Combat perks | Character development Wasteland 2 Guide
Last update: 11 May 2016
Heavy weapons
Provides little diversity, but all the perks here are useful. Especially the last one and therefore it is a good idea to buy them all.
Rattering Fire, level 5 - Heavy weaponry is devoid of the effects of precision attacks, therefore even 1% of the chance of their occurrence is better than none. Especially that this is the first item in this category, so you will buy it anyways to gain access to the rest of them.
Overwhelming Fire, level 7 - It is a much better version of the previous one. The chances are, merely, 2% higher, but it concerns single shots, instead of entire attacks. It is very useful for characters that use heavy weapons of high number of projectiles in a burst. Even in the case of short bursts, however, it is a good idea to get this perk.
Devastating Fire, level 9 - Same as above, just the bonus here goes up to 5%. It is even more useful than the previous perk and additionally, it provides you with access to one more useful perk, which is why you should buy it.
Bullet-Ridden, level 10 - It decreases the value of the armor of the attacked opponent so, in practice, it increases penetration of the weapon. If you want to develop your perks at heavy weapons up to level 10, it is a must have. The perk will soon prove its value, especially against robots. Apart from that, it does not require you to buy the previous ones, so if you decide that they are useless, you should have, at least, one spare character point to buy this one.
Brawling
This choice forces you to take a decision. It is possible to buy only the first one and ignore the rest, due to their context dependency. You can get four out of five and ignore the last one. Also, you can buy all of them. The decision should be based on how often the character using this perk has the option of attacking the opponents, who pass by. If such situations happen often, buy four, or five of these perks. If they are fewer, buy the first one and ignore the rest.
Free For All, level 4 - 10% chances of causing the effects of a precision strike is quite much, considering the fact that this concerns each and every attack. This is the first perk on the list, so you are going to buy it anyway but still, it is useful.
Glacing Strike, level 5 - It allows an additional attack against the opponents that are passing by the character. This one is a context- dependent perk. It can work if only you fight in narrow passages and the opponents want to get to your gunners. Still there are many situations in which it is impossible to use it. Additionally, you deal only a half of the regular damage, this way. You will have to buy it to gain access to the rest of the perks on the list, but its usefulness is limited. Buy it only if you know how to use this potential fully.
Opportune Strike, level 7 - It increases damage dealt by the previous perk. context-reliant, but allows you to buy the next one.
Rush 'N Attack, level 8 - a free attack at the beginning of the battle may prove both useful and completely useless. All depends on the positioning of your characters, their speed, the order in which they take turns and so on. In other words, this perk is useful, as long as you know how to use it.
Strategic Strike, level 9 - it is much like the Opportune Strike, just the bonus goes up to 100%. Buy it if only you often attack the opponents that pass you by. Otherwise, you can ignore it.
Energy weapons
In the case of energy weapons, you can only buy either Solar Powered and ignore the ones that follow it, or - which is an even better decision - allocate points into all four perks. Of course, energy weapons will keep dealing various damage to targets in various armors, but thanks to these perks, the difference will be smaller and smaller. This will make energy weapons more versatile.
Overcharge, level 3 - +10% damage against non-conducting armors. This allows you to make up for one of the weapons shortcomings, depending on the armor that the target is wearing. Additionally, it gives you access to the rest of the perks, so if you want to buy the next ones, you will buy this one also.
Solar Powered, level 3 - this one is not required for the next ones to be available and gives you a 15% chance of firing without losing ammo. If you have excess of that, ignore it. If not, do not hesitate to buy it.
Overload, level 5 - it increases the bonus against non-conducting armors by 10%. If you already bought Overcharge, you will definitely buy this one also.
Atomize, level 7 - it increases the bonus against non-conducting armors, by another 10%, up to 30%/ If you bought Overcharge, you will also buy this one.
Blunt weapons
The majority of items in this category are independent ones and can be bought without the necessity of buying the rest of them. The only exception is Glacing Strike and its successive upgrades. By investing into this perk, you therefore have a wide range of choices, out of which are worth spending points. Additionally, two of them will also be useful for the characters, for whom blunt weapons is not the primary combat perk. Therefore, match your choice with the character and with their role in the battlefield.
Charge!, level 4 - +0.5 to combat speed in combat is quite a bonus. For comparison, 1 point of Speed increases combat speed by 0. It is useful only when apart from blunt weapons, a character uses some other weapon, such as assault rifles. The restriction to the first turn only ids less useful, therefore you do not need to buy this perk, if this is a problem for you. Especially that it is not required for the rest to be unlocked.
Glacing Strike, level 5 - See: the identically named perk in Brawling. It does not require you to buy Charge!, and therefore upgrading this one is treated as a separate thread.
Shoulder the Load, level 6 - this one is another independent perk that decreases the penalty to combat speed that you receive for heavy armors. It is very useful, especially later into the game, when a character that is carrying heavy equipment and wearing heavy armors can be weighed down and therefore, less useful in combat. It is more useful for characters that fight at close quarters, not as much when a blunt weapon is a secondary, or tertiary one. It is a good idea to buy it when the situation encourages you to.
Opportune Strike, level 7 - See: the identically named perk in Brawling.
Slayer, level 8 - 10% of chances that an attack does not use up AP. It is worth buying in any situation, if the blunt weapon is the basic combat perk of the character. Especially that this one is independent and does not require you o buy the rest of them.
Strategic Strike, level 9 - See: the identically named perk in Brawling.
Bladed weapons
This one is yet another perk with lots of independent items. Again, you can invest in Glacing Strike and upgrades for that, as well as three other items. Two of them will be useful to any character that fights using bladed weapons and the third one only to some of them. Therefore, it is a good idea to invest here, at least two perk points.
Self Defense, level 3 - a bonus to the armor, while fighting with a bladed weapon is highly useful, as long as this perk is the basic combat one, in the case of that character. Otherwise, you can skip it.
Glacing Strike, level 5 - See: the identically named perk in Brawling. It does not require Self Defense, and therefore this one, and its upgrades, should be treated as separate threads.
Samurai, level 6 - A+1 bonus to armor piercing is much. For a character that specializes in bladed weapons, it is a good idea to buy this perk immediately after it becomes available. It does not require you to buy the previous ones, therefore you can ignore Self Defense, if necessary, as well as Glacing Strike and keep a point for later purchase of the Samurai.
Opportune Strike, level 7 - See: the identically named perk in Brawling.
Adrenaline Rush, level 8 - This one is a troublesome perk. The bonus to AP, with low CON level sounds nice, but only in the case of a character that is not designed to be a tank. Tanks should have thick armors and lots of CON and, as a result, it is going to be difficult for him to drop below 25% of HP. If this happens to yours often, buy this Otherwise ignore it.
Strategic Strike, level 9 - See: the identically named perk in Brawling.
Assault rifles
All three perks are independent ones, so you can either buy them or ignore them. It is worth buying one of them, regardless of the situation and the other two are worth considering.
Hollow Point, level 4 - +1 bonus to armor piercing with assault rifles. This comes in handy everywhere so buy it blindly.
Melee Shooting, level 6 - It decreases penalty for shooting at a short distance. Note how often this happens to your gunners. Buy this if necessary. If not, ignore it.
Gunner, level 8 - It decreases penalty to hit chance, when you are shooting in bursts. A moderately useful perk. First of all, its effectiveness depends on how often you shoot in bursts; it may turn out that you do not do it at all. Secondly, it decreases penalty by 5% only. If you do not need it, do not buy it.
Sniper rifles
Five perks, two out of which are independent and three that form a thread. All of them are context-reliant. Your purchasing them should be determined by your tactical perks and your fighting methods. You can buy all five, if only you find them useful in any way. Also, you can ignore all of them, if you know you can do without them.
Watchman, level 3 - no penalty on hit in the reaction mode. It is a good idea to buy it, if only you use that option. Otherwise, ignore it.
Focused Shooter, level 5 - It decreases penalty for shooting under pressure, i.e. in a situation, in which there is an opponent standing next to your character. In theory, this is a useful perk, but in practice, a sniper should never stand close to the opponent. If this happens, however, all you need to do is walk away, by one field. For this reason, your choosing this perk, and the next ones, should depend on the situation, if you cannot keep snipers away from enemies, or they have too few AP for the away move to make sense, buy it. Otherwise, ignore it.
Confident Shooter, level 7 - The upgraded version of the Focused Shooter requires that you buy that one first. This one decrease the penalty by another 15% and it is required for the next perk. If you have already bought the previous one, buy this one also. Otherwise, ignore it.
Zen Shooter, level 9 - The upgraded version of the Confident Shooter which decreases the penalty by another 15%, up to 45%. If you have already bought previous perks, buy this one also. If not, ignore it.
Deadeye, level 10 - It decreases AP cost of shooting, it the character has been standing still in that turn. In theory, this perk is very useful, in practice all depends on the situation, because there are fights, in which the sniper cannot stand still. However, in majority of cases, you can position him at the back and leave there, in which case this perk is worth investing into. Still, you need to watch out while moving, because the system that tells you, how far you can move and still take the shot does not take the bonus into account. Therefore, it may happen that the character will be unable to attack, after moving, because they are 1 AP short, i.e. the deadeye bonus is not there. Still, this is not too much of a problem, because you quickly learn to pay attention to that.
Pistols
Three perks that form a thread and an independent one. It is a good idea to invest points into threads, whereas not as much in the independent perk. Three out of four perks here also affect submachine guns, but there is little chance that you will be using this.
Zeroed, level 4 - This perk provides you with a bonus of +2% to critical hit against the same target. The bonus stacks up to the moment, at which the character picks a different target. This perk is useful especially against targets with high CON level. Smaller opponents will be killed quickly, which spoils the bonus. You can buy this one, but you will rarely be able to take advantage of the bonus. Apart from that, this is an independent perk and it can be ignored.
Bandit, level 5 - You have a 2% chance of shooting for free, if you fire a pistol or a submachine gun. It is highly useful for pistol-users, but not too much in the case of submachine guns, because there is little chance that a character will be using both of these weapons. In spite of that, it is a good idea to buy this perk, as soon as it becomes available.
Gunslinger, level 7 - An upgraded version of the Bandit, which raises the bonus to 4%. Buy as soon as it becomes available.
Desperado (Desperado, level 9) - An upgraded version of the Gunslinger, which raises the bonus to 6%. Also buy as soon as it appears. The combined bonus may seem low, but firing a gun does not cost much, so you need to take several attempts per turn, into consideration. Apart from that, it is always a good thing to have a bonus of this type, because you never know when it activates.
Submachine guns
Two independent perk here. Both of them are context-reliant, so do not feel obliged to buy them.
Fast Reload, level 4 - It decreases the cost of reloading a gun by 1 AP. It is useful, if you have to reload in combat. With reasonable planning and appropriately strong party, most probably you will not have to do that, which makes the perk useless. Take it if you need it. Otherwise, ignore it. .
Whack-a-Mole, level 6 - It increases the chance of hitting targets hiding behind a wall. Useful against humans, useless against machines and animals. As a result, there are locations, where you will be using it for the whole time, whereas you won't be in others. Buy it, if you want it, but otherwise ignore it.
Shotguns
Four perks and three of them that form a thread. It is a good idea to buy the independent one, but this is not required. The three remaining ones are highly useful and I recommend that you buy them.
Careful Hunter, level 2 - It decreases the chance of hitting your party members, by 25%. It is a highly useful perk, especially if you take characteristics of shotguns into consideration, and the possibility that there appears an opponent among your characters. It is worth buying, even in a situation, where the character with shotgun acts on his own, away from the rest of the party. You never know when you will have to shoot over allies' heads.
Precise Hunter, level 5 - An upgraded version of the Careful Hunter. It decreases the risk of shooting an ally by 50%. Absolutely, worth recommending.
Obliterator, level 6 - Covers attacked with a shotgun will be destroyed. In theory, this does not concern brick walls, columns and such that cannot be destroyed with explosives or energy weapons. Additionally, it is east, with this perk, destroy the cover of both the opponent and their allies', if they got within range. In general, not too useful and you can easily ignore it, because it is independent and does not require the previous ones.
Master Hunter, level 8 - An upgraded version of the Precise Hunter, which decreases the chance of hitting your allies, by 75%. If you have already reached here, this means you already know answer to the question of whether it is worth buying.