Explorer

Requirements: Level 20

Ranks: 1

“When you choose the Explorer perk, every location in the world is revealed on your map. So get out there and explore!”

You can find all the areas on the map by yourself. You even get little icons that will guide you to them when you’re close. Along the way, you’ll get to explore the Wasteland, which is the meat of the game. You’ll find skill books, get experience, and score loot. Also, it must be noted that this perk doesn’t make your character stronger in any way. Download a world map and search for places yourself, save yourself a perk.

Grim Reaper’s Sprint

Requirements: Level 20

Ranks: 1

“If you kill a target in V.A.T.S., all your Action Points are restored upon exiting V.A.T.S.”

If you’re an Action Point junky, or rather if you use V.A.T.S. at all, this perk is for you. This perk turns your character into a juggernaught of destruction, and it makes every V.A.T.S. perk more powerful. The only negative is if you don’t finish off your enemy in V.A.T.S., your Action Points don’t replenish. Of course, so long as the finishing shot is in V.A.T.S., you’re good to go. This perk is great for anybody who doesn’t delude themselves into thinking Fallout 3 is a strict FPS by shunning V.A.T.S.

Ninja

Requirements: Level 20, Sneak 80%, Melee Weapons 80%

Ranks: 1

“The Ninja perk grants you the power of the fabled shadow warriors. When attacking with either Melee or Unarmed, you gain a +15% critical chance on every strike. Sneak attack criticals do 25% more damage than normal.”

This perk is something of a mixed bag. You might be wondering, given the praise lavished upon Finesse , Better Criticals , and other critical hit-focused perks, how Ninja could be anything short of essential. Frankly, the perk is just broken, and doesn’t actually give you the +15% critical hit chance that it should. The +25% sneak attack critical damage is still pretty nice, though… so, if you’ve picked perks that focus on making your critical hits more frequent/powerful, this is a good addition. Just not as good as it should be.

Solar Powered

Requirements: Level 20, Endurance 7

Ranks: 1

“With the Solar Powered perk, you gain an additional 2 points to Strength when in direct sunlight, and slowly regenerate lost Health.”

Why bother with two points of Strength when you’ll get 10 at level 30? Who needs health regeneration, limited at that. Use Stimpacks. I’m sure you can find SOMETHING better. If you pick this perk, the only real bonus you’ll get is some health regeneration… during the day… Or there are always Stimpaks.