Action points

...
“
The number of actions that the character can take during one combat turn.

”— Fallout In-game description
**Action points** (or **AP**) is a game mechanic governing the number of things a player can do during one combat turn in *Fallout* and *Fallout 2*. In *Fallout 3*, *Fallout: New Vegas*, and *Fallout 4*, Action Points are used to fire weapons in the V.A.T.S. mode.

## *Fallout*, *Fallout 2* and *Fallout Tactics*

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

# Initial level
5

⌊

Agility
2

⌋

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

Example: A starting Agility of 5.

5

⌊

5
2

⌋

=
7

Action points

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

### Notes

* 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 they are completely invisible, not appearing on the counter at all. In Fallout 2, they are colored yellow to distinguish them from normal AP.
* The Quick Recovery perk reduces the cost of getting back up after being knocked down in mid battle from the enormous 4 AP to 1 AP.
* Similarly, Quick Pockets reduces the AP cost for accessing your Inventory in mid battle.
* Both Bonus HtH Attacks & Bonus Rate of Fire perks reduce AP cost for specific combat type. The first affects Unarmed, while the latter affects ranged (including thrown).
* The Fast Shot Trait has the same effect as the above Bonus Rate of Fire perk, but at the cost of not being able to target specific body parts/use VATS.
* The Bruiser trait reduces your initial AP by 2.
* 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 3*

Action points are consumed in V.A.T.S. system to fire at opponents, each weapon has it own cost per use and can be found in the weapons page. Unlike in the turn-based games, action points in *Fallout 3* and *Fallout: New Vegas* are not accumulated at the end of a turn. Instead, action points are regenerated over time.

# Initial level
65
(
2
×
Agility
)

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

Example: A starting Agility of 5.

65
(
2
×
5
# )
75

Action points

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

### Notes

* Initial base AP is 65-85 AP depending on Agility.
* This limit can be increased with the addition of bonuses (see table below).
* Though somewhat difficult, and by utilizing all possible bonuses, the maximum AP possible is 280 AP for a brief time.

### *Fallout 3 AP Bonuses*

¹ Due to a coupled penalty of -1 Agility point, the overall effect of the armor is only an increase of 13 AP. This can be offset by wearing Poplar's hood(+1 Agility), or consuming Fire ant nectar(+4 Agility), Alien biogel or Adapted biogel(both biogels have a 5% chance of +2 Agility and a 25% chance of random negative penalty).
### *Regeneration Rate*

Action points are regenerated at a flat rate of 1 per .25 seconds, or 4 per second. A character with average (5) Agility will need 18.75 seconds to fill their AP bar after depleting it.

## *Fallout: New Vegas*

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

# Initial level
65
(
3
×
Agility
)

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

Example: A starting Agility of 5.

65
(
3
×
5
# )
80

Action points

{\displaystyle 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).

### *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 perks do NOT count towards regeneration rate. Therefore a player 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 fActionPointsRestoreRate, which in Fallout New Vegas is the inverse of the number of seconds required to fully restore the AP bar. The default value is 0.06 (1/0.06 =16.66 seconds).

## *Fallout 4*

In *Fallout 4*, action Points function similarly to *Fallout 3* and *Fallout: New Vegas*; however, Agility is multiplied by 10 instead of 2 or 3 to calculate total AP.

# Initial level
60
(
10
×
Agility
)

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

Example: Starting base Agility of 5.

60
(
10
×
5
# )
110
 Action points

{\displaystyle 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 are also used when sprinting. The rate at which action points deplete in sprint relies on Endurance.

## *Fallout 76*

Action Points in *Fallout 76* function near exactly the same as in *Fallout 4*; starting at 60 AP and increasing by 10 for every level in Agility.

60
(
10
×
Agility
)

{\displaystyle 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 are also be used to jump and sprint. The rate at which they deplete while jumping or in sprint 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.

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.