Fallout New Vegas already had a massive Wasteland to explore before its DLC was released. But after years of experiencing all of this extra content, the time has come for an official ranking.
Fallout New Vegas DLC ranked
6. Courier’s Stash
The Courier’s Stash is undeniably a useful DLC to have. It gives you weapons and armor that can make the first few hours so much easier, especially in Hardcore mode. However, it also tarnishes a lot of the subtle gameplay design that gives you reasons to use your skills. Why repair a broken 9MM Submachine Gun when you’ve got the Mercenary’s Grenade Rifle after all?
That being said, this DLC gives you some really cool stuff, too. The best is the Armored Vault 13 Jumpsuit which is a not-so-subtle nod to the original Fallout. You can decide for yourself how this somehow fits into the lore. But overall, I’d prefer to leave the Courier’s Stash out of my new game file just to maintain the game’s balance.
5. Old World Blues
Old World Blues is such a hard DLC to judge. It has some of the funniest writing in the entire Fallout series, outside of some hilarious mods, and is conceptually so much fun. However, its quest design is unfortunately on the boring side, and replaying it through various playthroughs has made it less fun over the years. It also doesn’t help that the difficulty is made so much worse if you aren’t built to use Energy Weapons properly.
This DLC also suffers from being barely linked to the rest of New Vegas’ storyline. Every other major DLC either has a major character that is mentioned from the base game or adds greater context to the game’s events. Old World Blues doesn’t really do any of that and is treated more like a wacky side adventure.
4. Gun Runners’ Arsenal
The Gun Runners’ Arsenal might seem a bit redundant for PC players that can mod in whatever extra weapons they’d want. But in terms of bulking up the game’s armory with lore accurate weapons, this DLC is excellent. It’s also surprising considering New Vegas’ base game offering wasn’t really that bad for weapons.
In total, Gun Runners’ Arsenal adds in 27 new weapons and 40 weapon modifications. It also brings in 29 new ammo types, 18 new recipes, and a bunch of new challenges. All these additions make playing New Vegas a more dynamic and varied experience, which is never a bad thing. And if you’re still playing Fallout: New Vegas on console, this DLC is a must-have.
3. Dead Money
Dead Money is a DLC that has a bit of a mixed reputation in the fanbase. But not only is its idea really cool, it also fits in perfectly with New Vegas and brings in a bunch of awesome characters. The DLC has you performing a heist set in the Sierra Madre Casino alongside three other characters. And the cost of failure is lethal for everyone involved.
Dead Money is definitely one of the harder DLCs for New Vegas as it introduces plenty of tougher enemies. So New Vegas experts who want to test their mettle and their builds will get plenty of mileage here. And if you want some extra help with this content, you and a friend could always give the New Vegas multiplayer mod a try.
2. Honest Hearts
For what it’s worth, the next two DLCs are essentially the same level of excellent quality. So deciding a winner between them is hard at the best of times. But Honest Hearts delivers an excellent story set in the Zion Canyon and features one of Fallout’s most fascinating characters in Joshua Graham. Outside of the main conflicts, this DLC explores some of the origins of Caeser’s Legion which is more than worth the price of admission.
Apart from the story, Honest Hearts adds in a host of new weapons and enemies to use them on. Plus you’ve got a decent sized region to explore which is a nice change of pace from the rest of the Mojave. The only real problem is it feels a bit short. But maybe that’s just a sign of how good it is.
1. Lonesome Road
Lonesome Road acts as a brilliant conclusion for New Vegas in its own right and is the perfect way to cap off your adventure before the end of the game. Not only is its story intrinsically tied to the main quest, it also offers up some of New Vegas’ best combat encounters and level design. Conceptually it’s a much smaller story than any other DLC, instead focusing on one man, Ulysses.
Ulysses also comments on your decisions made throughout New Vegas and shines a light on the morality of your choices at times. And that gives a much greater impact to the overall story depending on who you’ve signed up with. There’s still plenty of moral ambiguity though and plenty of complex thought that goes behind every decision made before and during this DLC.
That does it for the ranking of the Fallout: New Vegas DLC. But if you want to see how all the other games stack up against each other, take a peep at our ranking of all the Fallout games.
Published: Apr 23, 2024 11:13 am