Fallout 76 gameplay and combat

For damage formulas and calculation, see Damage (Fallout 76).

The following lists information for Fallout 76 gameplay and combat.

Damage types

Damage types
Icon	Namecond	Description
	Physical Damage	Damage dealt by most ballistic, explosive and melee weapons. Reduced by Damage Resistance.
	Energy Damage	Damage dealt by lasers, electricity and plasma weapons. Reduced by Energy Resistance.
	Radiation Damage	Damage dealt through radioactive weapons. Reduced by Radiation Resistance.
	Fire Damage	Damage from flame-based weapons and explosives, occasionally residual. Reduced by Damage Resistance.
	Cryo Damage	Damage dealt by cryogenic weaponry. Applies a slow effect. Reduced by Cryo Resistance.
	Poison Damage	Damage dealt by poisoned weapons, usually applied as damage-over-time (DOT). Reduced by Poison Resistance.
	Pure Damage	Damage dealt exclusively by the wendigo colossus. Pure damage is synonymous with "True damage" used by most games. This type of damage cannot be reduced, except by Damage reduction.
	Explosive Damage	Area-of-effect damage from explosives. Damage type is borrowed from the weapon. Explosive has its own %reduction perks/armor mods, and multipliers.
	Bleed Damage	Damage-over-time from certain bladed melee weapons/mods. It ignores both DR and Damage reduction.
	Electrical Damage	Electrical damage is used only in the Electrically Charged mutation, but is resisted by Energy Resistance.

Body part multipliers

Each body part has a different limb health bar, chance to be hit in V.A.T.S. and a passive damage multiplier.

All creatures and robots are made up of various body parts, each with their own unique variables, such as the base chance to hit in VATS or limb durability. Crippling most body parts will inflict serious debuffs on a target, such as a reduced mobility or even initiating a self-destruct sequence. Hitting any body part modifies the incoming damage with what we refer to as a body part multiplier. Similar to a sneak attack, the damage dealt to a target is multiplied by this number. For most body parts, this value is 1.0, which means the damage is not modified (100%; or standard damage). Below is a list of each baddie with weak and tough spots, along with their corresponding body part multipliers.

Note: NPCs that are omitted from this table do not have any weak or tough spots (100% against all limbs).

Body part multipliers
Enemy	Weak spot	Damage taken	Tough spot	Damage taken
Alien	Head	× 2.00
Angler	Head	× 1.25
Assaultron			Head	× 0.33
Beaver	Head	× 1.25
Bloatfly	Head	× 2.00
Bloodbug	Head	× 2.00
Brahmin	Head (any)	× 1.50
Cargobot	Booster (any) Flight Control System	× 2.00 × 1.25
Deathclaw	Belly	× 2.00	Tail	× 0.50
Dog	Head	× 2.00
Eyebot	Back Panel	× 3.00	Laser	× 0.25
Feral ghoul	Head	× 2.00
Firefly	Head	× 1.50
Flatwoods monster	Head	× 1.25
Fog crawler	Head	× 1.25
Fox	Head	× 1.25
Grafton Monster	Blowholes	× 2.00
Gulper	Head	× 1.50
Hermit crab	Head	× 1.50	Arm (any)	× 0.50
Honey beast	Head	× 2.00
Human	Head	× 2.00
Mega sloth	Head	× 1.25
Mirelurk	Head	× 2.00	Arm (any) Shell	× 0.50 × 0.25
Mirelurk hunter	Head	× 1.50	Arm (any)	× 0.33
Mirelurk king	Head	× 2.00
Mirelurk queen			Arm (any) Shell	× 0.50 × 0.25
Mole miner	Head	× 2.00
Mole rat	Head	× 2.00
Mothman	Head	× 1.25
Mr. Gutsy Handy Ms. Nanny	Combat Inhibitor Thruster Eye (any)	× 2.00 × 2.00 × 1.25
Mutant hound	Head	× 1.25
Opossum	Head	× 1.25
Owlet	Head	× 1.25
Power armor	Head	× 2.00
Protectron			Head	× 0.33
Radscorpion	Face	× 2.00	Claw (any)	× 0.50
Radstag	Left head Right head	× 1.25 × 2.00
Robobrain			Head	× 0.80
Squirrel	Head	× 1.25
Scorchbeast	Head	× 1.50
Scorched	Head	× 2.00
Sentry bot	Fusion Cores	× 20.0	Head	× 0.80
Sheepsquatch			Body	× 0.33
Super mutant Shielded super mutant	Head	× 2.00
Super mutant behemoth	Head	× 2.00
Snallygaster	Head	× 1.50
Stingwing	Head	× 2.00
Tick	Head	× 1.50
Turret (bubble)			Body	× 0.50
Vulture	Head	× 1.50
Wild mongrel	Head	× 2.00
Wendigo	Head	× 1.25
Wendigo colossus	Head (any)	× 2.00
Wolf	Head	× 2.00
Yao guai	Head	× 1.25

Stats

Damage statistics
Name	Description	Source
Damage, Damage Modifier
Armor Penetration		Tank Killer, Stabilized, Incisor
Condition
Sneak Attack Critical
V.A.T.S.
Critical Hit
Hit Points
Crippled Limbs
Condition
Action Points
Encumbered
Stagger
Movement Speed
Sprinting
Jumping
Damage
Armor Penetration
Damage Modifier
Damage Reduction
Damage Resistance
Energy Resistance
Radiation Resistance
Poison Resistance
Fire Resistance
Cryo Resistance
Critical Hit	+100% paper damage. Does not interact with sneak multiplier. Increases chance to hit.
Sneak Attack Critical	Multiply paper damage. Base multiplier is x2.0, maximum multiplier is x3.90.)
V.A.T.S.
Accuracy
Range
Fire Rate
Durability
Player versus player
Pacifist mode

Compass Markers

As part of the HUD, the compass can be used to orient the player, as well as display the location of nearby elements, represented with different markers. Such markers can be:

• Actor markers: represents either non-player characters or player characters. By default, the marker is colored yellow if the actor is not aggressive towards the player, or red if they are. These markers can have an arrow above or below them, which indicates that the actor is above or below the player's elevation.
  • Non-player characters: represented with a circle.
  • Player characters: represented with a square.
• Map markers: represents a location that can be fast traveled to using the map. By default only the silhouette is visible until the player has discovered the location.
• Event markers: used to indicate the location of an active event.
  • Normal events: represented with a yellow hexagon with a black outline on the inside.
  • Public events: uses the same icon as a normal event, with a black exclamation mark on the inside.
• Custom markers: represents the custom marker a player or a teammate can place on the map, it is shaped like an inverted tear drop with a circle in the middle. When nearing the location pinpointed on the map, the remaining distance will appear as a number above the marker.
• Quest markers: used to represent the location of quest objectives, such as objects, NPCs or areas. They are divided into three markers:
  • Main quest markers: represented with a square with an inner black outline pin marker. Used when the quest is classified as a main quest.
  • Side quest markers: represented with a diamond with an inner black outline pin marker. Used in side quests, daily quests and events once the player has joined them.
  • Area quest markers: used to represent a circular area where the player will find the next objective. When outside the area it is represented as a circle pin marker. Once inside the designated area, the marker will be replaced by a circle on the bottom rim of the compass, indicating that the player is inside the area.

Notes

• Items can be activated from a distance of 150 units.
• The duration of 1 in-game hour is 3 real minutes. Each in-game day takes 72 minutes to complete.

Bugs

• PC Xbox One Playstation 4 Sneak attacks will not apply bonus damage if the target is currently aggro'd ([Danger]) against another player. The sneak damage will be reflected by floating damage numbers, but will not be applied.^[verified]
• PC Xbox One Playstation 4 The message box text "Sneak attack critical" will only display if a sneak attack is dealt while [Hidden]. Sneak damage is applied whether attacking from [Hidden] or [Caution].^{[verification overdue]}
• PC Xbox One Playstation 4 Damage dealt by hitscan weapons (e.g. handmade rifle) in VATS may not apply damage against moving targets. The intended damage will be reflected by floating damage numbers, but will not be applied.^[verified]

Gallery