Fallout 4 Guide: Tips for Making the Most of the Combat System

Some players already have their hands on Fallout 4 and many more of you will be joining them tomorrow, so regardless of whether you’ve started or have yet to receive your copy, we’ve put together some pointers to excell at the game’s combat.

There is a contextual cover system in the game. You don’t need to press anything, simply walk towards whatever object you wish to use as cover. Crouching will make you a smaller target and it also increases your accuracy. On PS4 crouching is activated using R3.

Be careful if you choose to play the game on a harder setting – they’re extremely adaptive and intelligent the higher the difficulty. The ability of enemies to resist damage and the appearance of legendary enemies are also different on harder modes.

No matter how experienced you are in Fallout, the sight of a deathclaw will likey be enough to send shivers down your spine and make you run like hell. The good news is that deathclaws and other giant enemies cannot follow you through regular doors so run for a building if you can.

An enemy must be able to see you in order to fight you, if they can’t, the fight will be interrupted after a few moments, even if they’re close to you.

Friendly NPCs and companions can and should fight your battles for you. Companions can’t die (they can get too wounded to continue until the fight is over) so let them take punishment for you and conserve ammo at the same time.

Remember, VATS no longer freezes enemies, it slows them down. Open a fight using VATS then continue to engage the enemy in real time until your Action Points regenerate so you can use VATS again.

Holding the reload button (square on PS4) holsters your weapon, while holding the Pip-boy button (circle on PS4), activates your flashlight.

Check out our Fallout 4 review here.