Perks

Unlock the full potential of your character in The Outer Worlds 2 with our comprehensive Perks guide. Learn about Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 perks, their effects, and the best strategies for each build.

Perks are awarded on every even level number. You'll get additional perks by accepting Flaws. You need to unlock five tier 1 perks before you can take tier 2 ones and five tier 2 perks before you can advance to tier 3.

Name	Effect
Tier 1
Toughness	+50% Base Health
Slow the World	+25% Tactical Time Dilation Meter Max
Lone Wolf	+25% Damage when alone in party
Strider	+25% Walk Speed
Cheetah	+25% Sprint Speed
High Maintenance	-25% Weapon / Armor Durability Loss
Precision	+15% Companion Crit Chance
The Negotiator	-20% Vendor Prices
Deadly Demonstrations	+50% XP from Companion kills
Traveler	Fast Travel when Encumbered
Quick and the Dead	+50% Tactical Time Dilation Recharge Rate
Pack Mule	+50kg Carrying Capacity
A Few Bits More	+100% Additional Ammo stock on Vendors +100% Additional Consumable and General Stock on Vendors
Resilient	+5 Base Armor Rating
Tier 2
Run and Gun	-65% Movement Penalty to Accuracy
The Reaper	+25% TTD Restored per Kill
Weird Science	+50% Science Weapon Damage
Speed Demon	+25% Movement Speed during TTD
Scanner	+20% Bonus to Extra Headshot / Weakspot Damage
The Collector	+5m Interactable Highlight Range
Snake Oil Salesman	+20% Vendor Buying Price
We Band of Brothers	+25% Chance to reset a Companion Ability cooldown on each Critical Hit
Tag Team	+25% Chance to reset a Companion Ability cooldown when using the other Companion's Ability
Rolling Thunder	-20% Companion Ability Cooldown for each of your kills
Harvester	+15% Health Restored per Kill
Hoarder	-50% Consumable Weight
Pack of Pack Mules	+40kg Carrying Capacity Bonus from Companions
Soliloquy	+10 Dialog Skills when travelling alone
Tier 3
Wild Science	+50% Science Weapon Damage; stacks with Weird Science
Steady Hand	-100% Ranged Weapon Sway -100% Movement Penalty to Accuracy
Confidence	Guaranteed Critical Hit after killing an enemy
Armor Master	+10% Armor Rating Bonus +100% Skill Bonus
Super Pack Mule	+100kg Carrying Capacity
Tactical Master	+70% Movement Speed during TTD for 5s
Revenge	+20% Damage when under the effects of a harmful Combat Effect
Last Stand	+30% Damage while under 25% Health
Boom, Headshot!	Headshot kills deal 25% of their damage to enemies within 2.5m
Don't Go Dyin' On Me!	Inhaler revives downed Companions with 25% Health Cooldown 15m
Penetrating Shots	Ranged Attacks Inflict -1 Armor for 10s; stacks to -10
Thick Skin	-15% AOE Damage Received -15% Plasma Damage Received
Tit for Tat	+15% Melee Damage returned as Health
Solo Sneaker	-33% Detection Radius of Enemies when alone

Buffs

Toughness

This is one of the best perks for any build on any difficulty. If you're playing a solo build, you might take Lone Wolf first, but otherwise this is the one to get at level 2.

Resilient

This is a modest but solid boost that will last you the whole game. A good one to take if there's nothing better.

Run and Gun

I guess that if you actually run and gun, this is useful.

Weird Science

This is essential if you're playing a 2-handed melee build, since the best 2-handed melee weapon is the Prismatic Hammer and this perk will greatly increase your lethality. Otherwise, Science Weapons are not that awesome since they primarily inflict status effects rather than killing enemies efficiently.

Scanner

Good on a combat-focused build and a solid bonus. Since it's not a very interesting perk, there isn't much else to say.

Harvester

Essential on any combat build. The more you kill, the longer you can go on killing.

Wild Science

Essential or garbage, just like Weird Science.

Steady Hand

I can't say that I ever really noticed the problem of weapon sway. Therefore, I can't really see why you'd spend a perk to fix it.

Confidence

This is good but, paradoxically, better if you don't invest heavily in combat skills. This is because you can get an 80% critical hit rate by taking a weapon skill to 100.

Armor Master

This is essential on any build. This basically gives you three levels worth of skill points for any set of skills you care to mention; all you need to do is carry a set of clothing with Tech Skills +5, Stealth Skills +5, Speech Skills +5 and so forth and change your clothes as required. The increase to armour rating is icing on the cake.

Revenge

Harmful status effects are not that uncommon and this perk makes them sort of beneficial. Not bad.

Last Stand

Why wouldn't you have used your Inhaler before you reach 25% health. I can't see how making use of this perk wouldn't lead to a frequent game-over screen.

Boom, Headshot!

Seems kinda situational. After all, another enemy has to be within 2.5m of your target in the first place and 25% is not that great. Nice visual effect, though.

Penetrating Shots

Yeah, you'd probably take this on a combat-focused build. Dedicated snipers would probably be hoping to kill in one shot which would make this less useful.

Thick Skin

Decent enough, but 15% is kinda low for a tier 3 perk.

Tit for Tat

Essential for a melee build. Useless on any other build.

Tactical Time Dilation

Slow the World

A bigger TTD bar is always a good thing. When you take it will depend on your build focus, but you'll generally want this at some point.

Quick and the Dead

There are better TTD perks that you can take, but this is solid enough

The Reaper

This is the better TTD perk that you can take. With the right attributes and skills, you can stay in TTD pretty much permanently. Combine it with Confidence for extreme mayhem.

Speed Demon

OK on a melee build, but obsoleted by Tactical Master. An option is to take this and respec when you unlock ti