And Stay Back¶

You’ve discovered a Shotgun technique that has a chance to knock an enemy back.

This perk causes enemies to get knocked down when you shoot them with a shotgun. Its usefulness varies on what you shoot with it; Death Claws and Super Mutants seem to be all but helpless against this perk, but humans, for example, were very rarely affected… not that it mattered, since they’re usually too weak to care about. This is a good helping perk if you love shotguns, and if you got the Shotgun Surgeon perk, you should definitely get this one, too.

Animal Friend¶

At the first rank of this perk, animals simply won’t attack. At the second rank, they will eventually come to your aid in combat, but never against another animal.

Even though Yao Guai make their New Vegas appearance in the “Honest Hearts” expansion, that’s still not enough incentive justify picking this perk. Not when pacifying wasteland critters is less effective than just putting a few bullets through them.

Fight the Power!¶

You’ve had enough of the so-called “authorities” pushing poor folks around! You gain +2 Damage Threshold and +5% Critical Hit Chance against anyone wearing the faction armor of the NCR, Legion, or Brotherhood.

Although it might seem fair to directly compare this perk to Sneering Imperialist, this perk just gives better bonuses… even though it’s just as selective with its affected foes. The Damage Threshold and Critical Chance certainly outshines the accuracy and damage of Sneering Imperialist, and some of these faction folks can actually be somewhat strong… nothing to strong for a well-placed .308 Round, but still, pretty strong.

Finesse¶

With the Finesse perk you have a higher chance to score a critical hit on an opponent in combat, equivalent to 5 extra points of Luck.

An extra 5% chance to critically hit is really a good bit of awesome for this guide’s suggested build. In fact, it’s hard to imagine anybody not having a use for this perk. Think of it this way, taking Strong Back is good because it gives you the best part of having five points of Strength. Finesse does pretty much the same thing, but with Luck, a far superior attribute. Additionally, if you get perks like Better Criticals, this perk becomes that much more useful. In tandem with a high Luck score, Better Criticals, and perhaps a weapon that increases your critical hit chance and damage, this perk is one of the most powerful perk picks in the game.

Here and Now¶

The Here and Now perk immediately grants an additional experience level, complete with all the advantages that brings.

Or you could just level up like normal. This is a waste of a perk.

Math Wrath¶

You are able to optimize your Pip-Boy’s V.A.T.S. logic, reducing all AP costs by 10%

Math Wrath reduces your Action Point consumption by 10%, which is obviously pretty nifty. At a glance, however, Action Boy - which gives 15 Action Points (more than 10% of your total Action Points) - seems superior, save for one small detail… More Action Points means it takes more time to fill your Action Point bar, while a simple Action Point cost reduction does not. Taking that into consideration, Math Wrath is probably the superior pick, and a decent enough perk to fit into any build that uses V.A.T.S. somewhat regularly.

Miss Fortune¶

Just when your enemies think they have the upper hand, Miss Fortune appears to turn their world upside down. Appearing only in V.A.T.S., she has the ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Two things about this perk, and it applies to Mysterious Stranger, too; relying on luck outside of critical hits is probably not a great battle strategy, and since this only works in V.A.T.S. (which is far less potent in this game than in Fallout 3) it’s probably not a perk you should rely on.

Mister Sandman¶

With the Mister Sandman perk, when you’re in Sneak mode, you gain the option to silently kill any human or Ghoul while they’re sleeping. And, all Mister Sandman kills earn bonus XP.

First, if they’re sleeping, you can probably just shoot them from a distance anyways. Second, when enemies are sleeping, they seem to have a greater ability to detect you. Hell, half the time you’ll get detected it’ll likely be by sleeping characters. Third, most enemies you’ll want to kill won’t be caught sleeping, so this is mostly useful for assassinating NPCs. And finally-how much XP are you really going to be getting from this in the long run? Don’t waste your perks.

Mysterious Stranger¶

You’ve gained your own personal guardian angel… armed with a fully loaded .44 Magnum. With this perk, the Mysterious Stranger will appear occasionally in V.A.T.S. mode to lend a hand, with deadly efficiency.

For the same reason that Miss Fortune isn’t worth picking, this perk isn’t, either. Sure, the extra damage in V.A.T.S. might be nice, but it can be done other, more reliable ways.

Nerd Rage!¶

You’ve been pushed around long enough! With the Nerd Rage! perk, your Strength is raised to 10 and you gain +15 Damage Threshold whenever your Health drops to 20% or below.

For role-playing purposes, this perk might be a bit of fun, just to mess around with a character who stuck to mid-strength weapons, but once they got injured they could whip out a Minigun. It wasn’t horribly effective, mind you, just amusing for a spell. +15 Damage Threshold is pretty nice, but falling under 20% of your health is cutting it awful close… and since you can get more Strength from the “Old World Blues” DLC, this perk isn’t even worth picking for the sake of novelty.

Night Person¶

When the sun is down, a Night Person gains +2 to both Intelligence and Perception (up to a maximum of 10). This perk directly affects your “internal clock” and remains active both inside and outside.

The best part of this perk is the skill bonuses you’d receive from the stat increases. If you get the extra skill points from the Intelligence when you level up at night… maybe. But still, having a bonus half of the time… eh. It’s not like it adds to your combat abilities, it lets you see threats further (at night) and gives you some extra skill points. There’s better perks out there.

Plasma Spaz¶

You’re just so excited about plasma that you can’t (magnetically) contain yourself! The AP costs for all plasma weapons (including Plasma Grenades) are reduced by 10%.

You remember Math Wrath? Yeah, it worked for all weapons, and it was mediocre. How is a perk that only works for plasma weapons going to fare? Not so well.