SECONDARY SKILLS

Small Guns: Use rifles, pistols, and small arms. Tagging this is recommended as most combat involves small arms. You can increase this skill by reading the magazine 'Guns and Bullets.'

Big Guns: Use miniguns, rocket launchers, and flamethrowers. This skill is not highly recommended as big guns are easy to aim with sufficient strength, and some small arms are superior. Energy weapons are considered better than all big guns. Avoid tagging and building this skill.

Energy Weapons: Use weapons powered by power cells. This skill is good for the endgame, especially if you plan to defeat the Master, the Lieutenant, and their mutants.

Unarmed: Use fists in combat. This skill is helpful early on but becomes less useful midgame. It shines with the Power Fist. Tagging it can ease progression in Vault 13 and 15 without resorting to guns.

Melee Weapons: Use knives, sledgehammers, and spears. Similar to Unarmed, but with Super Sledgehammers instead of Power Fists. This skill is good if you plan to acquire the Super Sledgehammer.

Throwing: Use throwing knives and grenades. This skill is considered pretty useless. Grenades are hard to find, expensive, and suffer from low accuracy even with a high skill percentage (e.g., 70%).

First Aid: Recovers hit points. Can be increased with first aid books. It's generally not worth tagging or building, as reading books and using First Aid kits improve success.

Doctor: Recovers more hit points than First Aid and can heal crippled limbs. Healing crippled limbs is possible with a 45% skill. Doctor's bags increase success chance. This skill doesn't require significant focus.

Sneak: Move without being noticed. This skill has limited practical use and can be ignored.

Steal: Self-explanatory. Not essential if you don't need to steal from other characters.

Lockpick: Pick locked doors. This is a crucial thief-type skill. Aim for around 65% skill. Reaching 80% skill bypasses the Brotherhood quest. It is worth tagging. Using Lockpicks increases skill by 25%.

Traps: Arm explosives and disarm traps. 50% skill is adequate for arming explosives and detecting some traps.

Science: Covers computers, biology, chemistry, and physics. Can be increased by reading 'The Big Book of Science' and taking computer courses at the Vault 13 Library and Brotherhood of Steel. 90% skill is adequate.

Repair: Standard repair techniques. Build to about 60%. Can be increased by using a Tool or reading 'Dean's Electronics.' Using a Tool increases skill by 25%.

Speech: Convince others. This skill is second only to Small Guns in usefulness for bullshitting others. Tagging it and working it to 120% is recommended.

Barter: Determines trade prices. Even with a low skill, some merchants will have higher prices. This skill doesn't need to be raised.

Gambling: Self-explanatory. Only two known gambling locations: Gizmo's and the Maltese Falcon. Not worth investing skill points.

Outdoors: Practical knowledge of the outdoors. Can be raised by reading Scout handbooks, with some available at Shady Sands. Significant increases are not necessary.