How do critical hits work?

[Smaisteri]

I'm trying to make a sniper build, so I could possibly one hit kill or otherwise do as much damage as possible on the first hit on an unaware opponent. The obvious choices to maximize my damage output of course are the rifle damage increasing perks and the Ninja -perk from Agility that increases sneak critical damage.

But what of the other perks from Luck? Does Better Criticals -perk affect sneak critical damage? I also hear you can ''store'' critical hits to be used whenever you want in VATS with the Critical Banker -perk. Can I use it in correlation with a sneak attack or does it not work? I'm equipped with the Righteous Authority laser rifle which should double critical damage but I think it does not affect sneak crits, does it?

Any help would be appreciated to maximize the initial critical damage done while sneaking.

[Madcain]

critical hits in the game are only the ones you select to use when you have it ready in VATS.
sneak damage is sneak damage.

the mister sandman perk in agility offers at max rank 50% extra sneak damage with silenced weapons.

so to max a sneaky sniper build it would have to be max non-auto rifle damage + max mister sandman with a silenccer.

[ZeratulR]

Well by now it's probably all figured out, but here are my thoughts and observations.
Critical hits and sneak hits are triggered independently of each other, but that doesn't mean that they can't activate simultaneously thus complementing each other. Sneak attack is activated whenever you attack while crouching when the word "Hidden" is at the centre of the screen (maybe it also works with "caution" not sure about that, but certainly not when it's "danger"). Critical hits are activated from the V.A.T.S. when the special bar (which is filled by successful hits in V.A.T.S based on the luck) is filled, by pressing spacebar. If you go into V.A.T.S while hidden and use critical strike on the enemy head (critical hits never miss), both sneak and critical multiplayer will be applied which will potentially result in a huge amount of damage.

So here are my thoughts on perks (theorycrafting for the most part as I started very wrong and am presently on my way to this build, though it's pretty good as is). Rifleman never hurts to get as soon as possible, then where are two paths: stealth and criticals. I go for criticals first of all: it's either the critical banker (which allows you to store more than 1 critical hit) or gun nut/science depending on what weapons you are using. It's definitely science for Righteous Authority (RA) because with this perk and some junk you can build mod which adds 300% to critical multiplier (with more level of science and more junk it gets even better). Compared to this, better criticals are not very good as they add only 100% at level 15, should still get it when there are points to spare. Of course you should get as much points into sneak as you need to land sneak attacks effectively and ninja is good, but once again not as good as critical mod on RA. Mister sandman is not suitable for RA, since you can't supress it, but for some rifles it could work, although I'm not sure when you would get necessary perks (it could be gun nut level 3, at level 25). As an after fought, with action boy/girl, grim reaper sprint and four leaf clover you could fill up that critical hit bar much faster.

So to sum up my idea for critical hits/stealth sniper perks: rifleman->science/gun nut->critical banker->sneak->[non-damaging perks lick locksmith, hacker, scrounger, toughness/lifegiver(?)]
->better criticals->ninja-> mister sandman->action boy/girl->grim reaper sprint->
four leaf clover->bloody mess (?)
All the perks are upgraded when possible, mind the SPECIAL requirements.

[Smaisteri]

Originally posted by ZeratulR:

Well by now it's probably all figured out, but here are my thoughts and observations...

Thanks, that's a lot of info.

Can you really apply a critical hit before you fire the first shot in VATS? Also is there any way other way to generate critical points other than landing shots while using VATS? I really don't like using it since it is incredibly inaccurate even with 5 PER.

[Mansen]

One thing to keep in mind is that a Critical Hit will never miss. You can exploit this to pull off some spectacular shots where you'd otherwise have 0% chance to hit.

[BuckshotMage66652]

There is a chem that gives you random crits like they used to be. It's called Overdrive.

[ZeratulR]

Originally posted by Smaisteri:

Originally posted by ZeratulR:

Well by now it's probably all figured out, but here are my thoughts and observations...

Thanks, that's a lot of info.

Can you really apply a critical hit before you fire the first shot in VATS? Also is there any way other way to generate critical points other than landing shots while using VATS? I really don't like using it since it is incredibly inaccurate even with 5 PER.

Well, landing shots in VATS is how the basic system work. I can't say anything about this overdrive chem because I haven't encountered it yet and since I'm swimming in psychos, jets and buffouts, it probably means that it's pretty rare. You could increase accuracy by using rifles with scopes (including reflex sight) and especially long barrels, also use gear that increases perception. I think it's mainly about weapon's effective range. With 7 per (+2 from gear) and scoped rifles I usually get around 80% on enemies (except for heads) as soon as I see them.

Originally posted by Mansen:

One thing to keep in mind is that a Critical Hit will never miss. You can exploit this to pull off some spectacular shots where you'd otherwise have 0% chance to hit.

I'm not sure that you can use critical with 0% chance or attack at all. I tried it a few times and all I got was message "you have zero chance to hit".

[Mansen]

Originally posted by ZeratulR:

]I'm not sure that you can use critical with 0% chance or attack at all. I tried it a few times and all I got was message "you have zero chance to hit".

Interesting - Just going by what I've heard personally. I don't use VATS at all.

[Brownstone]

Do sneak damage and critical stack?

[Mav]

Originally posted by Mansen:

Originally posted by ZeratulR:

]I'm not sure that you can use critical with 0% chance or attack at all. I tried it a few times and all I got was message "you have zero chance to hit".

Interesting - Just going by what I've heard personally. I don't use VATS at all.

Yeah there needs to be at least some chance of a hit in order to shoot. But hey didn't know about crits being 100% accurate. Thanks for the info

[Mansen]

Originally posted by Mr. Bumblefoot:

Do sneak damage and critical stack?

I don't think the crit will be stronger because of the Sneak damage, but both damage bonuses should apply seperately.

[SickTag]

you can crit without using the crit bar, but the crit bar is 100% chance to crit if the next shot lands.

[ZeratulR]

Originally posted by SickTag:

you can crit without using the crit bar

Any proof?

Originally posted by Mr. Bumblefoot:

Do sneak damage and critical stack?

According to NukaPedia they do.
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Damage_Resistance
If this formulas are correct (and I think they are), the final damage on the critical hit activated while hidden is (weapon damage + weapon damage*CritMultiplier)*SneakMultiplier minus the damage reduction which is usually 1% in case of critical shots.

[Smaisteri]

I wish there was another way to increase your Critical Meter other than landing shots in VATS. I really dislike it, its incredibly inaccurate. I have 5 PER and can't even hit a stationary targets head with 5 shots from 2 meters away with a standard Laser Rifle.

Well I guess I'll just have to wait for a mod that makes the Critical Meter fill over time.

[ImHelping]

Originally posted by Smaisteri:

Originally posted by ZeratulR:

Well by now it's probably all figured out, but here are my thoughts and observations...

Thanks, that's a lot of info.

Can you really apply a critical hit before you fire the first shot in VATS? Also is there any way other way to generate critical points other than landing shots while using VATS? I really don't like using it since it is incredibly inaccurate even with 5 PER.

If you mash the "Use critical" button fast enough, yes you can.

This is how I crit headshot with my laser musket, when I need to kill that raider in power armor carrying a Fatman RIGHT NOW.

I also think this is the longstanding appeal of hunting rifles over modifying a combat rifle to use .308 ammo. Hunting rifle recivers get the "more damage AND more critical bonus" recivers, while a modified to use .308 combat rifle is more convenient, but doesn't get crit bonuses (and needs Gunsmith rank 4 to mod into a .308 if you don't find one laying around on top. While a hunting rifle tops out at rank 2 outside of fancy scopes)

Funny thing is Raiders in Power armor die faster than shirtless humans with the word "Gunner" floating over their head instead of raider. The only reason Raider power armors are scary is literally every one of them I have seen since Level 5 has had a fatman (and NPCs get infinite ammo soooooo).

If I could make a skin suit out of Raiders, I've be basically invincible. "Well this one shot kills power armors so clearly this will... not, kill the man wearing nothing but a leather shinguard and a harness. okay then?"

[ZeratulR]

Originally posted by Smaisteri:

I wish there was another way to increase your Critical Meter other than landing shots in VATS. I really dislike it, its incredibly inaccurate. I have 5 PER and can't even hit a stationary targets head with 5 shots from 2 meters away with a standard Laser Rifle.

Well I guess I'll just have to wait for a mod that makes the Critical Meter fill over time.

To hit heads you need a perk called sniper. With 3 stars (level 26, 8 per) it gives you +25% accuracy to headshots. But you don't really need to hit heads if you are using criticals. Just hit torsos, until critical is ready, then critical head with your best gun.

A distance to target:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=556582121

And V.A.T.S. accuracy:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=556582317
I rarely shoot from farther away. That's 5 perception basic + 2 from gear, you'll hardly need more.

The V.A.T.S. was really bad in F3 and NV, here it's really great.