Are critical hits possible outside of V.A.T.S.?

[Jeff Kaos]

Now that I'm further into the game after a little more than a month I'm doing more min/maxing and playing the meta and I was wondering if critical hits can happen randomly outside of VATS or do they need to be triggered manually through VATS? I don't normally use VATS for any of my current builds so I'm starting to wonder if Perks, weapon mods or legendary effects that effect critical chance or damage are worth using if crits don't happen outside of VATS.

[PotatoBasket]

Nope. Gotta hit that space bar.
You can get weak-point hits which are just aiming at a mobs weak point and aligning with the appropriate hit box; that won't count for your challenges and you won't get the extra VATS critical damage from perks and the like.
I have always disliked VATS, too. It's a good mechanic, though.

[virpyre]

Critical hits are only possible outside of V.A.T.S. if the player's critical damage is increased, such as by using Overdrive, or if the attack is a Sneak Attack on the Head no other body part counts. Critical damage can also be increased in small increments by reading perk Magazines and Bobbleheads.

[PotatoBasket]

Originally posted by virpyre:

Critical hits are only possible outside of V.A.T.S. if the player's critical hit chance is increased, such as by using Overdrive, or if the attack is a Sneak Attack on the Head no other body part counts. Critical damage can also be increased in small increments by reading perk Magazines and Bobbleheads.

Oh snap, that counts for the challenges? That's awesome!

[Didaibr]

Originally posted by virpyre:

Critical hits are only possible outside of V.A.T.S. if the player's critical hit chance is increased, such as by using Overdrive, or if the attack is a Sneak Attack on the Head no other body part counts. Critical damage can also be increased in small increments by reading perk Magazines and Bobbleheads.

Overdrive only increase critical change in Fallout 4, they change in 76 to increase critical damage

[Mooman]

Crits are tied to your luck stat with the equation: crit fill % = (luck * 1.5) + 5 per hit.

The crit fill legendary perk adds a flat 15% per hit or: crit fill % = (luck * 1.5) + 20 per hit.

With that equation you can use crit savvy perk and see how many hits it takes to fill the crit meter. Game will round up so 54.5 is same as 55 (rank 3 of crit savvy).

[Kydyrium]

I don't use vats at all and get crits all the time

[steventirey]

Originally posted by Kydyrius:

I don't use vats at all and get crits all the time

No you don't. Dealing damage to weak spots is not a critical hit. Sneak attacks are not critical hits. The only way to get a critical hit is by using VATS and hitting the button when the bar has filled up.

[Kydyrium]

Originally posted by steventirey:

Originally posted by Kydyrius:

I don't use vats at all and get crits all the time

No you don't. Dealing damage to weak spots is not a critical hit. Sneak attacks are not critical hits. The only way to get a critical hit is by using VATS and hitting the button when the bar has filled up.

Yes I do and I don't use sneak build. If I wasn't getting crits for the daily quests when they come up, I wouldn't get any score finishing it for getting crits

Originally posted by virpyre:

Critical hits are only possible outside of V.A.T.S.