Animal Friend

Requirements: Level 10, Charisma 6

Ranks: 2

“At the first rank of this perk, animals simply won’t attack. At the second rank, they will eventually come to your aid in combat, but never against another animal. This perk affects the Dog, Yao Guai, Mole Rat, and Brahmin.”

Mole Rats and Brahmin can be melee’d to death without taking any damage, the dog isn’t very dangerous, even in packs of five, and with this build you’ll kill Yao Guai with a shotgun shot to the head or two… and that’s if you don’t manage to score a sneak attack critical. This is a totally useless perk. But those Brahmin… the two mad Brahmin you’ll see in this game can be dangerous… If you fall asleep playing.

Finesse

Requirements: Level 10

Ranks: 1

“With the Finesse perk you have a higher chance to score a critical hit on an opponent in combat, equivalent to 5 extra points of Luck.”

An extra 5% chance to critically hit certainly helps this build out, especially if you plan to get the perk Better Criticals . Think of it this way, taking Strong Back is good because it gives you the best part of having five points of Strength. Finesse does pretty much the same thing, but with Luck, a far superior attribute.

Here and Now

Requirements: Level 10

Ranks: 1

“The Here and Now perk immediately grants an additional experience level, complete with all the advantages that brings.”

Or you could just level up like normal. You’ll hit level 30 well before you finished the game. This is a waste of a perk.

Mister Sandman

Requirements: Level 10, Sneak 60%

Ranks: 1

“With the Mister Sandman perk, when you’re in Sneak mode, you gain the option to silently kill any human or Ghoul while they’re sleeping. And, all Mister Sandman kills earn bonus XP.”

First, if they’re sleeping, you can probably just whack them in V.A.T.S. anyways. Second, when enemies are sleeping, they seem to have a greater ability to detect you. Third, most enemies you’ll want to kill won’t be caught sleeping, so this is mostly useful for assassinating NPCs. And finally-how much XP are you really going to be getting from this in the long run? Don’t waste your perks.

Mysterious Stranger

Requirements: Level 10, Luck 6

Ranks: 1

“You’ve gained your own personal guardian angel… armed with a fully loaded .44 Magnum. With this perk, the Mysterious Stranger will appear occasionally in V.A.T.S. mode to lend a hand, with deadly efficiency.”

This perk is actually kind of fun. Your Mysterious Stranger -unlike in the first two games-is actually fairly strong. And he won’t die. Still, it’s a luck-based skill, so you can’t always count on him when you need him.

Nerd Rage!

Requirements: Level 10, Intelligence 5, Science 50%

Ranks: 1

“You’ve been pushed around long enough! With the Nerd Rage! perk, your Strength is raised to 10 and you gain 50% to damage resistance whenever your Health drops to 20% or below.”

Your Strength raises to 10 (which is only useful for Melee Weapons or Unarmed ) and you take 1/2 the damage you originally did (if your DR is under 35%, 85% is the cap, so anything else is wasted.) You become powerful in melee combat.. but you’re almost dead. What a bunch of crap. Get something else. Maybe if you’re a Science -heavy, smart, unarmed character it could provide some interesting circumstances… but mostly it would get you killed.

Night Person

Requirements: Level 10

Ranks: 1

“When the sun is down, a Night Person gains +2 to both Intelligence and Perception (up to a maximum of 10). This perk directly affects your “internal clock” and remains active both inside and outside.”

The best part of this perk is the skill bonuses you’d recieve from the stat increases. If you get the extra skill points from the Intelligence when you level up at night.. maybe. But still, having a bonus half of the time… eh. It’s not like it adds to your combat abilities, it lets you see threats further (at night) and gives you some extra skill points. There’s better out there.