Implant GRX¶

You gain a non-addictive subdermal Turbo (chem) injector. This perk may be taken twice, with the second rank increasing the effect from 2 to 3 seconds and the uses per day from 5 to 10. [Activated in the Pip-Boy inventory.]

Implant GRX is not a bad perk, it just has bad interface. Turbo is a pretty handy chem, and although you could simply carry some around, it’s much more convenient to have this perk. If you get this perk, however, you should plan to exploit it fully-get both ranks, and get the ‘Chemist’ perk. The duration of 2-3 seconds means 2-3 seconds of real time, which will be slowed down. Your actual effects will be greater. It can make some tough fights easier, but it’s not entirely without fault. First, it takes three perks to get the best out of it. Second, if you engage in long range combat as your primary means of murder you won’t really need to slow down time to pull off a quick V.A.T.S. assisted head-shot. Third - and most damningly - you can only activate this implant via your Pip-Boy. You can’t hotkey the effect, which makes using this perk as a combat aid very tedious.

Broad Daylight¶

You’re so sneaky that you can sneak even with your Pip-Boy light on! Any time the Pip-Boy light is on, you gain a sneak bonus to offset the light’s sneak penalty.

So… you can see in the immediate area around you and keep your stealth the same as if you were in darkness? As one awesome guy to another somewhat less awesome guy or gal, let me inform you that you can find a helmet that give you night vision in the ‘Old World Blues’ expansion. Also let me inform you that it doesn’t matter-this perk would still be full of folly. You’ll be fine, sneak in the darkness.

Certified Tech¶

Your knowledge of robotic components allows you to break them more easily and salvage their mechanical corpses. You have a +25% chance to score critical hits against robots, and you’ll also find more useful components on robots you destroy.

More components are good, but it’s no reason to get a perk. On the other hand, the +25% chance to score critical hits is pretty nice, but even then, the brute +25% damage from Robotics Expert is better. Also, outside of “Old World Blues” robotic foes are uncommon.

Aint Like That Now¶

Maybe you were bad once, but you ain’t like that now. Your Karma has been reset to 0, you regenerate AP 25% faster, and your attack speed is increased by 20%. You are also immune to critical hits. (Requires Bad Karma.)

What can you say about this perk? It’s like Nerves of Steel with some Slayer added in, and immunity to critical hits for good measure. Offensive is the name of the game, and this satisfies both your melee needs (attack speed) and sniping needs (faster Action Point regeneration = more shots in V.A.T.S.). It’s good stuff.

Just Lucky Im Alive¶

You’ve had lots of close calls. Whenever you finish a fight with less than 25% Health, your Luck increases by +4 for 3 minutes. You are also immune to critical hits, and your own critical hits inflict +50% damage.

The bonus Luck part of this perk sucks, there’s just no way around it. Even if you aren’t following this guide’s build and for whatever don’t have a very high Luck score so that the +4 bonus would be useful, it only activates for a short period of time, and even then, only if you take a significant amount of damage first. On the other hand, the +50% critical hit damage is just great, it’s like having another Better Criticals perk active at all times, effectively stacking bonus critical hit damage to 125%… which is pretty damn nice. Throw in the obligatory immunity to critical hits and you’ve got a fine perk, indeed.

Thought You Died¶

Your storied past has fallen from memory ’cause everybody thought you died. Your Karma is reset, you inflict +10% damage, and for every 100 points of Karma, you gain 10 Health. You are also immune to critical hits.

First, a brute +10% damage bonus is pretty awesome. Second, be sure to boost your Karma to the max before getting this perk-the 10 Health per 100 points of Karma is apparently a permanent boost you get when you pick this perk-view it as trading Karma for Health. Since you can get a maximum of 1000 Karma, that’s 100 points of Health, which is no lean bit of Health. The critical hit immunity is obligatory for these perks. This is a balanced offense/defense perk, and really, it’s twice as good as Bloody Mess, and three times better than Life Giver… with immunity to critical hits thrown in.