How to Maximize Critical Damage in Fallout 76: Top Tips and Strategy Guide

In Fallout 76, players can choose from a variety of play styles, whether it’s building stealthily or rushing into a room fully armed. If you want to get new weapons and equipment, you can speed up your progress by buy fallout 76 buy items. Each build type in the game can use critical hits to deal additional damage to enemies. Mastering the right techniques can allow players to hit the enemy with a single shot and quickly knock out the enemy. Here are six ways to maximize critical damage.

Utilize the VATS system to deliver critical hits

Utilize the VATS system to deliver critical hits

Fully charged VATS impact

VATS (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System) plays a big role in the Fallout series of games. It allows players to aim at enemies and see the chance of hitting the target. In VATS, each shot consumes a certain amount of AP (action points) and partially fills the critical hit meter. Once the meter is full, the player can perform a critical hit.

How to perform a critical hit

To perform a critical hit in VATS, press the following keys:

  • PC: Q key
  • PlayStation: Triangle key
  • Xbox: Y key

Players can hold down the critical hit button to automatically perform a critical hit every time the critical hit meter is full, which is particularly useful for players using automatic weapons.

Better Critical Hit

Improve the Luck Attribute

The Luck Attribute has a direct impact on critical hits, as it affects how quickly the critical hit meter fills. The higher the luck, the more critical hits a player will be able to perform. Here are some key skill cards that can improve VATS and critical hit capabilities:

  • Better Critical Hit: VATS critical hits deal up to 100% more damage.
  • Critical Savvy: Critical hits will not completely deplete the player’s critical hit meter (up to 45% reduction).
  • Clover: Every VATS shot has a chance to fill the critical hit meter.
  • Death Rush: Any kill in VATS has a 35% chance to restore all AP.
  • Mysterious Stranger: The Mysterious Stranger appears when using VATS to assist the player in combat.
  • Psychopath: Killing any creature in VATS has up to a 15% chance to fill the Critical Hit Meter.
  • Gunslinger: VATS swaps targets upon kill and increases damage by up to 60% for the next 3 kills.
  • Awareness: Ability to see a target’s specific damage resistance in VATS.
  • Focused Shot: VATS can focus shots on specific parts of the body to increase shooting accuracy and damage.
Canned Coffee

Increase AP and AP Refresh Rate

More AP means more shots in VATS, which increases the chance of a critical hit. The best ways to increase AP and AP refresh rate include:

  • Company Tea: +10% AP refresh rate for 60 minutes.
  • Canned Coffee: +12 AP regeneration for 25 seconds.
  • Action Boy Skill: Increase AP regeneration rate by up to 45%.
  • Bird Bone Essence: Increase AP by 20.
  • Playing an instrument: +25% AP refresh rate for 60 minutes.
  • AP boosting armor modules: up to +5 AP per piece.
Firecracker Berry Juice

Boosting critical damage with food and drinks

Some food and drinks can increase the player’s critical damage for a short period of time:

  • Firecracker Berry Juice: +25% Critical Damage (Herbivore mutation: +50% Critical Damage).
  • Sweet Fruit Tea: +50% Critical Damage (Herbivore mutation: +100% Critical Damage).
  • Soaked Thistle Tea: +50% Critical Damage (Herbivore mutation: +100% Critical Damage).
  • Blight Soup: +50% Critical Damage (Herbivore mutation: +100% Critical Damage).
  • Giant Sloth Mushroom Soup: +50% Critical Damage (Herbivore mutation: +100% Critical Damage).
Eagle Eye Essence

Use mutations to increase critical damage

Herbivore Mutation

The Herbivore mutation doubles the effect of eating fruit and vegetable-based food and drinks, and is a must-have skill for increasing critical damage output.

Eagle Eye Essence

This mutation increases the player’s perception and increases critical damage in VATS. Eagle Eye Essence will increase the player’s critical damage by 50%. This boost can be further increased to 75% by using the charm perk Strange in Numbers.

Tesla Science 9

Get and use legendary effects

+50% Critical Damage effect

A legendary effect required for all critical builds, it can greatly increase the player’s critical damage output.

25% VATS Cost Reduction

This effect will increase the number of shots a player can take in VATS, allowing the player to land more critical hits. Having both effects on a bloody or anti-armor weapon is even more powerful.

Additional Boosts: Chemistry and Other Consumables

Chemicals, magazines, and bobbleheads can provide additional boosts to the player for a short period of time. For example:

  • Life and Love 3: +75% Critical Damage.
  • Tesla Science 9: +100% Heavy Gun Critical Damage.
  • Small Gun Noggle: +20% Ballistic Gun Damage.
  • Overdrive: Increases Critical Damage by 15%.

By combining these chemicals, food, drinks, and skill cards, players can pull off devastating critical hits in Fallout 76, taking down even the most powerful enemies with ease. Hopefully, these tips will help you better survive and fight in the world of Fallout 76.