Character condition

Condition can refer to two things — either the condition of the character or (in Fallout 3 only) the condition of their equipment.

Personal condition
There are many things that can alter your condition. There are different kinds of poison, chems, drugs, wounds that all influence your condition.

Your Character can be:


 * Addicted
 * Blind
 * Concussed
 * Overdose
 * Poisoned
 * Radiated
 * Unconscious
 * Winded

Or can have crippled limbs like:


 * Crippled Arm
 * Crippled Eye
 * Crippled Leg

If you suffer from multiple crippled limbs you can even become Immobile.

Equipment condition in Fallout 3
The condition of your weapon/armor directly affects its value and damage.

The value of an item can be approximated by


 * $$\mbox{Maximum Value} \times (\mbox{Condition\%})^{1.5}$$

For example, the 10mm Pistol has a maximum value of 225 bottlecaps when in perfect condition. At 25% condition, the pistol's value can be approximated as,


 * $$\begin{array}{rl} & 225 \times 0.25^{1.5} \\

= & 28.125 \end{array}$$

As condition degrades, weapon damage will scale linearly from full damage at 100% condition to 66% of the damage at 0% condition for firearms.


 * $$\mbox{DAM}_{\mbox{Single}} = \mbox{Base Damage} \times (0.66 + 0.34 \times \mbox{Condition\%})$$

This works for single-shot weapons only. For example, the 10mm Pistol has a damage rating of 9 at 100% condition and 100 Small Guns. At 25% condition, the pistol's damage would be,


 * $$\begin{array}{lcl} && 9 \times (0.66 + 0.34 \times 0.25) \\

& = & 6.705 \\ & \approx & 7 \end{array}$$

For fully-automatic weapons, the damage will scale linearly to about 54% of the base damage at 0% condition.


 * $$\mbox{DAM}_{\mbox{Full}} = \mbox{Base Damage} \times (0.54 + 0.46 \times \mbox{Condition\%})$$

For example, the Assault Rifle shows an in-game DAM value of 38 at 100% condition and 100 Small Guns. At 25% condition, the Assault Rifle's displayed damage would be,


 * $$\begin{array}{lcl} && 38 \times (0.54 + 0.46 \times 0.25) \\

& = & 24.89 \\ & \approx & 25 \end{array}$$

Melee weapons scale to 50% damage at 0% condition.


 * $$\mbox{DAM}_{\mbox{Melee}} = \mbox{Base Damage} \times (0.50 + 0.50 \times \mbox{Condition\%})$$

If condition of a weapon degrades all the way to 0%, the item is broken and cannot be used until repaired. In the case of equipped armor and clothing, bonuses to skills or attributes will still apply even if the item is broken, but once removed it will have to be repaired before it can be re-equipped.

Another consequence of poor condition when using weapons is the reload animation. The lower the condition of the weapon, the more likely it is to jam, causing the player to adjust the magazine, thus taking longer to complete the animation. A weapon with 100% CND will never jam, while weapons in a poor state of repair will jam quite frequently.

Armor's Damage Resistance is similarly affected - follows a Linear Regression fit to the following formula:[citation needed]


 * $$\mbox{DR} = 11.62 + .38 \times \mbox{Condition\%}$$