Combat inhibitor

All robots in Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas and most robots in Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 have a combat inhibitor located on their back, while turrets have a targeting chip (ceiling-mounted turret) or lens (floor turret) underneath their gun barrel. Disabling the inhibitor will send the targeted robot into a frenzy.

Function[]

The combat inhibitor is a device that controls the machine's targeting parameters and allows a robot to differentiate between friends and foes. Combat inhibitors are very small and are usually located on the back of robots. In the event that the player character chooses to cripple the combat inhibitor by targeting it with V.A.T.S. or by accurate free-firing, the robot will go into a frenzied state and attack the closest target to it and continue to fight until it dies. The player character will be notified that the robot "has been frenzied" as if a limb was crippled on an enemy.

Notes[]

• Cerberus in Underworld's combat inhibitor can be deactivated through the dialogue option with the Robotics Expert perk in Fallout 3.^[1]
• Crippling the combat inhibitor will not affect the robot's attitude toward the player character, as shooting a robot anywhere will cause it to become hostile if it was friendly.
• Combat inhibitors don't replenish. Therefore, if a robot companion has their inhibitor crippled, they will become irreversibly hostile if dismissed. The exception being turrets, which replenish if one moves out of the cell and back.
• Crazed Mister Handies already have their combat inhibitors ripped out.

References[]