Highlights

• Fallout 4 offers the freedom to choose perks and specializations, allowing you to create unique and powerful characters.
• The Hacker and Locksmith perks grant early access to valuable loot, making them worthwhile choices if you prioritize looting.

Its immersive post-apocalyptic world aside, Fallout 4 is one of the best games to create original characters. Unlike many other titles that have objectively powerful common builds, Fallout 4 gives you the freedom to pick between different perks and specializations.

Although it's recommended to try different builds and complete the game several times to get the full experience, there are a few perks that can give your character a powerful edge that might be worth exploring to build your ultimate hero of the post-nuclear wasteland.

Updated on April 25, 2024, by Andrew Scariati: Fallout 4's best perks are useful for any character, regardless of build. If you've come looking for the best Fallout 4 perks after completing the first season of the TV show, then these excellent options will help get you started.

18 Hacker & Locksmith

These two perks may not be unique, but they will come in handy in the long run depending on whether you choose a computer-whiz companion to join you. If you know your friend will possess one of these skills, pick others instead.

These two perks allow you to access terminals and safe boxes early on in the game, which may have important or valuable loot. If you're one to go around looting and gathering everything you can, these are worth considering.

17 Gun Nut

Fallout 4 has three different kinds of perks that will boost your weapon damage for either melee weapons, firearms, or energy weapons. If you're starting your first Fallout adventure, Gun Nut is the ideal pick, as it increases Small Gun and Repair proficiency by five with each upgrade.

It's a great basic perk to invest in and is without a doubt a staple selection in the game. However, if you want to spice things up, challenge yourself with a melee build using the Blacksmith perk or an energy build with the Science! perk.

16 Sneak

Depending on your character build, Sneak is also a good option for those wanting to get around their enemies and set up close-range attacks. You start this tree with a 20 percent bonus to your sneaking, which increases by ten with each level-up of this perk.

There are lots of other abilities that work well when paired with Sneak, including high agility and Stealth Boy, perfect for turning your hero into a silent killer. Enjoy roleplaying as a deadly assassin of the Wasteland.

15 Ghoulish

Aside from their unique appearance, Ghouls have some pretty amazing perks. Yes, they've lost their humanity to a degree, but they also don't seem to care about radiation, due to how much it has already altered their bodies and minds.

The Ghoulish perk allows you to absorb radiation, healing your lost HP rather than reducing your max HP when exposed. Each consecutive rank provides more healing through radiation.

14 Mysterious Stranger

The Mysterious Stranger perk is a classic in the series and a powerful option to select via the Nuka World DLC. As one of the best perks Fallout 4 has to offer, the Mysterious Stranger will be there for you when you're in dire need, randomly appearing mid-combat.

When you unlock the max rank (available at level 49), there is a high chance your critical meter will be filled when the Mysterious Stranger gets a kill.

Regardless of how many hours you've played, every encounter with the Mysterious Stranger is a memorable moment in your Fallout journey.

13 Scrounger

When it comes to surviving in the wasteland, loot is one of the most important things to keep the Sole Survivor going. Especially at higher difficulty levels, it's crucial to find powerful gear and gain every advantage you can get.

This is where the Scrounger perk comes into play.

Thanks to this perk, the Sole Survivor will find more ammo when looting desks, boxes, and the like. At each level, the likelihood goes up, until it gets to 100 percent at rank three. At rank four, emptying a gun will allow you to reload an extra magazine, which is even more handy.

12 Toughness

Any perk that boosts your character's ability to survive is always a bonus, which is why Toughness is among the very best perks in Fallout 4. When first unlocked, you receive a ten percent resistance to all damage with an additional ten for each level.

Toughness is a good general addition for any character but can be especially useful if you've chosen to wear Light Armor and need extra defense to get through tougher battles.

11 Critical Banker

If you love critical hits then this perk – allowing you to store critical hits for a later time – is going to be your best friend. On the first tier, you start off with one hit stored in the "bank" and as you progress you unlock additional slots for your critical hits.

Once Critical Banker is fully leveled up you can store up to four critical hits and show those wasteland critters what you're truly made of.

If you want to go the extra mile on this perk, we recommend getting the Far Harbor DLC to unlock your final fifth critical hit.

10 Armorer

Armorer is an essential perk to improve your armor pieces via modifications that can be applied at a designated workbench. Once you've reached level 39, you can completely max out your Armorer to access tier four modifications.

Avoiding damage in the Wasteland is the first essential step to staying alive, so investing some junk and materials in your favorite piece of power armor will pay dividends in the long run.

A minimum of three STR is required to unlock Armorer, so be sure to at least reach that threshold even if you don't want to focus your build around STR.

9 Quick Hands

Fallout 4 is a pretty fast-paced game, so if you're not careful, a fight against a tough enemy could be over within seconds. This is why it's important to take advantage of your arsenal with useful perks like Quick Hands that assist when things get especially hairy.

Quick Hands essentially lets the Sole Survivor reload their weapon much faster. At rank two, reloading in V.A.T.S. costs no action points, while at rank one the reload time is a whopping 35 percent faster.

To unlock the third rank for this perk, you must own the Nuka World DLC.

8 Four Leaf Clover

Speaking of critical hits, you'll need serious luck to increase your likelihood of getting one. Four Leaf Clover increases your critical hit chance by one extra luck point with every unlocked level.

Pair this up with Critical Banker, and you'll be hitting your killing shots and bashing the skulls of your enemies with high damage. Because both of these perks are compatible with just about any build, we highly recommend them to boost the deadliness of your character.

7 Wasteland Whisperer

This perk might raise some eyebrows, but hear us out. While your Fallout 4 journey through the wastelands should be all about strategy and making the right choices, having a bit of fun never hurt anyone.

Next time you're dealing with a group of enemies you can't quite seem to get through, call upon any of the monsters that wander the land with you to set up the perfect distraction while you prey on your enemy. Besides, who wouldn't want a Super Mutant friend or a tame Deathclaw to tag along?

6 Awareness

Awareness is one of Fallout 4's best perks for learning about enemies and identifying their weaknesses. While in V.A.T.S, you're able to see the level and resistances of your enemies – Ghouls have a high radiation resistance number, for example.

To unlock the second rank for this perk, you must own the Nuka World DLC.

Three Perception is a relatively low bar of entry for such a useful perk, and the second tier makes it even more helpful, increasing your hit chance by five percent. The additional damage buff makes this one of the best Fallout 4 perks to get during your journey through Nuka World.

5 Medic

When surviving the horrors of the wasteland, it's pretty important to keep an eye on your health. Since Stimpaks aren't super common at higher difficulty levels, it's crucial to get the maximum amount of health from them. This is why the Medic perk is so good, despite sounding so basic.

The perk also affects how much RadAway removes radiation damage, so it's sort of a two-in-one deal. At level one, both items restore 40 percent of missing health and remove 40 percent of radiation damage taken, which is a pretty significant boost.

4 Chem Resistant

Chem Resistant is one of Fallout 4's best perks to increase your quality of life, as becoming addicted to Chems is a hassle. The first tier of the perk grants you a 50 percent chance to avoid being addicted, while the second tier will guarantee complete immunity to chem addiction.

While the four Endurance is a bit higher of a requirement than some other perks on the list, you'll likely want to bump this number up anyway for general survival. Take advantage of the massive boosts to STR, INT, and other attributes that chems offer you, and enjoy avoiding addiction.

3 Action Boy

Fallout 4 wouldn't be the same game without V.A.T.S., an essential part of gameplay that allows the Sole Survivor to do so much more in a short amount of time. From critical hits to examining enemies, V.A.T.S. has many advantages when the right perks are unlocked. Action Boy is one of them.

Since using V.A.T.S. requires action points, a perk like Action Boy is vital for any V.A.T.S. builds. With each rank the regeneration percentage is higher, capping at rank three, at 75 percent.

This max upgrade is only available in the Far Harbor DLC.

2 Idiot Savant

You don't have to be smart to succeed, that much is certain in Fallout 4 thanks to the Idiot Savant perk. Sure, your character might be laughably dumb, but at the end of the day, you'll be the one to collect all the experience points to level yourself up into the strongest and dumbest survivor of the wastelands.

At level one, you can gain up to three times the XP you would normally gain from any action. If your intelligence stat is particularly low, the chance of this happening becomes increasingly higher.

1 Rifleman

Rifles are undoubtedly one of the most common and powerful weapons in Fallout 4. With that in mind, Rifleman is undoubtedly the best Fallout 4 perk for any rifle-based build.

The bonuses on each level are remarkable, starting with a 20 percent damage increase at level one and increasing by twenty percent for each additional level. At level four you also gain a slim chance of crippling the body part of the enemy you've hit.

All rifles, including Gauss Rifles, muskets, and shotguns are affected by this perk, so if you prefer engaging your opponents from afar and dealing serious damage, this is a clear choice.