The Case of the Missing Sneak Attack Multiplier

[sen4mi]

In a recent FO4 session, I ran into a variety of issues where sneak attacks "were not working".

 

This was with a blitz build with 2 levels of ninja.

 

Typically, a VATS chain of blitz attacks when launched from an undetected state would have a sneak attack multiplier applied to the first attacks in the chain, resulting in a lot of damage which was not predicted in VATS. (It seems like the rule was: all attack are sneak attacks until a target has a chance to counter-attack, so a VATS chain might wipe out several opponents before you lose the bonus).

 

Today, it was different. In one example, I even had my initial attack do zero damage (this was from a "caution" state, though, and I did not get the message about the sneak attack multiplier being applied).

 

In other examples (including a few ranged attacks) I would get a message about the sneak attack damage multiplier being applied, but the actual damage inflicted exactly matched the VATS prediction.

 

All of which suggests that maybe a mod I recently installed is somehow messing with how damage works.

 

Which leads me to my question:

 

What should I look for to narrow down which mod would be doing this? (What are relevant keywords to search for??)

 

I am reluctant to try creating a fresh character for each mod collection, doing an exhaustive trial and error in that fashion. There's too many interdependencies between mods so this approach could take months. But if I know what I should be looking for, I could apply some intelligence to my search...

 

Edited April 13, 2023 by sen4mi
typo

[Solissix]

On 4/13/2023 at 12:05 PM, sen4mi said:

I am reluctant to try creating a fresh character for each mod collection, doing an exhaustive trial and error in that fashion. There's too many interdependencies between mods so this approach could take months. But if I know what I should be looking for, I could apply some intelligence to my search...

 

Unfortunately this may be the only way to narrow it down as there's a lot to unpack here. The [Caution] state can cause some jank in that, if the enemy is more or less searching towards your general direction you no longer get a sneak multiplier, especially if they are relatively close to you. Repositioning behind them, or waiting until they begin searching in another direction well give you the multiplier again; but the logic behind the whole thing seems a bit iffy. 

 

Not doing any damage at all can be tied to a bug in the vanilla game where constant use of VATS somehow results in your and the opponents hit box getting separated from the character models; resulting in projectile weapons not doing any damage what so ever. At its absolute worst, you won't be able to enter doors any more, and VATS targeting will make it seem like the enemy is several feet underground, though soft variations of this will just cause bullets to pass through enemies. Can be sort of fixed by reloading; but once it starts in a save, it generally becomes a reoccurring problem. 

 

The only mods that should have an effect on it are ones directly related to modifying combat elements; but if its only been happening the last day or so, that should narrow the candidates down; if its a mod problem.

[sen4mi]

Unfortunately, removing mods requires starting over.

 

Still, hitbox jank might have been a part of the problem...