EU gamer here. I've noticed here and there remarks about vats being 'shortrange' and whatnot, and people saying remarks like "enemies sprayed me with bullets safe outside vats", "I use vats for shotgunning", and so on..

As a VATS-user and non-FPS player, I'll say: "Wait, WHAT?!"

So, before I get madder than the crazy hatter, what is the actual deal with VATS in F:NV, and how it compares to the Vats in F3?

I'm not very far in at all, but I've not noticed a particularly large difference with VATS when compared to Fallout 3. It does seem that I can actually take a moderate amount of damage when using it now, but I don't feel that it's crippled or anything. That said, I do use manual aiming a fair amount, and my weapon damage seems low enough that I don't think I could get by with using VATS exclusively (then again, I only have 5 Agility, so more action points and/or better weapon skills might make it a possibility).

I agree with Wheem. The basic changes with VATS seem to be:

1) You're no longer in God Mode when you're in VATS.

2) Accuracy seems to have decreased slightly, particularly at long ranges.

I know what that sounds like on paper, but honestly, in practice, VATS functions the same as it did in FO3. Take it from a VATS addict. Admittedly I'm not using it as much in NV, because aiming on the PC is much more intuitive, and so are the iron sights, but when I do use VATS it feels basically the same as it ever did. If anything, they've reduced it from the overpowered invincible mode that it was in FO3 down to a useful, well-balanced aiming feature.

What he means by 1) is you no longer get a damage reduction when you are hit during VATS so you are (relative to FO3) more vulnerable to damage in VATS.

I also enjoy the VATS system and still love the changes they did, making it more balanced and encouraging methods of dispatching enemies other than living in VATS

Fresh out of the vault in Fallout 3 VATS wasn't all that accurate at long range either. Had to gather some skillpoints and perks before it became a ''god mode'. Are you sure people aren't comparing early FNV VATS with Fallout 3 VATS a bit further into the game? Memory can be a bit selective at times afterall.

Over in the EU too, so I'm just wondering.

I think that probably plays a bit in it. If there is a difference it hasn't been particularly noticeable to me. Of course it has been a while since I played FO3 as well.

This, this, a thousand times this. In my experience so far, VATS in New Vegas is approximately as useful as VATS was in Fallout 3 at the same point in the game. Even with a hunting rifle, I couldn't hit the blind side of a barn with VATS from a long distance at the beginning of Fallout 3. By the end of the game, I could headshot anyone as long as they were close enough to be targeted and not take more than two shots to do it (if it even took that one). Now, frankly, if that's not the case in New Vegas, that would probably be a good thing because VATS was really too powerful, but I think it's clear that they have by no means made it useless.

Using VATS at level 3 with a half broken hunting rifle and 30 points in Small Guns was certainly a lot different than being level 25, with 90 points in Small Guns using a Lincoln's Repeater. :nod: I'm sure NV will be much the same.

I'm only about 3 hours in, but I haven't noticed any major differences in VATS from FO3, but to be honest I've always preferred manually aiming for long range anyway. In fact, during the tutorial I was able to take out a nasty from quite a distance in VATS.

Personally, I like the iron sights as it makes non-VATS sniping without a scope that much more realistic.

In F3 you could go outside the Vault for the first time, buy a Fat Man and a Mini Nuke, go to Megaton, stand face to face with Confessor Cromwell, enter V.A.T.S., fire the Mini Nuke into Cromwell's face and survive. In F:NV you can't do this. Selective it is not as it's one of the first memories I have of F3. I wanted to commit suicide with style