When you get on high level you just have enough points to spend on so many perks that you just give up choosing a particular one, just upgrade them all.

Heh.. didn't know about the Intimidate/Pacify perk. Definitely have to give that a try.

Local leader not only for settlements but also shops to sell loot and purified water. Higher charisma is useful for speech checks and getting more money for items you barter. I would say Armor and Gun Nut are essential as is Rifleman. I ended up maxing out Lifegiver in my 20's for the extra HP and passive HP regeneration.

Lockpick and hacking are only essential to the expert level, meaning 2 perks in each. Master level stuff usually has a corresponding key or password somewhere in the area to find. I have not found a case where there I have needed a master level skill in these yet. There's always a key somewhere.

Science is essential at least to level 1 or 2, I haven't found a use for level 3 as of yet here at level 34 but I'm sure it will arise.

The other perks like sneak, Ninja, etc. are based on your build. I sneak around and mostly use shotguns and rifles.

I'm to the point where I have emporiums built and I can verify that level 4 vendors will work on PC if you spawn them with the "prid" command, move them to your location, recruit them, and go into workshop mode and command them to use the corresponding emporium. They end up selling high level items. Even level 3 vendors sell substantially more and somewhat better items, for example level 2 vendors would sell 30-40 shotgun shells, the emporiums sell 60-80 shotgun shells. The general goods vendors end up selling substantially more junk which I buy up, trading for purified water to build up all my bases. I wouldn't call caps collector essential though, but it's nice to get 14 caps for each purified water too.

I have yet to travel without a companion.. once I hit level 38 I might just put 3 perks into lone wanderer and give it a try... I usually have a few perk points laying around I can't decide what to do with. I anxiously await level 4 gun nut and armorer...

Is Lockpicking/Hacking really worth having?

I know in earlier games there would be really nice unique weapons in locked rooms etc, but i've found all that's behind locked doors is just randomized junk and maybe a randomized legendary drop that is usually crap anyway.

Also certain companions can open locks/terminals now too.

Hope someone can convince me otherwise, because i feel i've wasted my perks on it.

There are some quests where its required. For instance in one of the BOS radiant quests I had to retrieve an item that was in an advanced locked container. However any required quests should be OK; although there are going to be short cuts that you can use.

Activating a robot can also be a way of clearing an area, let the robot do the work while you much on a dog chop. I usually set the personality to construction worker, where it seems to ignore you as long as you don't fire a weapon – don't forget to wear an hard hat.

Also bits of lore are scattered about behind locked doors and on hackable terminals, if your interested. But you should be able to complete the game fine without the two perks.

Edit: What I do, is usally have a free or unasigned perk, which I can use for stuff like Hacking, Lockpicking, Gun Nut, Scienc etc which I use when i need it. So if I find I never need expert hacking I never get round to getting the perk.

I don't think any single perk is essential to play Fallout, just helpful. In some cases, very. The ghoulish perk essentially turns radiation barrels into healing springs for example. Why waste perks on the radiation resistance perk at that point? But then, this game assumes players won't spend level up points on improving base stats, and even expects players to understand that perk X might discourage them from certain facets of the game, like investing into lone wanderer is just wasting points if you plan to keep any other companion besides Dogmeat by your side.

If anything, the only perks you NEED to have to access something would be hacking and locksmith simply because these are the only things you can't always circumvent with a little searching around, but at the same time, it's not like there is anything truly unique behind these safes/doors either.

I think I'll find out which perks are truly needed when I get around to a "stat only" character, where I'll boost every stat to 10 before investing in perks. I figure this run will be incredibly liberating, but also difficult even on normal.

That's the nice thing about my new paranoid schizophrenic pyromaniac character. He uses the flamer almost exclusively. It isn't boosted by perks and requires no perks to upgrade, so I've been able to skip over the damage and crafting perks for now. They're certainly not essential to this build!

Chemist is my favourite.

Got any jet? I need some jet man.

I was hoping this thread would be about the perks that need to be put back in the game. I was going to say Run and Gun from FNV.

I always grab Barter.

Lockpicking and Hacker. For the sole reason, I don't like to be locked out of anything, be it loot, background story (terminals hiding behind locked doors for example) or shortcuts. Last point in those are not worth taking tho.

Anything else is up for grabs according to playstyle imo.

Security skills are pretty much necessary. They drop loot, but also open up alternative routes in quests and dungeons.

Crafting perks in general. You can find mods all over the place, but it's extremely rare to find good ones for anything except pipe weapons.

Penetrator, too. Since most shots in VATS can be delayed or you have a companion that gets in their face, being able to shoot through all it is almost essential. It also seems to make your shots passively penetrate enemies, so you can deal damage to the guy behind your target.

Then there's all the Wasteland Survival Guide magazines. Every single one is just so [censored] fantastically fruitful.

As others have said, there are no clear universal must-have perks. Unlike FO3 and FO:NV, where "Comprehension" was probably the single most desirable perk.

I just pick what ever I want. Also each situation can change my decision on what I will take when I level.

Makes sense actually. The Lone Wanderer from Fallout 3 has been depicted alongside with Dogmeat a lot.

I see this being repeated all the time, but I never get attacked even without the hardhat, so what's the deal?