I mean it seems like the people that say VATS is like cheating and makes the game really easy have never really used it. I use it all the time because I like the play style but honestly not using VATS makes the game much easier. I mean if you don't use VATS you can snipe enemies at hundreds of yards away with 100% hit rate given that you don't svck at shooting or you shoot the hell out of them while kiting. With VATS you just stand there so you can't kite and if you try to take out enemies too far away you have like a 10% chance to hit them or worse.

So essentially not using VATS makes the game easy if you have any FPS skills.

Who says that? They're stupid. Ignore them.

It *may* have been the case in Fallout 3 sometimes (point blank fat man shots, I'm looking at you) but in New Vegas, VATS can be quite risky.

VATS used to be easier because it was really hard to get killed in the middle of using it.... I don't know if it's just because the game's harder or my character is weaker this time around but it seems enemies can do a lot more damage to you while in VATS.

Who cares what they say. Stop thinking too much and enjoy the game.

As a person who thinks too much and has that hinder his enjoyment of the game I'll say this is sage advice.

This. I've taken a lot of damage and even been killed trying to do a VATS attack.

I don't think VATS is cheating in New Vegas.
It was in Fallout 3 due to it's 90% DR.
But this time it's been lowered.
So it's not too powerful anymore.
Saying it's cheating in New Vegas is... Confusing.

I generally have more luck doing damage when NOT in V.A.T.S. ...just staying hidden and picking off enemies with my Varmint Rifle. Lots of headshots/crits this way, but I often find myself wasting bullets on missed V.A.T.S. shots.

In fallout 3 it was near impossible to get killed while using vats, in new vegas this is definitely not the case. In fact most of the times you will get killed in vats if your health is low and enemy is attacking you.

I kind of like those deaths though...you watch the deathclaw maul you in slow mo!

First off id like to bring up the point, V.A.T.S. in ANY fallout game is NOT "cheating" as everyone keeps insisting, it's part of the game and it was put there for you to use. It may or may not give an advantage, but it's NOT cheating.

Anyways, staying on topic, i think V.A.T.S. isn't that great this time around, ive died once or twice in it, and ive recieved a loooot of damage. In Fallout 3 i think it was MUCH more of an advantage.

I haven't heard anyone say that. If they did, that's daft. VATS is not cheating, this is an RPG not an FPS, and using VATS is merely allowing combat based on your character's skills rather than on your ability as a player to react and aim at something onscreen.

A good RPG should always have some mechanic whereby the player does not have to be a sharpshooter or learn loads of combat moves and complicated button presses in order to succeed at the game. Whether this is achieved by being able to pause the game and selecting an attack or action before unpausing (as in Dragon Age, old Infinity Engine games etc.), having turn-based combat (as in FO1 & 2), or VATS - which is an excellent method for approximating turn based character-skill combat in a 3D RPG.

VATS is not cheating. VATS has existed since the original Fallout and has made appearances in all Fallout games(Not sure about tactics, and brotherhood of steel). It is mainly only in the game because it would not be Fallout without it and because Fallout 3's real time shooting wasn't that good. Its not cheating because alot of the time the percentage is low and you miss alot, its very rewarding to get a headshot kill with a 3% hit chance. New Vegas has made some improvements to real time combats but its still not that great, I mainly use vats now to aim my gun I then exit and kill with iron sights. Its not cheating, the only people who would say that are non Fallout players who look at videos of the game and see it being used.

Indeed. Same here. It's certainly changed from Fallout 3, and it's more than just a real time pause, now.

It's an "almost god-mode" button in FO3.
Sorry, but becoming invincible while we can attack other enemies is not fair. Not one bit.
With that and other things that made us too powerful it was like a cheat device.

I am finding I miss quite a bit in VATS, but if I want to hit something far away, it's better if I just go into sneak mode, so I am bascially knealing, and snipe the target away with a varmit rifle. I try that in VATS and I miss 100% of the time.

there is an easy way to explain this. real time combat doesn't factor in your actual weapon skill.
you just have to get accommodated to the sway. other than that, there's no influence coming from your stats, skills or level.
basically, fnv mechanically works as a shooter outside of VATS, and as a rpg inside of VATS. that's also the reason why various people already reported of being able to kick major butt with melee or unarmed, while their actual skill was like at around 20.

In FO3, i couldn't hit for [censored] out of VATS... i like the Iron Sights in this game... although maybe it kills the whole skill tree of the game... but i like it more this way. missing all the time in FO3 even at 100 skill was just a pain in the ass.

I believe in NV using VATS increases your crit chance as well. I remember a tooltip telling me it increases crit chance 15% while using VATS.

I once killed everyone in caesar's tent using a single VATS "session" but i did almost get killed. no way that i would've been able to shoot all of them that fast and that accurately without VATS. (i do have some perks that increase VATS accuracy, including the one that increases the head "rate") still, like somebody else said, don't think too much.

I think the balance is significantly restored in this game. I get a lot more use out of sniping faraway enemies the old-fashioned way (though this is probably in large part because I'm not much good at FPSing with a controller, but now I'm playing on the PC), and then if I need to, I'll VATS when they start rushing in if I haven't killed them already. It still makes a pretty good panic button; just not an overpowered one.

I use it a lot less than I did in Fallout 3. In F3, your free aim was made less accurate so you couldn't headshot everything at level 1, so low level characters had to rely on VATS, usually at very close range. Now with very accurate ironsights we can kill much easier oustide of VATS.

VATS isnt as good in FNV as it was in Fallout 3 but its still quite powerful. With Fallout 3 you could also throw more perks into improving VATS but in FNV they are more limited so if you invest in VATS you are limited elsewhere. Grim Reapers Sprint also isnt as gamebreaking as it was in Fallout 3.

i have a problem with the 95 chance to hit something actualy beeing a lot less. blowning 5 shots with 95% chance to hit to actualy missing 4 of those 5.
Still kill stuff quick and with out problems with out vast. so right now i dont like as much as i did in FO3.

VATS is pretty buggy when used in extreme close quarters.