How to cripple an enemy in Fallout 76

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Why cripple an enemy when you can just kill it? While we all prefer to run around the wasteland, one shooting things, sometimes crippling an enemy first can benefit a situation.

You can cripple a Scorchbeast's wings to make it land. This includes the Scorchbeast Queen.

You can cripple a Mirelurk Queen's spout to stop her poison attacks. You can also cripple her so she can't move.

Earl's legs can be crippled so he doesn't run around the arena or glitch into the roof.

You can cripple creatures' legs to slow them down. This is particularly useful for new or low-level players who are struggling with the game and don't have much ammo to spare.

There are atom challenges requiring you to cripple certain parts of an enemy.

You want to solo or duo an event usually requiring multiple players to complete.

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Score Challenge - Cripple an enemy tips

A laser or energy weapon with the beam splitter mod counts for 8 critical hits

If you need to cripple ghouls legs or robots arms, remember that they have 2 of each.

If you run a combat-ready build, you might kill the enemies before you can cripple them. As long as you are using Concentrated Fire to target the limb in question then it will still count towards the cripple challenge. However, it might still be worth looking into carrying a low-powered weapon like a Pipe Rifle.

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How to cripple an enemy

Equip the weapon of your choice, but you're better off using an underpowered one—we're aiming to cripple the target, not kill it.

Melee and Bow builds will need to carry a ranged weapon, as there are no crippling perk cards available for those playstyles.

Step 1) Drop into VATS and use Concentrated Fire to move to your limb of choice

Step 2) Fire your weapon and keep firing until the health bar for that limb is completely empty.

Step 3) Congratulations you have just crippled an enemy.

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What perk cards and weapon stats do you need to cripple an enemy?

As with everything in this game, it depends entirely on what build you are running.

You no longer need the Concentrated Fire perk card to target limbs. As of March 2025, limb targeting in V.A.T.S. is unlocked automatically once you reach 5 Perception.

Enforcer

Use for shotgun builds, including the Pepper Shaker, when it has been modded to use shotgun ammo.

Rank 1 works fine, but Rank 3 will cripple enemies more quickly.

Shotguns are best suited for crippling ground-based enemies. You can use an explosive shotgun and aim at the enemy's feet to cripple their legs.

Tormentor

Use for: All commando and rifle builds.

Rank 1 will work fine but rank 3 will cripple them faster.

One Gun Army

Use for: Heavy Guns and the Minigun Shredder.

Rank 1 will work fine but rank 3 will cripple them faster.

Modern Renegade

Use for: Small Guns (Auto and Non-Auto Rifle, Shotgun and Pistols)

Rank 1 will work fine but rank 3 will cripple them faster.

Limb Damage

If you're running a Bow or Melee build, use a weapon with the Limb Damage stat to cripple enemies.

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How to cripple certain enemies

Scorchbeasts and the Scorchbeast Queen.

You will need to cripple both of their wings to get them to land.

Mirelurk Queen

Cripple the Queen's Spouts to stop her poison attack.

You can also cripple her legs to stop her from moving, but be quick—she'll regenerate her leg health after a few minutes.

Deathclaws

You can cripple a Deathclaw’s legs to stop it from moving. Crippling its head causes it to stagger and hold its head in its hands.

Super Mutants

Fun fact, Super Mutants have a unique dialogue response depending on what part of them you cripple.

Earl

Cripple Earl's legs to prevent him from moving around or glitching into the roof. He won't collapse like other crippled creatures, but he will stop roaming.

Assaultrons

V.A.T.S. their legs, and once they're down, finish them off before they can fire their face cannon.

Protectrons

If you VATS and cripple their arms then they will blow themselves up.

Cargobot (Nuke Cards)

Cripple the Boosters and the Cargobot will stop flying around like it's on chems.

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Hey there, I'm Kat, also known as Duchess!

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