What is the optimal Weapon + Perk combo for Damage Per Second + Cheap Ammo in Fallout 76?

My current Fallout 76 character is specialised in semi-automatic rifles with stealth damage (Marksmen + Sandman). Which is great for general gameplay but is completely overwhelmed for multiple Scorchbeasts & the Scorchbeast Queen.

For DPS spamming I've been using an auto grenade launcher (with Demolition Expert V) but the ammo is quite "expensive" with 3 x springs per 9 x 40mm grenade (with the Ammosmith II perk). Springs are difficult to scavenge in large numbers & expensive to buy at 151 caps x 20 springs.

So I've been going through the wiki weapons table trying to work out a better loadout for fighting Scorchbeast & can't find anything better than the auto grenade launcher.

However, if feels like I'm missing something obvious (more/ different Perks? easy source of springs?) & was wondering if anyone has crunched the numbers properly to identify the optimal weapon + perk combo for maximum DPS, hopefully with cheap/ plentiful ammo.

Solution 1:

As of now - on Fallout 76 Patch 11 - the current meta is to use weapons with the bloodied legendary effect. I am particularly partial to a bloodied Handmade Rifle, as are many other players.

Refer to this post and this special build for a general guide of what to use. Lone Wanderer is critical if playing alone, any other perks to boost gun damage are important too.

As a general guide though, the gun alone isn't what gets you to the optimal build, the legendary effect on it is. Anything bloodied is going to be good. Two-shot and explosive has been recently nerfed, but a two-shot explosive handmade is now much cheaper due to the nerf and still very effective.

As I said in the comments, you can farm springs from clipboards in the National Isolated Radio Array. Clipboards are abundant there, I'd recommend setting up camp nearby.