Skill Information: Skills 2

Learn how skills work in Fallout: New Vegas, from base stats and tagging to leveling, skill books, magazines, and how to maximize your points for the ultimate character build.

Alright, let's talk about skills in Fallout: New Vegas. Think of these as your character's special abilities – how good you are at picking locks, hacking computers, blasting baddies with different weapons, sneaking around, or charming your way through conversations. Your skills are just as crucial as your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats and perks, so pay attention!

When you first start, you get two points in every skill. Then, for every point you put into a S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attribute, you get two more points in related skills. Luck is a bit different; it only gives you half a point per point of Luck, rounded up.

Early on, you'll get to pick three skills to 'tag'. Unlike older Fallout games, this doesn't double your skill point gains, but it does give those three skills a nice 15-point head start.

As you level up, you'll earn 10 skill points per level, plus half your Intelligence score. So, if you're planning on maxing out your skills, getting an Intelligence Implant from the New Vegas Medical Center early on is a smart move to get more points in the long run.

Beyond leveling and your Intelligence score, you can also boost your skills with Skill Books found throughout the wasteland. Instead of just one point like in Fallout 3, each book now gives you three points, or four if you've got the Comprehension perk. You won't find as many of them, but even a few can make a big difference.

Then there are Magazines. These give you a temporary boost, usually +10 to a skill, or +20 with the Comprehension perk. While a temporary boost to Guns before a tough fight is obviously handy, magazines are especially useful for 'checked' skills. Skills like Speech, Barter, Lockpick, and Science are often only needed for specific checks during conversations or to bypass obstacles. With Comprehension, you could keep your Speech skill at 80 and just pop a magazine when you hit a Speech check in a conversation, saving you permanent skill points for other areas.

There are 13 skills in total, each maxing out at 100, giving you a grand total of 1300 possible skill points to distribute. With the game now offering 20 extra levels, maxing everything out is pretty achievable, making perks like Comprehension and the Intelligence attribute a bit less critical for hardcore players. However, the Educated perk still nets you a solid 92 extra points over the game, and with more books available, Comprehension remains very valuable.

Here's a look at how your skill points break down at level one, assuming you've got the suggested SPECIAL attributes and the implants:

Now, let's factor in the points you get from leveling and your Tag! skills. By level 50, with a decent Intelligence score, you'll have a total of 1032 skill points to distribute. That's enough to get an average of around 79 in each skill, which is pretty solid. But if you're aiming for perfection, remember those skill books – each one gives you 3 points (or 4 with Comprehension), and there are usually about six books per skill scattered throughout the game, plus more from DLCs and special crates. So, keep an eye out for them!