Highlights
- Some perks in Fallout 76 are not worth investing in due to limited usefulness and better alternatives available.
- Players should prioritize perks that enhance damage output or offer more practical benefits over niche perks.
- While unique, quirky perks like Quack Surgeon and Wrecking Ball may have niche uses, they are generally not recommended for most builds.
In the world of Fallout 76, there are hundreds of perks that players can choose from. Most of the decisions for those precious slots will depend on each player's individual playstyle and preference for different popular weapon categories (such as automatics). That said, there are a few perks that most players will typically avoid. This is primarily due to their niche or rather underwhelming effects compared to other options.
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All the perks featured on this list do have their uses in certain situations, but players will almost never need to use them in their main loadout. Since the game was released back in 2018, players have had a lot of time to experiment with countless types of build, but which perks could be deemed the worst? These picks often aren't worth spending skill points on.
10 Awareness
Effect: View A Target's Specific Damage Resistances in V.A.T.S.
While this perk certainly does have its place in Fallout 76, it is a fairly redundant bonus, as most veteran players have a good idea of the various resistances that their enemies have. For those who don't, a quick Google search will bring up all the necessary information about the best weaknesses to exploit in every scenario.
Also, this perk takes up two SPECIAL points, which is more expensive than most of the other perks in the game. Those two points can be better utilized by other perks, such as weapon damage perks for pistols and automatic rifles. In a regular playthrough, there often simply won't be room in a build for Awareness. It can be swapped in and out as required, but that's very time-consuming.
9 Portable Power
Effect: Reduces Weight Of Power Armor Pieces And Chassis By Up To 75%
This perk does have its uses, which is why it doesn't rank very highly on this list. It is a perk that is mostly used on accounts players have created simply to hold their extra weapons, armor, and other weighty items.
It should be noted that this perk can come in especially handy during the event Eviction Notice, due to the high number of legendary Power Armor pieces (there are Perk Cards associated with those too) that can be looted from Super Mutant bodies. Aside from that, though, most veteran players will have good stash management and won't really need to use Portable Power. It's another one of those convenience perks that you can equip at the cost of missing out on something more overall effective, like damage boosts.
8 Storm Chaser
Effect: Gain Health Regeneration While Outside During Rain Or Rad Storms
Storm Chaser is a Luck perk. It can't be unlocked until the player reaches level 35, by which time there will be a range of powerful options vying for the player's attention. It offers some nice sustainability and could be value for specific tricky sections of the game, but there are some major limitations holding it back from becoming a more popular pick.
The biggest problem with Storm Chaser is that it only works in certain weather conditions. In addition to this, there are many other perks, chems, meds, and armor effects that are much better at restoring health. While this perk may be useful in blast zones, the likelihood of a high level player needing it is very low.
7 AquaBoy/Girl
Effect: No Longer Take Rad Damage From Swimming And You Can Breathe Underwater
This Endurance perk may seem useful to newer players learning the ropes, but it very rarely comes in handy. Unless new underwater locations are released into the game, this perk will largely remain very niche indeed, as there aren't many locations in Fallout 76 that players will have to swim through.
For those rare occasions when players do need to swim underwater, diving suits, magazines, and chems are available that afford players the same bonuses that AquaBoy/Girl bestows. The perk saves some item use, which can be convenient in a world where resources are very thin on the ground, but it'll rarely spend much time at all equipped to a character.
6 Cap Collector
Effect: Gain The Chance To Find Up To 100% More Caps When Opening A Caps Stash
Caps Stashes are dotted all around Appalachia. While they can be a somewhat viable way for players to make Caps, there are many more efficient ways of doing so. The average Caps Stash holds between 70 and 80 Caps.
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Considering that most quests and Daily Quests pay equal to or more than the average Cap stash value, this perk isn't really useful. Also, when completing Daily Quests and any other type of mission, the player will be awarded with Caps, XP, and items to keep or sell, which really makes this perk redundant unless the player is truly desperate for more Caps.
5 Fortune Finder
Effect: Ability To Hear Directional Audio When In Range Of A Caps Stash
Fortune Finder is even more limited than Cap Collector. This is because it is much easier to follow online tutorials and guides to find the locations of Caps Stashes than it is to spin around trying to triangulate the direction the sound is coming from.
The Caps Stash locations are fixed points. They will never change. Because of this, after locating a certain Cap Stash once or twice, a player will begin memorizing where they are located. However, as mentioned in the previous entry, collecting Caps Stashes isn't a very efficient way of generating Caps.
4 Natural Resistance
Effect: Less Likely To Catch A Disease From The Environment
At first glance, this perk may sound like a good choice for new players. Unfortunately, it isn't. There are countless apparel options that will remove the chance of catching a disease from the environment without having to waste points on this perk. At best, it's an option to equip before you acquire such gear, but that's far from an optimal approach. In addition, though diseases can be debilitating, there are several other options for removing them.
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Should a player catch a disease, most player Camps have a Sympto-Matic that can be used to remove any of those ailments. Failing that, drinking from the fountain at the gazebo outside the Whitespring Golf Club will also remove any diseases.
3 Quack Surgeon
Effect: Revive Other Players With Liquor
This comedic perk can be found within the Charisma branch of SPECIAL stats. While it is a truly unique sight to see a player being revived with the help of a bottle of rum (players can assist their allies in lots of surprising ways with Perks), this isn't really a very practical perk to have equipped for sustained periods.
For the most part, players will have kept plenty of Stimpaks in stock to help revive fallen players, making this perk pretty much obsolete. That said, the few players that run a Junkie's build may get some use out of this slightly bizarre perk. The trouble there, of course, is that this is a very specific build, and so very few will get to utilize the scant potential that Quack Surgeon offers.
2 Wrecking Ball
Effect: Deal More Damage To Workshop Objects
This Intelligence perk gives players up to a 120% damage bonus against workshop objects. It's a very significant increase to damage output, but with the rarity of combat against such objects, this will almost never be needed. During the launch of Fallout 76, PVP was expected to be quite a big part of the game. Fast-forward several years, and PVP is rarely seen.
The Fallout community is typically a kind and helpful place. There are very few toxic players, so there is little need to cause extra damage to player bases. To reach the max rank for this perk, players will need to put three points into Intelligence. There are lots of fantastic perk cards under Intelligence, and it's not worth wasting precious points on Wrecking Ball.
1 Homebody
Effect: Health Regeneration While In Your Camp Or Workshop
This perk could be considered the worst in all of Fallout 76. There is little real benefit to using it, because there are other simple ways to achieve the very same thing. This perk costs three Endurance points at its max level, but it doesn't warrant them in almost all cases.
Topping up health while a player is at their camp is a crucial mechanic, with the base offering a safe place to do just that. Homebody's regeneration effect, however, is mostly pointless because this home base is where every player keeps their bed. Sleeping in a bed regenerates health, and doing so for around 30 seconds also grants players an XP bonus.Most players just use certain consumables or they sleep to regain their health, as it can be more beneficial and is really just as convenient.
