Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition - Perks
Fallout 4 replaces the series' skill list with perks: every level grants one perk point, and each of the seven S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attributes gates its own tree of named perks. Most perks have several ranks that unlock as the governing attribute rises, and many have an attribute requirement before they c...
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of 67 entries
· updated 2026-09-15
| Name | Type | Description | Stats | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Fist | Strength Perk | Improves unarmed attacks, and at its highest ranks adds a chance to paralyse a target with a punch. | Attribute: Strength Max Rank: 5 Requirement: Strength 1 or higher Effect: Increases unarmed damage, with later ranks adding a paralysis chance | Available from level 1 with at least Strength 1 |
| Big Leagues | Strength Perk | Raises melee weapon damage and eventually lets a swing hit every enemy in front of the player. | Attribute: Strength Max Rank: 5 Requirement: Strength 2 or higher Effect: Increases melee damage and adds a chance to disarm or sweep multiple enemies | Unlocked at Strength 2 |
| Heavy Gunner | Strength Perk | Increases damage with heavy weapons such as the minigun, missile launcher, flamer and gatling laser, and later ranks improve their accuracy while firing continuously. | Attribute: Strength Max Rank: 5 Requirement: Strength 5 or higher Effect: Increases heavy weapon damage and reduces their accuracy penalty while firing | Unlocked at Strength 5 |
| Strong Back | Strength Perk | Raises carry weight and, at its higher ranks, allows the player to move at full speed while over-encumbered and to spend Action Points to keep running. | Attribute: Strength Max Rank: 4 Requirement: Strength 6 or higher Effect: Increases carry weight, then removes the over-encumbrance speed penalty and lets the player sprint while overloaded at the cost of Action Points | Unlocked at Strength 6 |
| Rifleman | Perception Perk | Increases damage with non-automatic rifles and, at the top ranks, ignores a portion of the target's armor. | Attribute: Perception Max Rank: 5 Requirement: Perception 2 or higher Effect: Increases semi-automatic rifle damage and adds armor penetration at high ranks | Unlocked at Perception 2 |
| Gunslinger | Perception Perk | Increases damage with non-automatic pistols and improves their range, making the 10mm pistol, .44 revolver and Kellogg's Pistol viable as primary weapons. | Attribute: Perception Max Rank: 5 Requirement: Perception 1 or higher Effect: Increases pistol damage and range, with disarm chances at higher ranks | Available from level 1 with at least Perception 1 |
| Locksmith | Perception Perk | Unlocks Advanced and Master locks and, at the highest rank, allows the player to pick them without effort. | Attribute: Perception Max Rank: 4 Requirement: Perception 4 or higher Effect: Unlocks harder locks; the top rank makes bobby pins unbreakable | Unlocked at Perception 4 |
| Demolition Expert | Perception Perk | Increases the damage of explosives and, at the higher ranks, widens blast radius and adds a throwing arc to the interface. | Attribute: Perception Max Rank: 4 Requirement: Perception 5 or higher Effect: Increases explosive damage, blast radius and adds a throwing arc indicator | Unlocked at Perception 5 |
| Sniper | Perception Perk | Improves accuracy with scoped weapons in V.A.T.S. | Attribute: Perception Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Perception 8 or higher Effect: Increases scoped weapon accuracy in V.A.T.S. and lets headshots knock targets down | Unlocked at Perception 8 |
| Toughness | Endurance Perk | Adds flat damage resistance, which matters far more than it looks on Survival difficulty where a single raider burst can end a run. | Attribute: Endurance Max Rank: 5 Requirement: Endurance 1 or higher Effect: Grants increasing damage resistance | Available from level 1 with at least Endurance 1 |
| Life Giver | Endurance Perk | Increases maximum health outright and, at the top rank, regenerates health slowly over time. | Attribute: Endurance Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Endurance 3 or higher Effect: Raises maximum health, then adds slow passive health regeneration | Unlocked at Endurance 3 |
| Adamantium Skeleton | Endurance Perk | Reduces damage taken by individual limbs and eventually eliminates limb damage entirely. | Attribute: Endurance Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Endurance 7 or higher Effect: Reduces limb damage, with the top rank removing limb damage altogether | Unlocked at Endurance 7 |
| Lone Wanderer | Charisma Perk | Increases damage dealt and reduces damage taken while travelling without a companion, and at higher ranks boosts carry weight too. | Attribute: Charisma Max Rank: 4 Requirement: Charisma 3 or higher Effect: Improves damage dealt and damage resistance while companionless; later ranks add carry weight | Unlocked at Charisma 3 |
| Local Leader | Charisma Perk | Required to establish supply lines between settlements and to build stores and workbenches in them. | Attribute: Charisma Max Rank: 2 Requirement: Charisma 6 or higher Effect: Rank 1 unlocks supply lines, rank 2 unlocks settlement stores and crafting stations | Unlocked at Charisma 6 |
| Medic | Intelligence Perk | Makes stimpaks and other healing items far more effective, and unlocks the higher-tier chems and healing items at the chemistry station. | Attribute: Intelligence Max Rank: 4 Requirement: Intelligence 2 or higher Effect: Increases healing from stimpaks and unlocks stronger medical recipes | Unlocked at Intelligence 2 |
| Gun Nut | Intelligence Perk | Unlocks each successive tier of gun mods at the weapons workbench, from basic receivers and muzzle brakes up to advanced receivers, suppressors and heavy barrels. | Attribute: Intelligence Max Rank: 4 Requirement: Intelligence 3 or higher Effect: Unlocks successive tiers of weapon mods, including suppressors and advanced receivers | Unlocked at Intelligence 3 |
| Hacker | Intelligence Perk | Unlocks Advanced and Master difficulty terminals and, at the top rank, lets the player guess passwords with fewer attempts. | Attribute: Intelligence Max Rank: 4 Requirement: Intelligence 4 or higher Effect: Unlocks higher-difficulty terminals and removes failed-attempt lockouts at the top rank | Unlocked at Intelligence 4 |
| Science! | Intelligence Perk | Unlocks energy weapon mods, high-tech settlement objects such as water purifiers, larger generators and turrets, and the advanced power armor modifications. | Attribute: Intelligence Max Rank: 4 Requirement: Intelligence 6 or higher Effect: Unlocks energy weapon mods, advanced power armor mods and industrial settlement equipment | Unlocked at Intelligence 6 |
| Sneak | Agility Perk | Makes the player harder to detect and quieter to move, and at its top ranks removes the risk of triggering floor traps and mines. | Attribute: Agility Max Rank: 5 Requirement: Agility 3 or higher Effect: Improves stealth detection, movement noise, and trap and mine evasion at high ranks | Unlocked at Agility 3 |
| Ninja | Agility Perk | Increases the damage of ranged sneak attacks and melee sneak attacks, and at its highest rank multiplies them further. | Attribute: Agility Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Agility 7 or higher Effect: Increases sneak attack damage for both ranged and melee attacks | Unlocked at Agility 7 |
| Blitz | Agility Perk | Lets the player target enemies with melee weapons in V.A.T.S. | Attribute: Agility Max Rank: 2 Requirement: Agility 9 or higher Effect: Allows distant melee V.A.T.S. attacks that close the gap, with bonus damage at rank 2 | Unlocked at Agility 9 |
| Bloody Mess | Luck Perk | Increases all damage dealt by a flat percentage, and at its top rank makes enemies explode on death and damage anyone nearby. | Attribute: Luck Max Rank: 4 Requirement: Luck 3 or higher Effect: Increases all damage dealt and causes enemies to explode violently on death at higher ranks | Unlocked at Luck 3 |
| Idiot Savant | Luck Perk | Occasionally grants a large experience multiplier for completing any action, with the chance rising as the player's Intelligence falls. | Attribute: Luck Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Luck 5 or higher Effect: Random chance of triple experience (and higher at rank 3), scaled inversely with Intelligence | Unlocked at Luck 5 |
| Better Criticals | Luck Perk | Increases the damage of critical hits, and at its top rank raises critical damage further. | Attribute: Luck Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Luck 6 or higher Effect: Increases critical hit damage | Unlocked at Luck 6 |
| Four Leaf Clover | Luck Perk | Gives every hit in V.A.T.S. a chance to fill the critical meter, which turns automatic weapons and shotguns into critical generators. | Attribute: Luck Max Rank: 4 Requirement: Luck 7 or higher Effect: Each V.A.T.S. hit has a chance to fill the critical meter | Unlocked at Luck 7 |
| Grim Reaper's Sprint | Luck Perk | Restores Action Points on every kill in V.A.T.S., allowing long chains of V.A.T.S. | Attribute: Luck Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Luck 8 or higher Effect: Refills Action Points on kills made in V.A.T.S. | Unlocked at Luck 8 |
| Mysterious Stranger | Luck Perk | Summons a trench-coated stranger who appears during V.A.T.S. | Attribute: Luck Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Luck 4 or higher Effect: Chance for the Mysterious Stranger to appear in V.A.T.S. and finish a target | Unlocked at Luck 4 |
| Armorer | Strength Perk | Raises the damage resistance of every armor piece the player wears and unlocks the deeper tiers of the armor workbench mod list. | Attribute: Strength Max Rank: 4 Requirement: Strength 3 or higher Effect: Increases the protection of armor pieces and unlocks higher-tier armor mods | Unlocked at Strength 3 |
| Blacksmith | Strength Perk | Gates the higher tiers of melee weapon modification, from serrated blades to heavy receivers and stun packs, so a melee build can keep its weapon competitive as it levels. | Attribute: Strength Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Strength 4 or higher Effect: Unlocks advanced melee weapon mods at the weapon workbench | Unlocked at Strength 4 |
| Steady Aim | Strength Perk | Tightens the spread of automatic weapons fired without aiming, which matters for players who keep moving rather than standing in iron sights. | Attribute: Strength Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Strength 7 or higher Effect: Improves hip-fire accuracy with automatic weapons | Unlocked at Strength 7 |
| Basher | Strength Perk | Turns the butt of a rifle or the grip of a pistol into a real weapon, adding damage and a chance to stagger on a bash. | Attribute: Strength Max Rank: 4 Requirement: Strength 8 or higher Effect: Increases gun-bash damage and adds a stagger chance | Unlocked at Strength 8 |
| Rooted | Strength Perk | Pays out for standing ground: while stationary the player takes less damage and hits harder in melee or unarmed. | Attribute: Strength Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Strength 9 or higher Effect: Grants damage resistance while standing still and boosts melee and unarmed damage | Unlocked at Strength 9 |
| Pain Train | Strength Perk | Converts a sprint into an attack that knocks enemies down and damages them on contact, and its ranks raise both the damage and the reliability of the stagger. | Attribute: Strength Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Strength 10 or higher Effect: Sprinting into enemies deals damage and staggers them, with extra effect in power armor | Unlocked at Strength 10 |
| Awareness | Perception Perk | Adds a readout to the V.A.T.S. targeting view so the player can see what a target resists before committing a burst. | Attribute: Perception Max Rank: 1 Requirement: Perception 3 or higher Effect: Shows extra target information such as damage resistance when targeting in V.A.T.S. | Unlocked at Perception 3 |
| Night Person | Perception Perk | Gives a flat Intelligence and Perception bonus during the game's night hours, which feeds experience gain and V.A.T.S. | Attribute: Perception Max Rank: 2 Requirement: Perception 6 or higher Effect: Raises Intelligence and Perception between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. | Unlocked at Perception 6 |
| Refractor | Perception Perk | Raises resistance to energy weapons, which covers everything from Institute lasers to the synths and turrets that carry them. | Attribute: Perception Max Rank: 5 Requirement: Perception 7 or higher Effect: Increases energy damage resistance | Unlocked at Perception 7 |
| Penetrator | Perception Perk | Lets V.A.T.S. pick out body parts behind thin walls, railings and car doors, which turns cover-hugging enemies into targets. | Attribute: Perception Max Rank: 2 Requirement: Perception 9 or higher Effect: Allows V.A.T.S. to target limbs through partial cover | Unlocked at Perception 9 |
| Concentrated Fire | Perception Perk | Rewards committing a V.A.T.S. queue to one body part: every shot at the same limb raises the accuracy and damage of the next. | Attribute: Perception Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Perception 10 or higher Effect: Increases accuracy and damage with each consecutive V.A.T.S. shot at the same limb | Unlocked at Perception 10 |
| Lead Belly | Endurance Perk | Cuts the radiation cost of eating and drinking irradiated food, which makes scavenged meals a real healing option instead of a slow health tax. | Attribute: Endurance Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Endurance 2 or higher Effect: Reduces radiation taken from food and drink | Unlocked at Endurance 2 |
| Chem Resistant | Endurance Perk | Halves and then effectively removes the addiction risk from chems, which turns Jet, Psycho and their variants into reliable combat tools. | Attribute: Endurance Max Rank: 2 Requirement: Endurance 4 or higher Effect: Reduces the chance of chem addiction | Unlocked at Endurance 4 |
| Aquaboy | Endurance Perk | Makes water a safe route rather than a radiation hazard: the player can swim, dive and breathe indefinitely, which opens the game's flooded ruins and lets a coastal route be taken without a radiation suit. | Attribute: Endurance Max Rank: 1 Requirement: Endurance 5 or higher Effect: Removes radiation from swimming and allows breathing underwater | Unlocked at Endurance 5 |
| Rad Resistant | Endurance Perk | Raises resistance to environmental and weapon radiation, extending the time a player can spend in the Glowing Sea and other hot zones. | Attribute: Endurance Max Rank: 5 Requirement: Endurance 6 or higher Effect: Increases radiation resistance | Unlocked at Endurance 6 |
| Cannibal | Endurance Perk | Adds the option to feed on fallen humans for health, at the cost of companion disapproval and a reputation hit with some factions. | Attribute: Endurance Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Endurance 8 or higher Effect: Allows eating human corpses to restore health | Unlocked at Endurance 8 |
| Ghoulish | Endurance Perk | Flips the game's radiation rules: lower ranks convert a share of incoming radiation into healing, and the top ranks make radiation a net health gain. | Attribute: Endurance Max Rank: 4 Requirement: Endurance 9 or higher Effect: Radiation restores health instead of damaging it at high ranks | Unlocked at Endurance 9 |
| Solar Powered | Endurance Perk | Rewards fighting above ground during the day with a flat Strength and Endurance boost, and the final rank adds slow health regeneration while irradiated. | Attribute: Endurance Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Endurance 10 or higher Effect: Grants Strength and Endurance bonuses in daylight and regenerates health from radiation at rank 3 | Unlocked at Endurance 10 |
| Cap Collector | Charisma Perk | Cuts what vendors charge and raises what they pay, and its later ranks increase the caps found in containers and add a chance for extra caps on a sale. | Attribute: Charisma Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Charisma 1 or higher Effect: Improves buy and sell prices and puts more caps in containers | Unlocked at Charisma 1 |
| Lady Killer / Black Widow | Charisma Perk | Deals extra damage to enemies of the opposite sex and makes Charisma checks against them easier to pass, which is one of the few perks that affects both combat and dialogue. | Attribute: Charisma Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Charisma 2 or higher Effect: Adds damage against the opposite sex and improves persuasion attempts with them | Unlocked at Charisma 2 |
| Attack Dog | Charisma Perk | Gives Dogmeat the ability to pin a target in place, with higher ranks adding crippling bites and extra damage. | Attribute: Charisma Max Rank: 4 Requirement: Charisma 4 or higher Effect: Lets Dogmeat hold and cripple enemies | Unlocked at Charisma 4 |
| Animal Friend | Charisma Perk | Aiming a weapon at an animal gives a chance to calm it instead of starting a fight, and the third rank lets a pacified animal fight alongside the player. | Attribute: Charisma Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Charisma 5 or higher Effect: Pacifies animals when a gun is aimed at them, with higher ranks recruiting them | Unlocked at Charisma 5 |
| Party Boy / Party Girl | Charisma Perk | Makes alcohol a safe and stacking Charisma and Luck buff rather than an addiction risk, with higher ranks raising the effect further. | Attribute: Charisma Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Charisma 7 or higher Effect: Removes alcohol addiction risk and boosts the effects of alcohol | Unlocked at Charisma 7 |
| Inspirational | Charisma Perk | Makes companions genuinely combat-capable: they hit harder, take less damage, and at the top rank can carry more and are unaffected by the player's own friendly fire. | Attribute: Charisma Max Rank: 4 Requirement: Charisma 8 or higher Effect: Increases companion damage and reduces the damage they take | Unlocked at Charisma 8 |
| Intimidation | Charisma Perk | Aiming a weapon at a human gives a chance to make them surrender rather than fight, and the third rank lets a surrendered enemy be commanded as a temporary ally. | Attribute: Charisma Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Charisma 10 or higher Effect: Pacifies humans when a gun is aimed at them, with higher ranks recruiting them | Unlocked at Charisma 10 |
| V.A.N.S. | Intelligence Perk | Adds a glowing trail in V.A.T.S. that points toward the closest hostile, which is useful in the game's multi-level ruins and subway tunnels. | Attribute: Intelligence Max Rank: 2 Requirement: Intelligence 1 or higher Effect: Highlights the path to the nearest enemy in V.A.T.S. | Unlocked at Intelligence 1 |
| Chemist | Intelligence Perk | Extends the duration of every chem the player takes, which compounds with Chem Resistant and turns a single Jet into a long window of slow motion. | Attribute: Intelligence Max Rank: 4 Requirement: Intelligence 7 or higher Effect: Makes chems last longer | Unlocked at Intelligence 7 |
| Robotics Expert | Intelligence Perk | Lets the player shut down or take control of the Commonwealth's robots, including Sentry Bots and turrets, and the third rank makes a hacked robot fight for the player. | Attribute: Intelligence Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Intelligence 8 or higher Effect: Allows hacking and disabling robots, with higher ranks turning them friendly | Unlocked at Intelligence 8 |
| Nuclear Physicist | Intelligence Perk | Doubles down on the game's nuclear tech: fusion cores last longer in power armor, and radiation weapons such as the Gamma Gun and radium rifle deal more damage. | Attribute: Intelligence Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Intelligence 9 or higher Effect: Extends fusion core life and increases radiation weapon damage | Unlocked at Intelligence 9 |
| Nerd Rage | Intelligence Perk | Turns near-death into a buff: below a fifth of maximum health the player gains damage resistance, a damage bonus and faster AP regeneration. | Attribute: Intelligence Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Intelligence 10 or higher Effect: Grants damage resistance and a damage bonus below 20 percent health | Unlocked at Intelligence 10 |
| Commando | Agility Perk | The automatic-weapon damage perk, covering combat rifles, assault rifles, submachine guns and automatic receivers on almost any gun. | Attribute: Agility Max Rank: 5 Requirement: Agility 2 or higher Effect: Increases automatic weapon damage and improves hip-fire accuracy | Unlocked at Agility 2 |
| Mister Sandman | Agility Perk | Raises the sneak attack multiplier for silenced weapons, which stacks with the Ninja perk and turns a suppressed pistol or combat rifle into a one-shot tool. | Attribute: Agility Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Agility 4 or higher Effect: Adds sneak attack damage with silenced weapons | Unlocked at Agility 4 |
| Action Boy / Action Girl | Agility Perk | Speeds up AP regeneration, which feeds sprinting, V.A.T.S. | Attribute: Agility Max Rank: 4 Requirement: Agility 5 or higher Effect: Increases Action Point regeneration speed | Unlocked at Agility 5 |
| Moving Target | Agility Perk | Reduces incoming damage while the player is sprinting, which makes crossing open ground under fire a viable tactic. | Attribute: Agility Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Agility 6 or higher Effect: Grants damage and energy resistance while sprinting | Unlocked at Agility 6 |
| Quick Hands | Agility Perk | Cuts reload time for every weapon, which raises sustained damage far more than a small damage perk does on automatic weapons. | Attribute: Agility Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Agility 8 or higher Effect: Increases reload speed | Unlocked at Agility 8 |
| Gun Fu | Agility Perk | Rewards chaining V.A.T.S. kills: each time a target dies, switching the queue to a new enemy costs less AP and deals more damage. | Attribute: Agility Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Agility 10 or higher Effect: Reduces AP cost and increases damage when chaining V.A.T.S. kills onto new targets | Unlocked at Agility 10 |
| Fortune Finder | Luck Perk | Increases the caps found in containers and on corpses, which funds the early game's ammo, stimpak and settlement spending. | Attribute: Luck Max Rank: 4 Requirement: Luck 1 or higher Effect: Puts more caps in containers | Unlocked at Luck 1 |
| Scrounger | Luck Perk | Raises the amount of ammunition found in containers, which is the single biggest quality-of-life improvement for automatic-weapon builds. | Attribute: Luck Max Rank: 4 Requirement: Luck 2 or higher Effect: Puts more ammo in containers | Unlocked at Luck 2 |
| Critical Banker | Luck Perk | Lets the player bank critical hits instead of spending them immediately, then fire several in a row, which is how Luck builds burst down a boss or a legendary enemy. | Attribute: Luck Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Luck 7 or higher Effect: Allows critical hits to be stored for later use in V.A.T.S. | Unlocked at Luck 7 |
| Ricochet | Luck Perk | Adds a chance for incoming bullets to bounce back and damage the shooter, scaling with Luck and with the rank taken. | Attribute: Luck Max Rank: 3 Requirement: Luck 10 or higher Effect: Gives enemy ranged attacks a chance to ricochet back at them | Unlocked at Luck 10 |
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