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For players looking to get an edge in Fallout 4 so they can tackle some of the more difficult missions, they should consider earning one or more of the Companion perks available in the game. These perks give the Sole Survivor some kind of bonus, depending on the companion's skills, personality, and backstory.
All companion perks in Fallout 4 are earned by achieving maximum affinity with a particular companion, and each one is unique. The player should talk to their companion once the game indicates that that companion "idolizes you" to unlock the perk. Once the Sole Survivor has earned their perk, it's permanent; they can't lose it even if the affinity level with that companion changes, or they have another companion follow them.
Updated on April 2, 2023 by Quinton O'Connor: We have added a Table of Contents, condensed a few things for easier reading, and given each Companion Perk its own spiffy little chart.
Understanding The Affinity System
Unfortunately, a companion's affinity level is hidden from the player and can only be seen through console commands. However, there are a few tools that can be used to keep track too. Usually, companions will begin with an affinity level of zero. The maximum possible affinity is 1000 points, and the lowest possible is -1000 points.
If the player isn't sure where they sit on the Companion's affinity scale, they can work towards earning affinity and wait for the game to let them know when they've hit a major milestone.
|
Affinity Level |
Meaning |
In-Game Text |
|---|---|---|
|
-1000 Affinity |
Hatred |
"(Character) hates you." |
|
-500 Affinity |
Disdain |
- |
|
Zero Affinity |
Neutral |
"(Character) tolerates you." |
|
250 Affinity |
Friend |
- |
|
500 Affinity |
Admiration |
"(Character) admires you." |
|
750 Affinity |
Confidant |
- |
|
1000 Affinity |
Infatuation |
"(Character) idolizes you." |
When players know how much affinity they need to get, they can keep track of said affinity through the Companion's reactions to what the Sole Survivor says or does.
- The game indicates the Companion "liked that": +15 Affinity
- The game indicates the Companion "loved that": +35 Affinity
- The game indicates the Companion "disliked that": -15 Affinity
- The game indicates the Companion "hated that": -35 Affinity
Console Commands
If the player can use console commands, they can use the "GetAV CA_Affinity" command to check and see where their Companion's affinity is at. Players can also use console commands to raise, lower, or reset a Companion's affinity, but should be cautious — some console commands can permanently affect or change the player's save file.
Building Affinity
The player can earn affinity with different characters by performing actions or choosing dialogue options that they agree with. Every action or dialogue line, big or small, could have an effect on the companion's opinion of the Sole Survivor.
A few things to keep in mind...
- Romance: Flirting with the Companion will help increase their affinity, and the player can romance more than one Companion at a time
- Speech: Having a high speech skill may help the player flirt, get out of awkward situations, and more
- Dialogue: Each dialogue option counts as its own action, so each option over the course of a conversation can provide affinity points
- Cooldown: Some actions are "repeatable," so they'll earn affinity points every time the player does them (like healing Dogmeat, drinking alcohol, hacking, murder, lockpicking, and more), but they have cooldown periods, so they can't be repeated over and over again in one go
- Modifiers: When a player receives or loses affinity points, the game may assign a modifier to it, meaning, for example, when a Companion "liked" a player's actions, it may be slightly more or slightly less than +15 affinity — but it's a good estimate if the player can't use console commands
Cait - Trigger Rush
|
Perk |
Effects |
|---|---|
|
Trigger Rush |
Regenerates AP (Action Points) more quickly if health drops below 25 percent. |
Cait grew up in an Irish household and was abused by her family members. It's possible to earn maximum affinity with Cait after her personal quest, 'Benign Intervention'.
Earn Affinity By...
- Being generally mean and violent
- Threatening people
- Deciding not to join the Brotherhood of Steel
- Generally approving of alcohol and drugs
- Choosing sarcastic dialogue options
- Healing Dogmeat
- Stopping the Institute
- Taking odd jobs
- Inciting, enjoying, and approving of chaos
- Being brutally honest
Codsworth - Robot Sympathy
|
Perk |
Effects |
|---|---|
|
Robotic Symphony |
+10 Damage Resistance against robotic energy weapons. |
Codsworth is a butler robot from the Sole Survivor's pre-war life.
Earn Affinity By...
- Modifying weapons or armor at the workshop
- Helping others (especially the less fortunate)
- Preventing unnecessary death
- Obeying the law
- Acting responsibly
- Finding peaceful resolutions to problems
- Healing Dogmeat
- Showing empathy to others
Curie - Combat Medic
|
Perk |
Effects |
|---|---|
|
Combat Medic |
Once per day, the player restores 100 Health automatically if their Health falls below ten percent. |
Curie is a state-of-the-art robot that was designed to protect Vault 81. The Combat Medic perk can be unlocked after completing her quest, 'Emergent Behavior'.
Earn Affinity By...
- Resolving problems and arguments peacefully
- Acting selflessly
- Using a stimpak on Dogmeat
- Passing speech checks
- Being honest
- Expressing sympathy for others
- Encouraging others not to lose hope
- Helping others
- Protecting human settlements and rescuing people
Paladin Danse - Know Your Enemy
|
Perk |
Effects |
|---|---|
|
Know Your Enemy |
+20 percent damage against Ghouls, Super Mutants. |
Danse is the commanding officer of a unit in the Brotherhood of Steel. To earn this perk, the player needs to complete his personal quest, Blind Betrayal, as well as reach maximum affinity with him. If the player joins the Minutemen or the Railroad before completing Blind Betrayal, the perk will be permanently locked.
Earn Affinity By...
- Supporting the Brotherhood of Steel
- Completing the repeatable quests from the Brotherhood of Steel
- Being reasonable in conversations with others
- Helping the less fortunate
- Agreeing to become the General of the Minutemen
- Being sarcastic with members of the Church of the Children of Atom
- Asserting that a civilized world needs rules to function
- Crafting weapon, armor, or power armor upgrades
Deacon - Cloak and Dagger
|
Perk |
Effects |
|---|---|
|
Blind Betrayal |
+20 percent stealth damage; Stealth Boy effects improved by 40 percent. |
Deacon is an agent for the Railroad, an organization looking to liberate so-called "synths." This perk is known to have a few bugs associated with it.
Earn Affinity By...
- Lock-picking
- Hacking terminals
- Bribing when needed to avoid conflict
- Promising to help others in need
- Using a stimpak on Dogmeat
- Successfully finding peaceful ways to solve disputes and problems
- Helping synths
- Talking positively about and vocally supporting synths
- Joining the Railroad
Dogmeat - Attack Dog
|
Perk |
Effects |
|---|---|
|
Attack Dog |
Holds an enemy down while you attack; as it increases in levels, he may also cripple limbs, etc. |
Dogmeat is a German Shepard the Sole Survivor can recruit in the Commonwealth toward the game's start. His perk is the only companion perk that must be unlocked via leveling — all the others rely on affinity. It should be unlocked through the player's perk chart and has four ranks (the final one can be unlocked at level 31).
John Hancock - Isodoped
|
Perk |
Effects |
|---|---|
|
Isodoped |
+20 percent more damage dealt when your RADS (Radiation Points) are 250 and higher. |
John Hancock is a ghoul, someone who has been mutated or otherwise affected by prolonged exposure to radiation. The 250 RADS required for increased damage is roughly one quarter of the way through the RADS bar.
Earn Affinity By...
- Using chems, and becoming addicted
- Giving other people chems
- Being nude
- Delivering justice to (harming) those who deserve it based on their actions
- Joining the Minutemen
- Talking down potential killers
- Advocating for rights for the ghouls
- Defending innocent people
- Disavowing slavery
Robert MacCready - Killshot
|
Perk |
Effects |
|---|---|
|
Killshot |
+20 percent accuracy when using V.A.T.S. to slow down time. |
Robert MacCready is a mercenary who used to be the mayor of a town called Little Lamplight. The player can unlock his perk, Killshot, after completing his quest 'Long Road Ahead'.
Earn Affinity By...
- Stealing things
- Picking locks
- Lying, threatening, or asking for more money by passing a Charisma check
- Behaving like a mercenary
- Doing criminal actions
- Choosing sarcastic, threatening, or cynical dialogue options
- Taking bribes
- Only working for money, never for free
Nick Valentine - Close To Metal
|
Perk |
Effects |
|---|---|
|
Close to Metal |
Gain an extra guess when hacking terminals as well as 50 percent less time for resets when you've failed. |
Nick Valentine is a private detective and a synth who lives in Diamond City. To earn Close To Metal, Nick's perk, the player must reach maximum affinity with him and complete his personal quest 'Long Time Coming'.
Earn Affinity By...
- Hacking computer terminals
- Healing Dogmeat
- Doing selfless or kind things for others
- Not choosing the Institute at the end of the main quest
- Refusing bribes
- Sympathizing with others
- Supporting the Railroad
- Vocalizing support for synths and comparing them to slaves
- Killing super mutants threatening Diamond City
- Abiding by the law and encouraging others to do so
Piper Wright - Gift of Gab
|
Perk |
Effects |
|---|---|
|
Gift of Gab |
Doubles the EXP earned when the player discovers new locations and successfully persuades people. |
Piper Wright is a journalist in Diamond City who runs her own newspaper, "Publick Occurrences."
Earn Affinity By...
- Helping innocent people
- Joining the Minutemen
- Recruiting others into the Minutemen
- Picking locks, so long as they're unowned
- Joining the Railroad
- Sarcastic dialogue choices
- Killing super mutants threatening Diamond City
- Encouraging people to come together and fight for a better world
Preston Garvey - United We Stand
|
Perk |
Effects |
|---|---|
|
United We Stand |
+20 percent damage and +20 Damage Resistance when facing three or more opponents simultaneously. |
Preston Garvey is a leader in the Commonwealth Minutemen, a volunteer militia that defends the people in the Commonwealth.
Earn Affinity By...
- Evacuating the Institute survivors
- Offering to help the less fortunate
- Choosing sarcastic dialogue options (so long as the player doesn't insult anyone)
- Recruiting people for the Minutemen
- Customizing weapons
- Putting a Radio Freedom radio into settlements
- Ending conflicts peacefully when possible
- Helping Diamond City security officers
- Never stealing
- Letting Virgil live
- Turn down bribes
Strong - Berserk
|
Perk |
Effects |
|---|---|
|
Berserk |
+20 percent weapon damage when Health is at a quarter or less. |
Strong is a super mutant, a person who developed huge muscles and has become immune to radiation or disease because they were exposed to the Forced Evolutionary Virus.
Earn Affinity By...
- Killing enemies
- Completing radiant quests (if the player chooses the bottom dialogue when accepting them)
- Eating corpses
- Threatening people
- Never pickpocketing
- Never stealing
- Not using power armor
- Buying dogs, wolves, or mutant hounds from Erickson
- Being generally violent and threatening
- Killing the Railroad
X6-88 - Shield Harmonics
|
Perk |
Effects |
|---|---|
|
Shield Harmonics |
+20 Energy Resistance. |
X6-88 is a synth working for the Institute that was specifically designed for high-risk missions.
Earn Affinity By...
- Accepting side-missions from the Institute
- Entering power armor
- Helping Institute scientists
- Hacking computer terminals
- Modifying weapons and armor
- Asking for more money from quest-givers via successful Speech check
- Threatening others
- Not killing Virgil
- Not using chems or becoming addicted
- Not entering Diamond City
- Turning Acadia into the Institute
Old Longfellow - Hunter's Wisdom
|
Perk |
Effects |
|---|---|
|
Hunter's Wisdom |
All sea creatures' Energy Resistance and Damage Resistance is reduced by 25 percent. |
Old Longfellow is an experienced hunter living out of a cabin near Far Harbor.
Earn Affinity By...
- Drinking alcohol (but not beer)
- Requesting more money from quest-givers
- Not using chems, and stopping/discouraging others from using them
- Healing Dogmeat
- Doing good deeds
- Not being a cannibal
- Accepting Minutemen quests that help out settlements
- Buying a guard dog from Erickson
- Being sarcastic
- Killing raiders
Porter Gage - Lessons In Blood
|
Perk |
Effects |
|---|---|
|
Lessons in Blood |
+10 Damage Resistance, as well as +5 percent extra EXP per kill. |
Porter Gage is a raider who grew up on a small farm with his parents.
Earn Affinity By...
- Picking locks
- Stealing items
- Modifying weapons
- Building settlements
- Asking quest-givers for more money
- Choosing sarcastic dialogue options
- Wiping out the Railroad
- Killing synths
- Being generally violent
- Refusing radiant quests from settlers
- Not joining the Minutemen
- Not using chems