Fallout 4: Character Building, Leveling, and S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Guide to the Commonwealth Written by Jason Long (evilbob) Copyright (c)2016 Jason Long. All rights reserved. This guide may not be reposted, in whole or in part, without my written permission. The only website that has permission to display this FAQ is gameFAQs.com. For questions contact me at evilbob65535 at yahoo dot com. ======================================== Searchable Table of Contents ======================================== Copy, Control+F, and Paste the codes in [] to search for something quickly. 1. What This Guide Does [1WGD] 2. If this isn't your first rodeo [2NEW] 3. S.P.E.C.I.A.L. [3SPL] 4. Starting Builds [4BLD] 5. Perks [5PRK] 6. General Tips [6GEN] ======================================== What This Guide Does ======================================== [1WGD] This go around, there's a lot more information available on how Fallout 4 actually works - but there's also a lot more noise to sift through. Every gaming site has an article on perks now, but few of them actually give you useful information about what to choose. For old schoolers who still bother to check gamefaqs, here's a guide about what stats you should start with, some leveling advice, and a few tips to make your spoiler-free introduction to the Commonwealth as painless and productive as possible. As always, basic game information, quests, walkthroughs, overt spoilers - none of that will be found here. Just tips on a good way to start the game and what you can expect out of the gate. ======================================== If this isn't your first rodeo ======================================== [2NEW] For those who've played the other Fallout games, there are some big changes this time around that are worth highlighting. (New players might find these useful, too.) - Crits Far and away the biggest combat change is the new "crit storage" mechanic, where all hits in VATS contribute to a JPRG-like "crit bar" that charges up and when full, you can choose to execute a critical hit. This is the ONLY way to crit now! To do so, press the crit button AFTER you have accepted the shot, but BEFORE it actually happens during the VATS slo-mo cutscene. (That's right: interactive cutscenes.) Also worth noting: all crits are now guaranteed hits, so as long as you have a 1% chance to hit, you can now crit. - DOGMEAT SNEAKS I know, right? So amazing. And he carries stuff. Also, the other companions are so good, you'll actually want to use them. Who knew? - END bad, CHA good I'll get into this more later, but END is back to being a decent dump stat and sadly 6 CHA is nearly required. - Lasers good In another departure, laser weapons are plentiful from the start and their ammo rains from the sky, so you should always have a backup energy weapon for plugging roaches and ghouls and whatnot. - Energy vs. ballistics Speaking of lasers being good, gun perks are now tied to weapon type instead of ammo type. For example, the same perk benefits both a laser rifle and a hunting rifle. So, energy weapons vs. ballistic weapons is not a thing anymore, yay! - VATS meh This may be sacrilege, but VATS is only ok now. Well, rather, manually aiming is actually really good, which makes it a harder choice between VATS and just hipshots (non-VATS). In particular, the ability to use scopes to line up 100% shots to the head actually outpaces VATS targeting when sniping. VATS is still best for non-melee, close engagements, though. - Skills are GONE No, hear me out: it's way better. Now everything is perks, which you get every level, and perk choices are determined by your level and your stats. Trust me, it works. - NO LEVEL CAP Yeah, you can play forever. But leveling will get slower and you'll still want to think about level 40 to 50 as a good "end game" number when planning perk choices (should you choose to plan them out). - Crafting, crafting everywhere You'll hate the game for forcing you to pick up every pencil and desk fan you see, but it's not that horrible and it only gets complicated late- game. Note that you WILL need to google a few things that are horribly unintuitive: power connections, supply lines, and assigning people to crops and defensive structures. Just be ready to take a break and do some outside reading when that stuff becomes available. ======================================== S.P.E.C.I.A.L. ======================================== [3SPL] Interestingly, the game makes your starting stats a really tough choice. You will not find yourself with points to spare. However, there are a few major things to know when planning your starting stats: - You will find the perception bobblehead very early. You can also pick up a "SPECIAL" book (one time only) even sooner that will raise one stat of your choice by 1. So you technically start with 21 points to distribute, but you can sort of plan on starting with 23. - Beyond that, you can pick up STR and INT bobbleheads relatively soon- ish. All the rest will be tough to come by. - At any time you can take a perk to raise one stat by one point. This was stupid in previous games but now it's a lot more useful and necessary. - Unlike the other games, you won't really find "bonus perks" that boost your stats directly. Bobbleheads and perks are the main ways to raise them permanently, and you'll still use clothes for temporary boosts. - Also unlike previous games, you can raise your stats above 10 and the benefits keep going (so you CAN start with a 10 in something and it won't be wasted). However it's not really important or useful to do so. It's really hard to find information about what the SPECIAL stats do now in all the noise, but here's what I have found. What you'll discover is that your stats are more about the perks you unlock than the actual bonuses, for the most part. ======== Strength ======== - As always the #1 skill for melee types, all STR does is give you +10 carry weight and +10% melee damage per point. It's worth noting that armor modifications can increase your carry weight as well now, making this less important than before. - 3 is nearly required for Armorer, but if you're a slight masochist you CAN start in 2 and just grab the bobblehead early - it's not that bad to get. Unless you're melee, you can stop there, but even if you'd rather just hit things, the perks aren't really useful past 5. Then again, 10 STR can be fun. Starting suggestion: 2 (raise to 3 soonish with a bobblehead) or 3 if you want to avoid the hassle Starting suggestion for melee: 4+, maybe higher ========== Perception ========== - ALL perception does is increase your % chance to hit in VATS. There are maybe a couple of dialog options where you "notice" something but the widely reported lockpicking boost is either wrong or it's small enough that you won't notice. But VATS isn't 100% required anymore, and average PER is fine. - 4 is required for lockpicking and rifle-using, although again 9 can be really powerful. The first bobblehead you find is for PER and you'll practically trip over it very early. Starting suggestion: 3 (and quickly raise to 4 with a bobblehead) If you really love VATS: 5+ ========= Endurance ========= - END gives 5 HP/level - which is better than you think since there is no level cap - and makes sprinting take less AP (you will never care about this). - Back to being a fair choice for a dump stat, END has one decent perk at 3, and you don't really even need that. You'll be quite glassy but you're going to want a dump stat, so might as well choose this and keep lots of stimpaks handy. Starting suggestion: 1 (maybe 2) Starting suggestion for melee: 3+, probably higher ======== Charisma ======== - Gain a ~5% discount / ~2% bonus to sales at vendors per point (meh), although there is a hard cap you likely won't hit. It also influences a LOT of dialog options - tons and tons. No other bonuses (the widely reported settler cap is either wrong or CHA is only one factor of many). - 6 CHA gives access to the Local Leader perk which is crazy useful and saves you a ton of time and effort - but it's not required. An extremely high CHA - 9 and 10 - are game-breakingly powerful. Starting suggestion: 6. Local leader is really useful but more than that your CHA stat is really your only "speech" skill now since there is only one speech-modifying perk and it only works in certain circumstances. If you'd rather just shoot things and not talk to them, you can dump this stat, but 6 is still useful to any build. You won't find the bobblehead anytime soon, either. 9 or 10 isn't a bad way to play the game but you'll probably want to save it for your second playthrough. ============ Intelligence ============ - +3% XP per point (meh). In theory can be used for a couple of "puzzle" checks. Hacking is reportedly easier but again it's either untrue or you won't notice. - Since there are no skills and the benefit is negligible, INT sucks right? NOPE! The perks are hot commodities, and you'll want at least through 6 to get the best ones, although you can start at 5 since the bobblehead is about as hard as the STR one to find. If you love power armor, you will eventually want to get to 9, but for everyone else, 6 is plenty. Starting suggestion: 5 (grab the bobblehead soonish) ======= Agility ======= - +10 Action Points per point, which sounds like a lot because it IS (you only start with 60!). It also grants about a 1% pickpocketing chance per point (who cares) and apparently makes sneaking a little easier, but it's hard to tell. - Some great perks here, especially for the sneaky types. 5 is nice, and you'll want no less if you rely on VATS a lot, but starting with 7 can make you a sneak attack monster. 10 can be fun, too. Starting suggestion: 5 Starting suggestion if you love sneaking: 7 ==== Luck ==== - Each point in luck reduces the total number of shots required to fill your crit bar by a small amount (1 or 2 shots per point). It also once again probably plays into what you find in containers, but no one really knows if this is true since it's so random anyway and the effect isn't that big. - Luck is a weird stat this time around. 2 is plenty for a decent perk and crit bar fill time (you don't really need the crit bar that much on normal difficulty), but once you get to 6 and higher, the game changes. In particular, the luck perks at 6, 7, 8, and 9 all complement each other to an insane degree, turning you into a god of death in VATS, especially late-game. You probably want to put "whatever is left" into luck, and much later raise it up to 9 and just have fun. Starting suggestion: 2+, or whatever is left ======================================== Starting Builds ======================================== [4BLD] So that's all well and good but what stats should you start with? ===== Melee ===== Well, if you just want to run around and hit things, you could probably do worse than: STR - 5 (all you need to start) PER - 3 (bobble to 4 soon) END - 5 (all you will likely need) CHA - 6 (seriously) INT - 5 (yup) AGI - 2 (ok to dump for non-sneaky, non-VATS character) LCK - 2 (ditto) Use the SPECIAL book on STR and that should suffice for a while. Eventually you'll want to boost it to 10, though. =================== Thog Kill Talky Man =================== It's entirely possible to play the game like this. STR - 2 (shooting for 3) PER - 3 (shooting for 4) END - 1 (dump it) CHA - 10 (let it shine) INT - 7 (shooting for 8) AGI - 3 (in case you need to sneak) LCK - 2 (really a minimum) You can either grab the INT bobblehead early and have one point to spare, or use the SPECIAL book in INT. Either way, this allows you to hack, pacify, or intimidate anyone or anything you meet, while still allowing you to sneak and use guns if you have to. ========================================= Whisper Quiet, Headshotting Death Machine* ========================================= *credit to Sunfist for this moniker So, stealth builds are making the rounds right now because stealth can be extremely overpowered once you get to the midlevels. In a nutshell: if you can use a silent weapon at range (or melee, for that matter) with all the sneaking, ninja, and sandman (guns only) perks, you can one-shot nearly anything and even if you don't it'll never see you (nor will its buddies). STR - 2 (shooting for 3) PER - 3 (shooting for 4) END - 1 (dump it) CHA - 6 (sigh) INT - 5 (shooting for 6) AGI - 7 (ninja) LCK - 4 (the rest) This is more or less a typical sneaky glass cannon build, except you aren't really trying much for PER since you'll do a lot of manual aiming, and by the time you get back around to using VATS a lot you'll have perks that will help boost you so that it doesn't matter. Technically CHA doesn't NEED to start at 6, since you can always perk it up late game, but it's just so darn nice to pass all your persuasion checks, too. You can put the SPECIAL book in LCK and then keep boosting LCK later to access all the insane luck perks, or just boost AGI a little more for the AP. Technically 10 AGI (Gun Fu) is also nice, and combos well with the LCK perks, although you'll likely need a pistol to take full advantage since they use less AP per shot. ======================================== Perks ======================================== [5PRK] Wow there are a lot - and most of them have multiple levels as well. Things to keep in mind: all perks require a minimum SPECIAL stat level and a character level. The stat level never changes, so you can still get the last rank of sneak with just 3 AGI - but you'll need to be character level 38. The first rank in each perk has no level requirement. Unlike previous games, magazines don't boost perks directly, but give you similar, smaller-value perks. They're worth grabbing when you can but nothing is game-changing. There are some VERY good perks that come from your companions and quests, but they are not covered here since they require no decision about whether or not to get them (take all you can find). I may eventually get around to doing a full list of all perks at all levels and how useful they are. In the meantime, here is a list of the main things you will want to consider, along with a general rating from 1 (bad) to 5 (good), with 0 meaning "don't do this." One note: Rifleman, Gunslinger, and Commando are similar perks and the type of gun and receiver determine which applies. All non-automatic pistols are Gunslinger, but if you make your pistol automatic, Commando now applies. Same with rifles. Again: type of ammo makes no difference - energy, plasma, bullets, etc. The only other gun-related perk is Heavy Gunner, and you will not mistake those weapons. === STR === 1 - Iron First is for a niche playstyle where you use punches instead of swords. Just use swords. It also doesn't work for power armor attacks. One thing to note, though: if you can stand to wait until level 46 to get good, paralyzing crits are amazing. Rating: 0, or 5 if that's your thing (it's not your thing) 2 - Big Leagues is great for melee users; bump it up each time you can if that's your bag. Rating: 0, or 5 for melee 3 - Armorer is awesome and allows you to customize your armor mods, which can really boost your defenses much earlier than you happen to find decent armor (since you can't really wear power armor all the time - or rather, it's difficult to do so). This is why 3 STR is suggested. Rating: 4 4 - Blacksmith is the natural complement to Big Leagues, and is also used for some melee-only power armor mods. Again, max it if that's your character. Rating: 0, or 5 for melee 5 - Heavy Gunner, as pointed out elsewhere online, is really more about saving ammo than doing damage, since heavy guns already do massive damage. Still, there are a few places where you'd like to do as much damage as possible as fast as possible, and staggering is extremely powerful. Rating: 2, 4 for level 4 6 - Strong Back is less useful this time around, since armor can boost carry weight and your companion doesn't suck. Plus, 6 STR is expensive unless you're melee, and if you've got that kind of STR, you probably don't need this perk. Probably only needed if you're also using heavy guns. Rating: 2 for levels 1 and 2, 0 for 3+ 7 - Steady Aim is buried in the STR tree - aka the melee build tree - but helps you shoot guns better. I suppose you'll want to shoot guns sometimes when you're melee, but this perk seems to miss the point. Rating: 1 8 - Basher is another odd one. Just use your sword or axe or whatever. Rating: 1 9 - Rooted is also hard to get working right, since melee builds don't tend to just stand there. Rating: 1 10 - Ok, Pain Train is awesome. Takes a lot of STR and power armor but staggering enemies is pretty powerful. Rating: 5 if you have the STR, but you have to build your character around it - 0 otherwise === PER === 1 - Pickpocketing can be fun when you stick a grenade on someone, or steal their weapon or whatever, but still: if you're that close, just shoot them in the head. Very few other things need a good pickpocketing in the game; you can usually find stuff in other places instead. Still, a few caps here and there isn't terrible, and it's actually good against power armor foes since you can steal their cores and make them easier to kill. Complements sneaky builds somewhat. Rating: 2 2 - Rifleman is something any non-melee-only build should max, and even melee types should think about it. When it comes to guns, non-automatic rifles are powerful and plentiful. They're great for sneak attacks once you can finally build silencers (gun nut 3 at the earliest) and otherwise just great. If you make it an automatic, you'll want Commando instead. Rating: 5 3 - Awareness is frankly really helpful. You don't NEED it, but especially during a first playthrough it's worth grabbing early to help you learn how to fight properly. Rating: 4 4 - Locksmith is a skill every build should max (at 3), and why PER 4 (after bobbling) is a minimum in all my suggestions above. It's that good. Learn it, love it. Some say that because you have the option of getting a companion who can do this for you, you don't need it. They are wrong. Unless that's the only companion you ever want, you find them immediately, and you hate free XP, pick it up. Note that level 4 is pointless; don't bother. (That's why the game has quicksave / quickload.) Rating: 5 for levels 1-3, 0 for level 4 5 - Demo Expert isn't bad as a cap-making enterprise in addition to the damage bonus, and while each additional level adds more recipes, 1 is all you need to make some ridiculous (but rare) mines. Just like other Fallout games, this is fun if you go down this path, but shooting things in the head is so much faster and more reliable that it's not really worth it unless you get into the harder difficulties (where it is nearly required). Very rarely (against major bosses) it can come in quite handy, though. Rating: 3 for level 1, 2 for level 2+ 6 - Night Person is pretty dumb. I suppose if you just wait around a lot you can take advantage of it more often, but even the benefits aren't that huge since stats are more about unlocking perks than the bonuses themselves. Night vision might be neat but it's not really worth two perks; just adjust the brightness on your screen. Rating: 1 7 - Refractor doesn't give you much, and other perks and armor can more than cover this. Just wear power armor when you need to. Rating: 0 8 - Sniper level 1 is not even close to worth a perk, and level 2 actually makes the game harder. Level 3 is pretty awesome, though, but it's hard to justify 3 perks for that. Also there's another perk in the game that you can get from a companion that adds to headshots - just get that instead. Rating: 0 9 - Penetrator is pretty amazing, since the AI does actually use cover frequently enough. If you're already deep-diving into PER then pick it up, but don't go out of your way otherwise. Level 2 is definitely worth the extra perk. Rating: 4 if your build gets to this point 10 - Concentrated Fire is nice and makes VATS better, but if you're looking to be a VATS-loving death machine, check out luck instead. If you can't do luck and just love PER for some reason, then sure - take this instead. Rating: 3 === END === 1 - Toughness is the second best END perk, which unfortunately means it still isn't that good. While damage resistance is better than energy and rad resistance since it's more common, you can still do better with just more armor. Not a terrible perk to take early, though, when armor is scarce - especially if you like scouting way ahead for bobbleheads. Rating: 3 2 - Lead Belly is for extreme difficulties. It's too easy to just cook food otherwise. Or use stimpaks. Rating: 0 3 - Lifegiver is actually not bad. 4 level's worth of HP, then 4 more, then 4 more and a regen effect. On the other hand... healing items are plentiful and you can always just sleep. More HP is nice for surviving but then again the main things that will kill you (big things) will probably still kill you. Rating: 3 4 - Chem Resistant is again, useless. Just get yourself un-addicted, it's actually not that hard. (Or avoid drugs in general, which is also easy.) This is more about saving caps, which is also not useful. Rating: 0 5 - Aquaboy/girl is actually not bad, and if you already have 5 END you might as well make one fewer thing in the game able to kill you. Level 2 has niche uses since you need to be in water to make use of it. Rating: 3 for level 1, 2 for level 2 6 - Rad Resistant can be emulated with special clothing that you should carry around instead. It's nice when you want to wear armor AND be resistant to radiation, but just suck it up and take some Radaway. Rating: 0 7 - Adamantium Skeleton is also pointless since stimpaks heal limbs instantly and you can use them in battle at any time. And if you step on a mine you're just going to reload anyway. Rating: 0 8 - Cannibal; just use stimpaks. Maybe nice for very hard difficulties? Also it apparently impresses a certain companion. Rating: 0 9 - Ghoulish is like Aquaboy/girl; one fewer thing you have to worry about. Still, you didn't take Rad Resistant because you have that clothing that more or less solves this problem for you. And turning Feral Ghouls isn't really useful since they're not very powerful. Rating: 1 10 - Solar Powered is like Night Person, and suffers from the same drawbacks. Technically it's much more useful, but it also requires a massive 10 END to take it - which really isn't useful for hardly any build. And Lifegiver is probably already doing this for you if you like regen. Rounding out a pretty terrible perk line. Rating: 1 I bag on the END perks, but really: they are for a playstyle that isn't one I suggest, which is the high-end, extreme difficulties where radiation storms kill you instead of pester you like a mosquito and running out of food is a serious problem. There is a place for them: just not one I recommend. === CHA === 1 - Cap Collector is what you already are. It has a niche use in that it can maybe help you afford some ridiculous unique weapons earlier in the game, and it's almost worth it if you're a power armor junkie, but otherwise it's pointless. Add to that the already high CHA I suggest you start with and you really don't need it. By the time you can take level 3 you won't care as much anyway. Rating: 1 2 - Lady Killer / Black Widow is the ONLY perk in the game that can help with dialog options, which makes it more interesting than before. (No unique options, though.) And the +5% damage per perk is nothing to sneeze at. However the weapon-modifying perks are better, as is simply raising your CHA. But if you'd rather just do a little of both, it's not a terrible choice. And, like their other games, Bethesda has decided that post-apocalypse Boston still suffers from needless sexism when it comes to who is in charge and who you speak to, so female characters will get more out of this perk than males. Rating: 2 for guys, 3 for gals 3 - Lone Wanderer is only useful if the bug where it still counts when you're using Dogmeat is still active, but otherwise companions are way better! Even sneaky builds need companions now - they're great at distracting mobs! Plus the companion perks are seriously insane. Don't play this game alone: use a companion! Rating: 1 if bugged, 0 otherwise 4 - Attack Dog is fine but the other companions will give you cool perks and make funny comments. Dogmeat is great if you just want the world to shut up, though. Or stop judging you. Niche. Rating: 1 5 - Animal Friend is not horrible if you're doing a 10 CHA, never-fire- once build, and in that case you'll grab it just to round out your options. But just like in previous games, "animals" includes a very small list of very dinky creatures that don't take much to kill anyway. Unless you're a 100% pacifist, just shoot the molerat and move on with you life. Rating: 1 6 - Local Leader is the main reason I suggest 6 CHA to start. You use it to set up supply lines between settlements, which eliminates a massive amount of hunting, pecking, and fast traveling, especially later in the game. It's not required but it does make life easier - plus having 6 CHA helps a lot with persuasion. The second level of this perk is ok but not really needed or even very helpful until late game, so you can hold off on it for a while. PLEASE NOTE that "setting up supply lines" is one of the stupidly hardest things to do in the game, and you SHOULD google that and get a firm grasp of how it works after taking this perk. Rating: 4 7 - Party Boy / Girl is kind of dumb. Alcohol is an extremely heavy drug (weight-wise) and other drugs will boost you more, even with the level 2 of this perk. And it's not like addiction is really an issue. Maybe slightly better than Chem Resistant? But it also only applies to one chem. Rating: 1 8 - Inspirational isn't terrible, but it's also not really necessary (give them a melee weapon while you use a gun and they'll never hurt you). Level 2 is almost pointless since they can't die anyway, and while level 3 seems helpful you're better off just wearing armor that increases your own carry limit. Probably better for people who enjoy heavy guns who don't want to invest in STR. Rating: 1 9 - Wasteland Whisperer is a game-changer. It affects nearly every non- human you want to affect, and even works on some bosses - although if your quest is to kill the boss, you'll still need to kill it. Beyond just reducing the total enemies you have to fight (level 1) or having them attack each other (level 21), having a huge monster run around killing things for you in addition to your companion is insane - but sadly you won't get that until level 49. Still, even at level 1 this is powerful. This perk is what a high-CHA, end-game build is all about. The only drawback is that you have to get uncomfortably close to work it, and you'll want to save first since it doesn't always work. Rating: 5 for high-CHA builds, 4 otherwise 10 - Intimidation is what you'll take after Wasteland Whisperer to round out the bunch. At least as powerful or probably more so since humans (and certain creatures extremely similar to humans) are so common, this gives you a temporary extra companion at level 50. It takes a long time to get that awesome but it's still awesome. And by level 50 you may have enough perks to get it regardless of your build. Rating: 5 for high-CHA builds, 4 otherwise === INT === 1 - VANS is for people who can't read or deal with maps, or who get lost easily in 3D games. That's legit; some people just aren't wired that way. For anyone else, skip it. Rating: 0, or 5 if you can't run around in a 3D space that well 2 - Medic isn't that bad, but you won't really run out of stimpaks on the default difficulty - although if you're melee this becomes much more important. At level 49 it speeds up how fast stimpaks work, which is awesome - but that's a really long time to wait for something like that. Rating: 3 for melee, 2 for anyone else 3 - Gun Nut - oh yeah. This is where it's at. Unless you're melee-only (and maybe even then) you'll want to throw some ranks in this. While it's not 100% necessary since you can technically find gun mods and apply them without the perk... you'll still want this perk. It's the best way to get the most damage possible as early as possible. If you're a sneak, you'll want it BAD so you can make silencers, which are extremely rare otherwise. Rating: 5, or 3 if you're melee-only 4 - Hacker is just like Locksmith, except just like other Fallout games it's not quiiiite as useful. You will want to get 3 levels in it anyway, just to make things smoother. And unlike other games, there are some "security doors" that CANNOT be picked, and must be opened with a terminal. Level 4 is still worthless. Note: you will have earliy-ish access to a companion that can do this for you that you may actually keep around, so there's a better argument for not going deep into this perk. It's still worth picking up at least one level for when they are absent. Rating: 5 for levels 1-3, 0 for level 4 5 - Scrapper will save you time in crafting, and crafting takes forever, so you'll probably want this. It's not strictly necessary but it's very useful early when screws are still rare. Rating: 4 6 - Science! helps with energy weapons instead of Gun Nut, and it's nearly as useful. It also helps with modding power armor, which is very resource-expensive but still very cool. This is why I suggest getting to at least 6 INT for any build. Rating: 5 7 - Chemist is a perfect complement to Chem Resistant... which also sucks. Most drugs last long enough already. Also, don't do drugs. I like to think of them as slightly heavier caps. (It also allows you to make more expensive drugs, which is less useless.) Rating: 0 8 - Robotics Expert is the INT version of the awesome 9 and 10 CHA skills above, although it's both better and worse. It's better because it works more easily and the "new friend" option happens earlier at level 44, but it's worse because robots are still fairly rare and it doesn't work on sentries, which are the main things you'd WANT it to work on (there's a magazine for that, though). Best paired with sneak so you can get close first since robots are often loners. Rating: 3, or 4 for high-CHA builds 9 - Nuclear Physicist affects a tiny number of weapons but that's not the point: the point is wearing power armor all the time! Although power armor is amazing, it's hard to justify 9 INT just for that, but still, it's a darn good perk. Level 3 also lets you make what are basically extremely expensive mini-nuke grenades, but I wouldn't recommend doing that. Rating: 5 if you get this far in INT 10 - Nerd Rage is back, and it's still pretty awful. You have to be nearly dead and then suddenly you're really good in combat - but you'll probably just want to heal yourself instead of taking advantage of the perk. Level 1 might be ok just to give yourself a bit more wiggle room to pull out the stimpak, but honestly the whole perk is still just dumb. Rating: 1 for level 1 only, 0 for the rest === AGI === 1 - Gunslinger affects all pistol-type weapons (unless you make them automatics), and it's worth boosting this one as well. While they will never match the raw damage of rifles, pistols shoot REALLY fast (perfect for Gun Fu and the LCK perks), and you can get silencers for them much earlier than any other gun, which makes them excellent sneak weapons. If you just can't spare the perks, Rifleman is still better in my opinion, but Gunslinger is a legit way to go. Rating: 4 2 - Commando affects any automatic weapon, regardless of type. This is also a pretty good way to go, although I personally still prefer sneaky builds and sneaky builds want their damage front-loaded to take advantage of sneak attack bonuses (automatics do less raw damage per shot). Ballistic ammo is also slightly harder to come by than other games, although not by much, so I don't like to just fly through it. The main drawback to this perk is that you won't find good automatic weapons or build automatic mods until a bit later in the game, and by then you've probably already invested too much in Gunslinger or Rifleman to put much here. Staggering is still a big deal, though, and makes this perk line much more useful late-game. Rating: 4 late game, 3 earlier 3 - Sneak is pure awesome. Level 5 is not as required but once you get to sneak 4 at character level 23 you will be a silent agent of death. Not to mention they rolled "ignore traps and mines forever" into this as well! Sneak also works well for ranged OR melee. Even if you don't sneak much I'd still recommend sneak if you can fit it in your build, but if you just love running around and hate taking more time to do things feel free to skip. Rating: 5, or 0 if you just hate sneaking (you monster) 4 - Mister Sandman is only interesting when you combine it with other sneak-related perks. Specifically, you need a silenced (ballistic) gun doing a sneak attack for it to work - which is a very specific circumstance but something you'll do all the time if you're a sneak build. It stacks multiplicatively with Ninja so that's nice, but it's apparently also a bit buggy (you will want to max Ninja before taking this perk). If you want to make sure you kill everything in a single hit, and you love the ranged sneak attacks, this is a good way to rival melee Ninja kills. Otherwise it's far too specific and Ninja is strictly better if you don't have perks to spare. (Also note that the "sleeping person" part of it is nearly useless, as this happens far too rarely to be worth it.) Rating: 3 for sneak builds, 0 otherwise 5 - Action Boy/Girl is just good, but it's especially good if you use VATS at all. Which you probably will. Ironically less useful for the sneak-attack sniper, since you do so much manual aiming, but generally if you use VATS this is a good perk at both levels. Rating: 4, or 1 if you hardly ever touch VATS 6 - Moving Target requires sprinting, and you just don't do that much - especially not enough to justify a perk. It's ok for niche situations (like running away) but otherwise killing the thing is more effective. Rating: 1 7 - Ninja is pretty much required for sneak attack builds. The melee side of things gets a little ridiculous, and when paired with Blitz you pretty much break the game, but even ranged attackers will notice each level of Ninja, and it's the only way you can bring down some big targets quickly enough. Probably best to keep this maxed if you sneak, but if you never sneak it's obviously useless. (Due to a bug, you should max this before getting other sneak attack-boosting perks.) Rating: 5, or 0 if you just hate sneaking 8 - Quick Hands seems like a good idea but it's not. Even heavy guns don't take THAT long to reload. The hunting rifle is probably the only reason you'd take this and even then, just wait and get a better gun. Rating: 1 9 - Blitz is required for melee stealth builds, which you probably won't see much but they can be insane with a strong weapon and maxed Ninja. Ranged is probably still safer and easier, and getting both 9 AGI and high STR is a tall order when CHA and INT are so demanding, but you can do some game-breaking stuff with Blitz. Rating: 4, or 5 if you specialize in melee stealth 10 - Gun Fu is hilarious, and pairs extremely well with the LCK perks (see Grim Reaper's Spirit) and Gunslinger. As long as you're surrounded you'll be killing everything really quickly. Well worth the perks, although the "instant crit" doesn't come along until level 50, which is quite late. Rating: 4, or 5 if you use Gunslinger === LCK === 1 - Fortune Finder, hey! It's that same crappy perk from all the other games. Technically it might help you purchase some crazy-good unique weapons earlier than you might otherwise, and it's nice to have a lot of caps if you love power armor (cores are expensive), but come on. Caps are everywhere, disguised as raiders holding stuff. While caps ARE a little harder to come by in this game, it's not enough to justify a perk. Rating: 1 2 - Scrounger is almost worth it, and technically better than Fortune Finder since ammo sells for caps. And if you like heavy guns it's almost definitely worth it. But it's still hard to justify a perk. Still, when it comes to the perks that basically just give you more money, this is probably the best. The value of this perk jumps up considerably on higher difficulty levels where you need more ammo to kill anything. Rating: 2, 3 if you use heavy guns 3 - Bloody Mess is back, too. Slightly useful to help reach corpses to loot, but on the other hand it makes multiple corpses harder to distinguish. 5% damage is ok, but this perk is really just for the silliness. Save it for another playthrough. Rating: 1 4 - Mysterious Stranger is still just too random for me. Some people like it because it's a nice boost, but I'd rather just do 20% more damage all the time. The crit recharge is also nice but also too random to really be useful. Rating: 2 5 - Idiot Savant is something you would want to take early, and without having a high INT. But a high INT is really, really good, and you really want to have at least 5 to start. Technically you can cheese this by saving/reloading to make sure you get the bonus (like when you turn in a quest), but honestly "speeding up XP gain" is not useful. Just do quests. Rating: 1 6 - Better Criticals is good, but it does NOT work on sneak attacks, so sneaky characters aren't necessarily interested. Awesome for anyone who uses VATS, especially against bosses and such - where you'll really need this. But where this perk REALLY shines is when you start to get further down the LCK tree, where crits are more common... Rating: 3, or 5 for high-LCK builds 7 - Critical Banker is useful for any build, although again it doesn't matter to sneak attacks. It works especially well with Gun Fu or anyone who shoots a lot in VATS - or just as a way to store up lots of strong hits against a boss. However, this perk is once again a great way to boost up the next two perks... Rating: 3, or 5 for high-LCK builds 8 - Grim Reaper's Spirit is where VATS gets awesome. Combine this with Gun Fu and some of your banked, better criticals and you'll be popping off a dozen enemies at a time, especially once you hit level 46 and not only recharge your AP but also your crit meter. Ironically less effective as you start to kill everything around you. Works even better with the next one... Rating: 4, or 5 for high-LCK builds 9 - Four Leaf Clover level 1 gives a 7.5% chance to refill your crit bar after EACH HIT. Think about that with a pistol or automatic weapon. And then add in better crits, and crit banking, and the Grim Reaper ability to randomly recharge your AP after each kill. Yeah, it's crazy. It maxes at 13.5% at level 4 (requires level 48 as well) but that's better than a 1 in 8 chance each shot. Yes, that's pretty random, but you'll be shooting so much it will come up regularly. It's worth noting that all these perks are EXTREMELY cost-intensive, since you can easily spend 12- 13 perks to get all of them to a decent level, not to mention the 9 LCK requirement in the first place. But for end-game builds that favor VATS and don't really sneak, this is awesome. Rating: 4, or 5 for high-LCK builds (which this pretty much requires) 10 - Ricochet is random and it requires low health - the drawbacks of Nerd Rage and Mysterious Stranger together in one. It's a much more powerful effect, but I'd rather spend my perks on the other LCK options. Rating: 1 Final Thoughts on Specializing Your Build The game does a great job of pacing your advancement, as enemy levels (and loot) are based both on your level and how far you are from the starting point of the game. That said, there are noticeable difficulty jumps from time to time, like when suddenly the roaches are all gone and you're fighting radscorpions, or the latest mutants start using missile launchers and a fat man instead of just boards and pipe pistols. So you WILL need to get good at SOMETHING combat-related relatively quickly. It's still possible to spread yourself out and be fairly well-rounded, but specializing in something early on will help. Whether that's melee, ranged, sneaking, or just talking is up to you. And don't forget you can adjust the difficulty on the fly if you want (it doesn't change the XP you get). ======================================== General Tips ======================================== [6GEN] I know - every website ever (even random news sites) has tips for Fallout 4. Most are crap, so good luck sorting through them. Here are a few random tips that are either rarely mentioned or are worth highlighting. Fashion Accessories Unlike previous games, you need a much smaller wardrobe at all times. Since stats don't affect quite as much, I'd recommend (other than your main armor/primary gear) carrying: CHA-boosting pieces for conversations, radiation-resistant pieces for the occasional rad problem, and maybe one or two odd STR-boosting pieces for that rare time you actually run out of space (well, rare after the early game, anyway). Overloaded Just in case you weren't a hoarder, this game will make you one. You'll eventually get a feel for what is useful and what is not (desk fans, aluminum cans, duct tape, and baseballs are more important than you'd think, and flip lighters are awesome) but sadly you'll likely be doing a whole lot of fast traveling back to base to dump off your armloads of junk, especially at the beginning. When you get into the inevitable situation where you are overloaded and can't fast travel, remember these tips. - Your companion. They aren't just there to be funny; they're pack mules, too. (Even Dogmeat.) - Keep some Buffout on you at all times; fast-travel only checks at the beginning of your trip if you have enough STR. - Keep some STR-boosting clothing at all times. - Kill some of those weird two-headed deer, cook the meat, and keep it on you at all times (it boosts carry weight). You can find some east of Sanctuary, typically. - For a longer-term solution, get the armor perks and get "Pocketed" and then "Deep Pocketed" mods for your gear. You'll need a crapton of leather (and other stuff like adhesive - but I always ran out of leather first) and it will make your armor heavier, but it still comes out way ahead. Another tip is to generally watch the weight-to-value ratio of non-junk. Anyone who's played these games before knows this, but something that weighs 3 lbs and can sell for 20 caps isn't worth carrying over something that weighs 5 lbs and sells for 50 caps. Hidden Gems Overdue Books are one of the few items that seems worthless but you'll want to collect at least 10 for a magazine (and 10 more can net you a fusion core). Mines. If you get overwhelmed by a tough enemy, remember that lots and lots of mines can kill ANYTHING. As long as you know where the thing is going to go before it goes there, you can kill it. Loot and store every mine you find because at some point, you will need them. City Planning The general rule is that you'll need one food, bed, and water per settler, and then one defense for each food and water. There are LOTS of ways to go about this, but if you want to be efficient (and you're not limited by special circumstances in your settlement), you should only ever build basic water pumps and 5 defense machine gun turrets. Why? Because all that other stuff requires materials that are hard to find. Oil in particular is rare, and circuitry isn't easy to come by - but steel is everywhere and gears aren't that bad. So it's more efficient to waste a lot of gears and steel making the simplest turret over and over than to get fancy and use up all your oil to make the better ones. (Not to mention all the laser ones are a huge waste of materials.) Are they better in a fight? It doesn't matter because you'll never get attacked because your defense rating is so awesome. And you actually don't WANT extra water production because the more water you have, the more defense you need. It's better to have only enough and add on slowly when you need more. Eventually you might have to go back and consolidate due to building limits, but if you're that deep into city building, you already know what you're doing. ======================================== Fallout 4: Character Building, Leveling, and S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Guide to the Commonwealth Copyright (c)2016 Jason Long. All rights reserved. Version 1.0. Last Updated 1-14-2016