A Light Shining in Darkness

**A Light Shining in Darkness** is a unique weapon in the *Fallout: New Vegas* add-on, *Honest Hearts*.

## Characteristics

A unique, shorter variant of the .45 Auto pistol, it features a custom commander-style hammer, skeletonized trigger, and a snake-skin grip, along with the etched Greek text *"καὶ τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνει*" on the right side and *"καὶ ἡ σκοτία αὐτὸ οὐ κατέλαβεν"* on the left side, which translates as *"And the light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not"*. It also has trench sights (a groove running along the top of the pistol which the player aims down), rather than having a rear notch and a front post.

Like most unique weapons, weapon modifications cannot be added to this firearm. Compared to its standard counterpart, the .45 Auto pistol, it has greater damage per shot, less spread, a greater rate of fire and greater durability, albeit having one less round in the magazine. As with the .45 Auto pistol, it is considered an improved holdout weapon, and can be concealed and taken into weapon-free locations so long as the player's Sneak skill is 50 or greater. A Light Shining in Darkness can fire a total of 1245 rounds or 207 and a half magazines before breaking.

## Variants

* .45 Auto pistol Honest Hearts, the common variant.
* A Light Shining in Darkness (non-player character), a unique playable variant used by Joshua Graham. It differs from the standard variant by having 50 base and crit damage, x2 crit chance and a min spread of 0.35. It also uses the same Pip-boy icon as the 9mm pistol.
* Joshua's Pistol Whippin' .45 Honest Hearts, a unique non-playable variant used by Joshua Graham. It differs from the standard variant by being used as a melee weapon.
* Follows-Chalk's .45 Auto pistol Honest Hearts, a unique variant used by Follows-Chalk, a Dead Horses tribal and companion to the Courier. It only differs from the standard pistol in its use of companion ammunition and possession of the standard iron-sights.

## Locations

It is carried by Joshua Graham. It can be retrieved from his corpse if killed. Alternatively, it can be found in a footlocker at the Southern passage in Zion Canyon after completion of the *Honest Hearts* main quest.

## Notes

* Although it doesn't have luminescent sights like the standard .45, the frame of the gun will glow, even in complete darkness, alluding to the weapon's namesake.
* It is the lightest handgun in the game, and is one of the four affected by the Pack Rat perk, the others being the .45 Auto pistol, the 9mm pistol, and Maria.
* Using the iron sights is difficult due to the point of aim being the same as the standard .45 Auto pistol, despite having trench sights.

## Behind the scenes

“
Trench sights (another name for them) are sometimes used on concealed carry weapons to prevent snags. The overall small size/light weight/difficult sights of A Light Shining In Darkness are why it has a 75 Guns skill requirement, but also why it is on the standard holdout weapon list.

”
* Quote source: J.E. Sawyer
* The design is loosely based on various *Officer*-sized compact Colt M1911s and Colt New Agents. It is not an exact copy of these models, as it should have a reversed recoil plug.
* The phrase engraved on the slide of the pistol is from the Bible passage John 1:5, "And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not."

## Bugs

* PC PlayStation 3 Xbox 360 If loading a saved game from the main menu in which you have A Light Shining in Darkness equipped and drawn, the reload animation takes twice as long as normal. This can be solved by simply switching to another gun and then back again.

## References

1. ↑ ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ 1:5 Greek NT: Tischendorf 8th Ed. with Diacritics
2. ↑ Is the Light in Darkness based on any real version of the M1911?
3. ↑ When designing A Light Shining In Darkness, what model was is based off? The closest thing I can see is Colts New Agent series and looking at getting another 1911.