Cloak & Dagger is a companion perk in Fallout 4.
Obtaining
To gain the perk, the Sole Survivor has to reach maximum affinity with Deacon.
Effects
"The player character gains +20% sneak attack damage and the duration of effects of Stealth Boys is increased by +40%."
However, this is not how the perk works, as demonstrated by Mister Sandman: modifiers to sneak attack damage are expected to only modify the portion of the damage you deal from the sneak attack, but instead, Cloak & Dagger modifies all of the damage you deal when sneak attacking. As a result, the perk by itself increases a ranged sneak attack from 2x (1x normal + 1x sneak) to 2.4x (1x normal + 1.4x sneak), not the 2.2x one would expected from Mister Sandman. Furthermore, Cloak & Dagger genuinely applies a +20 percent effect, i.e. it multiplies by 1.2; as of patch 1.4 Mister Sandman's modifiers are percentage points, so with 3 ranks you add +0.5x total damage to a modified sneak attack, meaning it functionally works like Ninja but worse.
Order of Operations
As of patch 1.4, Cloak & Dagger interacts with Mister Sandman and Ninja based on the order you pick them up in; only the results of picking up maximum ranks have been tested, as opposed to all possible permutations of perk order. As per the results, if you pick up Sandman 3 before Cloak, Cloak will not affect Sandman, but if you pick it up after Cloak, Cloak will affect it. In addition, the specific order of Sandman 3->Ninja 3->Cloak results in Cloak not affecting Ninja; in all other orders, it will affect Ninja. This means you can achieve the maximum multiplier of 4.8x by getting Cloak before Sandman 3; if you insist on taking Sandman 3 before Cloak, taking Ninja 3 first or third will still get you the second-best multiplier of 4.7x.
Notes
- Sneak attack damage listed is rather misleading. It seems to be 20% of default sneak attack damage, resulting in 40% increase on top of the Ninja perk effect, if the player has it. Result is then multiplied by the Mister Sandman perk effect, if it is applicable. Examples:
- No perks other than Cloak and Dagger. Sneak attacks will do 2.4x damage with a ranged weapon or 3.6x with a melee weapon.
- Ninja rank 3, no Mister Sandman. Sneak attacks will do 4.2x damage.
- Ninja rank 3, Mister Sandman rank 3, silenced weapon. Sneak attacks will do 5.25x damage, rounded up to 5.3x in game message.
- There does seem to be a bug with the calculations with all three perks active, depending on the order in which they were granted, as follows:
- The 1.4 patch lowered the spread and max of multipliers:
- Ninja 3, Cloak, Sandman 3 = 4.8x
- Cloak, Sandman 3, Ninja 3 = 4.8x
- Cloak, Ninja 3, Sandman 3 = 4.8x
- For all of the above, this means Cloak does modify Ninja and Sandman.
- Ninja 3, Sandman 3, Cloak = 4.7x
- Sandman 3, Cloak, Ninja 3 = 4.7x
- For either of the above 2, this means Cloak does modify Ninja but not Sandman.
- Sandman 3, Ninja 3, Cloak = 4.4x (!)
- This means Cloak does not modify Sandman or Ninja - all 3 perks stack additively.
- Pre-1.4 patch:
- Ninja 3, Cloak, Sandman 3 = 6.3x
- Cloak, Sandman 3, Ninja 3 = 6.3x
- Sandman 3, Cloak, Ninja 3 = 6.3x
- Ninja 3, Sandman 3, Cloak = 6.3x
- Sandman 3, Ninja 1, Cloak, Ninja 3 = 5.9x
- Sandman 3, Ninja 2, Cloak, Ninja 3 = 5.9x
- Sandman 3, Ninja 3, Cloak = 5.9x
- Cloak, Ninja 3, Sandman 3 = 5.4x (!)
- The 1.4 patch lowered the spread and max of multipliers:
- The perk's icon uses the design of the Stealth Boy from Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas instead of the Fallout 4 variant.
- Ace Operator's acquisition has no bearing on the order, as it is a flat damage bonus and not a multiplier.
Bugs
Obtaining the Cloak and Dagger perk may contribute to a bug where the combination of the Sniper perk and armor with the Stabilization mod being worn on both arms no longer prevents all sway when aiming down a scope. See the bug section on the Sniper page for a potential work around.
