Action Points 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 " " , Action Points are used to attack in V . A . T . S . . In Fallout 4 , Action Points are used to attack in V . A . T . S , hold your breath while using scopes , sprint , and operate the jetpack . " Fallout " , " Fallout 2 " and " Fallout Tactics " . Action Points are spent firing a weapon , reloading a weapon , fetching equipment from a character ' s backpack or moving to a new battlefield hex . Example : A starting Agility of 5 . " Fallout 3 " . 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 in " Fallout 3 " , " Fallout : New Vegas " , and " Fallout 4 " are not accumulated at the end of a turn . Instead , Action Points are regenerated over time . Example : A starting Agility of 5 . " Fallout 3 AP bonuses " . 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 Vegas " . Action Points in " New Vegas " function mechanically identical to those in " Fallout 3 " , however the agility bonus is multiplied by 3 instead of 2 . Example : A starting Agility of 5 . Notes : " Regeneration rate " . 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 perk s 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 4 " . 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 . Example : A starting Agility of 5 . Base action points regeneration rate is 6 . 0 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 shot . Weapon mods can affect AP cost . V . A . T . S . will only allow 16 shots to be queued , regardless of any remaining AP afterward .