Critical Chance

Critical Chance is a derived statistic in Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout 3, Fallout Tactics and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel.

Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics
The chance to cause a critical hit in combat is increased by this amount. An Aimed Shot has a higher chance to score a critical hit than an unaimed shot. In Fallout Tactics, the Science skill also apparently has an effect on critical chance against robotic enemies.


 * $$\text{Initial level}=\text{Luck}\times1\%$$


 * The Finesse trait increases the critical chance by 10%.
 * The More Criticals perk increases the critical chance by 5% per rank.
 * The Sniper perk increases the critical chance to 10*Luck for ranged weapons.
 * The Slayer perk increases the critical chance to 100% for melee weapons.

Base Chance
Luck in the main base factor that determines the chances of a critical strike on a opponent.


 * $$\text{Initial level}=\text{Luck}\times1\%$$

Example: A starting Luck of 5.


 * $$5\times 1=5\%~(\text{Base chance})$$

Notes:
 * Maximum initial base is capped at 10%.
 * Ninja perk can increase this limit by another +15% for Melee and Unarmed weapons.
 * Finesse perk can increase this limit by another +5%.
 * Survival Expert perk can increase this limit by another +3%.
 * Strikes dealt in V.A.T.S have additional +15% critical chance added.
 * Some weapons have 0% chance of a critical strike (see Critical Multiplier for detail of effects).

Critical Multiplier
All weapons have a critical multiplier that modifies the player's base critical chance to create a new percentage to score a critical hit. This may improve or hinder the player's ability to score a critical hit depending on the weapons Critical multiplier.


 * $$\text{Base chance}\times\text{Critical multiplier}$$

Example: A starting Luck of 5 and using a Sniper Rifle.


 * $$5\times 1=5\%~(\text{Base chance})\times5=25\%~(\text{Critical multiplier})$$

Notes
 * The critical multiplier for fully automatic weapons is much lower than for single-shot weapons.
 * There are a few weapons that have a x 0 multiplier, which makes it impossible to score a critical hit
 * For a detailed list of weapon critical multipliers see Fallout 3 weapons.

Weapon Condition
The final critical chance is also modified by weapon condition.


 * $$\mbox{Base chance} \times \mbox{Critical multiplier} \times \mbox{Condition}$$

For example, a character with 5 Luck and using a Sniper Rifle in 50% condition would have,


 * $$5\times 1=5\%~(\text{Base chance})\times5=25\%~(\text{Critical multiplier})\times50\%~(\text{Condition})=12.5\%~\text{Critical chance}$$

Fallout: New Vegas
The formulas for critical chance seem unchanged from Fallout 3. You receive 1% of critical chance for each point placed into Luck. At character creation you can add an additional 3% for all weapons by choosing the Built to Destroy trait.


 * Attributes, perks and traits that increase critical chance include:
 * Luck (permanent +1-10%)
 * Built to Destroy (permanent +3%)
 * Finesse (permanent +5%)
 * Ninja (permanent +15% for melee and unarmed weapons, may be bugged see the article)
 * Laser Commander (permanent +10% with lasers).
 * Set Lasers for Fun (permanent +2/4% with lasers)
 * Meat of Champions (temporary +1 Luck when eating a fresh corpse)
 * Intense Training (permanent +1 Luck if selected)
 * Luck Implant (permanent +1 Luck if purchased)


 * Items that increase critical chance -
 * 1st Recon beret (temporary +5%)
 * Naughty Nightwear (temporary +1 Luck)
 * True Police Stories (temporary +5 or 10% critical hit chance with Comprehension)
 * Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System (temporary +5% critical hit chance when using VATS)

Prior to weapon multipliers, second number indicates use of V.A.T.S. during combat.
 * This means you can raise your critical chance to -
 * 33% / 38% for Guns, Explosives and non-laser Energy Weapons.
 * 47% / 52% for laser Energy Weapons.
 * 48% / 53% for Melee Weapons and Unarmed Note: The 15% critical chance for the Ninja perk may not apply as it should, see the bugs section on the Ninja page for more details.

Weapons capable of 90-100% critical hit chance

 * All statistics assume the player has 10 Luck, Finesse, Ninja or Laser Commander/Set Lasers for Fun, Built to Destroy, a 1st Recon Beret, and has recently consumed a True Police Stories with Comprehension. The second number indicates using all of the above with the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System. In most cases where a weapon has 100%, the actual critical hit chance will be over 100%. This means the player can ignore some items in the list and still achieve a 100% critical hit chance.


 * Guns and non-laser energy weapons have a lower potential critical chance of only 23% outside of V.A.T.S. and not using True Police Stories but you can reach that maximum at Level 10.
 * With the three rifles listed below, capable of 100% critical chance, you only have to raise your critical chance to 20% to achieve maximum effect. They all have a x5 weapon multiplier.
 * Melee Weapons can't achieve their maximum critical chance until Level 20 when the Ninja perk becomes available.
 * Laser based Energy Weapons (including the Pulse Gun) can't reach their maximum potential until Level 22 with Laser Commander.


 * Guns
 * Sniper rifle (100%)
 * Prior to v1.02, only 38% after that patch.
 * Gobi Campaign scout rifle (100%)
 * Prior to v1.02, only 38% after that patch.
 * Ratslayer (100%)


 * Energy Weapons
 * Pew Pew (100%)
 * AER14 prototype (94% / 100%)
 * Alien Blaster (100%)
 * Incinerator (100%)
 * Heavy Incinerator (100%)
 * Flamer (100%)
 * Prior to v1.02, only 19% after that patch.


 * Melee
 * Shovel (100%)
 * Combat Knife (96% / 100%)
 * Chance's knife (96% / 100%)
 * Broad machete (96% / 100%)
 * Liberator (100%)
 * Straight razor (96% / 100%)
 * Figaro (100%)
 * Shishkebab (96% / 100%)
 * Switchblade (96% / 100%)
 * Cattle prod (96% / 100%)


 * Unarmed
 * Bladed gauntlet (96% / 100%)
 * Cram Opener (96% / 100%)
 * Golden Gloves (96% / 100%)
 * Mantis gauntlet (100%)

Weapons capable of 50-89% critical hit chance

 * Guns
 * Lucky (82.5% / 95%)
 * Maria (66% / 76%)
 * That Gun (82.5 / 95%)


 * Energy Weapons
 * Gauss Rifle (66% / 76%)
 * YCS/186 (66% / 76%)
 * Plasma rifle (66% / 76%)
 * Van Graff plasma rifle (66% / 76%)
 * Laser rifle (70.5% / 78%)
 * Van Graff laser rifle (70.5% / 78%)
 * Laser pistol (70.5% / 78%)
 * Q-35 Matter Modulator (66% / 76%)
 * Tesla cannon (66% / 76%)
 * Tesla-Beaton prototype (66% / 76%)
 * Tri-beam laser rifle (70.5% / 78%)


 * Melee
 * Machete (72% / 79.5%)
 * Machete gladius (72% / 79.5%)
 * Nephi's Golf Driver (57.6% / 63.6%)

Weapons capable of 39.5-49.5% critical hit chance

 * Guns
 * Ranger Sequoia (49.5% / 57%)
 * Abilene Kid LE BB Gun (49.5% / 57%)
 * Cowboy Repeater (41.25% / 47.5%)
 * La Longue Carabine (49.5% / 57%)


 * Energy Weapons
 * Plasma pistol (49.5% / 57%)
 * Recharger pistol (39.6% / 45.2%)
 * Recharger rifle (49.5% / 57%)
 * Gatling laser (47% / 52%)


 * Melee
 * Any Melee Weapons with a neutral (x1.0) critical multiplier. (48% / 53%)


 * Unarmed
 * Any Unarmed Weapons with a neutral (x1.0) critical multiplier. (48% / 53%)

Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel
In Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel, a critical hit allows to exceed the maximum limit of damage for a weapon.

Some weapons are very powerful with a high critical chance, such as the Double-Barrel Shotgun or The Slugger and also the weapons in bursts.

An energy weapon with the skill Energy Charge or a Melee weapon with the skill Special Attack can be extremely powerful if the charged attack is a critical hit.

The chance to cause a critical hit in combat is increased by

Initial Level: Each character starts with a 1% critical chance.


 * The Butcher skill (only Cain) increases the critical chance by 5% only for blades for each ranks until a total of 25%.
 * The Desert Soldier skill (only female character) increases the critical chance by 5% only for conventional weapons (weapon that uses 9mm) for each ranks until a total of 25%.
 * The Future Woman skill (only female character) increases the critical chance by 5% only for energy weapons for each ranks until a total of 25%.
 * The Heavy Hitter skill (only human male character) increases the critical chance by 5% only for Blunt weapon (Gloves, Clubs and Hammers) for each ranks until a total of 25%.
 * The Pyromaniac skill (only Cain) increases the critical chance by 5% when using a fire-based weapon (like the frag grenade, flamer, etc.) for each ranks until a total of 25%.
 * The Slayer skill increases the critical chance by 5% for each ranks until a total of 25%.
 * The Wastelander skill (only human male character) increases the critical chance by 10% only when using home-made weapons for each ranks until a total of 50%.

The type of weapon with a maximum critical chance with the skill required is the home-made weapons with a total of 75%.