Wasteland 3 Lancer: how to get the Gears of War cameo weapon

You can nab a little slice of Gears of War inside Wasteland 3 if you want - the recognizable Lancer Assault Rifle from the Gears franchise is available as equippable weapon.

In Wasteland 3, the Lancer deals out decent damage, but it's less than some of its peers like the Socom AR - but it also has fantastic armor penetration, enough to shred anything in the world of Wasteland 3. It also has a 10% chance to apply bleeding explosive damage, and lacks some of the nasty penalties attached to other similar weapons. It's not a be-all, end-all weapon of broken power levels - but it certainly is unique and useful.

The in-game description reads: "This futuristic-looking assault rifle is unlike anything you've seen in the wasteland before. The chainsaw doesn't work - looks like it's got a cog loose." 

Here's where to find the Wasteland 3 Lancer - which will let you cut around like a COG, if you so wish...

If you want even more Wasteland 3 help, check out our guides on the best animal companions, their bonuses and locations - or our guide on the significantly changed Intelligence skill points bonuses.

Wasteland 3 Lancer Location: how to get the Gears of War weapon

First thing's first - to get your hands on the Wasteland 3 Lancer, the game's interpretation of the classic weapon, you'll need 10 in Automatic Weapons - that's what's required for this particular gun.

You can find the Lancer Assault Rifle in the south-east of the map - as marked on this handy map created by Reddit user quaddamage08: 

To access this area, you'll need the radiation resistance of the Kodiak to be Level 3. You can obtain this level of radiation protection with Rad Shields or the Dominator Chassis - things you'll be pursuing to open up more of the world of Wasteland 3 anyway.

When you reach the location marked on the map, which is in Yuma County, you'll come across a random encounter called "Mysterious Wreckage". This is the encounter that gives you the Lancer; simply engage with it to nab the classic Xbox franchise weapon.

Oh, and, for the record - the Lancer is available on all versions of the game - meaning that you can get a little slice on Gears of War over on the PS4. Wasteland 3 is of course developed by inXile Entertainment, which was acquired by Xbox Game Studios in 2018 - but given the game was announced for PS4 prior to the acquisition, it's still released on non-Xbox platforms. If you want a piece of Gears on PlayStation... this is something, I guess.