Damage calculation formula

[wilytilt]

I really like figuring out the nitty-gritty mechanics of RPG's I play, and F03 has been harder to figure out than its predecessors which were much more open about their calculations. Since I never found a unified formula for how much damage a player does from doing some searches on forums or the Wiki, I'm trying to figure it out myself from various sources.

 

Here is what I have so far for one shot non-splash guns, with optional modifiers in [brackets]:

 

(BASE DMG + (CRIT DMG X 1.5 [With Better Criticals perk]) - ENEMY DAMAGE RESISTANCE [?] )

x (GUN SKILL)/100

x 2 [if sneak critical]

x 2 [if head shot; different multipliers for other body parts]

x (DIFFICULTY MULTIPLIER)

 

= Damage dealt to enemy

 

Notes:

-CRIT DMG only occurs in a critical hit, determined by Critical Hit Chance, which I do NOT calculate here.

- Sneak attacks are always critical hits and will double total damage.

- Better Criticals increases the critical damage by 50%, and not the base at all

- Torso hit multplier is always 1; and I *think* leg hits may be 0.5 or around there.

- Difficulty multipliers: V Easy = 2, Easy = 1.5, Normal = 1, Hard = 0.66, V Hard = 0.5

 

Missing info (please add if you know for sure):

 

1) I know that head shots on humanoids and some other enemies deal 2X damage, but I'm not sure of modifiers for other body parts. I believe some are less than 1X, like legs, also.

 

2) I don't know how Item Condition % affects damage. I'm pretty sure it only affects critical hit chance and not damage, but I'm not positive.

 

3) I don't know where ENEMY DAMAGE RESISTANCE (from their armor) is subtracted from the damage you do. I would assume it's right at the start when you calculate damage before the multipliers, but it could conceivably be at the end (which would make it a lot less useful).

 

Thanks everyone - btw I'm Cholera on the Bethesda forums fyi...

[wilytilt]

Including a quick example ...

 

For a sniper rifle head shot, done while [HIDDEN], with 80 Small Guns skill and Better Criticals Perk, and on Very Hard difficulty...

 

(40 + (40 X 1.5) )

x 80/100

x 2

x 2

x 0.5

= 160 damage

 

This assumes no effects of enemy DR or weapon condition. This 160 dmg shot would be enough to easily kill a Super Mutant (100 hp) or Mirelurk with a "faceshot" (120 hp), but probably not enough to kill a Super Mutant Brute (250 hp) or Yao Guai (220 hp).

 

I say "probably" because these hit point numbers are from the Wiki and they may be higher than the actual HP based on enemy level.