Fallout 4: All Perception Perks, Ranked

Highlights

• In Fallout 4, players can unlock perks for enhanced abilities and gameplay.
• The Pickpocket perk boosts stealing success and adds fun actions like grenade placement.
• Refractor boosts energy resistance for players facing energy-based threats.

The “P” in Fallout‘s S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stands for Perception. This is the measure of how aware the player character is of his or her surroundings as well as how well he or she can use V.A.T.S. Unlike in previous games, this stat does not impact when enemy NPCs show up on the compass, as they don’t appear at all in Fallout 4 unless they are actively fighting or searching for the Sole Survivor.

The ten Perception perks mostly align with getting more use from V.A.T.S. or specific types of weapons, although some perks also help with stealing things (from people and containers).

10 Awareness

See The Weak Points Of Your Enemies

The Awareness perk is nice for players who like to know the best way to kill enemies but is less useful if players just like to hit everything as hard as possible. Its first rank allows players to use V.A.T.S. to see the targeted enemy’s level and damage resistance stats.

The Nuka World DLC added a second rank to this perk, which grants 5% more damage and accuracy while using V.A.T.S. This is a nice buff to have, but many would argue it is not worth investing two perk points to unlock.

9 Pickpocket

Be A Better Thief, And Put Things In Other People’s Pockets

Pickpocketing is a very fun way to be stealthy in Fallout. In Fallout 4, however, friendly settlements with NPCs ripe for pickpocketing are few and far between. This makes the Pickpocket perk somewhat less useful than in other franchise entries.

That being said, stealth players who want to steal things should get this perk. Not only does each rank increase the success chance of stealing things from an NPC’s pocket, but also adds fun extra things that players can do. Rank 2, for example, allows players to place live grenades in someone’s pocket to blow them up before they even know the player is there. It is a situational perk that depends on the player’s build.

8 Refractor

Resistant More Energy Damage

Each of the Refractor perk’s five ranks grants the player +10 energy resistance. This is a nice boost to have for players who have made an enemy of the Institute, or who find themselves fighting any of the other enemies in the game that favor energy weapons.

Many armor types in the game grant much more energy resistance than this, however, and so players may feel that this perk may not be worth the perk points, especially if they tend to wear Power Armor. Still, +50 energy resistance is nice to have if players can’t decide on what other perks to unlock.

7 Night Person

Gain Buffs From 6:00 PM To 6:00 AM

The Night Person perk, like the Charisma perk Solar Powered, gives players a boost to their stats for half of each day/night cycle. This perk, as its name suggests, grants players a boost at night from 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM.

The first rank grants +2 to Intelligence and Perception during this time, with the second rank adding an extra point and the ability to see in night vision when aiming. The third rank, which is available with the Far Harbor DLC, also grants 30 extra health during the night. This is a highly situational perk that many players won’t see consistent enough benefits from to justify the investment.

6 Penetrator

Use V.A.T.S. To Shoot Through Walls

Players who use V.A.T.S. often encounter the frustrating situation where their enemy is blocked by the smallest bit of cover and cannot be targeted. The Penetrator perk seeks to remedy that by allowing players to shoot enemies through walls in V.A.T.S.

This can be especially useful when fighting in cramped spaces like taking on the Super Mutants of Trinity Tower. Players that don’t use V.A.T.S. won’t want to invest perk points here, however.

5 Demolition Expert

Deal More Damage With Explosives

The Demolition Expert perk is perfect for players who want to use lots and lots of explosives. Each rank increases explosive damage by 25%, so players will definitely get more bang for their buck.

Beyond the damage increase, each rank also adds small perks such as the ability to craft explosives at Chemistry Stations with the first rank and all explosives having a larger radius from the third rank. While not all players favor using grenades and missiles, this perk is a necessity for those who do.

4 Sniper

Be More Effective With Scoped Weapons

The Sniper perk lives up to its name as the quintessential perk for players who want to shoot their enemies from a distance. The first rank increases the time that players can steady their aim down scopes, which can be helpful, especially when the target is far away.

The second rank adds a chance to knock the target down, which means that players can get more shots against them before the enemy can get within attacking range. The last rank grants a large bonus to V.A.T.S. accuracy with scoped rifles, making it even easier to get a good shot off. Any players who specialize as snipers need this perk.

3 Locksmith

Pick More Kinds Of Locks

There are many locked doors, cabinets, and chests in almost every area of the Commonwealth. By investing perk points in the Locksmith perk, players can use bobby pins to unlock them. This perk is the only way to have the ability to pick any but the most basic of locks.

Without this perk, players will miss out on valuable loot or never get to take a shortcut through dangerous areas. With it, on the other hand, they can find interesting things just waiting around behind locked gates like the Cryolator in Vault 111.

2 Rifleman

Make All Rifles In The Game More Effective

Many of the best weapons in the game are rifles. The Rifleman perk makes them even better by adding 20% more damage from non-automatic rifles with each of its five ranks. As if that weren’t enough, each rank also adds a percentage of damage that ignores target armor. At its highest rank, this perk also grants a better chance of crippling enemy limbs.

This combination of buffs to an already great kind of gun makes this an invaluable perk for every Fallout 4 player.

1 Concentrated Fire

Improve V.A.T.S. When Targeting The Same Body Part Repeatedly

Fallout 4 has many enemies that are bullet sponges. It can take quite a few shots to bring down a Deathclaw or one of Far Harbor‘s Fog Crawlers. The Concentrated Fire perk helps out by adding a bonus to accuracy in V.A.T.S. when targeting the same body part of the same enemy repeatedly.

The final rank of this perk also adds a whopping 20% damage boost, which helps to make even the toughest enemies go down quickly. The combination of increased accuracy and damage from attacks in V.A.T.S. makes this a must-have perk for every player who even just uses the system occasionally.