Fallout 76 Skills: Perks, Leveling & S.P.E.C.I.A.L. System Explained

In our guide to the skills in Fallout 76 you will learn:

  • what the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. skills mean
  • how to increase them
  • what Perk cards are & how to get them
  • how to increase and distribute Perks

As in most role-playing games, in Fallout 76 you create a character according to your own ideas. Not only do you freely customize the look, but also the strengths of your character.

Would you rather have someone who goes through the wall with his head or sneaks agilely around dangers? However you prefer to play, Fallout 76 offers a wide range of possibilities with its S.P.E.C.I.A.L. character values.

Table of Contents

Skills in Fallout 76: What does S.P.E.C.I.A.L. mean?

But let's start from the beginning: What is S.P.E.C.I.A.L.? The acronym stands for the seven traits that define your hero in Fallout 76:

  • S stands for Strength

This value defines your physical strength. That is, it determines how much you can carry or how much damage your melee attacks cause.

  • P is for Perception

Perception affects how quickly you detect nearby enemies, how well you detect sneak moves, and weapon accuracy in the V.A.T.S targeting system.

  • E is for Endurance

Endurance determines your health, disease resistance, and of course how quickly you use up your action points when sprinting.

  • C stands forCharisma

Charisma behaves differently in a game without NPCs than in classic Fallout games. In Fallout 76, Charisma influences the prices for trading or the rewards for group quests.

  • Standsfor Intelligence

Intelligence allows you to level up hacking, determines the durability of self-made items and the yield when crafting.

  • A is forAgility

Agility is not to be confused with stamina. You can use agility to increase the total number of action points you have for sprinting and your sneaking ability in Fallout 76.

  • L is for Luck

Luck determines the cooldown on critical hits and the durability and condition of items found while looting.

How do I increase S.P.E.C.I.A.L. abilities?

Each time you level up to level 50 in Fallout 76, you'll receive a skill point that you can allocate to the different S.P.E.C.I.A.L. skills.

You level up through experience points. You'll get them for almost everything you do in the open world Appalachia, such as killing enemies or completing quests and challenges.

Level 50 is not the maximum level, by the way. The achievements for Fallout 76 show that you can currently level up to 100 , but skill points are only awarded for the first 50.

What are the benefits of skill points?

You distribute the points you receive to your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. skills according to your mood. They have a direct influence on the characteristics mentioned in the description. For example, in the case of Agility, on the number of your action points.

Also, for every point you distribute, you get a slot on the corresponding ability to equip Perk cards. Perks give you additional characteristics and abilities that influence your gameplay. But more about that later.

First, keep in mind that you don't have to use a skill point to apply a perk. At the start of Fallout 76, you already have a point on every S.P.E.C.I.A.L. skill, so that includes a card slot. You can 't currently reset distributed points - so you should already have a rough idea of what's important to you in survival multiplayer.

What are Perk Cards?

Perk cards give you additional abilities (i.e. tricks of the trade) that make survival easier. For example, some cards increase your carrying capacity percentage or improve skills like hacking or lock picking. In the wasteland, there are all kinds of locked doors that you need better skills to open - and for that, you need Perks.

At the start of Fallout 76, you'll receive a small selection of basic Perks. After that, you'll get a card pack every second level-up for the first ten levels. From then on, things slow down and you'll only get perk packs every five levels - that's 15, 20, 25, and so on.

What do I need to know about Perks?

Perk cards can be upgraded up to three levels. Each upgrade increases the bonus value of the card. To level up a card, you must combine it with the same card. You can tell what rank your card is by the star icons in the lower right corner.

Example: If you have the card "Thru-Hiker", thanks to which food weighs 30% less, and use it with a second one of them, it will get the rank 2 and lighten the weight by 60% from now on. Keep in mind, however, that a Rank 2 card consumes two skill slots of the corresponding S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attribute.

Since you'll receive cards randomly, it's not easy to consistently skill in a targeted direction from the start. Even if you start out with few useful cards for your desired S.P.E.C.I.A.L. skill, it's still a good idea to put the skill point there and only later - when you draw the necessary perks - allocate the appropriate cards to it.

Perk cards can be changed at any time at no cost. Therefore, you can distribute less useful cards at the start of Fallout 76 instead of leaving a card slot empty.

What is the best way to distribute my skills?

The best way to distribute your skill points and perks depends on your play style. For example, if you prefer to roam the wasteland alone, you should balance your character and invest skill points in both lock picking and hacking.

Depending on what weapon you prefer to use, you may want to commit to a certain direction early on here (in addition to all-around survival skills). A shotgunner, for example, will find many perks in Strength and Perception that improve the handling of the shotgun. If you prefer to shoot freely from the hip with a revolver, you should focus on agility in Fallout 76.

Even if your hacking skill is high, you still have to master the minigame.

On the other hand, if you regularly play in a team with fixed roles, you'll have to focus less skill points on general survival skills. Then, for example, it's enough if one of you is a master hacker, while another player picks high-level locks. This will make it easier to specialize the rest of your skills.

If you are undecided about the best distribution of skills and perks and don't want to kill yourself completely, this official build planner will help you to check in advance whether your vision of a character build can be realized in the end.

In addition, we recommend that you read some of our other guides, in which we will help you with Information about PVP factions as well as tips for beginners.

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