Notice: Versions 0.2 and above no longer erroneously require ArmorKeywords

What this mod is:
After playing this game for so long, I began to realize that there were some glaring flaws with how damage was calculated when accounting for range. Every single gun uses the same minimum and maximum range values, meaning that every single gun had the exact same falloff pattern. Additionally, every gun except shotguns had the same out-of-range multiplier, regardless of caliber or weapon type. This mod helps every weapon fits into the game more naturally, such as how pistols should only be used at close ranges, shotguns are best on unarmored targets, and sniper rifles are actually dangerous at long ranges. The exact changes made can be found further down on this page.

In short this mod...

• Makes different weapon classes more suited for the task they were made for
• Improves unnecessarily bad guns to make them more useful
• Gives certain mods more situational improvements
• Makes long range firefights do real damage
• Differentiates the way energy and physical damage are affected by range
• Changes the damage types of some weapons to be more accurate
  

What this mod is not:
This mod does not...

• Increase the accuracy of guns
• Add any new variables or features
• Make the player more powerful than NPCs
  

Installing:
This mod can be installed like any other ESP-based mod you find on the Nexus.

WARNING: This mod modifies the data for all of the listed weapons and mods directly. To ensure that no other mods are impacted by this mod, put this higher in your load order. That way, if there are conflicts, the other mod will take precedence.


Recommended mods:
These mods are highly recommended to make the experience with this mod the best it can be.

• Search and Destroy - If you want NPCs to fight back
• Weapons of Fate - A very good ballistics overhaul
  

Updates:

Version 0.4:

• Added Cryolator, Flare gun, Plasma Gun
  

Version 0.3:

• Added some melee weapons for damage type changes
• Added Alien Blaster, Flamer, and Minigun
• Some weapons had their damage types fixed, eg flamer does fire damage
• Fixed an issue where Nuka-World weapons were not properly modified
  

Version 0.2:

• Removed ArmorKeywords and a dependency
• Added pipe guns, tesla and railway rifles
  

Detailed Changes:
The following list show the creation kit values I modified to change the effects of each weapon, along with a short description summarizing the changes in each category.  Guns where minRange was changed will not have their range updated in the pipboy from my experimentation, but the actual falloff does still seem to be applied correctly

If you don't see a weapon you like listed on here, make a comment about what you would like to see changed in future versions.

Standard Rifles:
Rifles were generally buffed, giving them longer ranges, lower base weight, and more interesting barrels. Shorter barrels now add a small amount of damage, and long barrels make damage falloff less extreme. The lever gun and handmade rifle are now chambered in .45 and 5.56mm respectively. The damage on the lever, bolt-action, assault, and radium rifles were all increased.

Lever gun:
 - Base damage: 35 -> 40
 - Ammo type: .45-70 -> .45
 - Damage falloff: .50 -> .75
 - Weight: 6.0 -> 4.0

Hunting Rifle:
 - Base damage: 37 -> 40
 - Damage falloff: .50 -> .75
 - Long Barrels:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .75
 - Short Barrels:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .50

Handmade Rifle:
 - Ammo type: 7.62 mm -> 5.56 mm
 - Weight: 8.0 -> 5.5
 - Short Welded/Improved:
= idamage ADD 2
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .35
 - Short Sniper
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .50
 - Short Covered Welded/Improved:
= idamage ADD 2
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .40
 - Short Covered Sniper:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .55
 - Long Welded/Improved:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .55
 - Long Sniper:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .70
 - Long Covered Welded/Improved:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .60
 - Long Covered Sniper:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .75

Radium Rifle:
 - Weight: 7.0 -> 5.0
 - Damage 27 -> 30
 - Short Barrel
= idamage ADD 2
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .50
 - Long Barrel:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .65
 - Long Ported Barrel:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .70

Combat Rifle:
 - Weight: 7.0 -> 5.0
 - Short barrels
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .45
= idamage ADD 2
 - Long barrels
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .75

Assault Rifle:
 - Weight: 8.0 -> 5.0
 - Damage: 30 -> 32
 - Short barrel
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .45
 - Long barrel
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .75
 - Short ported
= idamage ADD 2
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .50
 - Long Ported
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .75

Submachine Gun: Falloff starts earlier, lasts longer, and reaches a lower percentage. Effective range should not be changed much, but becomes worse from very far away.
 - Weight: 7.0 -> 5.0
 - Range Min: 256 -> 192
 - Range Max: 256 -> 384
 - OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .40

Pistols:
Pistol effectiveness at close ranges was left unchanged, but shots from low caliber pistols from far away will now be significantly less impactful. If you want to use pistols, get closer.

10mm:
 - Weight: 3.0 -> 2.0
 - Range Max: 256 -> 384
 - OutOfRangeMultiplier: .5 -> .25

Deliverer:
 - Weight: 3.0 -> 2.0
 - Range Max: 256 -> 384
 - OutOfRangeMultiplier: .5 -> .25

.44 (and Disciples .44):
 - Weight: 4.0 -> 3.25
 - Range Max: 256 -> 384
 - OutOfRangeMultiplier: .5 -> .4

Western Revolver:
 - Weight: 4.0 -> 3.5
 - Range Max: 256 -> 384
 - OutOfRangeMultiplier: .5 -> .45

Lasers:
The damage falloff starts sooner, but is more gradual. Short barrels will be slightly more effective in close quarters than long (theoretically), but long has a much further range and does not fall off as hard. Automatic was slightly nerfed from base to be worse at long ranges. Base damage was slightly increased to account for additional falloff. In general, lasers should be very effective long range weapons when equipped with the right mods.

Laser Gun:
 - Range Min: 256 -> 128
 - Range Max: 256 -> 768
 - dtEnergy: 24 -> 25
 - Auto Barrel:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .50
 - Long Barrel:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .70
= minrange MUL+ADD 9 -> 8
 - Short Barrel:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .40
= minrange MUL+ADD 3 -> 5
 - Snpier Barrel:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .80
= minrange MUL+ADD 11 -> 0
= maxrange MUL+ADD 18 -> 21

Institute Laser Gun:
 - Range Min: 256 -> 128
 - Range Max: 256 -> 768
 - dtEnergy: 21 -> 22
 - Detection Sound Level Loud -> Normal
 - Auto Barrel:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .45
 - Long Barrel:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .75
= minrange MUL+ADD 9 -> 8
 - Short Barrel:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .40
= minrange MUL+ADD 3 -> 5

Laser Musket:
 - Range Min: 256 -> 128
 - Range Max: 256 -> 768
 - dtEnergy: 30->32
 - Weight: 8.0 -> 4.0
 - Short Barrel:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .40
= minrange MUL+ADD 3 -> 5
 - Long Barrel:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .50
= minrange MUL+ADD 9 -> 8
 - Short Extended:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .70
= minrange MUL+ADD 4 -> 5
 - Long Extended:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .75

Shotguns:
Increased damage, but also increased number of projectiles. This will effectively increase damage on lower armor targets, but decrease damage on heavily armored targets. Falloff damage was also slightly increased, to increase effectiveness at slightly further ranges

Double Barrel:
 - Weight: 6.0 -> 5.0
 - # Projectiles: 8 -> 12
 - Base Damage 45 -> 50
 - OutOfRangeMultiplier: .10 -> .20

Combat Shotgun:
 - Weight: 7.0 -> 5.5
 - # Projectiles: 8 -> 12
 - Base Damage 50 -> 54
 - OutOfRangeMultiplier: .10 -> .20

Pipe Weapons:
Low quality weapons will be less effectual than better ones. Falloff is more noticeable, but even the pipe guns are still slightly better at range.

Pipe Gun:
 - Range Min: 256 -> 128
 - Range Max: 256 -> 384
 - Long Barrels:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .60
 - Short Barrels:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .35
 - Stub barrel:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .25

Pipe Revolver:
 - Range Min: 256 -> 128
 - Range Max: 256 -> 384
 - Long Barrels:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .65
 - Short Barrels:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .35
 - Stub barrel:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .25

Pipe Bolt Action:
 - Range Min: 256 -> 192
 - Range Max: 256 -> 384
 - Long Barrels:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .70
 - Short Barrels:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .40
 - Stub barrel:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .25

Other Energy Weapons:

Plasma Gun: Flamer barrel now does fire damage as well as other damage types
 - Weight 3.0 -> 2.5
 - Range Max: 256 -> 384
 - Flamer barrel
= iAttackDamage SET 12 -> 10
= vdDamage Energy SET 12 -> 10
= vdDamage Fire SET 4
 - Sniper barrels:
= OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .75

Tesla Rifle: Range is lower, and out of range damage is significantly reduced. This may have no effect on gun behaivor. Electrical damage may also not be any different than energy damage when calculating resistances.
 - dtEnergy: 32 -> 0
 - dtElectrical: 0 -> 32
 - Weight: 8.0 -> 7.5
 - Range Min: 256 -> 192
 - Range Max: 256 -> 320
 - OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .35

Cryolator: I have never used the cryolator extensively, so I cannot make decisions about its range behaivor. leave a comment if you have an interesting idea.
 - Weight: 10.0 -> 9.0
 - dtEnergy: 20 -> 0
 - dtCryo: 0 -> 24

Heavy Weapons:

Flamer: Now appropriately does fire damage instead of energy damage. NOTE: Energy resist is NOT fire resist. Consider getting a mod that adds fire resist to more items
 - dtEnergy 9 -> 0
 - dtFire 0 -> 9

Minigun: The minigun now shoots faster.
 - Standard Barrel:
= Speed: MUL+ADD 0.05
 - Short Barrel:
= Speed: MUL+ADD 0.15 -> 0.20
 - Tri Barrel:
= Speed: MUL+ADD -0.35 -> -0.30

Melee:

Shishkebab: Shishkebab now deals fire damage instead of energy
 - dtEnergy: 13 -> 0
 - dtFire: 0 -> 13
 - Extra Flame Jets:
   = vdDamagetypeValues: form dtEnergy -> form dtFire
   = description updated

Sledgehammer: Heated heads now deal fire damage.
 - Searing Rocket:
   = vdDamagetypeValues: form dtEnergy -> form dtFire

Super Sledge: Heated heads now deal fire damage.
 - Heating Coil:
   = vdDamagetypeValues: form dtEnergy -> form dtFire
   = description updated
 - Stun Pack:
   = vdDamagetypeValues: form dtEnergy -> form dtElectrical

Baton: Shock mods now deal electrical damage
 - Shock:
   = vdDamagetypeValues: form dtEnergy -> form dtElectrical

Other Weapons:

Gauss Rifle: The Gauss Rifle now has by far the longest range in the game. Nearly everything, even at max render distance, should be within Range Max. The damage will be slightly lower in the 64-256 range compared to vanilla, but not by a lot, and either way the gun is not designed to be used at close range anyways.
 - Range Min: 256 -> 64
 - Range Max: 256 -> 2048
 - OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .60

Railway Rifle: Range has been buffed, and weight was slightly lowered.
 - Weight: 9.0 -> 8.0
 - Range Max: 256 -> 384
 - OutOfRangeMultiplier: .50 -> .65

Flare Gun: Now does a little more damage
 - dtFire 0 -> 5

Molotov: Molotovs don't explode like grenades when thrown, so there really is no reason for them to do so much explosive damage. This also reduces the damage enough that the direct impact of a molotov won't kill the player character instantly on survival difficulty.
 - Explosive damage 50 -> 20