Fallout perks

List of perks
There are 53 character perks in Fallout. For perks with multiple ranks the benefit listed should be interpreted as "per rank."

Not all perks are equal due to the way the game is structured. A quick breakdown of the usability of perks is as follows:


 * Recommended
 * Awareness: Essential for any sort of planning in combat.
 * Bonus Rate of Fire/Bonus HtH Attacks: Self-explanatory.
 * Good
 * Action Boy: Universally useful. Bonus Move is good for melee characters.
 * More Criticals and Better Criticals: Good pairing in Fallout, as the top perks are only available in the end game, if at all.
 * Slayer and Sniper: Ultimate combat perks that are usually not available in normal gameplay, due to the extremely high level requirement.
 * Average
 * Dodger and Toughness: Protection is good.
 * Quick Pockets: Improved access to inventory, but not as useful as the variant in Fallout 2.
 * Tag!: Can be used on Energy Weapons late in the game.
 * Bad
 * Bonus HtH Damage and Bonus Ranged Damage: The bonus to max damage is too low to make a noticeable effect (short of using burst weapons).
 * Lifegiver: The impact is negligible due to the level cap and limited number of experience points available
 * Pickpocket: Failing at stealing causes everyone to turn permanently hostile regardless. Save scumming is effectively mandatory for any sort of normal gameplay, rendering the perk null.
 * Silent Death and Silent Running: Sneaking is poorly implemented and the perks follow the pattern. Silent Death only affects the first attack made, while Silent Running is a convenience.
 * Smooth Talker: Diplomat characters will have a good starting intelligence.
 * Strong Back: Inventory capacity is hardly an issue, especially with a party member to use as a mule.


 * Useless
 * Animal Friend: Animals are not a threat.
 * Cult of Personality, Presence: The reaction system is broken, rendering these useless.
 * Earlier Sequence: Minimal impact on combat.
 * Educated, Master Thief, Medic, Mr. Fixit, Speaker: There are enough skill points in the game without the need to waste perks on getting more skill points.
 * Empathy: Marginal effect.
 * Faster Healing, Healer: Healing rate is never an issue.
 * Flower Child: Convenience for chem users.
 * Fortune Finder, Master Trader: Money is not an issue in the game.
 * Friendly Foe: Poor, poor design choice.
 * Ghost: Even less useful than Silent Death.
 * Heave Ho!: No effect at Strength 4.
 * Mental Block: No need. The psychic nullifier is always available.
 * Mutate!: A good choice of traits renders this useless.
 * Night Vision, Sharpshooter: Marginal effectiveness in any combat situation. Directly increasing a weapon skill has a much more noticeable effect.
 * Rad Resistance, Snakeater: Radiation and poison are marginal threats.
 * Explorer, Mysterious Stranger, Pathfinder, Ranger, Scout, Scrounger, Survivalist: All world map perks are useless, due to the marginal nature of random encounters: They're neither particularly dangerous nor profitable to farm.
 * Swift Learner: Useless. The purpose of levels is to gain perks. The purpose of perks is not gaining more levels.

Abilities
Perks in this category provide miscellaneous bonuses that do not fit in other categories. Awareness is among the most useful of perks.

Combat
A group of useful perks, especially those increasing the frequency of attacks. Bonuses stack.

Dialogue
Perks in this category are useless, either tied to broken mechanics or easily bypassed with drugs.

Survivability
Perks in this category should generally be chosen only if no better perks are available. See notes for details.

Skills
These perks provide flat bonuses to skills or modify them. They are best avoided, as the skills they affect have marginal use in gameplay, with the exception of Tag!.

Criticals
General perks affecting criticals.

Weapon perks
Weapon perks are enjoyed when one uses a specific weapon.

Armor perks
Armor perks are enjoyed when one wears a specific piece of armor.