What does it take to kill a death claw?

[Davey Woo]

On Fallout 3, the stealth suit and any melee weapon will help you kill a Deathclaw.

On RFallout New Vegas it's different because of the damage/dps thing they put in, Deathclaws have a massive resistance to damage so you need some high powered explosives or a sniper rifle/energy weapon equivalent to do any real damage to them.

 

[Sebster 105]

Guns, Explosives, and a high agility so you can run the fuck away

 

[wolfcrux]

Modded Laser Rifle and the Laser Commander(?) perk taking them out from afar is king.

 

[]DustArma[]

A really big gun, several of them in fact.

 

[stefman]

actually everybody, in 3 you use the poison dart gun to cripple them. then you laugh as they slowwwwly crawl towards you all the while taking hunting rifle bullets to the kneecaps. MUHAHAHAHAHA. as for new vegas i got bumf*&#@d by them so i dunno. try the euclid's c-finder (hammer of dawn thingie)

 

[godofallu]

I just cleared the quarry yesterday at level 19-20. I used the Golbi Sniper Rifle from across the map. Took me about 4 shots each to kill them assuming stealth and psyco.

Ay your level it would be impossible however. Probably take you 20 shots each, and they move fast and 1 hit kill you. You would literally use up all your money and cash just trying to get through the quarry, and you would still have another 30 Deathclaws blocking the way to NV.

 

[Bek359]

Use weapons with high damage, rather than high DPS (e.g. a sniper rifle, rather than a Minigun). Have a good companion (Boone and Veronica are the best). Be higher than level 2.

Myself, I fucked Deathclaws up with the following strategy: Get a great two-handed melee weapon, e.g. Bumper Sword, Fire Axe, Super Sledge (assuming you have at least 50 points in Melee). Get the perk that gives you a chance to knock down an enemy with every melee hit. Bait the Deathclaw into attacking ED-E or some other companion instead of yourself (non-hardcore mode only, as companions can die permanently in Hardcore). Whe the Deathclaw is close, use the VATS Mauler attack to knock the Deathclaw down. Then continue hitting it until it's dead.

 

[Jumpingbean3]

Edit: Sorry for double post.

 

[Jumpingbean3]

Deathclaws are REALLY tough monsters and in Fallout 3 by the time you got to them you were around the right level anyway. In New Vegas however they make the brilliant choice of putting a Deathclaw nest not too far from the friggin starting village.

Here's my advice (presented in the style of a cooking recipe):

Preparation:

Make sure you have 2 partners. For your sentient partner find a man named Boone in Novac and convince him to join you. For the other find and repair a robot named ED-E in Primm.

Level up a bit (at least to level 10).

Get a Plasma Rifle (you should be able to buy one on the way into New Vegas) and some strong armour and weapons and equip Boone and yourself with them. Oh and lots of explosives.

Method:

Be VERY tactical about how you go into this. My advice is to start by picking off the Deathclaws in the cliffs surrounding the area and letting your partners take most of the damage so you're less distracted. Once you clear the high ground ignore V.A.T.S and aim manually to take out the Deathclaws below. The Queen and Alpha Deathclaws both patrol the lower areas so they shouldn't be too much of a problem if you're good enough. It also helps to shoot the Deathclaws in the lower areas in the legs to start with. Crippling their legs will slow them down and make killing them considerably easier. While clearing the top I suggest going for the head and use explosives at long range.

 

[somonels]

*Use Gretchin voice from Warhammer 40000: Dawn of War*
A BIGGA DETH KLAW!

 

[ashcrofl]

There are plenty of high places around there where they just can't get you. The only problem I had was running out of ammo.

 

[Souplex]

I recommend a Gauss Rifle, a Plasma Defender, a Displacer Fist, some Enclave Remnants Power Armor, and one of the unarmed techniques like Scribe Counter, Legion Assault, Ranger Takedown, or Khan Trick.
The Gauss Rifle can be used to snipe them very effectively, especially with Max Charge ammo. If you have the meltdown perk, you can dispatch clustered groups of Deathclaws easily.
The Plasma Defender is one of the best vanilla pistols in the game, and pistols don't slow your movement so you can retreat while shooting at their legs to slow them down.
If they do get into melee range, you can stun them with the Khan Trick, Ranger Takedown, and the Super Slam! perk. Scribe Counter can eat through their health while protecting you. Legion Assault can be used to kill them before they kill you.
Remnant's Power Armor should leave you pretty much invincible.

 

[Troublesome Lagomorph]

In 3: Shoot it with a dart gun, then finish off with what ever non melee weapon you have.

In NV: idk. I've never been able to kill one...

 

[aristos_achaion]

If you have the meltdown perk, you can dispatch clustered groups of Deathclaws easily.

Or (as I found out the hard way), it can aggro a Deathclaw standing not quite close enough.

 

[teebeeohh]

shotgun+bean bag rounds works well, those fuckers may have tough skin but they are exhausted just like the rest of us.

 

[karloss01]

Go to minefield
Pick up all the mins
Put them there
Attract deathclaw

talking about the wrong game there. this is vegas not the capital wasteland.

 

[Wilbot666]

Going up the crane is a pretty decent idea. I used it and was able to snipe a couple of them, although I actually ran out of ammo so had to run away.

Thanks, I actually managed this (admittedly after a couple of tries) at a much lower level, I think around 20-25. You can funnel them up the crane towards you and just let rip with the highest-powered weapon you have. Good times!

 

[Spudgun Man]

Yea you need like about 9 training montages worth of game time playing about with the powder gangers and leigon recruits in the paddle pool before going toe to clawed whatever the hell with those guys, oh and pack bigger calibers.

 

[Major_Tom]

Quarry Junction is a piece of cake compared to Deathclaw promontory. I breezed through Quarry Junction on Very Hard at level 25-ish with Brush Gun loaded with semiwadcutter hand loads but still got my ass handed to me in Deathclaw promontory and I had an Anti-materiel rifle with match rounds.
I found that Holo-rifle with max-charged MFs works very well against them, also Light Machine Gun with AP rounds and Automatic Rifle with AP or JSP rounds. If your character is sneaky, you can also use a silenced Sniper Rifle (AP or JSP rounds).

 

[Filiecs]

I don't know about New Vegas but in Fallout 3 my first encounter with a Deathclaw was pretty unimpressive. Level 14, took only about 4 or 5 shots from my alien disintegrator for it to go down.