Guide/Combat Tactics

Last updated for version `1.8.0-BETA-7`

*Main articles:* Combat, Enemies

🌀 *The content below transcludes to Special:WhatLinksHere/Guide/Combat Tactics.*
If you start combat, then consistently! Every fight brings Experience (XP) and every opponent takes you one step further to a new level. Even if you are not the one who kills the enemy in the end, you can still get the XP if you have done approx. 50% of the damage to the AI. This is important to know especially if you outsmart the AI. i.e. playing them off against each other by bringing a mob of enemies from location X to location Y and then watching how two mobs fight each other. Throw an explosive item (molotov, grenade) in, weaken them while they fight each other, gain the XP, problems can be solved all by themselves very easily ...

### Jump 'n' Run

Rule of thumb: If certain enemies are too strong then avoid them, if they are doable but the risk is high that they will significantly deplete your health bar then lure them to other enemies, if neither works then explore the Fo4 map and try to get XP through locations and at solving quests first.

* Fitness: Quick legs and a large lung at the beginning of the game help immensely, group enemies and use high area of effect (AoE) weapons, so you save ammunition and time.
* Always study AI patrol routes (the animations are always the same as soon as you know their pattern ...) and start combat afterwards.
	+ Take advantage of a Target Scanner to receive enemy status information.
	+ Sighting mods such as the "S.M.R.T. Targeting HUD" can help spotting enemies.
* Many if not all enemies are looking for close range, try to catch you, make use of it, let them follow you!
	+ Lure them into minefields (which you have to set up in advance), also works very well (regardless of player level) with behemoths and mirelurk queens.
	+ Lure them to other locations and study their speed and attack phases while you are fleeing from them (high Fitness Skill and/or AP bar doesnt hurt...),
		- Example 1: it is utterly practically to sprint through a city full of feral ghouls and attract as many of them as possible to then lead them to other locations, to other enemies. the feral ghouls AI ALWAYS attack another faction if it has become aware of it the only thing you still have to do is start the fire, molotov cocktail time.
		- Example 2: Murkwater Construction Site is difficult to take over by yourself but can usually be taken over by using the environment. Lure the Mirelurk Queen to Mr. Gutsy first and secondly both to the Sentry Bot that shows up after you "open" the door. Use pre-placed mines, Bottlecap Mines to weaken the Mirelurk Queen and Standard Mines for both robots. If all are weaken, fight each other, you gain the XP too and the settlement will be yours without taking any scratch.

### Explosives

* It is good to invest early in Demolition Expert and maybe aim for Demolitionist specialization to increase overall damage and arae of effect (AoE) damage.
* All explosive weapons are useful. Rocket Launcher, Grenade Launchers and Mines of all kinds.. There is no better crowd control.
* In Horizon, large enemies are especially susceptible to explosive weapons (Incendiary Weapons), and these enemies bring a lot of XP in a very short time if you do a lot of damage.
* Mines work wonders in all interior combat scenarios e.g. Gunners Plaza combined with high Sneak skill, if you make a mistake, you have to withdraw, a good mine layout can make up for the mistake.
* Use Molotov Cocktails, especially against animals, insects and amphibians, they can kill or greatly weaken them over time.
* Mini Nukes are best kept for very special scenarios or big game of any kind, or simply scrap them (Weapons Lab) and thus obtain large amounts of Explosive Material.

### Companions

* Companions are very useful as a distraction and to group enemies and then decimate them with a grenade.
	+ All companions need time to get better, they get XP just like you
	+ It can be problematic in tight situations, it is helpful to keep your companions in position.
* Combat Pets like Attack Dogs are extremely helpful in combat if you can conjure up many of them.
* Engineering Device (Turrets) on higher points are great as an additional source of damage or distraction.
* Mount dual auto-laser turrets on your robot's arms, very powerful in eliminating many enemies in a very short time.
* If one of your companions dies revive him with an Adrenaline Injector or wait until he is automatically resurrected.

### Melee Combat

In general, a fast weapon (combat knife, switchblade) is recommended for quickly attacking enemies and a two-handed weapon (sledge hammer, super sledge, super mutant melee) for strong enemies like super mutants up to deathclaws which can be killed with proper buffs in one hit.

Important: first strike > critical hit chance and damage > sneak attack damage > bleeding damage > stagger chance etc. All chances and damage multipliers are added to the base damage or multiplied depending on the damage mechanics. Various chems can bring the damage to unimagined heights. Example: Deathclaws can be catapulted back to the Mesozoic Era with a single hit, especially at night. If the lizard survives the blow instead, knock down or stagger chances help immensely, chems like Jet or chill effects from the cryolator can also help here from greater evil.

* Stealth: Use high Melee Combat (+Critical Hit Chance and Critical Hit Damage) combined with high Stealth skill.
	+ Detection Meter: Caution is easily manageable if stealth skill is kept as high as possible, for best results strike at night-time to save ammunition.
* It is advisable to maximize damage, critical hit chance/damage very well suited for this, so to speak a bank for high melee damage: Assassin, Ninja, Marauder and/or Master Commando just to name a few.
* High First Strike, Knock Down and/or Limb Damage doesnt hurt either together with Better Criticals and Critical Banker.
* Protection: try to invest in Strength perks and raise Tailoring and Metalworking skill.
	+ Defense values (Armor) have been revised and differ from Vanilla Fo4.
	+ If you want a good mix of hi highest physical and energy protection go for synth armor (late game). Raider and combat armor is good as alternative (early game). For clandestine mission go for leather armor, because this kind of armor allows for item mods that let you sneak better.
* A very interesting way to save ammo in Desolation Mode is to skill up Metalworking and Science and thus strengthen the Power Armor as much as possible. At the same time, focus on Tesla Bracers, which give 2x30 damage + regular fist damage and stun/stagger the enemy.
	+ While beating the enemies, which works especially well against super mutants in tight spaces, they will be stunned, while they are stunned while punching, run in a circle around the enemy, thus the NPC is loosing the ability to use its aimbot.
	+ Sometimes the AI tries to switch to close combat, which also saves time because the NPC then doesn't attack.

### Ranged Combat

Ranged Combat and holding breath can make the game a lot easier in Desolation Mode.

Since Horizon only affects aiming via scope (holding breath) when the player is crippled (limb damage) and not via any skill any time, the battlefield can still be ruled with what is probably the most overpowered tactic of all together with using Stealth. It should be added that, even if stealth skill is very low, but the distance to your enemy is appropiatly high, Sneak Attack Damage will easily kick in, as multiplier in the absolute damage calculation. Almost all enemies can be one-shot right from the start and with some knowledge throughout the whole game.

* Sniper Weapons always overkill no matter which firearm + scope, if you want to go overkill mode use Energy Weapons because these greatly increase Critical Hit Chance and Critical Hit Damage.
	+ Deadeye, First Strike, Hitman, Sniper and some skills and perks mentioned for sneak strats ..
	+ Sneak Attack Damage together with first strike and high critical hit and damage potential, even the strongest opponents can be eliminated with one shot. If you really want to overdo it, use a Laser Musket with maximum cranks and MX+ (AP) ammunition.
	+ Early game a simple 4x scope mounted on a Custom SMG either with .38 or 9mm ammo clears almost every encounter. Even with Desolation Mode On swapping ammo neutralizes any ammo reduction in an instant.
	+ Mid to late-game weapon swap and ammo swap ensures ammo is never a rarity.
* If the enemy shoots back, don't be confused, the AI is programmed to shoot in your direction once it's in Caution mode.
	+ To avoid beeing hit, quickly change position and fire again or wait a moment.
	+ Again try to max Fitess and Stealth skill in this regard.

	+ They attack very quickly, it is advisable to attack just as quickly.
	+ Run backwards and wait for them to jump at you, stab them during the jump, this their animation will be interrupted, the ghoul is stunned for a second and in the best case the second attack is enough.
		- This is also possible with n+1 ferals who attack you, just keep running backwards.
		- Any bleeding item mod on your knife will profit the whole situation.
* A fast attacking knife is always preferable for both sneak attacks and direct combat, because you don't risk getting stuck in slow attack animations.
	+ For sneak attacks you have about 2 to 3 attacks free until the ghoul strikes back, occasionally he is stunned so that the attack sequence takes place unhindered.
* Always aim at the legs, these can be separated and thus the ghoul is rendered harmless.
	+ .50 cal or 2mm/MX are no brainers later.
* Lure as many as possible from one area to another area with differen NPCs, light them up.
	+ If they follow you collectively, one molotov cocktail is enough for a whole horde!
 Bloatfly,Bloodbug,Stingwing | * Except Bloatflies, Bloodbugs and Stingwinger can cause high damage (+poison damage) if you miss to kill them instantly..
	+ Melee combat is not very recommendable if you are not sure to process them all in one sequence.
		- Poison damage can quickly cause a lot of damage.
* .38 are already sufficient (1-2 bullets), aim for the head.
 Super Mutant | * Very resistant to almost everything, the head can tolerate less than any other part of the body.
 Mirelurk | * Aim at the head when they are peaceful.
	+ Energy weapons work great, early on a laser musket 2-3-crank or MX ammo can instant kill them around torso.
	+ If aiming at the torso and head is difficult, one shot at the legs is often enough to significantly reduce combat strength.
* Here, too, it is best to draw attention to yourself until everyone is chasing you, then you lure them into mines or use grenades.
* In melee combat don't run away, stop and wait for the attack (mirelurks attack less quickly when they stand still). as soon as the attack occurs, take a step back and counter.
Yao Guais are absolute XP balloons. Hits result in a 100% stagger chance. It is advisable to keep moving.
* One to two molotov cocktails will bring down any Yao Guai.
* Close combat should be avoided Stagger chance is 100%. The player can die few hits, while stuck in place.
 Robots |     * Legs, arms and/or eyes (mr. gutsy/handy) are very good targets.
* In addition, they all have another special weak spot called something like Combat Inhibitor, Thruster, Fusion Core, etc.
* Pulse ammo or explosives is just as helpful as it is wonderful.
	+ A Grenade Launcher with pulse grenades is the first choice against whole packs of rust devils, these type of grenades are very cheap to craft.
 Synth | In addition to the general points about robots:
* Can quickly become very dangerous, especially eradicators, here it is recommended to use Pulse, 2mm EC +AP or FC and MX+ ammunition, +damage bonus through skills of course.
	+ This means that a targeted shot at sensitive parts of the body is sufficient.
 Deathclaw | * Very fragile against explosive weapons, especially mini nukes and rockets with AP warheads are also very suitable.
* Any gauss weapon work wonders.
 Mirelurk Queen | * Very fragile against explosive weapons, especially mini nukes and rockets with AP warheads are also very suitable.
* An absolute long-runner is a pimped energy weapon (EC or FCMX), Queens can only tolerate a few hits in the face.
* With a very high Hunting skill, queens throw off a lot of meat which the player can craft into a "Mirelurk Queen Steak". Mirelurk Queen Steaks require Survival 60 to craft. The effective cap gain on sale is 144 caps in regard to its ingredient costs.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/fo4/comments/3s9zjm/stealth\_gameplay\_helpful\_info/