Fallout 4: The Best Ghoul Build

Based on The Ghoul from the Amazon Prime TV series, we developed a Ghoul build in Fallout 4 with Perks, S.P.E.C.I.A.L., Stats, armor, and weapons.

Fallout 4 The Best Ghoul Build

This build guide has been updated for Game version 1.10.980 on PC and Free Next Gen Update on PlayStation and Xbox.

Best The Ghoul Build in Fallout 4

The Ghoul build in Fallout 4 is a themed build based on the “Ghoul” character from the popular Amazon Prime TV Series. The Ghoul will use the Ghoulish Perk, Dogmeat companion, and Pistols, similar to the character in the TV show. With the Ghoul Build, you can heal from radiation, have exceptionally high health and damage reduction, and great damage with critical hits. Moreover, with the Ghoulish perk maxed out, fellow feral Ghouls will randomly become friendly. However, the Ghoul perk doesn’t change your appearance to a Ghoul, so don’t expect the whole look without mods.

The downside to playing the Ghoul is the lack of a high intelligence score. Thus, you will be playing without power armor or having the science perk. However, this should be a problem for those players looking to Role Play the Wasteland as their favorite character, Cooper Howard (Ghoul). He was transformed into a goal after the great war of 2077 and earned a reputation throughout the wasteland as a fierce bounty hunter. Fallout 4 players should select the ghoul build if they want high survivability, fun RP, and a simplistic play style.

The Ghoul Build ProsThe Ghoul Build Cons
High DamageLacks Intelligence Stat
Role Play Weak in Crafting
Great Survivability Weapon Limitations

Features and Mechanics for Best The Ghoul Build in Fallout 4

The following list presents all the essential The Ghoul Features and Mechanics in Fallout 4:

  • Damage – Ballistic
  • Range – 28 meters
  • Weapon – Pistol
  • S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Stats
    • Strength – 1
    • Perception – 5
    • Endurance – 9
    • Charisma – 4
    • Intelligence – 1
    • Agility – 1
    • Luck – 7
  • Best Perks – Ghoulish, Gunslinger, Lone Wanderer, Better Criticals
  • Companion – Dogmeat

S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Stats

The best S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats for the Ghoul build are 9 Endurance and 7 Luck. Endurance allows you to obtain the Ghoulish Perk and increases your overall max health and radiation resistance. Luck helps gain access to damage perks like Critical Banker, Better Criticals, and Bloody Mess. Lastly, Charisma of 4 gives you access to Lone Wanderer and Attack Dog to help you optimize your Dogmeat companion.

Below is the best recommended S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Stats for the Ghoul build in Fallout 4 videogame RPG:

  • 1 Strength (S): influences your carrying capacity, melee damage, and the effectiveness of melee weapons.
  • 5 Perception (P): affects your accuracy in VATS, the chance of detecting stealthy enemies, and the ability to pick locks and spot traps.
  • 9 Endurance (E): It affects your maximum health, radiation resistance, and ability to withstand environmental hazards.
  • 4 Charisma (C): influences your success in dialogue options, ability to negotiate prices with vendors, and effectiveness in leading companions.
  • 1 Intelligence (I): affects the number of experience points earned, the quality of crafted items, and your effectiveness with terminals.
  • 1 Agility (A): It affects your overall movement speed, ability to sneak effectively, and performance in VATS.
  • 9 Luck (L): affects critical hit chance, the likelihood of finding valuable items, and the outcome of random events.

Additionally, consider collecting Bobbleheads throughout your Fallout 4 (FO4) adventure. Bobbleheads are collectible items scattered throughout the game world. Each bobblehead represents a particular attribute or skill, and when collected, it permanently increases your character’s corresponding stat or ability.

Best Perks

Fallout 4 Ghoul Best Perk Selection

Ghoulish, Gunslinger, and Lone Wanderer are the best Perk for the Ghoul build. Ghoulish is the premise of the build, giving you passive healing while taking radiation, though you will keep the same human appearance. Gunslinger is your weapon damage perk, increasing the damage with Pistols, and you can disarm or cripple enemies. Lone Wanderer reduces damage and increases your damage while allowing you to use Dogmeat companion, giving you the look, feel, and performance of the Ghoul from the TV series.

Here is the list of the best and recommended Perks for the The Ghoul Build in Fallout 4:

  • Ghoulish – generates health while taking radiation, either in a zone, swimming in irradiated water, getting hit with radiation weapons, etc.
  • Gunslinger – increases pistol damage, though you can select Rifleman if you prefer those weapons.
  • Lone Wanderer – damage reduction, increased damage dealt, and carrying capacity boost once maxed out.
  • Better Criticals – makes your critical attacks do 2.5 extra damage.
  • Critical Banker – can save and store critical hits when you need them the most.

In Fallout 4, perks are special abilities and bonuses that enhance your character’s skills, combat prowess, and survival capabilities. Perks are acquired by spending perk points each time your character levels up. Perks are divided into categories, each corresponding to one of the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attributes.  These perks offer a wide range of customization options, allowing players to tailor their characters to suit their preferred playstyles.  However, there are no respecs or redoing of Perks. Thus, your selections are vital to increasing your character’s overall power.

Level Progression

Your perk selection aims to increase damage, reduce damage taken, and play with the Ghoul theme. The Ghoulish perk is the foundation, allowing you to regenerate health when taking radiation damage or being in a zone. You want a balanced approach for damage increase, damage reduction, and utility at early levels. In the mid-20s and beyond, the enemies become much more challenging, so we swap to damage reduction and survivability perks. Later, at the end of the level progression, you can either max out Gun Nut and improve your Intelligence score or take Solar Powered. Solar Powered helps remove radiation within the sun, feeding into a damaged regeneration loop. Though, you will miss out on crafting.

Level 1 – 10

Fallout 4 Best Perks for the Ghoul Build Level 1-10

The initial levels are spread out to increase damage with a pistol, damage reduction while using only Dogmeat, and some utility with Locksmith. You can pick Rifleman and forgo Pistols if you like those weapons better and consider dropping Attack Dog for another Scrounger if you cannot stand being low on ammunition.

Here’s a list of the best perks to select from levels 1 to 10 with the Ghoul Build Guide in Fallout 4:

  • Level 1 – None
  • Level 2 – Ghoulish (Ghoul)
  • Level 3 – Gunslinger
  • Level 4 – Scrounger
  • Level 5 – Lone Wanderer
  • Level 6 – Locksmith
  • Level 7 – Gunslinger 2
  • Level 8 – Bloody Mess
  • Level 9 – Attack Dog
  • Level 10 – Better Criticals

Level 11 – 20

Fallout 4 Best Perks for the Ghoul Build Level 11-20

From levels 11 to 20, you focus primarily on damage perks with Cannibal to help heal, especially if you are playing Survival mode. Cannibal isn’t necessary, you can take Scrounger here or increase your endurance another +1 to gain Solar Powered access.

Here’s a list of the best perks to select from levels 11 to 20 with the Ghoul Build Guide in Fallout 4:

  • Level 11 – Locksmith 2
  • Level 12 – Critical Banker
  • Level 13 – Cannibal
  • Level 14 – Demolition Expert
  • Level 15 – Gunslinger 3
  • Level 16 – Bloody Mess 2
  • Level 17 – Lone Wanderer 2
  • Level 18 – Locksmith 3
  • Level 19 – Attack Dog 2
  • Level 20 – Better Criticals 2

Level 21 – 30

Through levels 21 and 30, we focus primarily on damage reduction perks. At levels 20 and 30, you will get higher-level enemies and quest popups, so expect a big jump in difficulty. If you prefer Solar Powered to drop radiation during the daylight vs through a chem, swap the two points for Adamantium Skeleton.

Here’s a list of the best perks to select from levels 21 to 30 with the Ghoul Build Guide in Fallout 4:

  • Level 21 – Critical Banker 2
  • Level 22 – Toughness
  • Level 23 – Life Giver
  • Level 24 – Ghoulish 2
  • Level 25 – Adamantium Skeleton
  • Level 26 – Attack Dog 3
  • Level 27 – Gunslinger 4
  • Level 28 – Toughness 2
  • Level 29 – Life Giver 2
  • Level 30 – Adamantium Skeleton 2

Level 31 – 40

Fallout 4 Best Perks for the Ghoul Build Level 31-40

There are more damage perks at these levels, along with damage reduction. However, we have little crafting so far. If you aren’t having trouble with damage, consider Mysterious Stranger as your flex perks. You can increase intelligence and get gun nut earlier, or increase Strength to gain armorer.

Here’s a list of the best perks to select from levels 31 to 40 with the Ghoul Build Guide in Fallout 4:

  • Level 31 – Bloody Mess 3
  • Level 32 – Demolition Expert 2
  • Level 33 – Toughness 3
  • Level 34 – Life Giver 3
  • Level 35 – Adamantium Skeleton 3
  • Level 36 – Mysterious Stranger
  • Level 37 – Mysterious Stranger 2
  • Level 38 – Toughness 4
  • Level 39 – Save
  • Level 40 – Lone Wanderer 3 + Better Criticals 3

Level 41 – 50

Fallout 4 Best Perks for the Ghoul Build Level 41-50

For the last few levels until 50, we recommend spending 1 perk on increasing intelligence and gaining the intelligence bobblehead. This will allow you Gun Nut, which helps finish your damage optimization via crafting. You can continue increasing intelligence or charisma from here to craft or build more settlements.

Here’s a list of the best perks to select from levels 41 to 50 with the Ghoul Build Guide in Fallout 4:

  • Level 41 – Mysterious Stranger 3
  • Level 42 – Gunslinger 5
  • Level 43 – Critical Banker 3
  • Level 44 – Intelligence +1 (and gain Bobblehead for +2)
  • Level 45 – Gun Nut 1
  • Level 46 – Gun Nut 2
  • Level 47 – Bloody Mess 4
  • Level 48 – Ghoulish 3
  • Level 49 – Gun Nut 3
  • Level 50 – Gun Nut 4

Gear and Weapons

Fallout 4 Deliverer stats tooltip
Fallout 4 Black Cowboy Hat
Fallout 4 Hunter's Long Coat

The best items for the Ghoul builds are the Deliverer pistol, Hunter’s Longcoat, and Black Cowboy Hat. Below is a list of how to obtain them:

Deliverer – work with the Railroad HQ to complete Tradecraft and gain the Deliverer. This silenced weapon deals great damage and is perfect for sneak or normal pistol gunplay. Kellogg’s Pistol is an alternative obtained early in the main story via Fort Hagan.

Hunter’s Long Coat – obtained by recruiting Old Longfellow and taking it from him, the Hunter’s Long Coat provides damage reduction and fits the look of the Ghoul. However, this outfit requires the Far Harbor DLC and might not be obtainable by every player. You can wear leather or combat armor, though you cannot upgrade. Kellogg’s Outfit is another solid choice because of the damage reduction in a single outfit, which doesn’t require crafting.

Black Cowboy Hat – obtained in Nuka-World DLC, this hat gives a passive +1 endurance boost. Many other Non-DLC hats increase luck, perception, or endurance. Endurance is helpful for survivability, perception is helpful if you use VATS a lot, and Luck is great if you focus on critical strikes.

Companions

Fallout 4 Dog Meat Companion

Dog Meat is the best companion for the Ghoul build because he does not negate the Lone Wanderer perk bonuses. With three ranks into Lone Wanderer, you will take 20% less damage, do 25% more damage, and carry 100 more pounds. This is in addition to Dog Meat scrambling for items and distracting enemies. Moreover, the Attack Dog perk makes him more effective at stunning enemies and immobilizing them.

Dog Meat can be found at the Red Rocket truck stop shortly after the game’s introduction. Moreover, you can gain the Attack Dog companion perk to increase Dog Meat’s affinity (affection) to the maximum. Attack dog increases accuracy in V.A.T.S. against enemies immobilized by dog companions. Unlike other companions, Dog Meat’s affinity is increased through leveling and spending perk points. We highly suggest using Dog Meat whenever possible to gain the most damage and reduce damage using the best Ghoul build.


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