Fallout 4 Companion Perks Guide: The Complete List

Companions are an integral part of the Fallout 4 experience. If you ask one of these companions to join your party, they offer valuable information and combat assistance and automatically give you buffs that are unique to their character. But when they leave your side, so do these perks. So, with this Fallout 4 companion perks guide, we’ll show you all the buffs granted by characters in the game.

All Fallout 4 Companion Perks

There are a total of 17 companions in this game. 13 of these are available in the base game, while the remaining 4 are only available through the game’s various DLCs.Almost all of these characters have their unique perks except Ada and the Automatron. These are the two robotic teammates that were introduced in the Automatron add-on.

Here’s the complete list of Fallout 4 Perks, along with everything you need to know about them:

Trigger Rush

The official description of this perk implies that the player’s Action Points regenerate +25% faster if their HP is below 25% of the maximum value. This is incorrect.

In reality, when a player’s Action Points themselves are below 25, they regenerate 50% faster than normal. This perk is fantastic for those players who constantly use the V.A.T.S. system and lack the power to keep going.

Players must first gain 750 affinities with Cait to gain access to Trigger Rush. Once this is done, the character will talk to the player and tell them about her history with chem addiction. This will then begin the quest ‘Benign Intervention,’ where you have to travel to Vault 95 to seek treatment for Cait. Once completed, affinity with this companion will reach 1000 points, and the perk will be unlocked.

Robot Sympathy

Codsworth’s Robot Sympathy perk provides +10 resistance against energy attacks from robot enemies. You can obtain it by reaching maximum affinity with Codsworth, which requires gaining 1000 points by performing actions he likes.

This perk benefits against various robotic foes, including Synths and Turrets. It’s particularly useful in missions with many robotic enemies, especially in the Automatron add-on content.

A quick way to build affinity with Codsworth is by modifying weapons or armor at a workshop, which grants you 35 affinity points each time. No quest is required to unlock this perk.

Attack Dog

Your trusty pet bestows you with the beginner-oriented Attack Dog perk. With this active, Dogmeat will occasionally bite and incapacitate individual enemies, allowing the player to get some good shots. If you decide to use the V.A.T.S. system when this happens, you gain far greater accuracy than usual.

Unlike most other perks on this list, Attack Dog does not have to be unlocked via affinity. You gain access to this as you level up and purchase it in your perk tree.

There are four levels to this:

• Level 1: Dogmeat bites and holds an enemy, giving you greater accuracy with V.A.T.S.
• Level 2: When biting an enemy, there is a chance that the enemy’s limb will be crippled.
• Level 3: Biting may also cause the enemy to start bleeding.
• Level 4: With Dogmeat in your party, you gain a 10% damage reduction.

Level 4 was introduced with the Nuka-World add-on.

Combat Medic

With Combat Medic active, the player can heal themselves for 100 HP if their current health is below 10% of the total amount. This can only be used once per day.

This is not a particularly useful perk to bring with you into combat. The health recovery is good, but you can easily replace it with other health recovery items like Stimpaks. To get this perk, players must first gain 250 affinity points with the companion Curie to unlock the quest ‘Emergent Behavior.’ To progress, you must have met the NPC Amari in Goodneighbor and completed the main story quest ‘Dangerous Minds.

See both of these quests to completion, after which Curie will be transferred into a Synth body. Finally, reach maximum affinity with the companion to unlock Combat Medic.

Know Your Enemy

The Know Your Enemy perk allows players to inflict a bonus of +20% damage against Ghouls, Super Mutants, and Synths. This is perfect for anyone who intends to side with the Brotherhood of Steel faction in the main questline.

If you decide to take this route, you will encounter many Synths and other non-human enemies. Keep this active at all times to get an advantage whenever possible. Know Your Enemy is unlocked after the player reaches a maximum affinity with Paladin Danse. Regardless of the player’s actions, this value will not exceed 999 until the ‘Blind Betrayal’ companion quest is completed.

Should you decide to side with either the Minutemen, Railroad, or Institute factions before completing this quest, the perk will be locked away permanently. So attempt this before you reach a critical point in the main questline.

Isodoped

With Isodoped active, the V.A.T.S. critical hit meter fills up 20% faster, but only if you have a 250 Radiation value. Essentially, this locks off a quarter of your health bar in exchange for gaining access to critical hits more often.

Maximum affinity has to be reached with the companion named Hancock in order to unlock this perk. And once again, there is no quest that has to be completed. You must do things this companion likes, such as being violent or using chems often.

Killshot

Killshot gives you a 20% increased chance to land headshots using the V.A.T.S. system. It’s a fairly simple Fallout 4 companion perk that lets you deal massive damage from much further away than would otherwise be possible.

To unlock it, players must first be anywhere between 250 to 500 affinity with Robert MacCready. While in this range, the companion will talk to you and initiate the quest ‘Long Road Ahead.’ He wants you to assassinate two NPCs named Barnes and Winlock.

Once this is done and you reach 750 affinity, the second part of the quest will begin. MacCready’s son is sick and wants you to visit the Med-Tek Research facility and find a cure. Until this quest step is complete, the affinity value will not exceed 999.

Close to Metal

This perk is perfect for hacking since it allows players to break into computer terminals. You’re only allowed three attempts by default, but this gives you four instead.

Additionally, when you use up your turns and get locked out of a terminal, the amount of time you have to wait before attempting hacking again is reduced by 50%.

To get this perk, players must reach 750 affinity with Nick and complete the main quest ‘Dangerous Minds’ to begin the ‘Long Time Coming’ companion quest. Once complete, players can reach maximum affinity with Nick Valentine and unlock the Close to Metal perk.

Gift of Gab

Gift of Gab gives players a +100% experience bonus for each successful charisma check they make. This bonus is also applied to the experience of discovering new locations worldwide. Maximum affinity has to be reached with Piper Wright before this perk can be unlocked. You do not have to complete any quest; you must do things the companion approves.

Shield Harmonic

Shield Harmonic increases the player’s energy resistance by +20, and that’s about it. In my opinion, this is perhaps the weakest perk on this list, and I don’t see any point in trying to get it.

But if you feel differently, it can be unlocked by reaching maximum affinity with X6-88. He’s a Synth loyal to the Institute, so he enjoys actions related to tech and his faction.

United We Stand

With United We Stand active, the player’s damage resistance is increased by 20 points. They also deal an additional +20% damage when outnumbered by a ratio of at least 3 to 1. This is one of the most useful bonuses in the game, especially for players who like to run into the thick of combat.

No quest is involved, but players must reach maximum affinity with Preston Garvey to unlock this Fallout 4 companion perk.

Berserk

For players who like to play melee builds, the Berserk perk is the perfect buff to have. With this, players deal +20% melee damage if their HP exceeds 25% of the total amount. So, as you get closer to death, this allows you to finish the fight even more quickly.

To unlock this perk, you must reach maximum affinity with the Super Mutant Strong. This is another companion with no required quest, but you must still perform strong likes.

He approves killing enemies, eating corpses with the Cannibal perk, making aggressive dialogue choices, etc. Surprisingly, for a murderer, he dislikes lock picking, stealing, and pickpocketing.

Cloak & Dagger

Cloak & Dagger gives players a +20% bonus to sneak attacks and increase the duration of Stealth Boys by +40%. This perk is made specifically for those who prefer to play as a sneaky assassin.

To unlock this, all players must do is reach maximum affinity with Deacon. This process has no quest; you simply have to behave like this character likes. Be sneaky, stay loyal to the Railroad faction, and make decisions that benefit Synths.

Hunter’s Wisdom

This Fallout 4 companion perk lets you inflict more damage on land animals and sea creatures by reducing their damage and energy resistance by 25%. This is unique on this list because this debuff affects your enemies instead of a buff that affects you.

You have to get maximum affinity with Old Longfellow for this perk, which is introduced with the Far Harbor add-on. He enjoys drinking alcohol, accepting quests to help settlements, and asking for more reward money during quests, among other things.

Stealing, committing cannibalism, using chems, murdering non-hostile NPCs, and generally doing bad things is a good way to lose affinity with this character. So avoid being excessively evil with him at the party.

Lessons in Blood

With Lessons in Blood active, not only does the player gain +5% experience per kill, but they also get a +10 increase to their damage resistance.

To get this perk, players must reach maximum affinity with Porter Gage, a part of the Nuka-World add-on. This character is a raider, so he picks locks, steals, pickpockets, and other violent actions.

Joining the Minutemen, using friendly dialogue options, using chems, or drinking alcohol are some actions he disliked.

This has been eXputer’s Fallout 4 companion perks guide. At the same time, while you’re here, why not also check out our article on Aluminum Farming in the game?