Just want to know how sneak critical + critical hit in VATS work. Let's say you sneak and you have a critical shot left in VATS. Do they stack, or just add or are they seperate? The reason i'm asking is because i'm making a sniper build. I know i will take mister sandman perk and ninja perk + bloody mess for extra damage. Just want to know if criticals in VATS have any effect because then i have to take the critical banker and concetrated fire. If they don't i can respec differently. Thx in advance

Sneak attacks are indeed a separate thing from criticals in this game, although the game does log them the same way.

You can stack a critical with a sneak attack, but I think they are additive as they have been underwhelming when I have tried it.

You'll use fewer crits while sniping early on as you'll lack the stealth to get close, so you don't have to focus on crits till later (out of VATS range = no crits).


Also, since you'll be stealthing, you'll prefer to be alone - Lone Wanderer maxed gives you a huge 25% damage boost. Beats the crit bonuses all to hell with repeated sneak attacks.


I have found that as Stealth gets maxed out, I can get so stupidly close to bad guys that I hardly snipe anymore, to the point that I'm glad I haven't bothered with the actual Sniper perk.

Has any one determined if the perk better Criticals stacks with sneak attacks? Better Crits + Ninja + Sneak attack would be some brutal numbers! This is shooting out of VATS. Though I imagine they would stack from VATS


Throw in lone wander + bloody mess + black widow + psycho for even more over the top damage!!!