What are ammo boxes for?

Question

I've started up New Vegas, and exploited the shop glitch to get some caps. (SO glad they didn't fix that bug.) So I got some decent weapons and ammo, but saw some things in the shop that I wasn't sure what they were for.

Under Miscellaneous (not ammo), there were ammo boxes. They had weight. (I'm not playing in Hardcore mode, maybe my next playthrough.) They weren't in the ammo section.

If I were to buy ammo boxes, what can I do with them? Can I use them somehow to give myself ammo?

Asked by John Rudy

Answer

Ammo Boxes are essentially a source of cheap bulk ammo. If you'll notice, each one mentions that it's a particular kind of ammunition. If you buy an Ammo Box, drop it on the ground, and then interact with it (Not sure if there's a smoother way to do this, but it's how I figured it out), you'll get a whole lot of ammunition. For reference, the box of Bulk Energy Cells sold by Chet in Goodsprings contains 100 cells. Unfortunately, being Bulk ammo, each one does 85% of normal damage. Good enough for cash-strapped Couriers, but far from ideal.

Also, be sure to distinguish Ammo Boxes from Ammo Cases - the latter are weightless, and are used in crafting for the production of new and specialty ammo.

Answered by LessPop_MoreFizz

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What do you do about running out of ammo in Borderlands?

Question

While playing Borderlands I have noticed that whenever there is a boss mission you generally have to go through an entire Sahara desert to reach him in his hideout. Along the way you have to kill everyone present. This is insane. The problem:

1) There is no option to buy more ammo once you are near the boss, so either you have to switch to a different gun or come back to start all the way to buy the ammo. Using a different gun isn't an efficient method because I'll be wasting the proficiency gain which I could use on my preferred weapon.

2) When I tried coming back all the way to the beginning, the game respawns all the monsters, so I had to kill them ALL while coming back. The reward chests, however, do not respawn.

3) I purchased ammo and started running towards the boss again but to my surprise the stupid monsters had respawned yet again.

4) This time I kept rushing forward but just near the boss I was surrounded and died. I went back to the starting point again.

I'm finding this extremely frustrating. How do I proceed in this area without resorting to cheats? The mission is Sledge: Battle For Badlands.

Thanks a load in advance.

Answer

I haven't played the game in a while, but if I remember correctly, enemies drop ammo fairly frequently. If it's not the right kind of ammo for the gun you're using, consider switching up guns. I remember I carried guns of 3 or 4 different classes with me at all times. You may not be as proficient with all of them, but at least you have something to use.

Use the guns you're worse with or that the enemies are dropping ammo for against the grunt enemies, and save the really powerful guns for the boss.

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