SegmentNextFallout New Vegas Perks Guide – Best Perks
Along with the new story, new characters, and new city, Fallout New Vegas featured new powerful perks that your character can pick after gaining a few experience level. These will improve your performance with V.A.T.S and grant you action points.
As the game has been developed on the same engine as Fallout 3, so you can expect a lot of perks from the previous title to be featured in the game along with the addition of these new powerful perks.
Fallout New Vegas Perks
Before you start reading on all the perks, read our guides on Stats and Traits and Skills and Attributes to understand more about what benefits these perks can bring you.
- Standard Perks
- Companion Perks
- Companion Benefit Perks
- Challenge and Special Perks
- Implants
- Unarmed Perks
Standard Perks
These standard perks can be found in the wild, easily. Here is a list of all of them:
| Name | Level | Other Requirements | Ranks | Benefit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Widow/ Lady Killer | 2 | 1 | It unlocks new dialogue options and increases damage to opposite sex by ten percent. | |
| Cherchez La Femme/ Confirmed Bachelor | 2 | 1 | It unlocks new dialogue options and increases damage to opposite sex by ten percent. | |
| Friend of the Night | 2 | PE 6, Sneak 30 | 1 | Now you’ll be able to see in low-light conditions in lesser time. |
| Heave, Ho! | 2 | ST 5, Explosives 30 | 1 | Throwing weapons will now have a greater and a faster range. |
| Hunter | 2 | Survival 30 | 1 | Your critical damage is 75% increased on animals. |
| Intense Training | 2 | 10 | Now you’ll be able to put a point in your Special attributes. | |
| Rapid Reload | 2 | AG 5, Guns 30 | 1 | Reloading speed increased by 25%. |
| Retention | 2 | IN 5 | 1 | Duration of skill magazines is increased |
| Swift Learner | 2 | IN 4 | 3 | Earned experience points will now always be 10% more. |
| Cannibal | 4 | 1 | Now you’ll have the option to eat a human corpse when you’re in the sneak mode. | |
| Comprehension | 4 | IN 4 | 1 | Your points for reading magazines will be doubled, and you’ll get an extra point for reading books |
| Educated | 4 | IN 4 | 1 | Every time you advance a level, you’ll gain 2 extra skill points. |
| Entomologist | 4 | IN 4, Survival 45 | 1 | Your damage against mutated insects will be now 50% more. |
| Rad Child | 4 | Survival 70 | 1 | More Irradiation will increase your healing bonus. |
| Run ‘n Gun | 4 | Guns 45 or Energy Weapons 45 | 1 | If you’re walking and running then your accuracy penalties for one-handed ranged weapons will be decreased. |
| Travel Light | 4 | Survival 45 | 1 | Your speed while wearing no or light armor will be increased by 10 percent. |
| Bloody Mess | 6 | 1 | Death animations are changed and now your overall damaged is increased by 5 percent. | |
| Demolition Expert | 6 | Explosives 50 | 3 | Explosives damage increased by 20% |
| Ferocious Loyalty | 6 | CH 6 | 1 | Your companions’ DT will increase once your HP is below 50 percent. |
| Fortune Finder | 6 | LK 5 | 1 | Now you can find more bottle caps at the stockpile |
| Gunslinger | 6 | 1 | Your accuracy of one-handed weapons for V.A.T.S will be increased. | |
| Hand Loader | 6 | Repair 70 | 1 | Now you can recover more shells and hand load recipes are also unlocked. |
| Lead Belly | 6 | EN 5 | 1 | Radiation caused by the food and water sources will be decreased by 50 percent. |
| Shotgun Surgeon | 6 | Guns 45 | 1 | The targets damage threshold for you will be decreased by 10 points. |
| The Professional | 6 | Sneak 70 | 1 | The sneak attack critical of most of your weapons (pistol,smg,revolvers etc.) will be increased by 20 percent. |
| Toughness | 6 | EN 5 | 2 | Damage Threshold is increased by +3. |
| Vigilant Recycler | 6 | Science 70 | 1 | You’ll be able to recover most of your used ammunition (Energy Weapons). Also, it unlocks more recycling recipes. |
| Commando | 8 | 1 | Accuracy of two-handed weapons is increased. (V.A.T.S) | |
| Cowboy | 8 | Guns 45, Melee Weapons 45 | 1 | Dynamites, hatchets, knives, lever-guns and the revolvers have more damage. |
| Living Anatomy | 8 | Medicine 70 | 1 | Bonus is increased by 5 percent against humans and non-feral ghouls, also now you can see the damage threshold and the health of your targets |
| Pack Rat | 8 | IN 5, Barter 70 | 1 | Item weight will be decreased by half for any item less weighing than two pounds. |
| Quick Draw | 8 | AG 5 | 1 | The speed of holstering or equipping a weapon will be increased by 50 percent. |
| Rad Resistance | 8 | EN 5, Survival 40 | 1 | Radiation resistance is increased by 25 percent. |
| Scrounger | 8 | LK 5 | 1 | You will find more ammunition in the crates. |
| Stonewall | 8 | ST 6, EN 6 | 1 | Damage Threshold is increased by +5 to all the melee and un armed attacks. |
| Strong Back | 8 | ST 5, EN 5 | 1 | Carry weight is now +50. |
| Super Slam! | 8 | ST 6, Melee Weapons 45 | 1 | Your target will most probably be knocked down by the melee weapons. |
| Terrifying Presence | 8 | Speech 70 | 1 | Used for intimidating the enemies. |
| Here and Now | 10 | 1 | You instantly level up again. | |
| Animal Friend | 10 | CH 6, Survival 45 | 2 | The hostile animals will become friendly at first rank and will help you in fights. |
| Finesse | 10 | 1 | Cost of AP is now decreased by 10 percent. | |
| Math Wrath | 10 | Science 70 | 1 | Reduces all AP costs by 10% |
| Miss Fortune | 10 | LK 6 | 1 | This may incapacitate a target in vats by Miss Fortune. |
| Mister Sandman | 10 | Sneak 60 | 1 | Extra Bonus, will kill a sleeping NPC at once. |
| Mysterious Stranger | 10 | LK 6 | 1 | May kill a target in Vats. |
| Nerd Rage! | 10 | IN 5, Science 50 | 1 | Damage Threshold is increased by 15, and the strength is also increased by 10 but your health is decreased by twenty percent. |
| Night Person | 10 | 1 | When it is between 6:00 PM and 6:00 AM your intelligence and perception will be +2 | |
| Plasma Spaz | 10 | Energy Weapons 70 | 1 | AP cost is reduced by 20% for all the plasma weapons. |
| Fast Metabolism | 12 | 1 | The hit points are restored by 20 percent with stimpaks. | |
| Ghastly Scavenger | 12 | Cannibal perk | 1 | You’ll now be able to eat Super Mutants or the Feral ghoul’ corpse when you’re in the sneak mode to regain the hit points. |
| Hit the Deck | 12 | Explosives 70 | 1 | Damage Threshold is now +25 against explosives. |
| Life Giver | 12 | EN 6 | 1 | +30 hit points. |
| Long Haul | 12 | EN 6, Barter 70 | 1 | You can use fast travel, even if you’re over-encumbered. |
| Piercing Strike | 12 | Unarmed 70 | 1 | 15 points of damage threshold for every melee and unarmed attack. |
| Pyromaniac | 12 | Explosives 60 | 1 | The fire-weapons will now have 50 percent more damage. |
| Robotics Expert | 12 | Science 50 | 1 | Now you can shut down a robot if you sneak on him, also your damage on them is increased by 25 percent. |
| Silent Running | 12 | AG 6, Sneak 50 | 1 | You can now do sneakups while running too. |
| Sniper | 12 | PE 6, AG 6 | 1 | V.A.T.S, chances of headshots are increased. |
| Splash Damage | 12 | Explosives 70 | 1 | Explosive’ effecting radius is increased by 25 percent. |
| Unstoppable Force | 12 | ST 7, Melee Weapons 90 | 1 | The damage caused to the enemies while they block is increased for your melee and unarmed attacks. |
| Adamantium Skeleton | 14 | 1 | Fifty percent of the damage taken on your limbs is decreased. | |
| Center of Mass | 14 | Guns 70 | 1 | Torso damages are increased by 15% (VATS) |
| Chemist | 14 | Medicine 60 | 1 | 2x Chems durability. |
| Jury Rigging | 14 | Repair 90 | 1 | Now you can repair the items with roughly items too. |
| Light Step | 14 | PE 6, AG 6 | 1 | Mines and floor traps will not work. |
| Purifier | 14 | 1 | Melee and unarmed weapon attacks against super mutants, spore plants, spore carriers, deathclaws, feral ghouls and centaurs is increased by 50 percent. | |
| Action Boy/Action Girl | 16 | AG 6 | 2 | +15 Action Points |
| Better Criticals | 16 | PE 6, LK 6 | 1 | The critical hit damage is increased by fifty percent. |
| Chem Resistant | 16 | Medicine 60 | 1 | Addiction rate is now almost half! |
| Meltdown | 16 | Energy Weapons 90 | 1 | After death, the enemies will release a harmful energy if the cause of their death is your energy weapons. |
| Tag! | 16 | 1 | +15 points for the respective skill | |
| Weapon Handling | 16 | ST < 10 | 1 | The strength required for weapons is 2 points lower. |
| Computer Whiz | 18 | IN 7, Science 70 | 1 | You have 4 more chances to hack into a terminal once it locks down |
| Concentrated Fire | 18 | Energy Weapons 60, Guns 60 | 1 | V.A.T.S accuracy improved by 5% |
| Infiltrator | 18 | PE 7, Lockpick 70 | 1 | If you have a bobby pin then you can pick any broken lock. |
| Paralyzing Palm | 18 | Unarmed 70 | 1 | An unarmed VATS attack can now paralyze an enemy for thirty seconds |
| Explorer | 20 | 1 | All locations are marked on your map. | |
| Grim Reaper’s Sprint | 20 | 1 | 20 AP will be increased if you perform a kill in V.A.T.S | |
| Ninja | 20 | Melee Weapons 80, Sneak 80 | 1 | The critical chance of melee weapons and unarmed will be increased by 15 percent and damage with melee weapons and unarmed sneak attacks will be increased by 25%. |
| Solar Powered | 20 | EN 7 | 1 | Outside only, from 6:00 Am to 6:00 PM. You’ll get +1 HP and +2 Strength every 10 seconds |
| Laser Commander | 22 | Energy Weapons 90 | 1 | The damage is increased by 15 percent and the critically hit rate is also increased by 10 percent, only for laser weapons. |
| Nuka Chemist | 22 | Science 90 | 1 | The Nuka-Cola recipe is now unlocked. |
| Spray ‘n Pray | 22 | 1 | Friendly weapon damage reduced by 25% | |
| Slayer | 24 | AG 7, Unarmed 90 | 1 | Melee and unarmed attacks are now 30 percent faster. |
| Nerves of Steel | 26 | AG 7 | 1 | AP regeneration is now 20 percent faster. |
| Rad Absorption | 28 | EN 7 | 1 | The radiation will be -1 after every twenty seconds. |
Companion Perks
| Name | Companion | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Better Healing | Arcade Gannon | The consumable sources will now get you 20 percent more health. |
| Enhanced Sensors | ED-E | Cloaked enemies can be seen in the VATS and enemies can be detected from far-away ranges. |
| Regular Maintenance | Raul | Weapon and Armor decaying rate is slower 50 and 75 percent. |
| Scribe Assistant | Veronica | Veronica can now be taken as a workbench too. |
| Search and Mark | Rex | Ammo, firearms and the chems are marked once you zoom in. |
| Spotter | Craig Boone | If you are aiming then the Hostiles are marked. |
| Stealth Girl | Lily | The sneak attacking critical will have their damage increased by ten percent, also the Stealth-Boy duration will be increased by 200 percent. |
| Whiskey Rose | Cass | The damage threshold is increased and you don’t have any side effects of consuming whiskey. |
Companion Benefit Perks
The Companion Perks above are known as ‘Player Perks’ since the benefit goes to you, the player. This other set of perks benefit your companions to make them more efficient.
| Name | Companion | Requirement | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blood of the Legion | Rex | Successfully insert Lupa’s brain into Rex | +10 DT and +100 hit points |
| Bonds of Steel | Veronica | During I Could Make You Care, successfully convince Veronica to stay with the Brotherhood | +4 DT |
| Calm Heart | Cass | Complete Heartache by the Number peacefully | +50 hit points |
| Causeless Rebel | Veronica Santangelo | Veronica leaves the Brotherhood in I Could Make You Care | Can do 30% more unarmed attacks |
| Camarader-E | ED-E | Find and gather eyebot upgrade circuit boards in the Divide | Greater DT, greater laser damage, weapon repair, energy/microfusion cell crafting, more effective V.A.T.S. attacks. |
| Faithful Protector | Rex | Successfully insert Rey’s brain into Rex | Damage dealt increases by 25% |
| Full Maintenance | Raul | Peacefully get Raul to give up his violent lifestyle during Old School Ghoul | Equipment decays 75% slower |
| Hand of Vengeance | Cass | Finish Heartache by the Number violently | + 15% Gun damage |
| Old Vaquero | Raul | Get Raul back into his gunslinger life during Old School Ghoul. | 33% increase to rate of fire with revolvers and lever action |
| Unshakeable Tracker | Rex | Successfully insert Violetta’s brain into Rex | +50% speed |
Challenge and Special Perks
These Fallout New Vegas Perks can be obtained by fulfilling a specific requirement:
| Name | Requirements | Rank | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abominable | Kill 50/100/150 abominations | 3 | Cause damage to Abominations (+3%,+6 or +10 %) |
| Animal Control | Kill 50/100/150 mutated animals | 3 | Cause damage of +3, +6 or +10% to mutated animals |
| Beautiful Beatdown | Kill 42 people unarmed and then cause 10k damage to the enemies, this too by unarmed weapons. | 1 | The AP cost of unarmed attack is decreased by ten percent. |
| Bug Stomper | Kill 50/100/150 mutated insects | 3 | Cause damage of +3, +6 or +10% to mutated insects. |
| Camel of the Mojave | Drink 100 water items | 1 | The hydration and healing of water items is 15 percent increased. |
| Day Tripper | Use 25 addictive Chems | 1 | 33% longer chem effects. |
| Dine and Dash | Eat a total of 25 corpses with the cannibal perk enabled. | 1 | If cannibal is enabled then you can grab human remains |
| Fast Times | Use turbo 20 times | 1 | 50% durability of turbo items is increased. |
| Free Radical | Use 20 RadAway | 1 | The RadAway effect is now 20 percent better. |
| Friendly Help | Have a total of 15 myst stranger or Miss Fortune visits | 1 | Now you’ll mostly see mysterious stranger and Miss fortune at VATS. |
| Lord Death | Kill 200/700/1000 enemies | 3 | Cause damage of +1, +2 or +4% damage on robots. |
| Machine Head | Kill 50/100 robots (Glitched; rank is misreported to player, rank 3 is unachievable) | 3 | Cause 3 or 10% damage to the robots. |
| Meat of Champions | You will get this perk when you cannibalize Mr. House, Caesar, The King and Aaron Kimball | 1 | It increases luck, strength, charisma, intelligence for 60 seconds each time a corpse is consumed. |
| Melee Hacker | Kill a total of 125 enemies first (melee weapons only). Cause 10k damage at Rank 1 with one-handed melee weapons and 10k with two handed melee weapons at Rank 2. | 2 | Level1 attack speed is 5% increased, Level 2 attack speed is 10% increased. |
| Mutant Massacrer | Kill 50/100/150 super mutants | 3 | Causes damage of +3, +6 and +10 to the Super Mutants. |
| Power Armor Training | Finish For Auld Lang and Still in the Dark | 1 | Now you can wear all the Power Armor variants. |
| Set Lasers for Fun | Use energy weapons and kill 64 enemies. Cause 25k damage with rifle-grip energy weapons at Rank 1 and 16k damage with pistol-grip energy weapons at Rank 2. | 2 | Critical hit chances are increased by 2 and 4 percent for all energy weapons. |
| Tough Guy | Get crippled 50 times | 1 | All the limb attacks on you are decreased by 20 percent. |
Implants
Available from Doctor Usanagi at the New Vegas Medical Clinic (her entry is on our doctors and vendors guide), these Fallout New Vegas Perks can be easily bought in return for caps:
| Name | Cost | Rank | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agility Implant | 4000 caps | 1 | +1 Agility |
| Charisma Implant | 4000 caps | 1 | +1 Charisma |
| Endurance Implant | 4000 caps | 1 | +1 Endurance |
| Intelligence Implant | 4000 caps | 1 | +1 Intelligence |
| Luck Implant | 4000 caps | 1 | +1 Luck |
| Monocyte Breeder | 12000 caps | 1 | Regenerate 1 health per 10 secs |
| Perception Implant | 4000 caps | 1 | +1 Perception |
| Strength Implant | 4000 caps | 1 | +1 Strength |
| Sub-Dermal Armor | 8000 caps | 1 | +4 Damage Threshold |
Unarmed Perks
These Fallout New Vegas Perks have a unique unarmed attack.
| Name | Requirement | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Khan Trick | Do all the Great Khan drug tasks | 1 |
| Legion Assault | Talk to Lucius with 50 unarmed. | 1 |
| Ranger Takedown | 30 speech, talk to Ranger Andy. | 1 |
| Scribe Counter | Put either the Formal Wear or White Glove Society Attire to Veronica’s inventory. | 1 |
If you still have the energy to check out any other guide, check out our Fallout New Vegas Skill Books Location Guide.