This will be a rather long article, describing in full detail what each of my Skills do, along with any hidden mechanics that they have attached to them. This will include the reveal of "Passive Perks", which are Perks that are passively awarded to the Player upon reaching a certain key Ranks within a given Skill. All of the vanilla Fallout 4 Perks are still intact within my Mod, and I'm sure some people are curious to know how to earn them. Whether this is for requirements of some other mod, such as Loot Detector needing the "Scrapper" Perk (although I left that alone as a Player chosen ability through the menu, as normal) or for something more simple, such as the dreaded "Local Leader" Perk (which is hinted about in the Skill description, but if your here for this specifically, it's given for free through the Influence Skill).
If you're someone who would rather discover these secrets on their own or just plain enjoys a certain amount of mystique when it comes to game mechanics, then turn away now. The following is more for the curious or those who want to dive deeper into their character builds with You Are Exceptional, and to do so for them would require heavier information about how I did things behind the scenes.
I may do more Articles like this in the future (it's a pretty dense mod), so feel free to let me know what you think of this stuff. At some point, I also plan to include an abridged version of this directly into the holotape that's given by my mod once you run it for the first time (it should be in your inventory somewhere).
ARTILLERY
[Strength] Aptitude with heavy tools, like the Cryolator, Flamer and both gatling guns. This influences their overall raw damage and hip-fire accuracy.
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Specifically handles hip-fire accuracy and damage for the Cryolator, Flamer, Minigun and Gatling Laser. Generally, this category affects what you would normally consider "Heavy Guns", although this does NOT include the Missile Launchers or the Fatman, which are instead are basically treated as ranged explosives, and classified under the "Demolitions" Skill.
Damage is calculated at 2% per Rank, meaning that "vanilla damage rates" would be placed at Rank 50, whereas everything below that would be a penalty compared to what your used to in Fallout 4 (minimum penalty is 30% Damage), and everything above that would be bonus. Hip-fire accuracy is specifically handled when your NOT using the iron sights, and determines how wobbly these "raw" shots are; this bonus caps out at +20%.
Passive Perks:
Heavy Gunner (Skill Ranks 15 / 30 / 45 / 60 / 75)
All stages of this Perk were stripped down of all abilities and bonuses. Instead, it was renamed to Firearms Assembly, and is used for crafting of some weapon mods, which are also unlocked via the Gunsmithery Skill.
Damage is calculated at 2% per Rank, meaning that "vanilla damage rates" would be placed at Rank 50, whereas everything below that would be a penalty compared to what your used to in Fallout 4 (minimum penalty is 30% Damage), and everything above that would be bonus. Hip-fire accuracy is specifically handled when your NOT using the iron sights, and determines how wobbly these "raw" shots are; this bonus caps out at +20%.
Passive Perks:
Heavy Gunner (Skill Ranks 15 / 30 / 45 / 60 / 75)
All stages of this Perk were stripped down of all abilities and bonuses. Instead, it was renamed to Firearms Assembly, and is used for crafting of some weapon mods, which are also unlocked via the Gunsmithery Skill.
BARTER
[Charisma] Your ability to haggle a favorable deal, directly influencing both your buying and selling prices at vendors.
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Handles the prices for items you buy from and sell to various merchants. Both values are affected by 0.5% per Rank, capping out at 50%, although it's not as cut and dry as it sounds. Further on top of this, Charisma still affects buy/sell rates, with both sets stacking. On paper, it sounds like maxing both would make everything free and give a profit when immediately sold back to the same vendor, but how Fallout 4 handles pricing is weird, so it doesn't quite turn out like that. Not during any of my personal playtests, anyway.
Passive Perks:
Cap Collector 1 and 2 (Skill Ranks 15 / 30)
They currently don't do anything (as the Barter Skill already handles everything they do), and just exist to be compatible with other mods. As such, they are "earned" by the Player, but are hidden. Cap Collector 3 still exists, but renamed as the "Entrepreneur" Perk, and is the first stage which begins that Perkline.
Passive Perks:
Cap Collector 1 and 2 (Skill Ranks 15 / 30)
They currently don't do anything (as the Barter Skill already handles everything they do), and just exist to be compatible with other mods. As such, they are "earned" by the Player, but are hidden. Cap Collector 3 still exists, but renamed as the "Entrepreneur" Perk, and is the first stage which begins that Perkline.
CHEMISTRY
[Intelligence] Allows any self applied chems to last longer when used, and your unique knowledge when it comes to making these body altering substances.
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Determines the overall duration for alcohol and chems, with the exception of Stimpaks and Radaway (and variants there of). It also affects the hip-fire accuracy and damage for the Acid Soaker, and provides access to classic chemical recipes, such as Buffout.
Duration is gained at +5% per five Ranks, even at the beginning of such. So, if you were to have Chemistry 32, you would actually +35% Chem Duration. It was originally +1% duration per Rank, but this was giving frustratingly large values to the Player in the PipBoy, and was overall just gross to look at.
Damage is calculated at 2% per Rank, meaning that "vanilla damage rates" would be placed at Rank 50, whereas everything below that would be a penalty compared to what your used to in Fallout 4, and everything above that would be bonus. Hip-fire accuracy is used when your NOT using the iron sights, and determines how wobbly these "raw" shots are; this bonus caps out at +20%.
Passive Perks:
Chemist (Skill Ranks 25 / 50 / 75 / 100)
All of the Perks were renamed to Biochemist, and act as unlocking points for learning chems, which are now properly broken up into four Tiers, with each one referring to one of these Perks.
Duration is gained at +5% per five Ranks, even at the beginning of such. So, if you were to have Chemistry 32, you would actually +35% Chem Duration. It was originally +1% duration per Rank, but this was giving frustratingly large values to the Player in the PipBoy, and was overall just gross to look at.
Damage is calculated at 2% per Rank, meaning that "vanilla damage rates" would be placed at Rank 50, whereas everything below that would be a penalty compared to what your used to in Fallout 4, and everything above that would be bonus. Hip-fire accuracy is used when your NOT using the iron sights, and determines how wobbly these "raw" shots are; this bonus caps out at +20%.
Passive Perks:
Chemist (Skill Ranks 25 / 50 / 75 / 100)
All of the Perks were renamed to Biochemist, and act as unlocking points for learning chems, which are now properly broken up into four Tiers, with each one referring to one of these Perks.
DEMOLITIONS
[Perception] Allows for the crafting of explosives, and affects their raw damage. This also includes some destructive weapons, such as the Fat Man or the Missile Launcher, and influences their range.
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Specifically handles damage for explosives (grenades and mines), along with Missile Launchers and the Fatman.
Damage is calculated at 2% per Rank, meaning that "vanilla damage rates" would be placed at Rank 50, whereas everything below that would be a penalty compared to what your used to in Fallout 4, and everything above that would be bonus.
Passive Perks:
Demolitions Expert (Skill Ranks 25 / 50 / 75 / 100)
Renamed to Explosives Expert with no extra abilities, only serving to unlock explosive recipes, which are broken into four Tiers, each reflecting one of these Perks.
Damage is calculated at 2% per Rank, meaning that "vanilla damage rates" would be placed at Rank 50, whereas everything below that would be a penalty compared to what your used to in Fallout 4, and everything above that would be bonus.
Passive Perks:
Demolitions Expert (Skill Ranks 25 / 50 / 75 / 100)
Renamed to Explosives Expert with no extra abilities, only serving to unlock explosive recipes, which are broken into four Tiers, each reflecting one of these Perks.
ENGINEERING
[Strength] Your expertise with large clunky machinery, along with the damage that all robotic companions deal. It also allows for the creation of deployed devices.
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Directly affects the strength of current Robotic Companions (Robots, Synths, etc.) that you're traveling with, allowing them to deal +1% damage per Rank.
Passive Perks:
None, and there weren't any plans to give it any. Originally, it was also supposed to handle the battery life of Power Armor and provide free recipes for creating turrets, but some of this was dropped. I still have to rework my Turret Deployment System though, so in the future this may passively do something in response to that. Although, the Turret Perk itself is useful for instructing the Player on how to use it (as compared to secretly learning a gameplay changing recipe), so I'll probably keep that as is. At the very least, I may have it impact the damage of personally crafted and placed Turrets, as they are technically Robots.
Passive Perks:
None, and there weren't any plans to give it any. Originally, it was also supposed to handle the battery life of Power Armor and provide free recipes for creating turrets, but some of this was dropped. I still have to rework my Turret Deployment System though, so in the future this may passively do something in response to that. Although, the Turret Perk itself is useful for instructing the Player on how to use it (as compared to secretly learning a gameplay changing recipe), so I'll probably keep that as is. At the very least, I may have it impact the damage of personally crafted and placed Turrets, as they are technically Robots.
FITNESS
[Endurance] How well trained your overall physique is through exercise, directly affecting your overall maximum amount of health points.
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Automatically provides the Player with a permanently +1 maximum Health per Rank. This stacks with the "Life Giver" Perk, and other similar sources.
Passive Perks:
None. I originally thought this would be good replacement for the "Life Giver" Perkline, but decided to keep that in for Players who wanted to be more tanky. It was also supposed to increase Player movement speed, but I decided that was better addressed through it's Perks, rather than make it individually powerful.
Passive Perks:
None. I originally thought this would be good replacement for the "Life Giver" Perkline, but decided to keep that in for Players who wanted to be more tanky. It was also supposed to increase Player movement speed, but I decided that was better addressed through it's Perks, rather than make it individually powerful.
GAMBLING
[Luck] Your instinct for knowing when to hold them, and when to roll with the dice. Provides bonus caps found from containers, along with Perks that carry a certain amount of risk.
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Affects the "FortuneFinder" global value, which is responsible for rewarding the Player with a chance to earn bonus caps, every time they interact with a container for the first time. Chance is increased by +1% per Rank. However, this Skill mostly exists to act as a secondary requirement for "Risky" Perks, which usually have a strong benefit, at the cost of some permanent penalty to the Player.
Passive Perks:
Fortune Finder 1 to 3 (Skill Ranks 15 / 30 / 45)
They don't actually do anything, as the Skill itself inherited everything the did to the game. Fortune Finder 4 still exists, but was detached from this Perkline, and then renamed to Jackpot, which now uses the interesting script that was written by rcoll (author of "Be Exceptional").
Passive Perks:
Fortune Finder 1 to 3 (Skill Ranks 15 / 30 / 45)
They don't actually do anything, as the Skill itself inherited everything the did to the game. Fortune Finder 4 still exists, but was detached from this Perkline, and then renamed to Jackpot, which now uses the interesting script that was written by rcoll (author of "Be Exceptional").
GUNSMITHERY
[Perception] Slightly influences how far you may shoot with ballistics-based devices, and your ability to tweak all firearms to even deadlier heights at certain key Ranks.
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Increases the V.A.T.S. range of ballistics-based firearms (Assault Rifle, Double-Barrel Shotgun, Western Revolver, etc.) by +0.5% per Rank, capping out at +50%.
Passive Perks:
Gun Nut (Skill Ranks 25 / 50 / 75 / 100)
Just as in vanilla, these act as firearm mod unlocks, allowing you to add fancy stuff to your guns, although these upgrades still occasionally require other Perks for certain guns, which are passively awarded by those respective Skills.
Commando (Skill Ranks 15 / 30 / 45 / 60 / 75)
I tried to keep one Passive Perkline per Skill at most, but I wasn't quite sure what else to do with this one. I renamed to Automatic Arms Assembly, and it's purpose is for the crafting of certain high Tier automatic firearm upgrades.
Passive Perks:
Gun Nut (Skill Ranks 25 / 50 / 75 / 100)
Just as in vanilla, these act as firearm mod unlocks, allowing you to add fancy stuff to your guns, although these upgrades still occasionally require other Perks for certain guns, which are passively awarded by those respective Skills.
Commando (Skill Ranks 15 / 30 / 45 / 60 / 75)
I tried to keep one Passive Perkline per Skill at most, but I wasn't quite sure what else to do with this one. I renamed to Automatic Arms Assembly, and it's purpose is for the crafting of certain high Tier automatic firearm upgrades.
HACKING
[Intelligence] The ability to tamper with digital systems, and the possibility of getting the code right on the first try. Upon reaching certain key Ranks, access to more difficult terminals is possible.
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Determines the raw chance that you may get the password right on your first selection of each attempt. Originally, the base game provided you with 4 Hacking Guesses, but I lowered it to 2, as I often heard people thought this minigame was too easy, and I wanted to provide it with a Perk that alter this amount further, for those who wanted to specialize and actually feel like a Hacker.
Passive Perks:
Hacker 1 to 3 (Skill Ranks 25 / 50 / 75)
Renamed to Programmer, and still does like it did in the base game, acting as a Tier unlock for interacting with Terminals. Hacker 4 still exists, but was renamed to Matrix Mastery, which becomes available as a choice at Hacking Rank 100. I figured people didn't want that automatically given to them at max Rank, so this was a way to provide them with a choice.
Passive Perks:
Hacker 1 to 3 (Skill Ranks 25 / 50 / 75)
Renamed to Programmer, and still does like it did in the base game, acting as a Tier unlock for interacting with Terminals. Hacker 4 still exists, but was renamed to Matrix Mastery, which becomes available as a choice at Hacking Rank 100. I figured people didn't want that automatically given to them at max Rank, so this was a way to provide them with a choice.
HANDGUNS
[Agility] The hand-eye coordination that you have while holding pistols and revolvers, directly affecting their raw damage and hip-fire accuracy.
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Specifically handles hip-fire accuracy and damage for all Pistols (the 10mm, Alien Blaster, Deliverer, etc.) and Revolvers (the .44, Western Revolver, etc.), which includes obvious stuff, like the Pipe Pistol, but not firearms that can altered into other types (such as the "Pipe Gun"). For the sake of simplicity, those types of weapons are classified as "Longarms" instead. It's important to note here, that in the base game, "Revolvers" were also classified as "Pistols", but I have made them distinctly different; in other words, Perks that affect Pistols will NOT affect Revolvers. This is why these two guns have different Perk Trees, allowing you to specialize in one or the other. Obviously, the Handguns Skill increases the damage on both types, though.
Damage is calculated at 2% per Rank, meaning that "vanilla damage rates" would be placed at Rank 50, whereas everything below that would be a penalty compared to what your used to in Fallout 4 (minimum penalty is 30% Damage), and everything above that would be bonus. Hip-fire accuracy is used when your NOT using the iron sights, and determines how wobbly these "raw" shots are; this bonus caps out at +20%.
Passive Perks:
Gunslinger (Skill Ranks 15 / 30 / 45 / 60 / 75)
All stages of this Perk were stripped down of all abilities and bonuses. Instead, it was renamed to Firearms Assembly, and is used for crafting of some weapon mods, which are also unlocked via the Gunsmithery Skill.
Damage is calculated at 2% per Rank, meaning that "vanilla damage rates" would be placed at Rank 50, whereas everything below that would be a penalty compared to what your used to in Fallout 4 (minimum penalty is 30% Damage), and everything above that would be bonus. Hip-fire accuracy is used when your NOT using the iron sights, and determines how wobbly these "raw" shots are; this bonus caps out at +20%.
Passive Perks:
Gunslinger (Skill Ranks 15 / 30 / 45 / 60 / 75)
All stages of this Perk were stripped down of all abilities and bonuses. Instead, it was renamed to Firearms Assembly, and is used for crafting of some weapon mods, which are also unlocked via the Gunsmithery Skill.
INFLUENCE
[Charisma] Your natural talent for governing people, increasing the damage that all human companions deal. Settlement focused talents are passively granted upon reaching certain key Ranks.
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Directly affects the strength of current Humanoid Companions (Ghouls, Humans, Super Mutants, etc.) that you're traveling with, allowing them to deal +1% damage per Rank.
Passive Perks:
Local Leader (Skill Rank 15 / 30)
I know many people have a hatred of this Perkline, since it's required to do anything remotely cool with Settlements. In the mod Be Exceptional, I believe it was given to the Player for free, upon loading things up. However, I feel like having access to this should be a decision of the Player. That said, I tried making it as painless as possible, by dumping both stages of it really low on the Skill.
Passive Perks:
Local Leader (Skill Rank 15 / 30)
I know many people have a hatred of this Perkline, since it's required to do anything remotely cool with Settlements. In the mod Be Exceptional, I believe it was given to the Player for free, upon loading things up. However, I feel like having access to this should be a decision of the Player. That said, I tried making it as painless as possible, by dumping both stages of it really low on the Skill.
LOCKPICKING
[Perception] Slightly increases the sweet spot while you are interacting with untouched locks, and upon reaching certain key Ranks it becomes possible to disable more difficult mechanisms.
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Other than the obvious, Rank alters the size of the "Sweet Spot" by up to a maximum of 30%.
Passive Perks:
Locksmith 1 to 3 (Skill Ranks 25 / 50/ 75)
The name was spot on, so I left it alone. Locksmith 4 still exists, but was separated from the Perkline and renamed Unbreakable Determination. This allows Players the option of choosing whether or not they wanted infinite bobby pins.
Passive Perks:
Locksmith 1 to 3 (Skill Ranks 25 / 50/ 75)
The name was spot on, so I left it alone. Locksmith 4 still exists, but was separated from the Perkline and renamed Unbreakable Determination. This allows Players the option of choosing whether or not they wanted infinite bobby pins.
LONGARMS
[Perception] Your proficiency with long barreled firearms, such as rifles and shotguns. This directly influences their raw damage and hip-fire accuracy.
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Specifically handles hip-fire accuracy and damage for all Rifles (Assault Rifle, Hunting Rifle, Institute Laser Guns, etc) and Shotguns (Combat Shotgun, Double-Barrel Shotgun, etc.). In the case of "Rifles", this also includes "transformative guns", which can be assembled as a Pistol, Rifle or whatever. One thing to note here, is that in the base game, "Shotguns" were also classified as "Rifles", but I have made them distinctly different; in other words, Perks that affect Rifles will NOT affect Shotguns. This is why these two guns have different Perk Trees, allowing you to specialize in one or the other. Obviously, the Longarms Skill increases the damage on both types, though.
Damage is calculated at 2% per Rank, meaning that "vanilla damage rates" would be placed at Rank 50, whereas everything below that would be a penalty compared to what your used to in Fallout 4 (minimum penalty is 30% Damage), and everything above that would be bonus. Hip-fire accuracy is specifically handled when your NOT using the iron sights, and determines how wobbly these "raw" shots are; this bonus caps out at +20%.
Passive Perks:
Rifleman (Skill Ranks 15 / 30 / 45 / 60 / 75)
All stages of this Perk were stripped down of all abilities and bonuses. Instead, it was renamed to Firearms Assembly, and is used for crafting of some weapon mods, which are also unlocked via the Gunsmithery Skill.
Damage is calculated at 2% per Rank, meaning that "vanilla damage rates" would be placed at Rank 50, whereas everything below that would be a penalty compared to what your used to in Fallout 4 (minimum penalty is 30% Damage), and everything above that would be bonus. Hip-fire accuracy is specifically handled when your NOT using the iron sights, and determines how wobbly these "raw" shots are; this bonus caps out at +20%.
Passive Perks:
Rifleman (Skill Ranks 15 / 30 / 45 / 60 / 75)
All stages of this Perk were stripped down of all abilities and bonuses. Instead, it was renamed to Firearms Assembly, and is used for crafting of some weapon mods, which are also unlocked via the Gunsmithery Skill.
MEDICINE
[Intelligence] Your medical training, mostly for the application of Radaway and Stimpaks to wounds. This also allows you to craft various first aid supplies.
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Increases the amounts recovered by Stimpaks and Radaway by +10% per Rank, capping out at 300 Health recovered for Stimpacks, and full Rads recovery for Radaway. Originally, through all other Skill Mods, this was a flat boost of up to +14 Spell Magnitude. However, this increase affected the second by second values, meaning that if those were altered (such as by the "Advantageous Allergy" Perk), these items would recovery for significantly less or more. This was a far easier and more accurate way of controlling these values.
Passive Perks:
Medic (Skill Ranks 25 / 50 / 75 / 100)
Mainly exists to unlock medical recipes, as the Skill itself already handles recovery methods. The Perkline was renamed to Pharmacist.
Passive Perks:
Medic (Skill Ranks 25 / 50 / 75 / 100)
Mainly exists to unlock medical recipes, as the Skill itself already handles recovery methods. The Perkline was renamed to Pharmacist.
OPPORTUNITY
[Luck] A mixture of personal experience and circumstance brought by chaos opens up many possibilities for you. Directly affects your Critical Hit chance from hip-fire, and other forms of probability.
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Provides the Player with a chance per attack of inflicting a Critical Strike, without the aid of the Critical Hit Meter in V.A.T.S. Although you can certainly still successfully trigger these chances in V.A.T.S. by just shooting as normal. The amount provided is actually determined by the weapon your currently using.
"Heavy" weapons (Artillery firearms, Explosives, Shotguns and Two-Handed Melee) cap out at +16% chance (+0.16% per Rank) to Critical Strike, whereas everything is considered "Light" with a final cap of +32% chance (+0.32% per Rank).
Passive Perks:
None. The only way to get Critical Strikes in the base game, was through spending the Critical Meter, or use of a chem.
"Heavy" weapons (Artillery firearms, Explosives, Shotguns and Two-Handed Melee) cap out at +16% chance (+0.16% per Rank) to Critical Strike, whereas everything is considered "Light" with a final cap of +32% chance (+0.32% per Rank).
Passive Perks:
None. The only way to get Critical Strikes in the base game, was through spending the Critical Meter, or use of a chem.
PERSUASION
[Charisma] The ability to sway others over to your side, whether that's through a silver-tongued promise or a heavy handed threat to their livelihood.
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Provides the player with a +1.65% chance to succeed at Speech Checks, capping out at +165%. However, this value is penalized based on the difficulty of the Speech Check your attempting, which comes as three Tiers: Easy (-35% chance), Medium (-50% chance) and Hard (-65% chance). This is further altered against the opposing gender, if the Player has access to Perks like Black Widow or Lady Killer.
Passive Perks:
None. There wasn't any in vanilla Fallout 4, as Charisma handled it at x15% per point, but I detached it from Speech Checks, and made Persuasion instead.
Passive Perks:
None. There wasn't any in vanilla Fallout 4, as Charisma handled it at x15% per point, but I detached it from Speech Checks, and made Persuasion instead.
PICKPOCKET
[Agility] Your particular prowess at pilfering pre-owned products proficiently from precarious pockets.
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Provides the Player with a +1% chance per Rank of successfully stealing from an NPC, although I this value caps out at around a 95% chance, after situational penalties. The original max chance from the base game was 90%, but I felt that if the Player is going to dump several levels into this area, it should give them slightly better odds than that.
Passive Perks:
Pickpocket (Skill Ranks 25 / 50 / 75 / 100)
They exist, but are hidden from the Player, due to them not actually doing everything, as Skill covers this. However, any extra abilities that were provided by these Perks were stripped away and given their own individual Perks under this same Skill, allowing you to pick and choose what kind of cutpurse you want to be.
Passive Perks:
Pickpocket (Skill Ranks 25 / 50 / 75 / 100)
They exist, but are hidden from the Player, due to them not actually doing everything, as Skill covers this. However, any extra abilities that were provided by these Perks were stripped away and given their own individual Perks under this same Skill, allowing you to pick and choose what kind of cutpurse you want to be.
ROBUSTNESS
[Strength] The raw limits of your muscles, increasing your maximum carry weight. It also gives access to abilities which relies on you being overencumbered.
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Gives the Player +1 carry weight per Rank. This value stacks with bonuses provided from Perks like "Junk Jockey", and the raw increased from Strength.
Passive Perks:
None. However, the "Strong Back" Perkline was broken apart and renamed to Junk Jockey for Strength, whereas its special abilities were kept under this Skill.
Passive Perks:
None. However, the "Strong Back" Perkline was broken apart and renamed to Junk Jockey for Strength, whereas its special abilities were kept under this Skill.
SALVAGE
[Agility] Your sixth sense for finding otherwise useless junk, and how efficiently you are able to deconstruct delicate objects without wasting parts.
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Provides the Player with extra scrap material (non-Shipment broken down objects), at 2% per Rank. This means that below Rank 50 you're given less scrap than normal, although the bare minimum you can be penalized is 50% or "half" what you would normally get. Meanwhile, the skill caps out at twice what you would have gotten in vanilla Fallout 4.
Passive Perks:
None. The obvious choice was Scrapper, but due to the weird mechanics and very complicated formula that determines what rare pieces you would get from breaking things down, I decided to keep things much simpler, and focus on expanding what the Perks of Skill does instead.
Passive Perks:
None. The obvious choice was Scrapper, but due to the weird mechanics and very complicated formula that determines what rare pieces you would get from breaking things down, I decided to keep things much simpler, and focus on expanding what the Perks of Skill does instead.
SCIENCE
[Intelligence] Slightly increases the range of energy-based firearms. It also allows for the upgrading of such devices upon reaching certain key Ranks.
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Increases the V.A.T.S. range of energy-based firearms (Alien Blaster, Gamma Gun, Institute Laser Guns, etc.) by +0.5% per Rank, capping out at +50%.
Passive Perks:
Science (Skill Ranks 25 / 50 / 75 / 100)
As with the other weapon upgrade crafting requirements, this was stripped of all it previously did, and was renamed to Technician.
Passive Perks:
Science (Skill Ranks 25 / 50 / 75 / 100)
As with the other weapon upgrade crafting requirements, this was stripped of all it previously did, and was renamed to Technician.
STEALTH
[Agility] Your ability to be discreet or unnoticed, by staying out of sight and moving quietly while crouched. Striking from this hidden state also allows for sneak attacks.
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Provides the Player with a +0.5% chance per Rank to avoid being detected via sound or sight while Sneaking.
Passive Perks:
Sneak 1, 3, 4, and 5 (Skill Ranks 15 / 45 / 60 / 75)
They're hidden by default, only there to fulfill the requirements of niche mods. Sneak 2 had to be left alone, and renamed to Feather-Footed, as it had a number of traps attached to it. The abilities were taken from the original Perks and made their own thing, allowing you to pick and choose how you want to play as you go.
Passive Perks:
Sneak 1, 3, 4, and 5 (Skill Ranks 15 / 45 / 60 / 75)
They're hidden by default, only there to fulfill the requirements of niche mods. Sneak 2 had to be left alone, and renamed to Feather-Footed, as it had a number of traps attached to it. The abilities were taken from the original Perks and made their own thing, allowing you to pick and choose how you want to play as you go.
SURVIVAL
[Endurance] Your ability to survive in harsh environments, such as underwater and in irradiated zones, and how well you are able to satisfy your needs through cooking.
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Increases the recovery and buffs given from food by +0.5% per Rank, with a final total of +50%. I did this, because there are Traits (Carnivore and Herbivore) which enhance specific foods further, although for many foods I raised the base strengths of what they did, to make them competitive with Stimpaks.
As it stands right now, you can effectively ignore using Stimpaks if you fully invest in the Survival Skill with the bonus of SPECIAL buffs or whatever, although it carries it's own drawbacks, in that you would need to constantly keep track of ingredients, and food weighs significantly more than Stimpaks. I feel like this adds a good balance to both methods of healing, which you decide to go for (or even both).
Passive Perks:
None. There wasn't anything like this in the base game.
As it stands right now, you can effectively ignore using Stimpaks if you fully invest in the Survival Skill with the bonus of SPECIAL buffs or whatever, although it carries it's own drawbacks, in that you would need to constantly keep track of ingredients, and food weighs significantly more than Stimpaks. I feel like this adds a good balance to both methods of healing, which you decide to go for (or even both).
Passive Perks:
None. There wasn't anything like this in the base game.
TINKERING
[Endurance] Working an anvil and shaping materials is no easy task, but your work allows for new armor and blacksmithing crafting recipes at certain key Ranks.
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This is probably the only Skill in the game that doesn't do anything on its own. I thought about giving this some sort of defense increase, but the crafting Perks passively granted by the Skill are given so often and lend so much power to the Player, that I didn't feel it was necessary. However, I'm currently aware that this Skill could use more Perks, and in the future may add more crafting recipes for it to learn through them.
Passive Perks:
Armorer (Skill Ranks 25 / 50 / 75 / 100)
Blacksmith (Skill Ranks 30 / 60 / 90)
With the exception of Gunsmithery, this is the only Skill in the game that provides two different passive Perklines, although both are considerably more useful. They Pretty much operate the exact same as vanilla. The only thing I really did, was rename "Armorer" to Armorsmith.
Passive Perks:
Armorer (Skill Ranks 25 / 50 / 75 / 100)
Blacksmith (Skill Ranks 30 / 60 / 90)
With the exception of Gunsmithery, this is the only Skill in the game that provides two different passive Perklines, although both are considerably more useful. They Pretty much operate the exact same as vanilla. The only thing I really did, was rename "Armorer" to Armorsmith.
UNARMED
[Endurance] The lethality of your bare hands, and when using devices like the Power Fist. It also determines how much damage your arms may negate when blocking against opposed melee attacks.
Spoiler:
Show
Specifically handles damage for all Fists (bare hands, Brass Knuckles, Power Fist, etc.) and Claws (Deathclaw Gauntlet, Meat Hook, etc.), along with how well you block incoming damage with them. Both of these weapon types has their own Perk Tree that only affects them, but they still fall under the "Unarmed" Skill, and gain a raw damage boost from them.
Damage is calculated at 2% per Rank, meaning that "vanilla damage rates" would be placed at Rank 50, whereas everything below that would be a penalty compared to what your used to in Fallout 4 (minimum penalty is 30% Damage), and everything above that would be bonus. Block Rate is -1% incoming melee damage per Rank, capping out at a total damage absorption of 100%.
Passive Perks:
Iron Fist (Skill Ranks 15 / 30 / 45 / 60 / 75)
Blitz (Skill Ranks 15 / 30)
All stages of this Perk were stripped down of all abilities and bonuses. Instead, it was renamed to Archaic Assembly, and is used for crafting of some weapon mods, which are also unlocked via the Tinkering Skill.
Damage is calculated at 2% per Rank, meaning that "vanilla damage rates" would be placed at Rank 50, whereas everything below that would be a penalty compared to what your used to in Fallout 4 (minimum penalty is 30% Damage), and everything above that would be bonus. Block Rate is -1% incoming melee damage per Rank, capping out at a total damage absorption of 100%.
Passive Perks:
Iron Fist (Skill Ranks 15 / 30 / 45 / 60 / 75)
Blitz (Skill Ranks 15 / 30)
All stages of this Perk were stripped down of all abilities and bonuses. Instead, it was renamed to Archaic Assembly, and is used for crafting of some weapon mods, which are also unlocked via the Tinkering Skill.
WEAPONRY
[Strength] The impact of your hits with melee weapons, and any bash attacks from held guns. It also influences how well you may parry incoming damage from opposed melee attacks with these tools.
Spoiler:
Show
Specifically handles damage for all One-Handed (Baton, Knife, Revolutionary Sword, etc.) and Two-Handed (Baseball Bat, Grognak's Axe, Super Sledge, etc.) weapons, along with how well you block incoming damage with them. In addition, Weaponry also handles the Gun Bash damage for all firearms. I've further broken this category into three small classes: Blunt (Baton, Super Sledge, etc.), Piercing (Disciple's Blade, Knife, etc.), and Slashing (Grognak's Axe, Revolutionary Sword, etc.). Each of these weapon types has their own Perk Tree that only affects them, but all fall under the "Weaponry" Skill, and gain a raw damage boost from them.
Damage is calculated at 2% per Rank, meaning that "vanilla damage rates" would be placed at Rank 50, whereas everything below that would be a penalty compared to what your used to in Fallout 4 (minimum penalty is 30% Damage), and everything above that would be bonus. Block Rate is -1% incoming melee damage per Rank, capping out at a total damage absorption of 100%.
Passive Perks:
Big Leagues (Skill Ranks 15 / 30 / 45 / 60 / 75)
Basher (Skill Ranks 15 / 30 / 45 / 60)
All stages of this Perk were stripped down of all abilities and bonuses. Instead, it was renamed to Archaic Assembly, and is used for crafting of some weapon mods, which are also unlocked via the Tinkering Skill.
Damage is calculated at 2% per Rank, meaning that "vanilla damage rates" would be placed at Rank 50, whereas everything below that would be a penalty compared to what your used to in Fallout 4 (minimum penalty is 30% Damage), and everything above that would be bonus. Block Rate is -1% incoming melee damage per Rank, capping out at a total damage absorption of 100%.
Passive Perks:
Big Leagues (Skill Ranks 15 / 30 / 45 / 60 / 75)
Basher (Skill Ranks 15 / 30 / 45 / 60)
All stages of this Perk were stripped down of all abilities and bonuses. Instead, it was renamed to Archaic Assembly, and is used for crafting of some weapon mods, which are also unlocked via the Tinkering Skill.
ZOOLOGY
[Charisma] The study of the creatures who inhabit the wasteland, and their mutated weaknesses. It also affects the damage of your animal companions, and allows you to expand their ferocity.
Spoiler:
Show
Directly affects the strength of current Bestial Companions (Animals, Mutated Creatures, etc.) that you're traveling with, allowing them to deal +1% damage per Rank. For right now, this almost exclusively affects Dogmeat. However, I know there are many Companion Mods out there that adds stuff like the Geckos from Fallout: New Vegas and the like, so this was more of a "planning for the future" kind of thing, in the event I ever had to write a patch for those things. Also, at some point, I'd like to create my own Companion that uses this Skill, most likely a smaller Deathclaw that forms an attachment to you. Maybe with questline attached to it, like you found it caged and being sold by a ruthless hunter or something? *Feverishly scribbles down notes to self*
Passive Perks:
None. There wasn't anything like this is vanilla Fallout 4.
Passive Perks:
None. There wasn't anything like this is vanilla Fallout 4.
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