How to Choose the Best Perks in Fallout 3

While it may look attractive to take Perks that give you a ton of Skill Points, it is important to resist the urge. There are lots of other Perks that give benefits besides Skill Points, and can in fact make the game much more interesting for you. Our Fallout 3 Perks Walkthrough will help you decide which Perks are the best for you.

Give yourself a high Intelligence. This will give you lots of Skill Points naturally, negating the need for Skill Point Perks. Give yourself a 9 Intelligence at the beginning of the game, then immediately head to the Science Lab in Rivet City to find the Intelligence Bobblehead so you can get 10 Intelligence. Taking the Educated Perk allows you to gain a total of 57 additional Skill Points over the course of the game. By the end, nearly all of your Skills will be at or near maximum level.

Take the Black Widow or Lady Killer Perks. These provide unique dialog options that are unavailable otherwise. The Black Widow Perk is available for female characters, Lady Killer for male characters.

Consider the Child at Heart Perk. While it's usefulness is mainly confined to Little Lamplight, the Child at Heart Perk can get you in and get you a very nice Laser Rifle for free. This is handy if you like questing shortcuts and don't have much money to burn.

Take the Toughness Perk at level 6. This will increase your General Damage Resistance by 10%. This means that all damage you take will be reduced by 10% automatically, in addition to the Damage Resistance you receive from armor. Staying alive longer in the face of danger is always a good thing.

Take the Strong Back and Commando Perks at level 8. You will be able to carry another 50 pounds of equipment! This means less time spent running back to town to unload junk and less equipment dumped because you ran out of space. Since two-handed weapons like Assault Rifles are some of the most common in the game (and more than likely, what you will be using for most of the game,) having them hit the target more with the Commando Perk is a tremendous advantage.

Take the Animal Friend and Finesse Perks when you hit level 10. One rank of Animal Friend will mean you will never have to fight a Yao Guai, Mole Rat, Dog or Brahmin again. Finesse increases your Luck by 5 when shooting (for the purposes of determining Critical Hits.) This means you don't have to increase your Luck beyond 5, and can spend your SPECIAL Stat Points on something else.