Action Points

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Action Points (or AP) is a game mechanic governing the number of things a character can do during one combat turn in Fallout and Fallout 2. In Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, Action Points are used to attack in V.A.T.S. In Fallout 4 and Fallout 76, Action Points are also used to attack in V.A.T.S., in addition to holding breath while using scopes, sprinting and operating the jet pack.

Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout TacticsEdit

Action Points are spent firing a weapon, reloading a weapon, fetching equipment from a character's backpack or moving to a new battlefield hex.

$ \text{Initial level}=5+floor\left\lfloor\frac{\text{Agility}}{2}\right\rfloor $

Example: A starting Agility of 5.

$ 5+\left\lfloor\frac{5}{2}\right\rfloor=7~\text{Action points} $

NotesEdit

• The Action Boy perk adds 1 AP per rank.
• The Bonus Move perk adds 2 special AP per rank that can only be used for movement.
• In Fallout and Fallout 2, the counter only shows up to 10 APs but internally it keeps track of any extras. In Fallout Tactics all APs show properly.
• In Fallout Tactics in continuous turn based mode, the AP regeneration rate is directly proportional to the amount of AP a character has.

Fallout 3Edit

Action points are used in the V.A.T.S. system to attack opponents, each weapon has it own cost per use and can be found on the weapons page. Unlike in the turn-based games, action points are not accumulated at the end of a turn. Instead, Action Points are regenerated over time.

$ \text{Initial level}=65+(2\times\text{Agility}) $

Example: A starting Agility of 5.

$ 65+(2\times5)=75~\text{Action points} $

NotesEdit

• Maximum initial base is capped at 85 AP.
• This limit can be increased with the addition of bonuses (see table below).
• The Level 20 perk Grim Reaper's Sprint restores all Action Points by successful killing an enemy during one round of V.A.T.S.

Fallout 3 AP bonusesEdit

Maximum AP

The maximum figure achievable without chems is 148. Starting AP = 65 + 10 Agility (85) + the Action Boy perk at level 16 (110) + Ledoux's hockey mask (135) + the tribal power armor (148). The +15AP bonus is negated by the -1 Agility penalty which the armor carries. An alternative to negate the -1 Agility is to use the Chinese stealth armor multiple hat glitch/exploit to wear Poplar's hood which has a +1 Agility bonus and stack it with Ledoux's mask for the +30 AP, making the maximum total 150 AP.

The maximum figure achievable with items and chems is a massive 280. (148) + Jet (178) + Ultrajet (218) + Nukalurk meat (228) + Nuka-Cola Quantum (248) + Mississippi Quantum pie (268) + alien biogel (278). The -1 Agility/ -2AP penalty carried by the tribal power armor can be negated using either more alien biogel or fire ant nectar (280). An alternative to negate the -1 Agility is to use the Chinese stealth armor multiple hat glitch/exploit to wear Poplar's hood which has a +1 Agility bonus and stack it with Ledoux's mask for the +30 AP.

Fallout: New VegasEdit

Action Points in New Vegas function mechanically identical to those in Fallout 3, however the agility bonus is multiplied by 3 instead of 2.

$ \text{Initial level}=65+(3\times\text{Agility}) $

Example: A starting Agility of 5.

$ 65+(3\times5)=80~\text{Action points} $

Notes:

• Maximum initial base is capped at 95 AP.
• This limit can be increased with the addition of bonuses (see table below).

Fallout New Vegas AP bonusesEdit

Name	AP bonus	Duration	Value	Base ID	Notes
Agility	3-30	Permanent	N/A	N/A	3 AP per Agility point
Kamikaze	10	Permanent	N/A	00135f05	Trait
Action Boy/ Action Girl	15(per rank)	Permanent	N/A	00031dba (Action Boy) 0007b202 (Action Girl)	Level 16 Perk bonus
Nerves of Steel	None (see notes)	Permanent	N/A	000e2c49	Perk increasing AP Regen rate by +20%.
Atomic!	None (see notes)	While irradiated	N/A	xx008011	Perk increasing AP Regen rate with radiation level.
Grim Reaper's Sprint	None (see notes)	When triggered	N/A	00099834	Perk restores 20 AP on a kill in V.A.T.S.
General Oliver's uniform	20	While equipped	100	0015e35d
Courier duster	15	While equipped	1700	xx009253 (Yes-Man variant)	"Fighting Chance" (Legion variant) in Lonesome Road
Armor of the 87th Tribe	10	While equipped	6500	xx00c716	Found in Lonesome Road
Nuka-Cola Victory	10	2 minutes	75	000e2f6c
Rocket	30	1 minute	20	00146ccd
Dixon's jet	10	4 minutes	5	00122b49
Jet	15	4 minutes	20	00015164
Ultrajet	40	4 minutes	50	000c9cf4
Trail mix	7	30 seconds	5	0013d572
Mushroom Cloud	4	20 seconds	50	0015e3a4
Sugar Bombs	13	30 seconds	5	0008c551
Battle brew	40	20 seconds	150	xx01495e	Found in Old World Blues - the "Red Mist" effect
Nuka-Cola Quantum	20	4 minutes	30	000284f9	Found in Lonesome Road

Regeneration rateEdit

A character will take 16.66 seconds to recover their AP bar to full regardless of their AP total, unless their AP is modified by perks. It should be noted that AP gained through perks do NOT count towards regeneration rate. Therefore, a player character with 115 AP, 30 of which were gained through Action Boy perks, would actually take over 23 seconds to fully recover their AP bar. Furthermore, the perk Nerves of Steel decreases this regeneration period by 20%, to a potential minimum recovery period of 13.33 seconds.

The exact recovery time can be derived from the GECK variable Action Points Restore Rate, which in Fallout: New Vegas is the inverse of the number of seconds required to fully restore the AP bar. The default value is 0.060 (1/0.06 = 16.66 seconds).

Fallout 4Edit

Action Points in Fallout 4 function mechanically identically to those in Fallout 3 and New Vegas; however, Agility is multiplied by 10 instead of 2 or 3 to calculate how many you have.

$ \text{Initial level}=60+(10\times\text{Agility}) $

Example: A starting Agility of 5.

$ 60+(10\times5)=110\text{ Action points} $

Base action points regeneration rate is 6.0% per second or 16.66 seconds ( 100/6.0 ) from 0 to 100%.

Action Points can now be used to sprint. The rate at which they deplete while sprinting relies on Endurance.

Action Point Cost per shotEdit

Weapon mods can affect AP cost. V.A.T.S. will only allow 16 shots to be queued, regardless of any remaining AP afterward.

• Lower cost: anything with the prefix "Light, Quick, Hair Trigger, Advanced, Reflex, or Sharpshooter" reduces AP cost in V.A.T.S.
• Higher cost: anything with the prefix "Heavy, Long, Rapid, Piercing, Automatic, Large, Drum, Full, Scope and Sniper" increases AP cost in V.A.T.S.

Fallout 76Edit

Action Points in Fallout 76 function similarly to those in Fallout 4 ; starting at 60 AP and increasing by 10 for every level in Agility.

$ 60+(10\times\text{Agility}) $

Base action point regeneration rate is 6.0 per second or 16.66 seconds ( 100/6.0 ) from 0 to 100%.

Action Points can also be used to jump and sprint. The rate at which they deplete while sprinting relies on Endurance, the Agility perk card Marathoner and being overencumbered.

Action points are also spent when attempting to enter VATS while no VATS targets are visible. The cost of this is 5 action points per attempt. No action points are spent when successfully targeting, however.

Hunger and Thirst also directly affect the number of action points a player has, as well as the regeneration rate. So staying full and hydrated is recommended to be in top shape.

Action Point Cost per shotEdit

Weapon mods can affect AP cost. V.A.T.S. will only allow 16 shots to be queued, regardless of any remaining AP afterward.

• Lower cost: anything with the prefix "Light, Quick, Hair Trigger, Advanced, Reflex, Marksman or Sharpshooter" reduces AP cost in V.A.T.S.
• Higher cost: anything with the prefix "Heavy, Long, Rapid, Piercing, Automatic, Large, Drum, Full, Scope and Sniper" increases AP cost in V.A.T.S.