Fallout/Weapons

Ammo
(The type of ammunition used will change the amount of damage dealt to the target. JHP is always the superior choice, followed by FMJ. Forget AP ammo. AP is, in the first place, more expensive, and although it does penetrate a bit more than JHP ammo, it deals very little damage. It's useless against anything - JHP is always superior. Shotgun Shells deal good damage regardless of the target used, and FMJ is like a 'neutral' ammo - it works okay on both armored and non-armored targets. It doesn't suffer nearly the damage penalty of AP ammo, but it penetrates far better than JHP.) In reality, the Fallout 1 engine does not take ammo modifiers into account at all. AP, JHP and FMJ ammo all have exactly the same penetration, accuracy and damage characteristics (all weapons will always deal their base amount of damage, reduced by any armor worn by the enemy). This can easily be verified by firing several rounds of different types at a single target. Use whichever ammo type you have.

As for energy weapons, their real effectiveness depends on the type of weapon used. For instance, laser weapons aren't as effective as plasma weapons on armored targets. Plasma is good against anything except for Tesla armor. The Alien Blaster uses a different technology (and from the death animations seen from Fallout and Fallout 2, I think pulse) which is goes through any type of armor. The cells themselves don't serve as damage modifiers, but are merely power units.

Upgrading the Plasma rifle
Turbo Plasma Rifle! Ask Smitty in the Boneyard. The upgrade lowers the AP cost as well as slightly increasing damage and greatly increasing range. This is the best weapon in the game.

Melee weapons
All melee weapons cause normal damage. The maximum damage value might vary as it is a direct result of your melee damage bonus.

Unarmed weapons
On all unarmed weapons, you can hit single or aim an attack. The single costs 3 action points, and the aimed costs 4 action points. All items require one Strength and do normal damage.

Throwing weapons
* Only affects robots.