Summary
The Intelligence S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stat inFallout 76is a paramount stat for certain builds, and more or less a convenience perk for others. There are one or two perks that could benefit just about any character, but many of them revolve around using power armor or energy weapons.
It’s also worth mentioning that Intelligence has quite a few crafting perk cards as well, meaning even outside of combat, it might be worth having a bit of Intelligence ready to go for your downtime in your C.A.M.P. while you’re preparing for your next adventure.
10Batteries Included
Energy Weapon Ammo Weighs 90 Percent Less
Batteries included is another one of those perks that aren’t strictly necessary, but it’s going to make every inventory decision that you have to make a lot more bearable. If you’re running a lot of energy weapons, you’re going to be carrying around a lot of weight from that energy ammo.
Batteries included won’t make that ammo weightless, but it is going to ensure that it takes up such a small amount of space in your pockets that you’re hardly going to notice it.
9Gunsmith
Guns Break 50 Percent Slower And you’re able to Craft Tier 5 Guns
Gunsmith is one of those convenience perks that isn’t going to find its way into every player’s build, but other players are going to swear by it. And for good reason, some people do not particularly like having to repair their weapons all of the time, and Gunsmith prevents that from happening nearly as often.
It’s also a necessary perk when trying to build weapons of a certain tier. It might not be in your build all of the time, but when trying to craft a higher tier weapon, it’ll find its way into the limelight for a short period.
8Portable Power
All Power Armor Parts And Chassis Weights Are Reduced By 75 Percent
For those who like to run Power Armor but don’t like the back-breaking weight of it all, Portable Power shines down like a beacon from the gods. After all, Power Armor can really get in the way of carrying around seventy-five pounds of junk that you’re going to toss into your stash and forget about.
This is another one of those convenience perks that, if you’re trying to min-max a build to, well, the max isn’t going to come in particularly handy. But if you’re a wasteland wanderer with a couple of extra perk points, it’s going to make you smile just a little bit more.
7Power Patcher
Your Power Armor breaks 60 Percent Slower And Is Cheaper To Repair
Another perk for Power Armor users out there, Power Patcher is going to ensure you don’t need to fix up that Power Armor nearly as much as you once did. That means you can spend more time chilling at the campfire and less time tinkering at the Power Armor Station.
It also ensures that, when you do eventually have to patch your Power Armor up, it isn’t going to be nearly as costly, meaning you’ll either have to gather fewer resources, or those resources can be allocated elsewhere.
6Power User
Fusion Core Duration Is Doubled
You don’t really have Power Armor if you don’t also have a charged-up Fusion Core, and Power User is going to keep each and every Fusion Core running for twice as long as it otherwise would.
This is either going to save you from having to pick up Fusion Cores as often as you once did, or is going to create a Fusion Core backup in your stash so large that you aren’t going to be able to store anything else.
5Science (Expert/Master)
Craft Energy Weapon Mods And Increase Energy Weapon Damage
If you’re looking to craft energy weapons, you’re going to need the Science perk, no way around it. And if you’re looking to get the most out of the energy weapons, you’re probably going to want most, if not all of the Science perks, including the Expert and Master levels.
These all have a variety of bonuses for energy weapons, like improving their durability, improving their damage, and reducing the amount of resources that they take to craft in the first place. If you’re running energy weapons, these perk cards are going to improve your life dramatically.
4First Aid
Stimpacks Restore 45 Percent More Health
Everybody uses healing items in some form or another, and Stimpacks are by far the most widely used of them. That being said, sometimes you need more than one Stimpack to get the job done, and that can present an issue when you’re under pressure.
First Aid ensures that each Stimpack is much more effective, and that means you’ll be spending much less time healing and much more time putting down whatever is hurting you in the first place. Combine this withTeam Medic in the Charismastat, and you’ll be a wildly effective medic for your entire team.
3Nerd Rage
While Below 20 Percent Health, Gain 40 Damage Resist, 20 Percent Damage Increase and 15 Percent Ap Regen
For anyone runninga Bloodied Build, Nerd Rage is going to be an absolute necessity. It’s a risky perk to run, and if you aren’t supremely careful, it’s going to end in your death. But, if you know what you’re doing and get just a little bit of luck, Nerd Rage is going to save your life.
That being said, you are definitely going to have to make that extra damage count. That extra AP regen and damage are only going to save your life if you’re using them, so make sure you’re running around like a berserker putting your enemies down, or you’re going to find yourself respawning.
2Demolition Expert
Your Explosives Do 60 Percent Extra Damage
If you’re running a build that heavily utilizes explosives, Demolition Expert is a non-negotiable perk to include. Fully upgraded, Demolitions Expert ups your explosive damage a ridiculous amount, and combined with explosives perks from other skill trees, it’s going to make every explosive you wield preposterously effective.
The beautiful thing about explosives is that you don’t have to be particularly accurate. They’re useful in just about any situation where something happens to be attacking you, and you need to stop doing so. Whether it’s a Scorchbeast or a pack of Feral Ghouls, explosives get the job done, especially so with Demolition Expert. Combined withOrdnance Express in the Strength stat, and you’ll have explosives for days.
1Stabilized
In Power Armor, Heavy Guns Gain Excellent Accuracy And Ignore 45 Percent Armor
Stabilized is a perk where only half of the effect that it provides is particularly effective, but it’s worth running because of just how effective it is. That extra accuracy, while it can’t hurt, isn’t really going to be game-changing.
The extra damage that comes with ignoring 45 percent of your target’s armor, however, might just revolutionize your life. While this won’t make much of a difference to certain enemies that don’t have much armor to begin with, it’s going to make an exceptional difference to targets that make heavy use of armor.
