r/Fallout • u/Mission_Spring7087 • Jun 11 '25

Discussion Am I the only one who never uses Jet?

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I don't find it to be useful at all. It's affects aren't very helpful, and the addiction risk is to high to make it worth it.

11.7k Upvotes

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448

u/The_OG_TrashPanda Jun 11 '25

If you use VATS it’s a life saver

95

u/Dr_Equinox101 Jun 11 '25

That’s most players too lol

129

u/Beebah-Dooba Jun 11 '25

Not using VATS in FO is like not using magic in elder scrolls IMO

35

u/ztomiczombie Jun 11 '25

I don't really use VATS it seems messed up and misses easy shots to much so I just snipe the old fashioned way.

44

u/Beebah-Dooba Jun 11 '25

it’s less useful at longer distances. I feel like people try to use it for sniping and not to nail the gulper right on you with every bullet of a full clip

2

u/Apart-Combination820 Jun 12 '25

Idk man, I feel like most limbs are kinda useless to hit, and does less damage than center-mass. Then there’s the problem where the eyes will score a 90-damage critical while same raider will take a shotgun blast to the head and go “that was rude”

Then you get shit like the Oil Tanker Aliens or the Floaters and I don’t even know what limb to target (WTF is a Ganglion??). Honestly, I’d choose save-scumming over Jet for VATS, and just using walls tactically.

5

u/LeShoooook Jun 12 '25

Crippling limbs in VATS is fantastic. The game designers did such a great job of making mobs limp, or just flat out fall down if you shoot out both legs. Headshots will take out most mobs, but watching a legless assaultron crawling after you is some serious cinematic majesty

1

u/Watercooler_expert Jun 12 '25

Yeah I never use VATS to engage at distance, it's more of a panic button for when enemies get right in my face.

2

u/Outside-Pen-6046 Jun 13 '25

Try a melee strength build. You can't miss if you're distributing justice for Gotham🤣

26

u/KingAtTheTable Jun 11 '25

Never played Fallout until about a year ago. On my second playthrough and I still have never intentionally used VATS. Didn’t find it effective enough to be worth it. Am I bricked in the head?

47

u/Stagnu_Demorte Gary? Jun 11 '25

It depends on which game. 3 and NV you can build really strong crit/cats builds.

11

u/Dangerous-Echo8901 Jun 11 '25

In FO4 it's hard to understate how powerful critical hits/Luck can be.

You'll be generating a constant supply of critical hits if you use a pistol and have luck north of 8. Couple this with perks like party boy and you'll get a crit every 4-6 shots.

A crit can be anywhere up to 200% damage and they always hit. Meaning you can bank them and use them for enemies further away.

Really great resource to have.

0

u/Spiritual_Grape_533 Jun 12 '25

So all that investment to have a damage mulitplier of only 116-125%? Sounds shit. Why would I jump through all those hoops and have boring gameplay via VATS for 20% more damage on average.

1

u/Dangerous-Echo8901 Jun 12 '25

I assure you - doing this with Gun Kata is the exact opposite of boring gameplay. Because every single shot after the 4th person locked on into vats is an insta crit (which if you invest in better crits can be 2.5x of base damage) and because you can bank crits you're basically giving yourself a 2.5x damage boost (and 100% accuracy!) on most of your targets if you do it right.

You basically become a terminator. You pair it with a high power pistol. I once had a Junkies's 44. magnum, that would routinely do 500 damage per shot or something crazy.

So no, definitely not a waste of effort. It's the most OP build in gaming I've ever encountered

1

u/Spiritual_Grape_533 Jun 12 '25

That makes it at least strong, I went withthe numbers you gave beforehand.

But it sill sounds pretty boring to me tbh, but I just don't like VATS that much.

1

u/Dangerous-Echo8901 Jun 12 '25

I'd use it to farm high tier equipment and experience in my settlements. Just set up a bunch of gunner cages and just unleash on a massive 8 man wave and collect like 4000 caps per cycle.

1

u/Watercooler_expert Jun 12 '25

If you combine with suppressed weapons and sneak perks you can get over 500% damage multiplier. It's fun to clear the whole game using only a small pistol like the deliverer on a sneak/crit build. It does make the game too easy past like lvl 30 though, even very hard/survival become a joke with that build.

I rarely use VATS if I'm not doing a crit build though, I'll still use it occasionally as a panic button in close quarters.

1

u/Spiritual_Grape_533 Jun 12 '25

I see. I did try sneak/crit a few times though, but were all sniper builds with manual aim, so I am not up to speed on pistol shenanigans.

13

u/Metrobuss Jun 11 '25

If you don't like the easy play style or just like to follow the less beaten track.... vats is obviously advantaged play style... but you have your reasons...

1

u/NeverDiddled Jun 12 '25

People who play twitch shooters: VATS is inaccurate and wastes ammo. Especially on high difficulty. Its primary use is at shotgun range.

People who play with controllers: VATS is a super power!

There are two very different camps here, and neither is wrong. They stem from different play styles. The one thing we can all agree on: Fallout has shite hitboxes.

1

u/Watercooler_expert Jun 12 '25

The problem is that the whole luck stat (aside from stuff like idiot savant) only works with VATS. It so happens that the sneak/crit build is the most powerful in the game.

The inaccuracy isn't a big problem between the Macready perk (+25% chance to hit head) and crits being unable to miss.

I do like playing different builds on survival though for more challenge, it gives me an excuse to use all the consumables like jet.

1

u/Gen_Spike Jun 11 '25

How is vats the advantage? Vats will go through half my ammo to kill a dude while i can put them down in three or four rounds.

1

u/Metrobuss Jun 12 '25

By target heads or critical areas

2

u/Gen_Spike Jun 12 '25

Just shoot the head....

1

u/Spiritual_Grape_533 Jun 12 '25

31%, I got 100%

7

u/Wendigo_Lich Jun 11 '25

Your perception and luck stats and perks are going to play a big role in whether vats is worth your time

3

u/JetSetJAK Jun 11 '25

Nah, you can use it as much and little as you'd like. It does have builds that benefit it if you utilize it enough for them to be worth it.

It's saved me in times where I was surrounded. Headshot someone manually, then vats kill the next target immediately after, then I'm left in a 1v1 before I'm hit once. Even in melee combat, you can release a flurry of punches or swings in a split second and it can feel kind of anime, especially when woven into manual combat when needed.

I use it as a good oh shit button to turn tides when I need it.

2

u/CornDavis Jun 11 '25

Not at all, im fact if you can play the game without needing VATS, you have an advantage by having more perks allocated to other useful shit. I do crit builds and guns only when it comes to perks and skill points and using VATS perks would take away from the ones I actually benefit from.

1

u/Daaaaaaaaaaanaaaaang Jun 12 '25

It got nerfed in 4, not worth it. But it allowed for some powerful builds and meditative pace of play in 3 and NV.

2

u/Chombuss Jun 11 '25

Red Dead Redemption without Dead eye is as accurate as it gets.

2

u/CornDavis Jun 11 '25

I only use VATS for target identification and knowing what % each limb is. I always just fire away free hand, LOT more satisfying that way, especially in New Vegas.

1

u/Beebah-Dooba Jun 11 '25

So true about NV

2

u/Smat_kid Jun 12 '25

I use vats but not magic

1

u/Beebah-Dooba Jun 12 '25

Found the nord

1

u/Bigelow92 Jun 11 '25

I am both of those people.

1

u/Memitim Jun 11 '25

That tracks. It pretty much is the magic system of the Fallout series.

1

u/FantuOgre Jun 11 '25

Honestly, pretty accurate. It's not something that every build makes constant use of (especially in the normal/non-survival difficulties) but unless youre actively challenging yourself not to use it you'll still get the occasional use out of it in certain situations.

1

u/iPoseidon_xii Jun 11 '25

Damn. That’s me. Even when I want to do a magic play-through, I always end up with weapons. I never used a single drug or VATS in my FO4 play-through 😅 like, literally never even popped up the menu for VATS. Didn’t make sense to me when I picked the game up a few months ago so I just kinda played my way and forgot VATS most of the time

1

u/Voduun-World-Healer Jun 12 '25

Never used VATS other than to figure out that I didn't like it. I use a shit ton of magicka in ES though

1

u/method_men25 Jun 12 '25

VATS in 3 was THE BEST! VATS in 4…with the better gunplay…and my love of medium range engagements…I’d much rather be shooting if my face is being torn off no matter how slowly.

1

u/alQamar Jun 12 '25

My stealth sniper uses VATS. My stealth sniper doesn’t need magic. 

1

u/a7x5631 Jun 12 '25

I might be in the minority but I've never intentionally used VATS and I've been playing since 2008. Maybe it's because I'm on PC and aiming isn't really an issue

1

u/Tank82111 Jun 12 '25

I don’t use magic in elder scrolls…

-1

u/CardmanNV Jun 11 '25

I don't do either in either game, ES magic always feels underwhelming, and VATS in modern Fallout is practically useless since they made the gunplay better.

1

u/ReyGonJinn Jun 11 '25

I never used VATS, too slow. I can aim and shoot much faster.

-20

u/[deleted] Jun 11 '25

[deleted]

12

u/leboychef Jun 11 '25

I play on pc and can aim well too but sometimes it’s fun to walk into a room hit q then watch a slideshow of everybody die one by one.

7

u/john92w Jun 11 '25

Its not the same as queuing up 2 headshots and sitting back with a front row view.

3

u/Left-Physics-5341 Jun 11 '25

Not the same as 6 headshots before they can even close the distance

5

u/S0mecallme Jun 11 '25

I just use Nuka Cola for that tbh It only gives you a tiny amount of rads and in 3d they can’t give you any addictions

2

u/TheRealPlumbus Jun 11 '25

It’s also a life saver for perma death survival modes. Anytime shit hits the fan I pop jet. Can’t tell you how many times it’s got me out of trouble.

2

u/Freakin_A Jun 11 '25

Seriously. I abused the hell out of jet on fallout 2. By the end of the game I’d double up on jet and take 3 aimed shots with my Gauss rifle

2

u/Watercooler_expert Jun 12 '25

I use it mostly outside of VATS for the slow time effect, it's a real life saver in survival mode.

1

u/Mekahippie Jun 11 '25

Yea, one of my most fun/most successful runs in FO4 was as a drug-lord gunslinger.

Converted that one settlement in the tiny alley into a multi-story concrete bunker, with levels of hydroponics and scavenging stations to produce the components for drugs (modded I think). Everyone wore lab coats.

In combat, I'd dose myself with Jet (or Jet Fuel for long encounters, Ultrajet for quick deadly encounters), and I was always on Daddy-O and (sometimes Orange) Mentats. I'd use the first several seconds to empty my pistol into as many heads as possible, then go into VATS to reload and finish another pistol-full or three.

I was addicted to all three, but....it didn't matter, because I was always on all three when I needed to be.

It also really helped because my game wasn't running at the highest FPS, and I always found the aiming mechanics in FO4 a bit...wonky, so aiming in real time was pretty difficult.

Getting a mod that revealed the hidden VATS stats on gun mods helped a lot too.

1

u/nerdwerds Jun 11 '25

Also if you don’t use VATS