Last Updated on by Samuel Franklin
Fallout 3 Best Perks – Perk Tier List Guide (All Perks)
What are the Fallout 3 best perks for your game playthrough? In this perk tier list we rate every single perk to help you plan your perk pathway through your Fallout 3 adventure. Driven by your choice of S.P.E.C.I.A.L and broader Fallout 3 build the choices of perks that you take can dramatically impact on your overall power level and some are mandatory for specific builds to work as they should. With these perk choices being permanent and various requirements attached to them having a forward view of the strongest and best perks in Fallout 3 is vital.
In this perk tier list guide to Fallout 3 we rank each individual perk and dive into the details of what makes each perk option good or bad in specific circumstances. Given this article includes all perks there are minor spoilers for Fallout 3 content and the Fallout 3 DLCs.
Best Fallout 3 Perks Factors & Ranks
When deciding on the best Fallout 3 perks the following factors have been considered within this tier list. Similar to other games like Fallout that have a role playing focus the best upgrades for your particular character will often vary based on playstyle and objectives.
- Generalist: Perks that are general in nature and useful regardless of your build rank highly in this tier list given their broad effectiveness across many situations. Bonuses of this nature are also likely to be effective throughout your whole Fallout 3 journey compared to a perk that is only useful for a small portion of it. This could be a perk that only shines in a particular quest or location which means in time will become useless.
- Unique Utility: Some perks provide benefits that players have no other method to acquire outside of the perk system. These perks are rated higher on this Fallout 3 perk tier list given you cannot replace these perks with equipment or gear given the unique utility the perk provides.
- Unlock Requirements: With perks having level, minimum S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats and other unlock requirements those that are easy to obtain are rated higher given you don’t need to invest significant focus to acquire them that might take away resources from your core build. Most perks in Fallout 3 are thematic in design though so this is only a consideration for a few perks.
Based on this rating each Fallout 3 perk is rated as follows:
- S Tier: The best of the best when it comes to Fallout 3 perks, regardless of your build these will be a staple in all of your playthroughs and should be highly prioritised for your character. These perks may be extremely powerful in terms of raw value or offer utility you cannot obtain otherwise.
- A Tier: While not as strong as the S tier these are strong generalist perks that serve as a second priority for your character. Players will also need to consider their own specific build at this point as build and playstyle may start to be a factor at this tier.
- B Tier: Still strong Fallout 3 perks in specific circumstances but rarely going to be your first choice given they require specific builds or other perks to be effective.
- C Tier: Don’t offer anything of value in the vast majority of situations outside of highly niche builds or role playing purposes. These perks should generally be avoided by the vast number of players.
Best Fallout 3 Perks Tier List
The below perk list section details every single available perk in Fallout 3 and is split based on source and then ordered based on level (where relevant). For further detail on each perk refer to the Fallout 3 perk page on the wiki.
| Perk Name | Perk Source | Perk Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black Widow | Level | A | Statistically there are more male enemies in Fallout 3 that makes this a great perk when playing as a female character for the broad damage boost |
| Lady Killer | Level | B | Female enemies are smaller in size across the game which makes this not as effective as Black Widow above |
| Daddy’s Boy/Girl | Level | C | Boosts to skills in Fallout 3 are not worth spending perk points on as you can max them easily without the use of your limited perk points |
| Gun Nut | Level | C | Boosts skills and is not worth it |
| Little Leaguer | Level | C | Boosts skills and is not worth it |
| Thief | Level | C | Boosts skills and is not worth it |
| Swift Learner | Level | C | There is more than enough content to reach max level without taking this perk so the experience boost is not necessary |
| Intense Training | Level | B | Adding S.P.E.C.I.A.L can be extremely valuable when needed for your specific build but not necessary in all circumstances |
| Child at Heart | Level | C | Used for role playing purposes only as the benefits of the unique dialogue options are minimal |
| Comprehension | Level | A | Additional skill points from skill books will help you max these skills faster and is highly efficient. If you are doing a focused build this is unlikely to matter but if you prefer jack of all trades characters this can be a significant boost |
| Educated | Level | A | Like the above perk extra skill points means it is easier to build a powerful character that can max many skills. It is less effective on high Intelligence builds as you already have an abundance of skill points though |
| Entomologist | Level | B | Strong in terms of raw number and damage boost but insects are only a small part of the overall enemy pool that make this a low priority |
| Scoundrel | Level | C | Boosts skills and is not worth it |
| Iron First | Level | B | Only good in unarmed builds where is it a nice damage boost alongside some other core perks |
| Bloody Mess | Level | A | A consistent boost across all your damage types that make it an effective perk despite the low boost |
| Lead Belly | Level | C | Not something you’ll be doing often (if at all) means this is a weak perk choice |
| Toughness | Level | S | A permanent boost to damage resistance is hard to pass up given its effective throughout your adventure for all builds |
| Fortune Finder | Level | C | Sources of bottle caps are abundant which gives you a range of other options to gain bottle caps rather than spending perk points |
| Gunslinger | Level | B | If you specialise in V.A.T.S. and one handed weapons this is worth grabbing but is a weak perk outside of that circumstance |
| Demolition Expert | Level | B | Explosive use is not a major part of Fallout 3 combat, only grab this if using a significant amount of explosives |
| Commando | Level | A | Like Gunslinger this is only effective if your playstyle relies on V.A.T.S. and you are using two handed weapons (which are a more common weapon type in general) |
| Rad Resistance | Level | C | This may be useful but is hardly a priority as there are other options to increase your resistance and remove radiation when it does occur |
| Scrounger | Level | B | Not quite as weak as Fortune Finder given the ability to obtain ammo (and particularly rare ammo) can be useful and help you recover ammo you use while on an adventure as a convenience perk |
| Size Matters | Level | C | Boosts skills and is not worth it |
| Strong Back | Level | S | There is plenty of things to loot in Fallout 3 and this perk is a fantastic convenience perk for a playthrough as a result |
| Impartial Mediation | Level | C | Speech is not particularly useful (and can be obtained in other ways if necessary) combined with the requirement to maintain neutral karma this is a big effort and low reward perk |
| Animal Friend | Level | C | Can be enjoyable for roleplaying purposes but is not an effective perk considering the investment in Charisma required to obtain it |
| Finesse | Level | S | Boosting critical chance is effective in most Fallout 3 builds and in critical focused ones is a huge boost that is hard to obtain from other places |
| Mister Sandman | Level | C | An interesting perk from a role playing perspective but your opportunities to utilise it are few and far between |
| Mysterious Stranger | Level | B | If your playstyle uses V.A.T.S for every single fight this can add up over the course of the game to a worthwhile investment. If you use V.A.T.S. only occasionally or not at all though it is not worth the perk investment |
| Nerd Rage! | Level | C | If you build around staying below 20% health this perk can be fun and effective but it takes a lot of effort and isn’t possible against all enemy types given some deal significant damage so it is generally not worth it |
| Night Person | Level | C | While you can manipulate the game time to have this always active it’s not a significant benefit for the effort required |
| Here and Now | Level | C | There is enough experience available in the world that taking an immediate level is not worth the trade for a perk |
| Pyromaniac | Level | B | In the right build (such as using melee weapons with fire elements) this is a strong option but useless otherwise |
| Cannibal | Level | C | An interesting perk from a role playing perspective that can save you some healing items but in most playthroughs it is better to spend the perk point elsewhere and heal through other methods |
| Life Giver | Level | A | Depending on your playstyle and build an extra 30 hit points can help your durability although is hardly a must have |
| Robotics Expert | Level | B | There are a number of robot centric locations in Fallout 3 which this makes significantly easier although robots aren’t common enough that it is an absolute must have |
| Sniper | Level | A | If V.A.T.S. is core for your playstyle this is a significant boost to helping you hit enemies |
| Silent Running | Level | A | For a stealthy build this makes your sneaking efforts significantly easier and lets you equip heavier armour if you wish at the same time |
| Fast Metabolism | Level | B | With players relying on continuous use of stimpaks to survive in Fallout 3 this is a decent utility perk to spend less bottle caps over the course of your adventure |
| Lawbringer | Level | C | Offers minimal caps but if you are looking to roleplay as a good karma character (or offset bad karma choices) can be considered |
| Chemist | Level | A | Fantastic utility given chems are often a staple of most Fallout 3 builds for the buffs they provide |
| Contract Killer | Level | C | Like Lawbringer its useful in specific circumstances but far from a top priority |
| Cyborg | Level | A | Another source of damage resistance that is useful to acquire and comes with some other minor bonuses |
| Light Step | Level | B | Allowing you to completely ignore floor traps is a fantastic quality of life although only applicable in particular game locations and you are giving up another perk for it |
| Master Trader | Level | C | There are enough ways to earn your bottle caps in Fallout 3 that this is not a required perk and the Charisma/barter investments to unlock it are also high |
| Adamantium Skeleton | Level | B | A reduction to limb damage is always useful and will save you using healing items or getting in sticky situations mid fight but is not game breaking |
| Tag! | Level | C | The strongest of the perks that boost skills given it results in +15 to a skill of your choice but a Fallout 3 build will earn enough skill points throughout the story to max their ideal skills |
| Better Criticals | Level | S | A must have for any critical focused build as it significantly increases your damage. For other builds it still has some use although is a lower priority |
| Action Boy/Girl | Level | A | Where V.A.T.S. is a big part of your playstyle this is a must have for the additional attack potential it provides |
| Chem Resistant | Level | B | Chems are powerful in Fallout 3 so the ability to reduce this chance while out adventuring is great utility but there are other easy methods to do remove the negative status |
| Infiltrator | Level | C | Broken locks are rarely an issue for the seasoned Fallout player and new players can rely on saves if necessary or lots of bobby pins instead |
| Computer Whiz | Level | C | Like the above perk you can rely on saves for additional attempts at computers or exit the computer with one attempt left in order to retry. If you don’t want to use these methods though this perk does have some uses |
| Concentrated Fire | Level | A | For V.A.T.S. focused builds that utilise weapons with lots of attacks (like pistols) this can be a great perk although its effectiveness is lacking otherwise |
| Paralysing Palm | Level | A | In an unarmed build the paralyse is a nice utility against powerful enemies and has a reasonable good chance to trigger. Keep in mind that this is for V.A.T.S only though |
| Solar Powered | Level | B | The health regeneration can be a nice convenience perk to keep your health at maximum although is a low number in the scheme of things and requires you to manipulate the game time through waiting or sleeping for that effect |
| Ninja | Level | A | A must have for melee and unarmed builds with additional power provided if you have a stealth based playstyle although this is not required for the skill to be effective. Note that this does require a high sneak skill to have this perk available |
| Grim Reaper’s Sprint | Level | S | A fantastic end game perk that allows you to move from enemy to enemy with V.A.T.S. and makes battles against groups easy for a V.A.T.S. focused playstyle |
| Explorer | Level | C | With external resources available to discover locations (or your own exploration efforts) and the level this unlocks it is not a necessary perk |
| Dream Crusher | Special | B | A strong boost to your survivability as it reduces enemy chance to critical hit the player in half. The added utility of discount and higher repair is also nice although this special perk comes at the cost of the Survival Expert quest reward which you have to weigh up for your build |
| Hematophage | Special | B | Easy enough to acquire and gives you an alternative source of healing throughout the game for convenience and saving on cap spend |
| Power Armour Training | Special | S | A must have in order to wear power armour which is often the best Fallout 3 armour available |
| Ant Might | Quest | B | Offers a small benefit and players should pick the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. that is best for their build |
| Ant Sight | Quest | B | Same as above |
| Barkskin | Quest | A | A boost to damage resistance helps your Fallout 3 survivability and a good generalist perk as a result |
| Rad Regeneration | Quest | C | You are unlikely to want advanced radiation regularly which makes this perk fairly useless |
| Survival Expert | Quest | S | With success in the associated quest this can potentially be 3% critical chance or 6% damage resistance that are both useful in the right build |
| Wired Reflexes | Quest | A | A solid boost to V.A.T.S accuracy if you are a V.A.T.S. orientated player |
| Deep Sleep | Level (Broken Steel) | C | Experience is not often a concern given there is plenty to go around already |
| Puppies! | Level (Broken Steel) | C | Players can utilise save files to provide the same benefit of this perk. If you don’t want to use saving in this way though and use Dogmeat as your main companion then consider grabbing this |
| Quantum Chemist | Level (Broken Steel) | C | Does not offer anything of significant value for a perk unless you want more Nuka-grenades for your own gameplay |
| Devil’s Highway | Level (Broken Steel) | C | Outside of specific reasons to reset your karma not worth taking as a perk |
| Escalator to Heaven | Level (Broken Steel) | C | Outside of specific reasons to reset your karma not worth taking as a perk |
| Karmic Rebalance | Level (Broken Steel) | C | Outside of specific reasons to reset your karma not worth taking as a perk |
| No Weaknesses | Level (Broken Steel) | C | While you can design a sneaky character build to capitalise on this perk it does have a high level requirement and considering Almost Perfect is available at level 30 this is often not worth taking |
| Rad Tolerance | Level (Broken Steel) | C | A minor utility as it removes the small negatives from low levels of radiation although generally you’ll be removing it through other means rather than spending a perk here |
| Warmonger | Level (Broken Steel) | C | A convenience perk for those that aren’t relying on external information for schematic locations |
| Nerves of Steel | Level (Broken Steel) | B | While small the recovering of action points slowly adds up over time and one of the better perks from the Broken Steel expansion in particular |
| Party Girl/Boy | Level (Broken Steel) | C | Unless you are using drinks constantly as part of your build or role playing this is not going to offer significant benefit |
| Rad Absorption | Level (Broken Steel) | B | A convenience perk that slowly removes radiation that you acquire and will save you some bottle caps on healing items |
| Nuclear Anomaly | Level (Broken Steel) | C | While fun to watch and will save your from death against enemies you should be looking to avoid triggering it. There are also many enemies that deal too much damage for this to be easy to trigger in the first place |
| Almost Perfect | Level (Broken Steel) | S | Boosting your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. up to 9 can be a great way to boost your characters lower stats to a high level. Given this is a maximum level perk though this benefit is focused on the benefits that S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats themselves provide rather than giving you the minimum requirements to unlock perks |
| Covert Ops | Special (Operation Anchorage) | B | A small boost that provides little benefit but worth attempting when completing this DLC given you are likely to tackle it at low levels and doesn’t cost you a level up perk |
| Auto Axpert | Special (The Pitt) | B | A nice boost to this specific weapon type while using it that benefits melee builds |
| Ghoul Ecology | Special (Point Lookout) | S | Intended as a flat boost to damage against ghouls this actually applies to all enemies due to a bug across all game platforms that makes it always worth grabbing |
| Xenotech Expert | Special (Mothership Zeta) | A | Alien weapons do have some use and particularly if you have the right build for them which makes this perk a decent option to acquire |
| Booster Shot | Quest (The Pitt) | C | A boost to radiation resistance is nice to have but shouldn’t be prioritised |
| Pitt Fighter | Quest (The Pitt) | S | Another perk that provides damage resistance which is useful on all Fallout 3 builds |
| Punga Power! | Quest (Point Lookout) | C | Gives you the ability to use punga fruit as a replacement of your healing items but this is not necessary given the ease of acquiring other healing items most of the time |
| Superior Defender | Quest (Point Lookout) | A | Powerful for ranged weapon builds as you’ll often be standing still although less effective for melee or unarmed |
