Fallout 4 gives you tons of customization options to work with, but it goes way beyond mere cosmetic changes. Indeed, one of the best ways to create a truly unique character in the game is to come up with an interesting and powerful build. And thanks to Fallout 4’s iconic S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system, choosing the right perks for your dream build is both easy and fun.
But as it’s often the case with these things, some perks are much better than others. Since you don’t want to go spending your hard-earned perk points all willy-nilly, it pays to plan ahead. As it happens, we put together a list of the best perks in Fallout 4 to help you get started. Check them out down below.
10/10 Sneak
Stealth-based builds are pretty overpowered in every Bethesda game, and it’s all thanks to perks like this. The Sneak perk allows you to exploit Fallout 4’s less-than-stellar NPC AI and take out enemies before they even knew what happened. Or just sneak around them and complete your objectives while avoiding combat altogether.
The Sneak perk gives you some really nice utility with every extra point you invest into it. At max level, you no longer trigger traps or mines, can run without breaking stealth, and can even vanish from sight like a ninja. Well, at least as far as enemies are concerned.
9/10 Armorer
While you won’t be able to craft every single piece of armor available in Fallout 4, the game does allow you to craft most of them. But in order to unlock their full potential you’re going to need to improve them with mods, and that’s where this perk comes in handy.
The Armorer perk is essential for pretty much every build as it gives you access to a wide variety of armor mods. You won’t get access to the best mods right away, but keep investing points into the perk, and you’ll eventually be able to create some pretty incredible custom armor. And yes, that applies to Power Armor as well.
8/10 Locksmith
There are few things more frustrating in RPGs than coming across a gate or container and not being able to unlock it. Thankfully, you can simply grab the Locksmith perk and never have to worry about that again. While you can pick some locks even without this perk, you’ll need it if you want to get to the good stuff.
Locksmith is particularly valuable in the early game where every bit of extra loot is extremely valuable. Further down the road, you’ll be able to bring along a companion who can do the lock picking for you, but you won’t have that luxury when you’re just starting your Fallout 4 playthrough. And there’s some pretty valuable stuff near the beginning that you’ll probably want to get your hands on. The Hacker perk works the same but for terminals, so you’ll want to grab that too, though it’s not quite as important as Locksmith.
7/10 Critical Banker
Critical Banker isn’t a great perk if you don’t typically use the V.A.T.S. system, or if you use it only sparingly. But if you often find yourself relying on the system in combat, you’re going to love this perk because it lets you save up Critical Hits that you can use whenever you want as long as you’re in V.A.T.S.
Taking Critical Banker all the way up to max level will let you save up no less than four Critical Hits. That’s enough to make short work of even the most powerful enemies in Fallout 4. However, it’s worth noting that you’ll need the Far Harbor DLC to max out the perk.
6/10 Bloody Mess
This one is very straightforward and will come in handy regardless of what type of build you’re going for. Bloody Mess gives you a flat damage buff that gets increasingly better with each extra point you invest into the perk. At most, you’ll be able to deal 15% more damage in combat from all sources thanks to this perk. Not too shabby.
As an extra bonus, Bloody Mess is true to its name and will sometimes cause enemies to explode into a million tiny pieces. At max level, exploding enemies may cause other nearby enemies to explode as well. Make sure to pick Bloody Mess only if you have a strong stomach because things get pretty gory with this perk.
5/10 Gun Nut
Gun Nut is pretty much identical to Armorer only it gives you access to gun mods instead of armor mods. Crafting and customization are big features of Fallout 4, so you’ll want as many of these types of perks as possible. You don’t even need to max out Gun Nut to get access to awesome mods, but it would certainly help.
This perk isn’t very useful if you want to only use powerful unique weapons without any modifications or want to focus entirely on a melee build. But if you’re going for a more traditional build that uses a bunch of crafted weapons, Gun Nut is essentially mandatory.
4/10 Life Giver
Life Giver is a very nice perk to have in the early game when your health is on the low side. You can grab the first rank right off the bat, and it will let you start your Fallout 4 playthrough with 20 extra health. That may not seem like much, but it can make a big difference when you’re just starting out your journey across the wasteland.
At max rank, Life Giver gives you 60 extra health along with the regeneration ability. Being able to slowly regenerate health over time will allow you to save up some of those valuable Chems and Caps. The regeneration component of Life Giver is slow but remains active at all times. You can achieve something similar with certain pieces of equipment, however, you might not be able to find such items as early as level 20, which is when you can grab the final rank of Life Giver. Besides, why even bother with items when you can just use this perk instead?
3/10 Rifleman
There are a bunch of perks that increase your damage with specific weapon types, but Rifleman is arguably the best of the bunch simply because rifles are so prevalent throughout Fallout 4. The perk boosts your damage with non-automatic rifles by anywhere between 20% and 100% depending on its rank.
Rifleman also has a couple of other useful benefits. For one, it allows you to ignore a percentage of the target’s armor, which essentially means you’re going to do even more damage, especially against heavily armored targets. In addition, at ranks four and five Rifleman also increases your chances of crippling an enemy’s limb.
2/10 Science!
At first glance, Science! seems awfully similar to Armored and Gun Nut, but this perk has a number of additional benefits that aren’t obvious right away. Science! is needed to improve your Power Armor, plasma weapons, laser weapons, and even ballistic weapons to some extent. If you want to craft the best high-tech mods in Fallout 4, this is the perk to go for.
Outside of mods, Science is a very useful perk to have if you’re into settlement building. Pretty much anything that involves relatively advanced technology requires you to invest at least one point into the Science! perk. This includes everything from computer terminals and automated turrets to certain power sources and more.
1/10 Lone Wanderer
This perk may seem a bit counter-intuitive since companions are a pretty big part of Fallout 4. However, outside of a few very specific situations, you’re better off roaming the wasteland all by yourself since companions have a tendency of getting in the way, especially during combat. If you do decide to travel mostly alone, make sure to invest into Lone Wanderer because it’s arguably the best perk in Fallout 4.
What’s great about Lone Wanderer is the fact that it gives you both utility and several buffs. If you take it up all the way to max level, you’ll deal 25% more damage, take 30% less damage, have 25% more action points, and 100 extra carry weight to work with. It’s important to note that Dogmeat doesn’t count as a companion, so you technically don’t have to be a lone wanderer in the wasteland since you can have your trusty doggo with you without losing any of the perk’s many benefits.
