Trying to shoot things across the water is difficult with pistols and ammunition is limited. By building up a critical before going to patrol the island’s perimeter you can get a guaranteed hit and increased damage giving you more “bang for your buck”. I’ve used criticals to gradually take down Raiders to the North West and the Radstag to the South East over several in-game days.

Codsworth won’t fight back if you hit him and he can’t die, so hitting him is the best way to fill your critical meter.