What exactly does the Covert Operations perk provide?
According to in-game text and the Fallout Wiki on the U.S. Covert Operations Manual, finding these magazines will give you progressively higher ranks of the Covert Operations perk. The perk reports that it makes it more difficult for enemies to detect the player while sneaking, with higher ranks being more difficult for enemy detection.
Is there any way to determine how this perk actually affects stealth, maybe by hard values or multipliers accessible through the console? If so, does the perk provide bonuses to stealth in regard to detection by sight, movement/sound, both, neither, some other aspect? And how much does each additional magazine/point in this perk provide?
Best Answer
Enemies detect the player in Bethesda's Fallout and Elder Scrolls games when a "Detection Value" calculation prompted by the player's actions results in a detection value greater than zero. Lower values can cause the enemy to become alert and begin searching for the player.
Additional information on these mechanics, including formulas, can be found in the GECK article on Detection.
I don't have any hard evidence of this, but I would imagine that the magazines provide a modifier directly to this detection value. Unfortunately, we don't know the magnitude of the effect.
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Is covert operations a manual?
The magazine U.S. Covert Operations Manual - Who Goes There? is a special collectible book in Fallout 4 that is located inside Fort Strong. Effect: Grants you an additional bonus to remaining undetected while sneaking.Fallout 4 US Covert Operations Manual (10 Issues) - Perk Magazine Locations
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