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Untitled[]
As of V 1.0.0.15, V.A.T.S. has a targeting value discrepancy regarding the player's LOS and actual bullet trajectories. This will result in a guaranteed miss if obstacles are in the way of the gun's barrel, arm's arc of throw, etc. Photonlust 06:23, 14 November 2008 (UTC)
VATS calculate accuracy at the specific moment, and does not account for the 1-2 steps that the enemy takes, nor does it account for you sliding if you were sneaking sideways.
Also, the hit percentage is actually calculated from a slightly different starting point than your actual weapon, and you can hit walls even at 95% accuracy. Repeated save and reload will show that 95% is actually inaccurate.
I don't think shots done in VATS actually reduce the condition of the weapon faster in all cases.[]
I've actually tested this with two hunting rifles of identical conditions and shot 20 shots from each one, one with only real time and one with only VATS. They both showed the identical conditions afterwards.
However, I should mention that none of those shots actually hit the enemy as I chose a glitched enemy that I couldn't hit for the test so I could take my time to make sure it was accurate. It might possibly be that only shots that actually hit the enemy count for the extra hit to the weapon's condition.
- No, this is not a matter of perception or testing. It's in the game files itself, and in fact mods have already been made to alter that value. Hunting rifles don't degrade fast enough anyways, try it with The Terrible Shotgun, which degrades terribly fast already. --DarkJeff 06:08, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
- Hmm, someone already removed it from the article, which is a shame. I wish I knew when you made this comment - this is why it's important to sign your edits. The rate in the files is x4, btw. I tossed in a mod that set it at 1 (that is, no increased degredation) and noticed an immediate change in how often I repair. This is obviously on the PC, of course. --DarkJeff 06:10, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
Well, I did some tests, and the only weapons that have different degredation in V.A.T.S. are the Flamer/Burnmaster, Minigun/Eugene, and Gatling Laser/Vengeance. All others took the exact same amount of damage in V.A.T.S. as in normal firing. All my shots hit my target (a beefed up ai-disabled Behemoth I spawned as a dummy), so that's not it either.Fiddlesoup 07:55, 3 February 2009 (UTC)
Oh, and if you cant get a mod to normalize it, I suggest not using VATS. This is mainly because some of the best weapons in the game do better outside VATS (the Metal Blaster comes to mind.) If you have a problem with aiming, try and get the Precision Gatling laser, witch has a slight auto aim effect. Axier 02:42, September 13, 2009 (UTC)
PC/360 difference?[]
A lot of the points I've never noticed on the PC - did I miss something, or are most of those for the 360 and there is a difference?
Also, in the burst mode, when the enemy dies no more ammo is used; but the animation still shows three shots fired, regardless. (Try shooting radroaches with the xuanlong, for instance.)
/Mirar 22:03, 10 December 2008 (UTC)
Reloading in V.A.T.S.[]
Does anyone know the exact AP cost to reload during VATS? 
AshRandom (Talk) 22:45, 6 January 2009 (UTC)
Zero I think. It automatically adds reload when a clip magazine is empty.
It's not zero, it's small, but not zero. Hard to see, but with some weapons, the last rounds of a magazine may not be usable in the same vats cycle even when the ap's suggest that they can.--76.108.236.41 05:14, 7 May 2009 (UTC)
Glitches[]
I was reading the glitches section and noticed this: "Sometimes, when the player opens VATS and the targeted enemy walks behind a corner, you wont be able to move until your enemy is dead." Can anyone else confirm this and which platform it occurs on? In my experience (patched PC), when an enemy runs behind a corner, my character would immediately unload all queued shots into the wall and the game would continue as normal. --Keebalicious 01:58, 20 January 2009 (UTC)
Can you use melee weapons with vats?[]
not sure, never tried going into vats in point blank range before...
- Yes, you can. You must be pretty close to your target though, otherwise you have 0% chance to hit and cannot attack. Once your character has started a VATS melee attack, he/she will automatically teleport a bit when in a sequence of melee attacks and the target moves. Golan2781 10:03, 22 February 2009 (UTC)
In addition, you can not target specific limbs in VATS when performing melee or "unarmed" combat. --Radnus 22:05 April 4 2009 CET
Enemy V.A.T.S.[]
"Various actions cost action points, and both the player and enemies can target specific body areas for attacks, inflicting specific injuries."
Has anyone actually had an instance where they've been targeted in V.A.T.S. by an enemy? Because I've never had a body-part targeted by an enemy before... Techercizer (say hi) (pwnage) 19:54, 6 March 2009 (UTC)
Havent seen enemies aiming specificly at limbs, though they are capable of hitting individual limbs none the less. They probably aim for the torso and head sections first, other sections when the previously mentioned sectioned are out of reach. Also, while they aim for heads and torsos, weapon spread can cause rounds to end up somewhere else than intended by the AI. --Radnus 22:09 April 4 2009 CET
- Except if the bastard have a Missile Launcher, it is always aimed at the feet, I swear.--Amitakartok 00:13, 30 May 2009 (UTC)
Enemies can target body parts, but they can't use V.A.T.S. The V.A.T.S system the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System. Which is a part of your PipBoy.
Limb HP[]
Is there a way to figure out how much "limb hp" a character has in a definite value? I mean, obviously, a behemoth has more limb hp than a master, but what im asking is if there's a variable in the GECK or PC version that tells you what an enemy's limb hp is.98.233.125.208 02:34, 4 April 2009 (UTC)
Temporary Godmode[]
I havent tried this yet because i dont have the liberty of having a mini nuke, but theoretically, shooting a Fat Man at point blank range shouldnt hurt you. right?
- It probably will. It's not "temporary godmode", it's "temporary super-high damage resistance". --MadCat221 03:14, 4 April 2009 (UTC)
Targeting kids[]
I do believe I was able to target Maggie in Megaton with VATS although I don't remember. I'll try tomorrow, but I'm damned sure I was able to.
T 08:36, 29 April 2009 (UTC)
95% Chance to Hit[]
When the game displays a 95% chance to hit, is that really accurate? Or does the game just round down hit chances higher than 95%, so that the player doesn't feel cheated when missing a 100% chance to hit shot because the enemy walked behind a wall or something? I'm asking this because I never seem to miss my close range 95% chance to hit shots, but I really should be missing 1 out of every 20 times. --Honeybunch 20:57, 7 May 2009 (UTC)
You're probably right, becuase it is technically impossible to miss a 100% accurate shot. but unless they go behind cover, or something gets in front of the shot, or they run in soo close the double barel shotgun does its glitch, i can honestly not remember one that i have missed --J.J.-Lopez 08:28, 28 August 2009 (UTC)
Holotapes[]
I just noticed that if you have a Holotape activated while watching a V.A.T.S round, the holotape-voice is slowed down as well. xD 217.85.225.233 18:12, 8 May 2009 (UTC)
- Heh, normal voices are slowed down as well. Hitting a Gary and hearing "GGGGGGOOOOORRRRRRREEEEEE!" is simply hilarious.--Amitakartok 00:12, 30 May 2009 (UTC)
My VATS is fucked[]
I can't single out a body part anymore. The A button doesn't wanna work.
I fast traveled to the Dunwich Building to start Broken Steel, and I VATS'd an Albino Scorpion. It started out aimed at it's stinger, and I selected it 3 times, then pressed B 3 times and went to select it's body. Only problem is the A button seems permanently greyed out. Any help?
T 01:42, 7 June 2009 (UTC)
- Ok, seems I'm an idiot. I'm supposed to hit RT to select a body part. >.> T 01:43, 7 June 2009 (UTC)
Blocking VATS hits[]
I've personally had my V.A.T.S. hit with a melee blocked on several occasions. This appears to only occur when the target is already blocking before the hit; as such, it appears that V.A.T.S. hits are NOT unblockable and that the target's AI simply doesn't start to block after a V.A.T.S. hit has initiated.--Mandalore IV 04:08, 30 July 2009 (UTC)
Minumum range for melee attacks[]
"The hitboxes of both types of weapons seem to increase and move away from the weapon. This is evident when targeting a fleeing enemy: the target may be well out of regular range when the Lone Wanderer swings his or her weapon, yet has a chance to take damage. Likewise, being right up against an enemy will sometimes give a hit percentage of 0. This seems to suggest that both types of weapon have a minimum range in V.A.T.S.."
I found that when swinging at something at very close range (close enough to be touching) with shishkebab, it would occasionally miss, and either hit a wall, object, creature, etc. behind the intended target outsude of v.a.t.s. also. i dont think there is any change in the minumum range, just that it becomes more pronounced as you never really get that close in free-aim. --J.J.-Lopez 08:19, 28 August 2009 (UTC)
- This was listed as a bug in the article. I removed it, but I'm not sure if it would be more appropriately labeled a Glitch or an Intended Feature :| Sov68n 12:06, April 29, 2010 (UTC)
What device let's you use vats?[]
Is it the pipboy 3000 or is vats it's own device(special contact lense,brain implant,etc)?
It's the Lone Wanderer's Main Charictor D.N.A. Revolverman 17:05, April 28, 2010 (UTC)
What? Where in the hell does it say that Revolverman??! 15:39, July 5, 2010 (UTC)94.10.255.49
Fat Man[]
It's possible to survive a point-blank Fat Man blast in VATS. The lower your Big Guns skill and weapon condition (if you're the one wielding it) and the higher your DR (which is taken into account before the 90% reduction of damage taken) the more likely you'll survive. I haven't tested with the MIRV but I'm gonna have to say it's not possible since it deals so much more damage, the 8 projectiles in and of themselves would almost completely negate any benefit of the 90% damage reduction. Kris (talk) 13:47, July 17, 2010 (UTC)
Introduction paragraph[]
In the introduction paragraph, it states that V.A.T.S. is used to target specfic body parts, but lacks that it also used for a cinematic combat experience. I'm going to add that, but I wanted to state my reason why. The reason is simple: Bethesda clearly put it all over the games' case.
Rare V.A.T.S bug[]
I tried to attack a mole-rat in vats unarmed, and after the vats animation (i missed) i appeared VERY far away from where I was. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.6.191.67 (talk • contribs). Please sign your posts with ~~~~!
- Unless it happens again, just write it off as a glitch. No sense listing it if it's just a one-time thing. Kris (talk) 16:05, August 6, 2010 (UTC)
I have had the same problem, several times Deathclawpoop 12:33, October 17, 2010 (UTC)
Origin of V.A.T.S[]
Ok, so the ad says it's "post-nuclear," but... wasn't it available in Anchorage? I've not played the sim in a good while so I can't exactly remember, but I'm sure I shot a Chinese commando with the Gauss Rifle through the face as soon as I picked it up... LordSchmee 09:35, September 26, 2010 (UTC)
It's a simulation, you bring your pipbody inside the battlefield (also you require the pipboy to operate the simulation) and I didn't see any NPC in the sim to have a pipboy tough. Wertoret 16:57, October 5, 2010 (UTC)
- It's really random how you can use it in Tranquility Lane if you need a PIP to use it... GamerAddict7796 16:09, April 21, 2011 (UTC)
Even More Broken Than Before[]
VATS in New Vegass, with the latest Patch, is now unbelievably bugged. Upon entering VATS, my Character stops moving completely, doesn't shoot or hit anything, and stands there rim-rod stiff as mobs tear him to pieces. This Has to be one of the worst bugs ever, especially since it makes the game unwinnable when forced to fight fast moving mobs (like those Mother Fucking Cazadar flies near Red Rock)
- Did they ever fix VATS causing enemies to appear right behind the courier? 1 giant radscorpion becaqme 7 one day using vats shortly after the game was released (10 perception, enhanced sensors showed nothing nearby but one scorpion but then I would turn around after using VATS to find a new one right behind me, bring up vats turn around again and theres another newly spawned giant scorpion). Mictlantecuhtli 04:35, December 24, 2010 (UTC)
i like blowing their heads clean off their shoulders, or exploding it, i found an eye of the sniper in Minefield, i was like cool!! 96.239.170.225 15:20, March 16, 2011 (UTC)
Fallout 1/2[]
Shouldn't fallout 1 or 2 have a little segment? I mean, it was still vats, it was just a little different.
- It was not VATS. VATS was introduced in FO3.--Gothemasticator 02:04, June 19, 2011 (UTC)
What actually is it?[]
Here's a question, what the hell actually is VATS? I mean, is it something that your Pip-boy does, or is it simply a game mechanic to allow less FPS-type people to play? If your character took off their pipboy, would they still be able to use VATS?
- VATS makes no sense. At all. Just go and watch some fallout fan-made movies on youtube. When they use VATS, you see how stupid it actually is. It's still fun from a gameplay point of view, but from a technical point of view, it's stupid. --Wiseman of the Wastes 10:21, July 26, 2011 (UTC)
I've always suspected that the Pipboy merges with the wearer's central nervous system. It tracks the information sent throughout your body and translates it into plain mathematics and pretty pictures. The way VATS works in the game is just simply gamey (along with inventory management), for time to completely stop and give you a mechanical targeting system is something you would expect from internal cybernetics. In a more realistic approach, VATS function by sending a message through your Central Nervous System to your brain to create a LOT of adrenaline for a brief period of time, giving the user a short bullet-time like euphoria, I also think the adrenaline surging through the user's arms gives them strength to resist heavy recoil and do extra damage with melee attacks. Action Points exist as a safety measure so that the user cannot kill himself by abusing VATS. I'm such a damn nerd. I also suspect that Pip-Boys are also equipped with a bottle opener. Which makes me also suspect that Pip-Boys are the cross between a smart phone and swiss-army knife. -- Mochachoca
More damage shown than done[]
I tried to use the pew-pew to kill caesar and his group in the tent,but although V.A.T.S. shows that you can kill anyone with a headshot with this gun,actually it only takes out half of their HP.My en.weap. skill is 75,if that has something to do.The damage that VATS shows is only done with a critical hit. This is a laser pistol,not a shotgun so VATS should show the precise damage it does,not more.I think this happens with other non-shotgun weapons as well,but not with so big difference!--Frizstyler 14:02, July 29, 2011 (UTC)
Ha,maybe the pew-pew is a melee weapon,where i have skill 30,so that explains the difference--Frizstyler 09:11, July 30, 2011 (UTC)
Most Poorly Designed Mechanic in any Video Game[]
Barely works half of the time. Always does that stupid dodge move you have no control of choosing which breaks and locks you in vats as you die. Still hasn't been fixed in New Vegas after the final patch. Garbage. Absolute utter garbage. --an0my(talk) 16:37, October 9, 2011 (UTC)
Double damage melee in V.A.T.S.[]
(I posted a bit about this on the Protonic Inversal Axe's talk page). I got curious about melee damage after noticing that my gf was basically one-shotting most things in V.A.T.S. with the Protonic Inversal Axe's special attack. Which, mathematically, didn't make sense. It's possible the Axe has a 2.5x multiplier instead of a 2x multiplier (like the Katana) but that's still nowhere close to one-shotting everything.
however, I did notice this "unknown" GECK value: fVATSAutomaticMeleeDamageMult, which defaults to 2. (search for it on the GECK wiki and you'll see it marked as unknown in a couple places). Seems to me pretty obvious what it does - in VATS, your melee damage automatically has a multiplier of 2.
this is the only way I can make sense of the one-hit business: a potential multiplier of 2.5x for the inversal axe, and a potential second multiplier of 2x just for being in VATS. This matches up intuitively with what I've been seeing, where deathclaws on non-critical hits get taken to less than half health (since with 10 strength and no melee-specific perks - which my gf's character is set up as, this would translate into (58 + 5) x 2.5 x 2 = 315), and then a second swing finishes them off OR a critical hit completely demolishes a full-health deathclaw (assuming the crit damage bonus is also multiplied at every step of the way).
this also intuitively seems to map onto my own experiences (both watching her play and my own messing around with melee): it always seems like you need less VATS hits to kill an enemy, when you could be repeatedly wailing on them in real-time.
but since no one else has ever mentioned this, i'm really hesitant to just put it out there - especially since this would mean editing a lot of different other pages related to weapon damage and combat. can anyone verify this as well? (Thelee 21:48, January 30, 2012 (UTC))
- Oh, and also since I only have enough room for F:NV or FO3 on my windows partition, it'd also be helpful if someone could check to see if this is also the case in FO3 VATS. (Thelee 21:51, January 30, 2012 (UTC))
- OK, I can definitely verify that melee damage is doubled in V.A.T.S. This doubling occurs before DT is applied and before strength or crit damage is applied. So in the above case, the damage would work out to be ((58 x 2) + 5) x 2.5 = 302.5 damage, still enough to take a death claw past half health. I still don't know how she managed to one-shot on a critical hit, though, unless the protonic inversal axe actually has a 3x multiplier for its special attack, which also affected critical hit bonus (and she had at least 1 rank of lord death). but at least i got one question settled. so i'll be propagating this change to all F:NV related sites.
- If you want to independently verify this, just start a new game. Pull out your broad machete, and go hunting geckos with sunny smiles. Do "player.addperk <living anatomy code>" in the console, and just compare with how numbers drop with VATS and without VATS.
- Only outstanding question is whether this is true for FO3. If not, then this seems to be a change in F:NV to compensate for how much weaker melee is in VATS than before (since the damage reduction had been so heavily nerfed). (Thelee 22:59, January 30, 2012 (UTC))
I can almost guarantee the same is true for FO3. While i havent done any extensive testing about it (as i always have preffered ranged weapons and rarely use melee anyways), on my most recent game i started i was messing around in vault 101 and killed some guards in V.A.T.S. using the switchblade in about 3 hits and when i loaded up the save just before that point and tried killing them without V.A.T.S. it took about 6 hits --LolThisIsATerribleUsername (talk) 00:44, July 18, 2012 (UTC)
Sometimes you know it's a killshot/crit in VATS[]
When you fire off a shot in VATS and the camera follows the bullet/projectile that you have just fired, it's guaranteed to be a killshot unless there is an obstacle between the bullet and the targeted body part. It might be just a crit but in my case it always guarantees a kill. I have only experienced this with Lincoln's Repeater and the Alien Disintegrator. The bullet from Lincoln's Repeater tears the head off while the blue stuff from the alien rifle turns the enemy into a pile of ash. Not tested/experienced with other weapons. Experienced in FO3 and some DLCs only. --173.178.17.48 17:54, May 27, 2012 (UTC)
Unable to target projectiles?[]
I remember in Fallout 3, if a grenade or missile was heading in your direction, you could go into VATS, target the incoming projectile and shoot it out of the air. In New Vegas however, I always get a 0% chance to hit D:, has this always been there? --Bottletopman (talk) 03:45, September 2, 2012 (UTC)
- Grenades is always fine for me, though I tend to ignore it due to relatively low chances to hit. I've never tried using VATS on a missile before so I'll need to look later. If I can find enemies in NV that use missile launchers.
Message 03:55, September 2, 2012 (UTC)
Odd...in Fallout 3, grenades were always 95% chance to hit, yet in New Vegas it's down to 0%...might be one of my 30+ mods though, lol --Bottletopman (talk) 06:20, September 2, 2012 (UTC)
I remember i used Steady and got 95% chance to hit what i remember whas plasma granade, i think i mast used Varmit rifle or Cawboy Repiter in enconer whit 2 super mutants outside of Prim. After some time i tried same in Nellis Air Force Base whit mercenery but i have 0% even after using Stedy whit mach beter weapons like Paciencia, tho this time it whas Frag granade. It may be that some trown granade are inposible to hit in V.A.T.S.
How V.A.T.S. works[]
I think i figured out how V.A.T.S. could work in real life, your Pip-boy could send powerful electrical signals to your brain, basically supercharging your brain and causing your brain to process so fast that it seems time slows down, however i can't explain why time stops.
- The limiting factor to brain activity is chemical reactions at the synaptic junctions and the transmission speed of the neural pathways, just pumping in more lectricity wouldn't do anything to speed those up.
Minigun and Long Burst VATs
Hey, further testing through modding shows that Long-Burst VATs shoots more bullets, and deal more damage than ammo they consume. Anyone else want to check on this too? I want to add this in the wiki, but i need confirmation from multiple sources.
The6thMessenger (talk) 05:08, May 27, 2016 (UTC)
Cancel Fallout 4 VATS[]
You can cancel Fallout 4 VATS using the TAB button on PC. Slightly faster way to cancel it is to press the right mouse button (the aim button for guns) anytime in VATS. It gets cancelled instantly.
Critical burst[]
In New Vegas in vats critical bonus is applied to whole burst from automatic weapon, sneak headshot burst does stupendous amounts of damage.
FO4 VATS "Optimization"[]
In my experience, VATS seems to treat every shot as if fired under "ideal conditions". For instance, a VATS shot from a gauss rifle counts as fully charged, even though charging isn't something that you do in VATS. Likewise, all shots from a laser weapon seem to be at full power, even though second and subsequent shots from lasers are usually not as powerful as the first if you don't wait to let the capacitor return to full charge between shots. Is this something that can be confirmed? Ted C (talk) 22:58, 24 January 2021 (UTC)
Section for Fallout 1/2 needed[]
A section needs to be added for the V.A.T.S. targeting system in Fallout 1 and 2. "Targeted attacks" in the first two games are essentially the V.A.T.S. system, even though they may not be referred to that way by name. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Antipsychotic0451 (talk • contribs). Please sign your posts with ~~~~!
- If they're not referred to as the same, we usually do not file them as the same. We do have a separate page for targeted attacks at Aimed Shot however. -LovinglyGaslight (talk) 18:40, 5 April 2022 (UTC)