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Fallout 3 Hints
Level 2 Perks
* Intense Training: This is a very useful perk, especially when there are no other available perks that you particularly want. Use it to permanently increase a S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attribute that you want to raise, keeping in mind that you can get a +1 to each attribute from bobbleheads, plus bonuses from certain wearable items, quest perks, and chems. (Also, if you have the Broken Steel add-on game installed, you can eventually take a perk that raises all attributes to 9.)
* Black Widow / Lady Killer: Which one of these you can get depends on your gender, but neither one is very useful. The extra conversation options you get from these perks are usually just ways to skip Speech Challenges (which are easy to handle with the "quicksave and restore if necessary" plan), and the extra 10% damage you do to members of the opposite sex in battle will quickly diminish in usefulness as your character gets more powerful and finds better weapons. There are many more male enemies than female, so only consider this perk if your character is female, and you wouldn't rather use the Intense Training perk to raise one of her attributes.
* Daddy's Boy / Daddy's Girl: This is another gender-dependent perk, though only the perk name is different. Taking it will get you a +5 to your Science and Medicine skills whether you're male or female. Since it's a skill-increase-only perk, it's not recommended.
* Gun Nut: This is another skill-increase-only perk (Small Guns and Repair, in this case).
* Little Leaguer: This is another skill-increase-only perk (Melee Weapons and Explosives, in this case).
* Swift Learner: This perk adds to the amount of XP gained for all XP-getting activities, and would be terrific if only it weren't for the stupid level cap of 20. It's far too easy to reach level 20 early in the game without ever taking this perk, even if you're playing on a low difficulty setting. It's pretty much the same story if the level cap is 30 due to having Broken Steel installed.
* Thief: This is another skill-increase-only perk (Sneak and Lockpick, in this case).
I strongly recommend that you take the Intense Training perk for both level 2 and level 3. Exactly what you should increase depends on how you allocated your starting S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attributes, and which ones you particularly want to raise. For instance, if you started out with a Strength of 7, and want to get it up to 10 eventually, you'll have to use Intense Training for it at least once. (The Strength bobblehead and the Ant Might perk from the "Those!" misc. quest will get you the other two points you need.) Luck is another attribute that could use an Intense Training session if it started out at 7 or less, and if you care a lot about your chance to make critical hits in combat. Agility is important to raise if you want to make a V.A.T.S.-focused fighter, and so on.
