Fallout 4 revamps the perks system considerably from Fallout 3 and New Vegas by dropping the familiar skill points altogether and instead expanding the number of perks available in the game. At every level up, you will be able to put either one point into a SPECIAL stat—Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, Luck—or gain a rank in one of 70 perks. And since there is apparently no level cap in Fallout 4, that means you have the ability to improve your character for an incredibly long time (no mods required). So let's take the time to analyze each of these perks, not just to figure out what they are, but to see what these revelations (if any) mean for the game as a whole.
As revealed by Bethesda in an handy-dandy perk chart, which you will be familiar with if you've seen any of Bethesda's SPECIAL instructional videos for Fallout 4, there is one skill catalogued for every point in a SPECIAL stat. That means 10 perks for each SPECIAL stat, so having more points in a stat will increase the variety of perks that you can possibly take. For instance, having Strength 1 will give you access to Iron Fist (increased melee damage) while Strength 6 will give you access to Strong Back (increased weight capacity).
A few special notes to consider from how perks work in Fallout 4:
1) So long as you meet the stat requirements of a perk, you can place at least one point in it, though any additional ranks in a perk may require that you reach a particular level first.
2) You do not need to obtain each perk sequentially in any way; only ranks work sequentially. So as long as you have Strength 6, for instance, you can instantly take a rank in Strong Back without having to place a point into Iron Fist or any other Strength-based perk at all.
3) Putting additional ranks into a perk can unlock bonus effects. For instance, rank two for Strong Back will let you fast travel while being overencumbered and rank three will let you run while being overencumbered at all.
4) Since your SPECIAL stats correlates with your access to perks, be sure you plan out your SPECIAL stats carefully before the game begins.
Bethesda has confirmed information about some of the perks in the exhaustive perk list, notably Charisma, but many of the perks in the other stat-based columns are unconfirmed and all we have to draw upon is the picture provided. That said, here is what we can surmise so far from the perk system so far. I suggest opening the perk chart in a separate window to follow along.
The first perk, Iron Fist (Strength 1), should work similar to as it did before, adding bonus damage to all unarmed strikes. We know that Big Leagues (Strength 2) will increase damage for melee weapon damage. Strength 3 and 4 perks will likely control armor crafting and weapon crafting, while Strength 5 seems to focus on big guns, which may return to being its own separate category as Fallout: New Vegas didn't have that distinct category.
As stated before, Strong Back (Strength 6) will let you carry more and make your weight management less cumbersome. We're not sure what the Strength 7 perk is (looks like Weapon Handling) given that the Vault Boy is holding a pistol with crazy bicep muscles, but I believe that this perk might increase your accuracy with any gun if you have substantial strength to hold it more securely and effortlessly (or perhaps lower Strength requirements for weapons if that's still in the game).
We don't know what the Strength 8 perk does, as the Vault Boy holds a shotgun confidently in the air, but I don't think it has anything to do with shotguns specifically. I think maybe it's just bonus damage to guns that might need a high strength requirement. The Strength 9 perk has the Vault Boy standing his ground with a tree trunk replacing his legs, which makes me think that this perk will give you a offensive and defensive bonus to melee weapons for standing still. The last Strength 10 perk, which has a Power Armored character punch a flat person in the gut, is also unknown but I think that it will, at the very least, provide a stun effect and bonus damage to all unarmed strikes while using Power Armor.
Perception will control lockpicking, pickpocketing, and accuracy using the VATS system. Perception 1 is most likely Pickpocketing and adding more ranks here will let you steal better types of items from an opponent like ammo (or perhaps putting a grenade in their pocket). Perception 2 has been confirmed to be Rifleman, which gives you bonus damage with non-automatic rifles. Perception 3 obviously has to do with VATS, likely against animals in particular, while Perception 4 will control lockpicking success rates.
Explosives have been wrapped into Perception 5 as Demolition Expert, and while some players might not care for grenades and mines, it may have more importance in Fallout 4's town-defense mini-game. Perception 6 is some sort of Night Person or Friend of the Night perk, which should give you better perception (and perhaps stealth) at night. Perception 7 looks like Rad Absorption but that would seem to be more of an Endurance perk, but the picture makes it seem as though radiation will heal you instead of harming you.
Perception 8 looks like the Sniper perk with perhaps bonus damage to all sorts of damage and accuracy with long-distance shots. If it looks as cool as it seems, Perception 9 which has the Vault Boy shooting someone through a wall will allow you to detect enemies from behind barriers for a surprise attack. Totally ninja, and I'm taking this perk if this is at all correct. Perception 10 governs Concentrated Fire (could be different) which gives you bonus accuracy to limbs for subsequent fire. I'm hoping this does more than this since this perk wasn't all that popular before.
Endurance 1 has been confirmed to be Toughness which grants bonus damage resistance. I should note, though, that Damage Resistance in Fallout 4 can go over 100 so the way it works will be different than in past Fallout games. Endurance 2 should be Lead Belly that lessens rad damage for consuming irridiated food, Endurance 3 should be Lifegiver that gives bonus maximum HP, and Endurance 4 should be Chem Resistant to give you addiction resistance for taking drugs.
Endurance 5 opens a brand new perk with the Vault Boy sitting in a pool. Since we've seen underwater breathing before in Fallout 4 videos, this is likely the perk that controls it. Rad Resistance should be under Endurance 6 for, well, resistance to radiation damage (duh), and Adamantium Skeleton should be under Endurance 7 to give you higher resistance to limb damage. Cannibal returns as well as Endurance 8 (I guess all that human flesh takes a toll on your stomach) which will let you eat humans for additional health.
Endurance 9 shows the Vault Boy walking away from a nuclear explosion like some kind of zombie. I'm assuming that this means the being irradiated will not kill your character, but perhaps instead turn you into a ghoul. If so, that's an extremely awesome perk that hopefully comes with that raspy ghoulish voice. Last but not least, Endurance 10 is most likely Solar-Powered where you regenerate health for standing in the sun.
The demonstration video for the character system that Bethesda showed gives the most information of what Charisma perks will do. Cap Collector (Charisma 1) gives you bonus buying and selling any items at vendors. Lady Killer / Black Widow (Charisma 2) will give you bonus damage against +5% damage and better dialogue success against specific genders, and I think that further ranks in this skill will include same-sex relationships. Lone Wanderer (Charisma 3) grants bonus damage and bonus carry weight if you have no companion, which is great for stealthy builds and for role-playing as Wolverine, bub.
Attack Dog (Charisma 4) gives Dogmeat, or whatever you'll call your trusty German Shepard companion in the game, the ability to hold an enemy down for better VATS accuracy. Animal Friend (Charisma 5) allows you to commune with animals so that you can pacify them if you point your gun at an animal of a lower level. Wasteland Whisperer (Charisma 9) and Intimidation (Charisma 10) work pretty much same way except for abominations and humans respectively. Rank 2 in Intimidation can incite pacified humans to attack and Rank 3 will allow you to give pacified humans specific commands, so the same thing will likely apply for Ranks 2 and 3 for both Animal Friend and Wasteland Whisperer.
Local Leader (Charisma 6) will help you establish supply lines between your workshop settlements, so if you're into crafting and building your town, this will be an essential to take. Party Boy (Charisma 7) will give you resistance to alcohol addiction, and I hope that higher ranks will turn you into some kind of drunken master with bonus damage and evasion. Inspiration (Charisma 8) gives your companion to deal more damage and cannot hurt you. From this, I surmise that you will not be able to have more than one human NPC companion at any time and that friendly fire is active (so be careful giving them a Missile Launcher).
Intelligence 1 introduces the V.A.N.S. system, which shows you the quickest path to your chosen target/quest while in VATS. Medic (Intelligence 2) gives you bonus healing using Stimpaks and Radaway, which already looks fantastic since (at just Rank 1) this means 2 Stimpaks/Radaways will heal almost as much as 3 Stimpaks/Radaways. Gun Nut (Intelligence 3) gives you access to standard gun modifications. But since Rank 3 in this requires you to be Level 25, it may take a while to get there.
Like lockpicking from the Perception tree, Intelligence 4 should be Hacker and help you grant access to computer systems as usual. Intelligence 5 is unclear at the moment, but I believe the paired picture shows the Vault Boy having too many objects in his pockets, so my best guess is that this will allow you to pack your items more efficiently in some way, perhaps making some items weightless or allowing you store items in lockers in a more compact manner. Science (Intelligence 6) will give you access to high-tech mods, as a complement to the Gun Nut perk.
Intelligence 7 shows a Vault Boy with Einstein hair and holding a flask, so I'm guessing that this will give you the ability to create explosives and chems of your own. Robotics Expert (Intelligence 8) should allow you to tinker with robots and robotic enemies. Intelligence 9 is unknown, with the Vault Boy holding up an atom next to a radiation sign. I could be reading into this too much, but the atom he's holding up is a Lithium atom, so this may have to with battery life of some kind. That said, this perk could be as simple as granting a bonus to energy weapons, and that's it.
Intelligence 10 should be Nerd Rage, but it better be a buffed variation of it since the perk wasn't all that useful before as it activates only when your character has very low HP. I hope it's more in line with being like Beast from X-Men and just being badass in general. Perhaps additional ranks in this perk will raise the HP threshold so that you can take advantage of the bonus damage and strength from Nerd Rage just by getting nicked by anything. Because enemies shouldn't like you when you're angry.
Gunslinger (Agility 1) should grant better damage while wielding pistols and other small guns, and higher ranks will give you bonus limb damage and a chance to disarm opponents. Commando (Agility 2) gives bonus damage to all automatic weapons (as opposed to Rifleman under Perception). Sneak returns under Agility 3 to make it more difficult for enemies to detect you, and Mister Sandman should return under Agility 4 to give you a damage bonus to sleeping opponents.
If Agility 5 is indeed Action Boy/Girl, it will give you more AP to sprint and perform more actions in VATS. Agility 6 is a new perk that seems to be a passive skill that lowers the chance of enemy fire hitting so long as you're moving; it might be an active skill, but I don't think it is. Agility 7 is after my own heart by bringing back Ninja which gave critical bonuses and higher melee damage. Hopefully this will upgraded in Fallout 4 will also give you far higher throwing damage and a much better sneaking ability.
Agility 8 seems to be a perk that gives you faster reloading, but it has to be better than that (right?) given its high position on the perk chart. I imagine that it will have to accelerate reload speeds significantly and/or draw speeds, maybe even giving you some bullet time at higher ranks. Agility 9 is also unknown, but it seems to be about sprinting in general which is new to the game, so it should in some way give you a much faster foot speed. Bethesda has confirmed Agility 10 as the awesome Gun Fu, which gives you the ability to target three enemies and increase damage for every target you hit.
Finally, Fortune Finder (Luck 1) should give you higher amounts of caps while Scrounger (Luck 2) does the same for ammo. Bloody Mess (Luck 3) gives you a 5 per cent damage increase, though I hope that you can target fallen limbs on the ground better to grab the enemy's loot. Mysterious Stranger (Level 4) might be the same with a mysterious man in a trenchcoat that comes by every now and then to save your ass.
Luck 5 is extremely odd with what looks like the Vault Boy staring into a chair with Garfield-like eyes. Maybe this has something to do with comedic options in dialogue, but really I have no idea what this is about. Better Criticals (Luck 6) will gives much higher bonus damage for critical hits, while the Luck 7 perk seems to give you higher limb damage chance or be able to decapitate an enemy's limbs before that die. How gruesome.
Our friend Grim Reaper's Sprint returns in Luck 8 and it will likely provide more action points per kill as more ranks are poured into it. I'm surprised, actually, that it's only on the eighth position. Luck 9 has the Vault Boy dressed in an Irish outfit performing fisticuffs. Some info points to this being Luck of the Irish which is supposed to give you the best available gear when opening containers. If so, it will be extremely powerful. Luck 10 is unknown as well, though with the bullets missing the Vault Boy, the perk will lower the chance of all gunfire (perhaps even all attacks) from hitting in general.
And with luck (har har), we will learn much more about the perks in Fallout 4 before it arrives on November 10, 2015. If so, we'll update this feature with more information.
