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For the character, see Mysterious Stranger (character). For a cross-game overview of this perk, see Mysterious Stranger. |
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“Who is he? Why does he help? Who cares! The Mysterious Stranger will appear occasionally in V.A.T.S. to lend a hand, with deadly efficiency...”— Rank 1 description
Mysterious Stranger is a Luck perk in Fallout 4.
Effects[]
Taking ranks of this perk grants a chance that the Mysterious Stranger will appear when attacking an enemy in V.A.T.S. and deal them extreme (1000, which appears to ignore Damage Resistance) damage in one shot with his weapon. Higher ranks increase the frequency of his appearances as well as grant an increasing chance that his killing an enemy will fill the Critical meter.
Ranks[]
| Rank | Requirements | Description | Form ID |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LCK 4 | Who is he? Why does he help? Who cares! The Mysterious Stranger will appear occasionally in V.A.T.S. to lend a hand, with deadly efficiency... | 0004C929 |
| 2 | LCK 4, LVL 22 | The Mysterious Stranger appears more often in V.A.T.S. | 001D2493 |
| 3 | LCK 4, LVL 41 | The Mysterious Stranger appears more often in V.A.T.S. When he kills an opponent, there is a chance your Critical meter gets filled. | 001D2494 |
| 4 | LCK 4, LVL 49 
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The Mysterious Stranger appears more often in V.A.T.S. When he kills an opponent, there is a high chance your Critical meter gets filled. | xx029B26 |
Rank 1 grants a 10% chance of an appearance
Rank 2 increases to a 12% chance
Rank 3 increases to a 14% chance
Notes[]
- The jingle for the Mysterious Stranger is a similar version of the one heard in Fallout 3, although more high pitched and with a piano riff in contrast to the previous guitar riff. There are several variations of the Mysterious Stranger's appearance jingle and disappearance chime, which are randomized when he appears to assist the player character.
- The Mysterious Stranger will have vanished from the map by the time the player character exits V.A.T.S., meaning that it is impossible to interact with him, though some companions will comment on his brief appearance.
- Nick Valentine has a unique reaction to an appearance of the Mysterious Stranger if he is the Sole Survivor's companion at the time. He demonstrates a knowledge of who the Stranger is, or at least what he can do. This is confirmed by finding the case file under Nick's bed in his office.
- Unlike in previous games, the Mysterious Stranger's face is mostly obscured by his worn fedora.
- The Stranger's appearance rate does not appear to be influenced by any other factors that are arithmetically combined with this perk's scaled appearance rate, e.g. higher Luck will do nothing to influence his appearance rate.
- There does not appear to be a cooldown timer on the perk; if at all, it is very brief.
- The damage dealt by the Mysterious Stranger is affected by a perk called MysteriousStrangerDamage, which has a magnitude of 1000.
- It appears that the attack damage is set to this value, i.e. 1000 DMG. If an enemy's HP is greater than this, then the Stranger's attack won't kill them instantly.
- The Mysterious Stranger will only appear at the end of the sequence of queued VATS attacks (including if the sequence is cancelled after one or more attacks).
- The effect will trigger when the player is using melee or unarmed attacks, in addition to ranged attacks.
- Though the Mysterious Stranger is always depicted with a .44 revolver, the death animation for the target will be based on the weapon the Sole Survivor is wielding, so they may be disintegrated if they have an equipped laser weapon or gooified if they have an equipped plasma weapon.
- The Mysterious Stranger is marked as a Ghost, and Essential, and so he cannot be killed.
- Enemies will sometimes attempt (futilely) to attack the Mysterious Stranger during his brief appearances. This is most noticeable with feral ghouls, who will attempt to perform their flying tackle on him, only to end up passing through thin air and sprawling onto the ground.
- If it were possible to kill the Mysterious Stranger, his inventory contains a (random) simple .44 revolver, some .44 ammunition, and several packs of cigarettes.
- The clothing worn by the Mysterious Stranger is the same as that of the Vault-Tec rep.
Sounds[]
| Mysterious Stranger Appears | Mysterious Stranger Vanishes |
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noicon |
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Behind the scenes[]
- The Mysterious Stranger perk was originally designed by Scott Bennie.
- The Mysterious Stranger wields a revolver and wears a fedora and overcoat, like a protagonist of a 1950s film noir.
- There were several unfinished drafts of a book by Mark Twain titled "The Mysterious Stranger," in which the title character claims to be Satan's nephew, and which contain various references to the number 44.
Bugs[]
If the Mysterious Stranger is hit by an attack that makes him stagger before he has fired his weapon, he might not end up getting a chance to fire. This appears to happen more often in confined spaces. This does not adversely affect his future performance.[verified]- On occasions, the Mysterious Stranger will appear too close to the target, preventing him from taking a shot and killing the target. This appears to be related to the game trying to place the Mysterious Stranger on the same level as his target. This does not adversely affect his future performance.[verified]
- If one targets a Vertibird in V.A.T.S., the Mysterious Stranger may appear, but will not shoot at the Vertibird.[verified]
- If the Mysterious Stranger appears while using V.A.T.S. on a ceiling turret, he will appear in the ceiling and will not damage the turret, This may also sometimes cause game crashes.[verified]
