Haven't been following the news on FO4, so i'm not sure if this one is already mentioned.

In FO3, the only stat that ever matters at the start of the game is INT because
thats the only way to gain the maximum amount of skill points when you level up.

Anything less, and you basically gimped your character.

Really silly system that one, i hope they changed it in FO4.

It isn't quite as urgent to maximize skill points before hitting the level cap... because there will be no level cap.

It's also uncertain how leveling up is going to work.

Well considering there are no "skills" anymore, which makes skill points no longer a thing. INT governs experience gain, and we don't know any other bonuses therein.

There aren't any skill points in Fallout 4. As far as we're concerned, all INT does is faster XP gain from the looks of it. Which I think is a wasteful design choice for an attribute. Perhaps helpful for those who want to meta game and level faster to get everything since there is no level cap because no doubt it's going to be grinding by that point, still, I find it disappointing.

....except for the part where there's plenty of skill points, especially if you have the increased level cap in Broken Steel (you have to go out of your way to not have every skill capped at 30). I think the highest I've ever had my Int in Fallout 3 was...... 7?

Anway, it doesn't work that way in FO4. There's no cap, for one. And apparently (not sure where people found this) higher Int increases your XP gain (so that you get level and get new perk points to spend, faster.)

The XP gain bonus for Intelligence comes from the E3 video when the Vault-tec employee arrives.

The main use for Intelligence is for the Intelligence perks like Science! and Gun Nut.

No skills

No skill points

No level cap

So the answer is No.

well yes and no, since there are no skills (but skill like perks with ranks) and so no skill points that reason is kinda gone, of course since there is no level cap the increased rate of EXP gain from having high int means you gains perks points faster which means you can gain perks faster, including those perks that kinda acts like skills.

As other posters have mentioned, no skill points. Whilst I'm not sure about the removal of skills per se I do agree that the INT was one of those stats that I felt that if I didn't take it at the beginning I'd regret the choice for the rest of the game.

Here's hoping the removal of skill points opens up the possibility of other builds that don't get laced with regret.

I agree, although if they put in some decent intelligence perks for higher levels then it will kind of balance it out a little.

Indeed. Even when its current line up of perks, I'd still say it's definitely an important attribute to invest in with the weapon modification, medicine, and hacking perks that are found within it. Still, I'm not sure what they were thinking with Nerd Rage requiring 10 INT. They must have done some changes to it if it's the top perk.

I never like when a game forces you to invest in a certain attribute just for your character to be viable. It's almost mandatory to the point of not doing it hurts your character. It's bad game design, and it's always been something BGS has struggled with. While I don't typically appreciate outright removing systems, taking skills out was likely for the best. It's an arbitrary system that merely clutters and complicates progression instead of the player having free control to build their character as they will unimpeded.

I will be content if INT is just tied to faster exp gain (doesn't matter now as there is no level cap, meaning everyone can eventually max out everything) and a requirement for some perks. I think having a role beyond that just takes creative liberties outside of the realm of the player.

Well not to discount an appropriate check to a situation, like using INT to bypass an obstacle easier. Or with any other base attribute, but Perks may play this part as well, that's sort of an Unknown Region.

Running a low Intelligence character for the previous games is an extremely viable option for the dialog. Although, Fallout 3 is not as interesting as Fallout 2 and New Vegas when it comes to running a low Intelligence character.

Wow so many replies. Thanks all!
so happy to know this isnt a problem anymore. yea its bad game design if you are forced to only pick a certain stat or combination with no freedom to play as whoever u wanna play as.

Just keep in mind though that Int governs how much XP you get so 10 definitely wouldn't be bad where as 1 could make levelling a chore.

I don't see how it was a problem in the previous games, honestly. My first game, I hadn't studied anything about min-maxing, didn't grab the Int bobblehead in Rivit City right away, didn't find all the bobbleheads or magazines, and I still managed to get like 4-6 skills to 100 by level 20. With a 6 or 7 Int. People figured out how to max out all the skills to 100 with the 20 cap, through careful use of perks/bobbles/magazines (this did require a high Int, but could apparently be done without maxing it). With the lv30 cap after Broken Steel? It's much easier.

There was plenty of freedom to do different builds.

I agree whole heartedly. If you didnt start with 8-9 int you were making the game more difficult for yourself.

Terribly unbalanced.

No skill points from what I understand in fo4.

So high int gives, access to certain perks, access to dialoge checks, and faster exp gain. Now normally I don't give a rats butt about exp gain rate, but since there is no cap, having a faster exp gain is *really* good. As you can eventually raise your other stats for perks you wouldn't otherwise be able to get.

Well, I can accept faster xp fast xp never was important to me since i free roam quite a bit.

I think I'll rather have a mid-range INT for Fallout 4, except for perks. I actually don't want to gain experience faster. I like the sense of struggling to survive that comes with a low level and don't want to be overpowered too quickly. I'll be playing this game a long time, so I'll get there eventually. Might as well take my time.

That is actually a very good thing. It means that the attribute is important.

1. Max INT was only required in FO3 if you wanted all skills maxed. For a specific build, however, you didn't need anywhere near that many skills. I generally consider about 5 skills (weapon, Repair, Science, Lockpick, Speech) to be a perfectly viable build, and you could do that with an INT of 4 and the Educated perk. At the risk of sounding rude, I don't get why not having all skills at 100 is considered "gimping" your character. To me, the term "gimping" implies that you're hampering your character in such a way as to make it unviable. Making a character that is viable, but not maxed, isn't gimping.

2. It seems to be confirmed that INT increases XP gain. During the E3 video, when the PC picks up the Pip-Boy, he scrolls through the menus. One of those is the SPECIAL menu. If you pause the video, you can read the descriptions, and the one for INT said it increased XP gain. Now, it's possible that they may change this before release (I don't expect the game will actually go gold until sometime next month), but it seems to me that this would cause a lot more work that I'm not sure they can actually afford to do at this point.

No, forget about maxing all skills. With 10 int at level 10 you would have much better stats than a lvl 15 with 2 int. The idea is that the skills were not remotely balanced.




No, it is a bad thing. It means that the attribute is more important than all of the rest. They should all be equal.

I found 8 to be the max required Intelligence in FO3, even with the FWE mod, which made it harder on your skill points. Any higher and you'd max out your skills too fast. Never had any problems running at 6 or 7 either.

Hopefully FO4 will make your stat choices a little more important now that there are no skills and we have less stat points.