Fallout New Vegas Guide Skills Stats Perks. Effective Character Building in the Game

Name

ID

Requirements

Effects

Why choose this perk?

Black Widow/Confirmed Bachelor

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• Level: 2

You deal 10% more damage against male characters and unlock additional dialogue options.

At level 2, without needing any other requirements, you can pick either the “Black Widow” or “Confirmed Bachelor” perk depending on whether your character is female or male, respectively. Although these two perks have a ” 10% damage against female characters” equivalent, it’s best to pick the male variant as most opponents in the game are male. That’s a free 10% damage bonus for you!

Educated

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• Level: 4
• Intelligence: 4

Every time you level up, gain two more skill points.

Obtaining more skill points is incredibly useful in early game. Although this Fallout: New Vegas perk wouldn’t be quite as good in the endgame (you can hit skill level caps in other ways), it’s absolutely worth the investment when you’re still level 4.

Rad Child

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• Level: 4
• Survival: 70

You regenerate 2 HP per second per 200 radiation points accumulated.

Get irradiated on purpose (which is not that hard to do in New Vegas, just visit a polluted location or have an irradiated beer), and you’ll get a combat boost of 8 HP per second maximum. Don’t let your rad level reach 1000, though, as that will be fatal.

Bloody Mess

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• Level: 6

Deal 5% more damage.

If you’re looking for an “always useful” kind of perk, this is it. Beware that it does trigger more violent death animations, too.

Hand Loader

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• Level: 6
• Repair: 70

Double the chances of recovering cases and hulls while using guns. Also unlocks all hand load recipes.

This perk makes it far easier to craft new ammo at a reloader bench and thus maintain a decent ammo supply. If you predominantly use energy guns rather than regular guns, go for “Vigilant Recycler” instead, as this offers a similar effect.

Demolition Expert

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• Level: 6
• Explosives: 50

Deal 20% damage with explosives.

Explosive damage is already very powerful against groups, and this additional damage bonus will make it even more so.

Strong Back

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• Level: 8
• Strength: 5
• Endurance: 5

Gain 50 carrying capacity.

Nothing is more annoying than running out of inventory space. Thanks to this perk, that won’t happen quite as often anymore.

Finesse

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• Level: 10

Grants 5% critical chance.

Extra critical chance is almost always useful, unless you decide on a specific combat build that doesn’t require critical rate (which is usually an explosives-based build). “Finesse” is especially good when combined with “Better Criticals.”

Piercing Strike

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• Level: 12
• Unarmed: 70

All unarmed and melee attacks ignore 15 damage threshold points on the enemy.

This brilliant Fallout: New Vegas perk allows you to ignore a hefty chunk of the opponent’s armor, which makes light-armored enemies extremely vulnerable while heavy-armored enemies are easier to damage. Even players with a preference for guns might want to use this perk to defeat weaker enemies with melee and save some bullets.

Silent Running

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• Level: 12
• Agility: 6
• Sneak: 50

Running no longer negatively affects a sneaking attempt.

Having to slow down while in sneak mode is very annoying, but with the “Silent Running” perk, you can move as fast as you like. It’s easier to take enemies down (less time for them to move around), and you’ll clear quest objectives far more quickly.

Chemist

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• Level: 14
• Medicine: 60

All chems last twice as long.

Despite the description, this perk doubles the duration of any stat bonus, healing effect, or other type of buff gained from any consumable – not just from chems! Of course, receiving double healing is especially powerful.

Jury Rigging

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• Level: 14
• Repair: 90

Repair any item by sacrificing a roughly similar item.

Broke your favorite weapon or armor? With the “Jury Rigging” perk equipped, you no longer need the exact same item to repair it, but just a similar one. For example, you can now repair an All-American rifle with any two-handed automatic gun.

Better Criticals

00031DBB

• Level: 16
• Luck: 6
• Perception: 6

Deal 50% damage with critical hits.

As long as your character has a high critical rate, this perk provides a massive damage boost. Be sure to get the “Finesse” perk, too.

Laser Commander

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• Level: 22
• Energy weapons: 90

Deal an extra 15% damage and gain an additional 10% critical hit chance with any laser weapon.

Which perks boost early-game combat damage

In Fallout: New Vegas, several early-game perks significantly boost combat damage, especially for guns, melee, or explosives builds accessible by level 10. These shine against common foes like geckos, powder gangers, and cazadores in areas like Goodsprings or Primm.​

Guns Damage Perks

Focus on these for service rifles, 9mm pistols, or varmint rifles found early.

• Cowboy (level 8, 45 Guns): +25% damage with revolvers, cowboy repeater, trail carbine, and dynamite-perfect for widespread early weapons.​

• Grunt (level 8, Honest Hearts DLC): +25% damage with service rifles, 9mm SMGs/pistols, and dynamite, ideal for NCR-aligned runs.​

Melee/Unarmed Boosts

Great for close-quarters scraps with fists, knives, or machetes.

• Slayer (level 16, but viable by level 10 prep with 90 Unarmed/Melee Weapons): +30% attack speed boosts effective DPS through faster hits.​

• Super Slam! (level 10, 50 Strength): Chance to disarm/knock down melee foes, enabling free follow-up damage.​

Universal Early Options

These enhance overall output without strict weapon limits.

• Commando (level 8, 70 Guns): +25% damage with two-handed rifles like the varmint or service rifle.​

• Traits like Trigger Discipline (-20% fire rate but +20% accuracy) indirectly aid damage via more hits, though not pure DPS. Pair with Rapid Reload for sustained fire.​​

Which perks increase melee damage early game

In Fallout: New Vegas, early-game melee damage perks are limited since most require higher levels or skill thresholds, but a few accessible by level 10 provide direct boosts or enable higher output against foes like powder gangers or geckos.​​

Key Early Perks

These focus on damage multipliers or utility for melee weapons like machetes, knives, or rebar clubs found in Goodsprings and Primm.

• Melee Weapons 50/75/100 (passive skill perks, immediate via tagging): Each rank unlocks better attacks; at 75, +20% damage and crit chance, scaling to +30% at 100-core for any melee build.​

• Super Slam! (level 10, Strength 50): 15% chance to disarm/knock down melee opponents, setting up free hits for 20-50% effective DPS gain early.​

Supporting Traits and Builds

No pure melee damage traits exist at start, but pair with Built to Destroy (trait: +3% crit chance per hit, -15% weapon DR) for frequent crits on repeated swings.​

• Boost Strength to 6+ via implants or gear for baseline +20% melee damage.

• Rush Melee Weapons skill with books/chems; grab Parry at 70 skill for +15 DR during blocks, sustaining longer fights. Avoid over-relying on V.A.T.S. early due to AP limits.​

Faizan Saif

A senior guides writer at blog, his journey into gaming started with a love for Call of Duty 2. He's more than just a writer; he's a proven competitor with victories in the Call of Duty esports arena

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