Level 22

Learn about fallout new vegas perks like Irradiated Beauty, Laser Commander, and Nuka Chemist, all available at Level 22.

Irradiated Beauty

This perk causes you to remove all your Rads when you sleep, in addition to regaining all of your Health. In Hardcore Mode, you still don’t regain health, but you lose 100 Rads. While potentially useful, the existence of RadAway, Doctors, and the Auto-Doc in the Sink diminishes its necessity, except perhaps in the Dead Money expansion where its radiation is manageable.

Laser Commander

The Laser Commander perk grants you 15% more damage and a +10% chance to critically hit with any laser weapon, from the Laser Pistol to the Gatling Laser. While lasers are generally weaker than plasma weapons, this perk helps close the gap. It's particularly beneficial for Gatling Lasers due to their high rate of fire, increasing the chances of critical hits. However, the damage increase is modest, so consider picking it for the critical hit chance rather than the damage boost.

Nuka Chemist

Nuka Chemist unlocks special Nuka-Cola recipes at the Workbench, including Nuka-Cola Quartz, Nuka-Cola Victory, and Ice-Cold Nuka-Cola. These are primarily novelties. The main utility is using Nuka-Cola Quartz to craft Nuka-Grenades, which also requires the Mad Bomber perk, making it a two-perk investment for one powerful weapon.

Spray and Pray

This perk reduces the damage your attacks do to companions, allowing for more reckless firing. It is generally considered unnecessary, as companions can usually be kept alive by avoiding explosive weapons, and their occasional damage is less critical outside of Hardcore Mode.

Voracious Reader

Voracious Reader allows damaged books you find to become Blank Magazines. These Blank Magazines can then be used at a Workbench with Wonderglue to create new skill magazines from your existing ones. This perk is largely redundant, as players aiming to max skills will eventually have enough magazines, and by the time this perk is available, most important skills are likely already at decent levels.

Slayer

Slayer increases the speed of all Melee Weapons and Unarmed attacks by 30%. This is a must-have perk for any character utilizing melee weapons or unarmed combat, significantly boosting damage output.

Lessons Learned

This perk grants +1% to earned experience per level gained, meaning a +25% experience bonus at level 25. However, its effectiveness diminishes as you progress, and it competes with more valuable perks later in the game.

Nerves of Steel

Nerves of Steel allows Action Points to regenerate more quickly. This is generally considered a better choice than Action Boy for V.A.T.S. users, as faster regeneration is often more beneficial than a larger Action Point pool.

Tunnel Runner

Tunnel Runner greatly increases your movement speed while sneaking in light armor. This perk is particularly useful if you are using the Stealth Armor MK II from the “Old World Blues” DLC (downloadable content — extra missions or items released after launch).