Explosives

Explosives is a skill in Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, replacing the Traps and Throwing skills from previous games. Its governing primary statistic is Perception.

Fallout 3
$$\text{Initial level}=2+(2\times\text{Perception})+\left\lceil\frac{\text{Luck}}{2}\right\rceil$$

Example: A starting Perception of 5 and Luck of 5.

$$2+(2\times5)+\left\lceil\frac{5}{2}\right\rceil=15$$

The Explosives skill governs the ability to use all mines, grenades and Explosives skill based weapons (excluding missiles and mini nukes - see Big Guns).

The higher your skill, the higher the damage you inflict. The Explosives skill also affects the distance and accuracy of a thrown bomb (e.g. frag grenade, pulse grenade etc.)

The player's Explosives skill determines how close you can get to a mine before it detects you, as well as how long the mine will take before it explodes. There does not appear to be a minimum Explosives skill necessary to disarm a mine, so long as you can run up and activate it fast enough.

Ways to increase Explosives

 * Permanent
 * Leveling up (10+INT (+3 with Educated perk))
 * Bobblehead - Explosives (+10)
 * Little Leaguer (+5 for each rank)
 * Duck and Cover! (+1 or 2 with Comprehension)
 * Tag! (+15)
 * Temporary
 * Mentats (+2-10 depending on current Perception, a perfect Perception of 10 will see no benefit)
 * Raider blastmaster helmet (+5)
 * Takoma Park Little Leaguer cap (+5)
 * Torcher's mask (+5)
 * Bombshell armor (+10)
 * Desmond's eyeglasses (+5)

Affected weapons
Fallout 3 Explosives skill weapons, 2

Interactions that require Explosives skill
Specific levels of Explosives are required to disarm certain explosive-based traps.
 * 25 is required to disarm or detonate Megaton's atom bomb.
 * 30 is required to disarm hanging grenade bouquets
 * 45 is required to disarm rigged computer terminals
 * 50 Explosives is required to train the residents of Big Town in placing a minefield during Big Trouble in Big Town.
 * 60 is required to disarm rigged baby carriages.
 * High explosives can cause Reilly to reveal that her rangers left mines to slow down the mutants during the Reilly's Rangers quest.
 * Note: The Repair skill is used to disarm any trip wires or pressure plates associated with traps.

Fallout: New Vegas
$$\text{Initial level}=2+(2\times\text{Perception})+\left\lceil\frac{\text{Luck}}{2}\right\rceil$$

Example: A starting Perception of 5 and Luck of 5.

$$2+(2\times5)+\left\lceil\frac{5}{2}\right\rceil=15$$

In Fallout: New Vegas, many more types of weapons fall into the Explosives category. Any weapon that was originally a big gun in Fallout 1, 2, or 3 and used explosion type ammunition (such as the Fat Man, or Rocket Launcher), was moved to this category when the Big Guns skill was removed.

Ways to increase Explosives

 * Permanent
 * Leveling up (Up to +15 (+2 with Educated perk))
 * Duck and Cover! (+3 or 4 with the Comprehension)
 * Optics Enhancer implant (+2 depending on current Perception, a perfect Perception of 10 will see no benefit.)
 * Tag! (+15)
 * Skilled (+5)
 * Temporary
 * Patriot's Cookbook (+10 or 20 with Comprehension.)
 * Absinthe (+6 with 100 Survival, Perception of 10 will see no benefit, 8-9 will see reduced benefit.)
 * Mentats +4, Perception of 10 will see no benefit, 9 will see reduced benefit.)
 * Raider blastmaster helmet (+5)
 * Advanced riot gear (+10)
 * Dr. Mobius' glasses (+10)

Affected weapons
Note: most explosive weapons have damage listed as "1 (or 2) + some number." The 1 (or 2) is the damage that the projectile (like a thrown grenade) or placed explosive (like a mine) does upon a direct hit, pretty much just from physics. As such, that number can generally be ignored for most intents and purposes (and damage calculations for grenades and mines in the Pip-Boy 3000 appear to do so).

Fallout: New Vegas Explosives skill weapons, 2

Interactions that require Explosives skill

 * 25 Explosives to convince Easy Pete that you can handle his dynamite when assembling a posse for Ghost Town Gunfight.
 * 25 Explosives to comment on the bomb Dean Domino placed under your chair.
 * 35 Explosives to disarm the bomb in the monorail train at Camp McCarran.
 * 35 Explosives to kill the Weathers' in Left My Heart.
 * 40 Explosives to tell Pete, a child Boomer, something that will get you boomer fame.
 * 45 Explosives to completely train the Misfits in the use of grenades (25 or 35 to give an incomplete instruction).
 * 50 Explosives to free the Weathers in Left My Heart without the key.
 * 50 Explosives to blow up both the sulfur deposits under Vault 19 and the entire Vault.
 * 50 Explosives to rig President Kimball's Vertibird to explode in Arizona Killer.
 * 50 Explosives to defuse the bomb onboard the President's Vertibird in You'll Know It When It Happens.
 * 50 Explosives to help Caesar's Legion learn to disarm NCR mines.
 * 50 Explosives for a skill check during The Job when discussing what caused the destruction of Hopeville with Ulysses.
 * 60 Explosives to blow up the sulfur deposit under Vault 19 without blowing up the Vault.
 * 65 Explosives to teach ED-E how to make satchel charges.
 * 75 Explosives to threaten Father Elijah without blowing up the Sierra Madre vault.