Adamantium Skeleton

Requirements: Level 14

Ranks: 1

“With the Adamantium Skeleton perk, your limbs only receive 50% of the damage they normally would.”

Your limbs don’t take much damage throughout the game, unless you step on a mine or take a glancing blow from a Missile Launcher. You won’t see much in the way of Hit Point preservation with this perk, if anything, you’ll just get crippled less. Under the normal level 20 cap of the vanilla game, there’s no point in considering this perk, but with all the extra levels (and hence, perks) in Broken Steel… eh, keep it under consideration.

Chemist

Requirements: Level 14, Medicine 60%

Ranks: 1

“With the Chemist perk, any chems you take last twice as long.”

If you plan to use Jet or Ultra Jet regularly… eh, maybe. I’d suggest just getting two of said drug, since Caps are so abundant later on. Then again, so are perks. Generally, though, since chems of all sorts are so abundant, you probably don’t need this perk.

Contract Killer

Requirements: Level 14

Ranks: 1

“Once you have the Contract Killer perk, any good character you kill will have an ear on their corpse. This ear can then be sold to a certain person (whose identity is disclosed when you take this perk) for caps and negative karma.”

It’s easy to lose karma, and it’s easy to get money. You’ll never need this perk. If you pick this perk you’ll gain access to the Office building in the Scrapyard, where you can obtain a copy of Lying, Congressional Style that you otherwise could not get. Aside from unique NPCs, the only “good” NPCs you’ll come across are random Wastelanders, townsfolk, Brotherhood of Steel characters (normal ones-Outcasts are evil) and, if you’ve got evil Karma, Regulators. Killing most of these characters is not recommended, since it can screw up quest progression… having quest-givers turn hostile and attack you tends to do that… Otherwise, your only ‘safe’ way of cashing in on this perk are with random encounters with Regulators. Not nearly as lucrative as the Lawbringer perk-even though you’ll get 15 Caps per ear, you’ll probably end up with far fewer ears to sell than you would fingers, if you picked the Lawbringer perk, instead.

Cyborg

Requirements: Level 14, Science 60%, Medicine 60%

Ranks: 1

“You’ve made permanent enhancements to your body! The Cyborg perk instantly add +10% to your Damage, Poison, and Radiation Resistances, and 10 points to the Energy Weapons skill.”

If you like energy weapons, this is a great perk, certainly more than just a skill perk. In fact, this is a skill perk with Toughness tacked on, and extra resistances to boot. In fact, this perk is worth three lesser perks. Anybody who uses energy weapons, who hates taking damage, and likes being resistant to poison and radiation has reason to take this perk. Frankly, I’m not too fond of Energy Weapons , but I’m very fond of damage reduction and resistances. This is a fantastic perk, even if the requirements are rather high.

Lawbringer

Requirements: Level 14

Ranks: 1

“Once you have the Lawbringer perk, any evil character you kill will have a finger on their corpse. This finger can then be sold to a certain person (whose identity is disclosed when you take the perk) for caps and positive karma.”

Same as Contract Killer , but for good folks… it’s a little more useful, too, since every Talon Company Mercenary and Raider you kill will drop a finger for you to sell. Each one will score you five Caps and some good Karma. The former is a pittance, and the latter… well, you can infinitely improve your Karma by simply giving Purified Water to various beggars, so selling fingers to do the same thing isn’t really necessary, although it is a bit more convenient. Other than granting you an endless supply of Karma for enemies you’ll be killing by the dozen anyways, and adding a tiny bit more monetary incentive for killing said foes, selecting this perk will reveal the Regulator HQ, wherein you can find a copy of Guns and Bullets .

Light Step

Requirements: Level 14, Agility 6, Perception 6

Ranks: 1

“With the Light Step perk, you’ll never set off an enemy’s mines or floor-based traps.”

Land mines are pretty common. Fortunately, they’re also obvious, they don’t do a huge amount of damage (in the grand scheme of things) and you can disarm them with a simple button click. Not only that, you get experience and the mine itself when you do! Be observant, and you won’t need this perk.

Master Trader

Requirements: Level 14, Charisma 6, Barter 60%

Ranks: 1

“When you take the Master Trader perk, the price of every item you buy from a vendor is reduced by 25%.”

Just like with every other money making perk, you can just kill more, and loot more. You’ll find no great need of this discount throughout the game, money becomes plentiful as you become more powerful. Choose something better.