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You can’t reset SPECIAL Stats (Attributes), so we ranked them all to help you decide what to choose when starting a character in Fallout 4.
S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Stats are more important than you realize when you create your first character in Fallout 4. You cannot respec them; they determine what perks you can unlock later. However, there are methods to improve those SPECIAL attributes to reach the required stat to get perks you may want to unlock later as you play. Your SPECIAL Stats or attributes can be managed and seen in the Pip-Boy menu. Through this ranking, we discuss what SPECIAL stats are worth investing in at the start and what selection will help you later on take one of the best perks available in Fallout 4.
Methods to get perk points and increase SPECIAL Attributes (Stats) in Fallout 4:
- Leveling up
- SPECIAL-bobbleheads
- “You’re SPECIAL!” skill book
SPECIAL Attributes (Stats) Ranked for Fallout 4
The best SPECIAL attributes in Fallout 4 are Intelligence, Perception, and Luck. Intelligence is valuable regardless of what you will do later on. Crafting in Fallout 4 is a super powerful end-game method for the best in slot gear, and the higher intelligence, the better quality items you can create later.
Perception will increase your range accuracy and potentially damage, while luck can increase the chance of critical hits. Those two will also benefit almost any build and playstyle but also will highly boost burst damage with sniper rifles. The sniper playstyle is one of the best and highest damage-producing builds in Fallout 4.
Below are all SPECIAL Attributes (Stats) ranked from best to worst:
- Intelligence: Fantastic stat for end-game and high-quality crafting
- Perception: Boosts range damage favored by the game and game mechanics.
- Luck: Increases critical chance.
- Agility: Useful for movement and must have stealth.
- Charisma: Required for some of the best perks in Fallout 4.
- Strength: It makes the game more accessible and is recommended for melee builds with heavy weapons.
- Endurance: This stat is primarily suitable for survival mode and health. Only needed in some builds.
7 Endurance
Endurance Perks their ranks and SPECIAL requirement:
- Toughness: 1 END (1 Ranks)
- Increased Damage Resistance
- Lead Belly: 2 END (4 Ranks)
- Decreased Radiation from eating and drinking irradiated food and water
- Lifegiver: 3 END (4 Ranks)
- Increased max Health
- Chem Resistant: 4 END (4 Ranks)
- Decreased chance to become addicted when using chems
- Aquaboy/Aquagirl: 5 END (2 Ranks)
- Able to breathe underwater and no longer take Rads while swimming
- Rad Resistant: 6 END (4 Ranks)
- Increased Radiation Resistance
- Adamantium Skeleton: 7 END (4 Ranks)
- Reduced damage done to limbs, lessening chance to become crippled
- Cannibal: 8 END (3 Ranks)
- Restore health by eating corpses
- Ghoulish: 9 END (3 Ranks)
- Grants health regeneration when irradiated
- Solar Powered: 10 END (3 Ranks)
- Increased Strength and Endurance between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
In Fallout 4, Endurance affects your maximum health, radiation resistance, and ability to withstand environmental hazards. This stat is primarily suitable for survival mode and health. As a result, if you want to play melee or in close-quarter combat, you may find that SPECIAL stat more helpful. However, the game favors range playstyle, and the builds that produce the most damage are based on sniper riffles. Unless you plan to play with unarmed attacks or melee weapons, you will not need much endurance because, ideally, you will never get hit. Endurance is not tied to crafting, so having higher ranks doesn’t hold you back on other builds, making this SPECIAL attribute least useful in Fallout 4. You can take the Toughness perk at level 1 and increase your damage resistance if you need extra survival skills.
6 Strength
Strength Perks their ranks and SPECIAL requirement:
- Iron Fist: 1 STR (5 Ranks)
- Increased damage when using Unarmed attacks.
- Big Leagues: 2 STR (5 Ranks)
- Increased damage when using melee weapons.
- Armorer: 3 STR (4 Ranks)
- Ability to craft advanced armor mods.
- Blacksmith: 4 STR (3 Ranks)
- Ability to craft advanced melee weapon mods.
- Heavy Gunner: 5 STR (5 Ranks)
- Increased damage when using heavy weapons.
- Strong Back: 6 STR (5 Ranks)
- Increased Carry Weight
- Steady Aim: 7 STR (3 Ranks)
- Improved hip-fire accuracy.
- Basher: 8 STR (4 Ranks)
- Increased damage when gun-bashing.
- Rooted: 9 STR (3 Ranks)
- Increased Damage Resistance when not moving. Bonus damage with melee weapons when not moving
- Pain Train: 10 STR (3 Ranks)
- Bonus damage and a chance to Stagger enemies if hit while sprinting and wearing Power Armor.
This SPECIAL Stat influences your carrying capacity, melee damage, and the effectiveness of melee weapons. Strength is great for melee builds that want to be in the middle of a battlefield and play unarmed attacks with melee weapons or heavy weapons. It also helps with mods crafting, but you only need 4 strength. Regarding the carrying capacity, in theory, it sounds useful that you can carry more, especially at the start of the game. However, at the later game progression, you can get power armor to carry considerable stuff. Nonetheless, the Strength SPECIAL attribute makes the game more accessible, and we ranked it 6th within Fallout 4 stats.
5 Charisma
Charisma Perks their ranks and SPECIAL requirement:
- Cap Collector: 1 CHR (3 Ranks)
- Discounted price of buying and bonus to selling prices when Bartering
- Lady Killer / Black Widow: 2 CHR (3 Ranks)
- Increased damage and success of persuasion against female NPCs.(male character)/Increased damage and success of persuasion against male NPCs.(female character)
- Lone Wanderer: 3 CHR (4 Ranks)
- Increased Damage Resistance and Carry Weight when going without a companion
- Attack Dog: 4 CHR (4 Ranks)
- Increased accuracy in V.A.T.S. against enemies immobilized by dog companions
- Animal Friend: 5 CHR (3 Ranks)
- Chance to pacify or control hostile animals.
- Local Leader: 6 CHR (2 Ranks)
- Establish supply lines and build stores & workstations in settlements.
- Party Girl/Party Boy: 7 CHR (3 Ranks)
- Immunity to alcohol addiction and increased luck when drunk. Immune to companion friendly-fire.
- Inspirational: 8 CHR (3 Ranks)
- Companions deal bonus damage.
- Wasteland Whisperer: 9 CHR (3 Ranks)
- Chance to pacify or control hostile creatures
- Intimidation: 10 CHR (3 Ranks)
- Chance to pacify or control hostile human enemies
Charisma impacts your success in dialogue options, ability to negotiate prices with vendors, and effectiveness in leading companions. This SPECIAL attribute also allows you to unlock some of the best perks immediately with an easily manageable perk investment. Uniquely, charisma not only can give you bonuses when traveling with companions or your dog (Dog Meat), but in contrast, thanks to the Lone Wanderer perk (CHR 3), it can increase your stats while traveling alone.
Charisma is always a good investment whether you like playing with or without companions. You can find bonuses to companions’ damage, resistances, and carry capacity among other influential perks. The ability to persuade, talk out of uncomfortable situations, and pacify or control enemies is a bonus to this fantastic SPECIAL attribute in Fallout 4.
4 Agility
Agility Perks their ranks and SPECIAL requirement:
- Gunslinger: 1 AGI (5 Ranks)
- Increased damage when using non-automatic pistols.
- Commando: 2 AGI (5 Ranks)
- Increased damage when using automatic weapons
- Sneak: 3 AGI (5 Ranks)
- Decreased chance to be detected when sneaking
- Mister Sandman: 4 AGI (3 Ranks)
- Increased damage when using silenced weapons; Able to instantly kill sleeping human NPCs.
- Action Boy/Action Girl: 5 AGI (3 Ranks)
- Increased Action Point regeneration
- Moving Target: 6 AGI (3 Ranks)
- Increased Damage and Energy Resistance when sprinting
- Ninja: 7 AGI (3 Ranks)
- Increased damage when performing sneak attacks
- Quick Hands: 8 AGI (3 Ranks)
- Increased reloading speed with all firearms
- Blitz: 9 AGI (2 Ranks)
- Increased range of melee attacks when performed in V.A.T.S.
- Gun Fu: 10 AGI (3 Ranks)
- Increased damage in V.A.T.S. against more than one target.
In Fallout 4, the agility SPECIAL Stat affects your overall movement speed, ability to effectively sneak, and performance in VATS. It also boosts the damage to non-automatic pistols and their range. As in almost every Bethesda game, sneaking and, while hidden, critical damage is the most overpowered and highest-producing damage playstyle. Agility will primarily help you lower the detection range and, across the board, make your character more of a survival assassin playstyle. Extra action points agility can provide are also always welcome to get.
3 Luck
Luck Perks their ranks and SPECIAL requirement:
- Fortune Finder: 1 LUCK (4 Ranks)
- Increased chance to find bottlecaps in various containers
- Scrounger: 2 LUCK (4 Ranks)
- Increased chance to find ammunition in various containers
- Bloody Mess: 3 LUCK (4 Ranks)
- Increased damage with all weapons. Enemies have a chance to explode upon death.
- Mysterious Stranger: 4 LUCK (4 Ranks)
- Increased chance of the Mysterious Stranger appearing when attacking in V.A.T.S. and killing an enemy
- Idiot Savant: 5 LUCK (3 Ranks)
- Random chance to receive multiplied XP bonuses, with low Intelligence increasing frequency
- Better Criticals: 6 LUCK (3 Ranks)
- Increased damage when performing Critical Hits in V.A.T.S.
- Critical Banker: 7 LUCK (4 Ranks)
- Able to generate and save additional Critical Hits when in V.A.T.S.
- Grim Reaper’s Sprint: 8 LUCK (3 Ranks)
- Added chance to restore full AP upon a successful kill when using V.A.T.S.
- Four Leaf Clover: 9 LUCK (4 Ranks)
- Added chance to fill the Critical meter on every hit when using V.A.T.S.
- Ricochet: 10 LUCK (3 Ranks)
- Added chance to deflect enemy gunfire back at the shooter, killing them instantly, based on low HP
As mentioned before, the ranged sneaking playstyle is the most favored in Fallout 4. Best sniper setups should also provide significant critical chance and damage, which the Luck SPECIAL attribute can significantly buff. Luck provides burst damage to every weapon and build, making it great for the highest damage-producing setups and a good choice altogether. The Luck stat affects critical hit chance, the likelihood of finding valuable items (such as ammo), and the outcome of random events. It’s one of the most essential SPECIAL stats (attributes) in Fallout 4, ranked 3rd on our list.
2 Perception
Perception Perks their ranks and SPECIAL requirement:
- Pickpocket: 1 PER (4 Ranks)
- Increased chance of success when pickpocketing
- Rifleman: 2 PER (5 Ranks)
- Increased damage with non-automatic rifles
- Awareness: 3 PER (2 Ranks)
- Able to view an enemy’s specific damage resistances when targeted in V.A.T.S.
- Locksmith: 4 PER (4 Ranks)
- Able to pick higher-level locks with bobby pins
- Demolition Expert: 5 PER (4 Ranks)
- Increasing damage with explosives
- Night Person: 6 PER (3 Ranks)
- Increased Intelligence and Perception from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.
- Refractor: 7 PER (5 Ranks)
- Increased Energy Resistance
- Sniper: 8 PER (3 Ranks)
- Increased handling and breath control with non-automatic scoped rifles
- Penetrator: 9 PER (2 Ranks)
- Able to hit covering enemies in V.A.T.S.
- Concentrated Fire: 10 PER (3 Ranks)
- Increased accuracy and damage in V.A.T.S. when targeting the same body part with consecutive attacks
V.A.T.S. is essentially an auto-aim, which is essential for sniping and long-range builds but also valuable regardless of range weapon choice. In the Perception attribute, you will find one of the best perks that boost V.A.T.S. Additionally, one of the best perks is Sniper (PER 8), which improves control and focus when aiming. With two only two ranks invested into Sniper, you can knock down nearly any enemy in the game, essentially stun-locking them while taking free shots.
The following fantastic perk is a demolition expert (PER 5) to deal more damage with explosives and grenades. Perception stats also affect your accuracy in V.A.T.S., the chance of detecting stealthy enemies, and the ability to pick locks and spot traps.
1 Intelligence
Intelligence Perks their ranks and SPECIAL requirement:
- V.A.N.S.: 1 INT (2 Ranks)
- Display the shortest path to a quest or destination marker when using V.A.T.S.
- Medic: 2 INT (4 Ranks)
- Increased effectiveness of stimpaks and RadAway
- Gun Nut: 3 INT (4 Ranks)
- Access to advanced weapon mods
- Hacker: 4 INT (4 Ranks)
- Able to hack higher-level terminals
- Scrapper: 5 INT (3 Ranks)
- Gain more varied components when scrapping weapons and armor
- Science!: 6 INT (4 Ranks)
- Access to advanced weapon mods for Energy weapons
- Chemist: 7 INT (4 Ranks)
- Increased duration for effects of chems
- Robotics Expert: 8 INT (3 Ranks)
- Able to hack and influence robots
- Nuclear Physicist: 9 INT (3 Ranks)
- Increased Radiation from weapon damage and increased duration of fusion core usage
- Nerd Rage: 10 INT (3 Ranks)
- Increased damage resistance and bonus damage, as well as generation of a slow-time effect when at 20% of max health.
In Fallout 4, intelligence affects the number of experience points earned, the quality of crafted items, and your effectiveness with high-tech weapons and terminals. The Gun Nut(INT 3) and Science! (INT 6) perks will allow you to craft better high-tech mods, increasing your weapons’ efficacy and character performance. The chemist perk will buff the time and effectiveness of consumables, which you shouldn’t ignore, as chems available in Fallout 4 can significantly increase your power and survivability. Overall, intelligence is one of the most useful SPECIAL stats (attributes) in Fallout 4.
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