhood of Steel.
9Instigating
You Started It
The legendary effect ‘Instigating’ gives your weapon the ability to do double its normal damage — but only once. The double damage effect applies only if the target is at full health. If a target is missing some of their health by the time you get to them, the effect won’t apply. If you prefer sniping, you will find that, coupled with a well-placed headshot, you may kill or at the very least critically injure even the toughest enemies.
You don’t have to travel too far to find an instigating weapon. Arturo, the weapons vendor in Diamond City, sells Old Faithful, a laser pistol with this effect.
8Lucky
The Odds In Your Favor
Another change Fallout 4 brought to the series is how critical hits work. When in VATS, every successful shot fills up a critical meter which, when activated, allows for a guaranteed critical hit. The ‘Lucky’ legendary effect allows you to do double damage with a critical hit and also makes the critical meter fill 15 percent faster.
This means, that if you havea lot of Luck-based perksand a weapon with a Lucky effect, you will be getting constant critical hits. This effect excels on rifles and shotguns rather than anything automatic. A guaranteed weapon with this effect is Righteous Authority, a laser rifle given to you from Paladin Danse after assisting him at ArcJet Systems.
7Never-Ending
It Just Keeps Going
Imagine having a double-barrel shotgun that you never need to reload, allowing you to constantly spam buckshot into whatever’s clueless enough to stand in front of you. The ‘Never-Ending’ attribute essentially gives whatever gun it’s attached to a bottomless magazine, meaning that you never have to reload. Of course, this doesn’t mean your gun will run out of ammo because you keep firing it.
But there is one exception to this rule: if you travel to Nuka-World and fight in the arena until you defeat the Rogue Knight, who drops Aeternus, a Gatling laser with the Never-Ending effect. Due to how the Gatling laser uses fusion cores for ammo, the result is that Aeternus will never run out of ammunition, giving you a truly never-ending barrage of lasers to use at your disposal.
6The World Series 2076 Bat
Homerun
Okay, so this isn’t a legendary effect. But this unique wooden bat has a unique effect that no other weapon in Fallout 4 has: the chance to launch enemies off their feet.
Located in the treasure room of Jamaica Plains, the World Series 2076 Bat boasts a small chance to send enemies flying through the air — and by flying, we mean sending them a good couple of feet up into the sky. Whenever this happens, there’s the sound of a baseball being hit followed by a roaring crowd, bringing to mind that all-American pastime as you reduce whatever it was you hit into red mist.
5Staggering
Knocked Off-Balance
At first glance, staggering an enemy doesn’t seem like it’s all that powerful. But this legendary effect focuses on constantly staggering the enemy in place, preventing them from attacking or retaliating against your attacks.
While the Staggering effect may not be all that useful on non-automatic weapons, it’s incredibly powerful on select weapons — especially on oneof Fallout 4’s many powerful melee weapons. If you travel to Far Harbor, you’re able to find The Harvester at the Echo Lake Lumber Mill. This Ripper, with its incredibly fast attack speed, ‘stun-locks’ your enemy by constantly staggering them as you drill into them.
4Furious
Getting Angrier
It’s simple knowledge that any enemy will go down provided you wail on them as much as possible. That’s what the ‘Furious’ legendary effect is all about. This effect increases the damage from the weapon every time it hits an enemy, resetting only if the enemy in question dies or the player stops attacking.
Because the effect requires you to constantly be laying into the enemy, this makes it a perfect modifier for any automatic weapon or melee. An automatic shotgun or a submachine gun, for example, are great choices thanks to their high rate of fire, while a melee weapon like the Ripper with its multiple hits per second will shred through any enemy at an astounding speed.
A guaranteed Furious weapon can be found at Swan’s Point in the form of a power fist carried by Swan.
