Wasteland 3 is a phenomenal RPG, and like all RPGs, you get to tinker with a character in various ways. One of these ways is your character’s backgrounds and quirks. This Wasteland 3 Quirks and Backgrounds guide will help you understand how these both work.
Wasteland 3 Quirks and Backgrounds
Everybody has a past and that determines who we are today; Same goes for your rangers in Wasteland 3. Players can choose a Background for their custom characters.
Other than the story description related to these Backgrounds, each Background offers different boosts, which is the main focus of choosing one.
The following are all the Backgrounds that you can choose along with their boosts.
| Background | Effect |
| Bookworm | +5% XP bonus |
| Desert Cat | +1 Perception |
| Disciple of the Metal | +15% fire damage bonus |
| Explodomaniac | +15% explosive damage bonus |
| Goat Killer | +5% crit chance |
| Grease Monkey | +10% damage vs. robots and vehicles |
| Lethal Weapon | +10% melee damage bonus |
| Mannerite | Kiss Ass +1 |
| Moneybags | Barter +1 |
| Mopey Poet | +5% Evasion |
| Paladin | +10% crit resistance |
| Raider Hater | +10% damage vs. humans |
| Sex Machine | +0.2 combat speed |
| Stoner | +10% status effect resistance |
| The Boss | Hard Ass +1 |
| Vicious Avenger | +2 penetration |
Backgrounds provide permanent passive boosts to your character throughout the game and are extremely important for character development and specific builds.
Therefore, choose your Background while keeping your entire playthrough in mind. The choice cannot be later changed in the game.
Quirks
Quirks are used as an expansion of player’s stats. These abilities provide you a great buff but at the cost of a heavy debuff or negative effect to some other stat.
You get to choose only one quirk for your character that you will have to put up with the entire playthrough.
Some quirks may also change the appearance of your Ranger and some may dictate what equipment you can and cannot use.
The following are all the Quirks that you can choose from along with their respective Buffs and Debuffs
| Quirk | Positive Effect | Negative Effect |
| No Quirk | None | None |
| Blunderer | +15% melee damage bonus | -50% crit chance |
| Bop Bag | +6 armor | -0.4 combat speed |
| Circus Freak | +0.4 combat speed +25% crit resistance | -10% evasion -1 second detection time |
| Death Wish | +3 AP, +3 AP (max) | cannot wear any kind of armor |
| Doomsday Prepper | +35% status effect resistance | cannot read skill books |
| Lone Wolf | +20% initiative | Leadership skill effect doesn’t benefit character |
| Medical Marvel | +5 Constitution/HP per level | cannot be revived when downed during combat |
| Mime | +2 seconds detection time | -10 con/HP -0.5m throwing range |
| Poindexter | +1 skill point every 2 level-ups | -8 con/HP -3 con/HP per level-up |
| Prospector | occasionally find gold nuggets when digging for buried items | -1 quick slots (item slots) |
| Pyromaniac | +25% fire damage and explosive damage bonus | +15% chance to catch on fire when using explosives |
| Sadomasochist | +33% melee and ranged damage bonus | +33% damage taken |
| Serial Killer | -1 AP | +3 AP per kill (once per turn) |
| Two-Pump Chump | +2 AP for the first two turns | After the first two turns, lose -1 AP and -15% hit chance for the next six turns |
| Varangian Blood | When an ally is downed, gain +100% crit chance and +3 AP for one turn | After Berserker Rage has ended, -4 AP for the next two turns |
| Waste Roamer | 100% resistance to bleeding, poisoned, shocked, burning, frozen | -15% XP bonus |
| Way of the Squeezins | +50% damage when drunk | -20% melee and ranged damage bonus |
