The experimental MIRV is a weapon in Fallout 3.

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Characteristics Edit

The experimental MIRV is a unique Fat Man that can be found in the bomb shelter area of the National Guard depot. This weapon deals the most damage of any weapon in the entire game, as it acts like a shotgun version of the Fat Man, delivering eight mini nukes at once. The MIRV actually does the same damage as a Fat Man per mini nuke, as 12 880/8 equals 1 610. It will not fire if the Lone Wanderer doesn't have at least 8 mini nukes in their inventory to load it with. If they have fewer than 8 mini nukes, the weapon will reload but never discharge the payload.

Durability Edit

The Experimental MIRV can fire a total of 63 shots, the equivalent of 504 mini-nukes, from full condition before breaking.

Variants Edit

Fat Man - The common variant in Fallout 3.

Comparison Edit

Legend - Weapon name (melee or unarmed) - Attacks in V.A.T.S. - Weapon name (gun, energy or explosive) - Action point cost - Damage per attack (damage per projectile) - Damage per action point - Damage per second - Weapon spread - Area of effect damage - Magazine capacity (shots per reload) - Effect damage & duration - Durability (number of attacks before breaking) - Bonus effects - Weight - Attacks per second - Value in caps - Critical chance % multiplier - Value to weight ratio - Critical damage - Skill required - Critical effect damage & duration - Strength required - With all mods attached

Fat Man 10

2542 1600 +10 1.58 x0 0 65 24.8 2.0 1 167 30 1000 33.3 Experimental MIRV 80

(10x8) 20336.2 12800 +80 1.58 x0 0 65 198.2 13.0 8(1) 63 30 2498 83.3

Location Edit

The player must complete the unmarked quest Keller Family Refuge before they can gain access to the secure section of the depot housing the weapon, though it's also possible to gain entrance to the armory by using a glitch. See the bugs section on National Guard depot for more details.

Notes Edit

The MIRV looks identical to the Fat Man, meaning only 1 mini nuke appears to be loaded on to the weapon; however, the game overlaps all eight mini nukes, which separate upon exiting the weapon.

Sometimes the MIRV (or Fat Man), is set up such that using it in V.A.T.S. will cause the player character to aim directly at the enemy, without aiming upwards to compensate for the distance or mini nuke drop. This, coupled with the fact that only the 8th nuke shot out of the MIRV will go as far as the Fat Man's single nuke (and all other nukes will travel shorter distances), means that using the MIRV in V.A.T.S. will usually cause the player character's death.

If the player character looks directly at the ground and fires the MIRV, the 8 mini nukes' combined power is enough to launch their dead body to the height limit.

Similarly, the MIRV can potentially send the bodies of human enemies hit by multiple mini nukes flying hundreds of feet into the air, potentially rendering their bodies impossible (or very hard) to find.

It costs more to fire this weapon once than it does to repair a regular Fat Man twice. At several hundred caps per nuke and firing eight nukes per shot, this is the most expensive weapon in the game, albeit the most powerful.

Out of every weapon in Fallout 3, the MIRV is the most powerful in terms of base damage.

Behind the scenes Edit

MIRV is a military term for Multiple Independent Reentry Vehicle (or Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle). It is a collection of nuclear weapons carried on a single intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Using a MIRV warhead, a single launched missile can strike several targets, or fewer targets redundantly. The MIRV system was developed throughout the middle of the 20th Century, and one of the main ideas behind the weapon system was to take out an enemy country with a single missile attack before the enemy nation could be able to respond.

Bugs Edit

Xbox 360 [verified]

PC Xbox 360 [verified]

PC [verified]

Sounds Edit