Hi!

I have a question regarding the accuracy penalties which occur if using a weapon which is more or less out of your league.

Does it make a difference if you are close to meeting the requirements or far away from doing so?

Example: The Anti Materiel Rifle (pretty hiqh prerequisites): Req: ST 8 Guns 100
Now is there a difference in spread if I am using this baby with ST 4 and Guns 20 or ST 7 and Guns 99? I dont meet any requirement in either way. or is spread modifcation even noticable due to the default very low spread of the weapon?
I mean 0.03 spread x50% penalty still would be very low.

Curious about this i checked with the GECK and found 2 values under game settings: fWeapSkillReqPenalty 0.01 and fWeapStrengthReqPenalty 0.025

Are these values absolute or "per point missing"? if the last is valid then the first ST 4 guy would get 0.01x80+0.025x4=0.9 (what actually? +spread? +sway?)
And if you do it with absolute values the ST 4 guy (and ST7 guy with guns 99) would get 0.035 spread.
And how does Match ammo (x0.65 spread) affect our poor ST 4 guy? (i mean his aiming not when he is shot with it :rolleyes:)


Or short: is the AMR more acurrate on ST 7 character than a ST 4 character?

I hope someone knows more about this to clarify some things for me.
Thx for still reading.

im prety shure that if you dont meat the requirements it will be the same as for example with anti rifle 99 and 7 stregnth and 4 and 20 it will be the same but im not 100% shure

I have to agree with TrueHitman. it appears to be an either/or situation, rather than one of degree.

If you do not meet the Strength requirement for a weapon there is an accuracy penalty. There is no indication that the penalty increases the further away from the requirement you may be.

In other words, your ability to handle a weapon is degraded the same amount whether you are one point or several points below the strength requirement. The Wiki does not indicate specifically what that penalty is.

You can increase your Strength permanently through an implant and temporarily by wearing certain armor, the Nerd Rage and Solar Powered Perks, and certain chems/foods. You can reduce the Weapon Strength requirement permanently with the Weapon Handling Perk

This is one of the great mysteries. No one seems to have a definitive answer.

I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure there was less sway the closer I came to reaching the requirements. More sway would make it harder to aim which would make it less accurate.

Sawyer already said long ago the closer to meeting the req you get the less mimpact it has. being 1 str off wont effect you much and being a few skill short also wont effect you much.

Thanks for the answers!

Shaun773 and wintermane are right.
I couldnt help and wanted to be sure so i tried clowning around with the ingame console, raising and lowering skill and strength.


-And indeed it seems that the penalty gets smaller the closer you get to the reqs. ST7 Guns 96 almost no gun sway, ST1 Guns 2 sway like a kid trying to hip-fire a machinegun (safest place is in front of the target)

-strength reqs are not that important: ST1 guns 96 -> a "little" sway, but can more or less be compensated by timing

-according to the geck values it would appear that missing the req by 2 strenght equals missing the req by 5 skillpoints. so skillpoints>strength when trying to meet reqs. (and easier to get)
so for the AMR: a ST2 Guns 90 guy would have the SAME sway as a ST8 guns 75(!) guy! (assuming i understood the formula)

-weaponspread (unlike sway) itself doesnt seem to be affected (when scoped in at least). The bullet goes to the center of the crosshair. So with mad timing skills you can hit things with the AMR with low guns.


Anybody can confirm this?

So the only question remaining is how VATS and hipshots are affected,but i guess its more or less the same for them.