The Outer Worlds 2 Perks: All Available & Best Ones
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In The Outer Worlds 2 perk system, focus on the beginning choices to catch the sense of how it works. You gain one perk every two character levels, while many stronger perks sit behind skill thresholds or other perks. Early choices set your combat, stealth, and dialogue ceiling for hours.
This guide shows how The Outer Worlds 2 perks unlock, which ones to grab first, and the full list to map your route.
How To Obtain Perks in The Outer Worlds 2
You receive one perk point at level 2 and every two levels after that. General perks are open immediately, while most others require a minimum skill rank, a prior perk, or a count of total perks purchased. Some perks unlock passively via quest progress and do not cost points. A late respec does not exist, so plan your path and avoid spreading points thin.
Best Perks in TOW2 Beginning
In the opening zones, survivability, economy, and reliable damage beat niche power spikes. Push for perks that raise crit chance, extend weapon range, improve healing, and open money routes. If your build leans guns, secure range, and weakspot damage. If you prefer stealth, prioritize silent movement and pickpocketing for ammo and mats.
- Trophy Hunter: +5% crit; +15% extra crit vs Strong enemies. No requirements.
- Connoisseur: +25% healing from food/drink and +25% inhaler charge from drugs. Medical 1.
- Pickpocket: Enables pickpocketing from stealth. Lockpick 1.
- Pitch/Tossball Winger: +20% explosives damage; direct-hit stagger. Explosives 1.
- Manual Reset: Stun automechs; +10% damage to them. Hack 1.
- Space Ranger: +2.5% damage per Speech level. Speech 1.
- Through the Keyhole: Preview containers; +50% weapon range. Lockpick 2.
- Serendipitous Slayer: Pistols/SMGs +10% crit; partial auto-reload on crit. Guns 2.
- Crabble Rancher: Marksman/pistols/shotguns +10% ranged damage; +20% crit when half empty. Guns 2.
- Eden Windage: +25% range and weakspot damage for marksman/pistols/snipers. Guns 3, Crabble Rancher.
- Face Reader: +20% damage vs humans; warns on rep-losing dialogue. Observation 5.
- Silent Steps: Footsteps are silent for 8 seconds after leaving stealth. Sneak 6.
- Wholesale Spender: −10% vendor prices; +20% sell value. Speech 4.
These picks compound well. You get early crit reliability, safer engagements, and a stronger economy without cornering yourself into a late-game dead end.
All The Outer Worlds 2 Perks: Complete Table
Below is a consolidated table of every The Outer Worlds 2 perk and how to get it. “How to Obtain” lists skill gates, prerequisites, or notes if it is auto-granted by quests.
| Name | Effect | How to Obtain |
| Bulletshield | +10% Damage Resistance; +10% Base Health | None |
| Ninja | +10% Evasion in Heavy; +20% in Light/Medium | None |
| Trophy Hunter | +5% Crit; +15% extra crit vs Strong | None |
| Brand Enthusiast | +20% Damage; +10 Armor Rating | None |
| Psychopath | +10/20/40% damage vs factions with Cautious/Begrudging/Indignant rep | None |
| Serial Killer | Chance to harvest hearts; +2 Max Health per heart; guaranteed if target not hostile | Requires Psychopath |
| Shrug It Off | Gain temp HP equal to 50% Max HP at combat start or when a companion is downed | Requires Bulletshield; 8+ total perks |
| Scrapper | Automechs drop extra crafting materials | Engineering 1 |
| Makeshift Armorer | Temporary armor value bonus based on craft spend | Engineering 3 |
| Tinkerer | +10% damage with modded weapons; +2.5% per Engineering point | Engineering 5 |
| Master Armorer | +1 armor mod slot | Engineering 20; Makeshift Armorer; 9+ perks |
| Hot Blooded | Faster Burn stacks; heal from Burn/Plasma explosions | Explosives 1 |
| Pitch/Tossball Winger | +20% explosives damage; direct-hit deals 50 physical and staggers | Explosives 1 |
| Grenadier | +10% explosives damage; +1 throwable slot | Explosives 2 |
| Defuser | Disarmed mines added to inventory | Explosives 3 |
| Secret Recipe | Full damage across blast zone | Explosives 6 |
| Incendiary Chef | Craft Volatile Grenades; receive several on unlock | Explosives 8; 4+ perks |
| Demolitionist | +50% explosive radius; cannot self-damage (hazard caveat in some sources) | Explosives 20; Secret Recipe; 8+ perks |
| Point Blank Artist | Shotguns/SMGs/pistols: +100% sneak; +30% near; −15% far | Guns 1 |
| Sharpshooter | Marksman/AR/Sniper: +100% sneak; +30% far; −15% near | Guns 1; Observation 1 |
| Commando | +1 weapon slot | Guns 1 or Melee 1 |
| Trick Shot | Weakspot kill ricochets to second target | Guns 1; Observation 1 |
| Crabble Rancher | Marksman/pistols/shotguns: +10% ranged; +20% crit when half empty | Guns 2 |
| Serendipitous Slayer | Pistols/SMGs +10% crit; crit auto-reload portion | Guns 2 |
| Deep Drums | Slow auto-reload for MG/Special/AR; +50% magazine size to all weapons | Guns 3 |
| Gun Runner | Fire AR/shotgun/SMG while sliding/mantling/sprinting; −50% spread; −50% move accuracy penalty | Guns 4 |
| Shiny New Toy | +20% damage after weapon swap | Guns 5 or Melee 5; Commando |
| Eden Windage | +25% range; +25% weakspot damage for marksman/pistols/snipers | Guns 3; Crabble Rancher; 4+ perks |
| Hail of Lead | +2% damage per shot up to +100%; resets on swap/idle | Guns 5–6; 6+ perks |
| Suppressionist | Pistols +100% sneak; −75% firing noise; silencers mute | Guns 8; Sneak 8; 5+ perks |
| Multitasker | Reloading active gun reloads holstered guns | Guns 14; Commando; 7+ perks |
| Penetrating Shots | Shotguns/SMGs gain +50% armor penetration | Guns 6; Point Blank Artist; 8+ perks |
| Lucky Strikes | +100% crit damage; crit-kill explodes for 20% of nearby hostiles’ HP | Guns 20 or Melee 20; 11+ perks |
| Restricted Access | Access restricted vendor inventory | Hack 1 |
| Manual Reset | Stun automechs; +10% damage to them | Hack 1 |
| Bit Transfer | Drain bits via bounty terminals; refresh after ~7,200 XP | Hack 2; Restricted Access |
| Automech Jammer | −75% automech detection; +5% crit vs automechs | Hack 5 |
| Automech Anatomist | Automech weakspot hits chain Shock to nearby | Hack 10; 5+ perks |
| Plug Puller | Permanently disable hacked automechs; XP and loot | Hack 20; Manual Reset; 10+ perks |
| Inspiring Commander | +5% companion ability meter per party kill | Leadership 1 |
| Busy Bodies | Companions gather mats while you are away; scales with XP | Leadership 2 |
| Comradery | +25% DR for 10s after revives; damage no longer resets revive progress | Leadership 5 |
| Negotiator | +75% reputation gain; −20% companion ability charge time | Leadership 9; Speech 9 |
| On Your Feet | +10 m companion revive range | Leadership 20; Comradery; 8+ perks |
| Pickpocket | Enables pickpocketing | Lockpick 1 |
| Through the Keyhole | Preview locked containers; +50% weapon range | Lockpick 2 |
| Bag Check | See NPC inventory; +5% crit | Lockpick 4; Pickpocket |
| Sleight of Hands | −50% pickpocket time; +10% sneak damage per Lockpick skill | Lockpick 8; Pickpocket; 4+ perks |
| Caustic Researcher | +20% Vulnerable stacks with Corrosive; +10% crit vs Dissolved | Medical 1 |
| Connoisseur | +25% healing from food/drink; +25% inhaler charge from drugs | Medical 1 |
| Pharm-thusiast | +1 inhaler primer slot; −25% toxicity | Medical 2 |
| Survivalist | Creatures always drop raw meat | Medical 2 |
| Zyranium Absorption | −50% Zyranium accumulation; −35 on crash end | Medical 3 |
| Nature’s Friend | Temporarily tame creature; +10% damage to creatures | Medical 4 |
| Hungry Guns | +100% bio-mass ammo pool; +10% Corrosive damage | Medical 4; Caustic Researcher; 5+ perks |
| Inhaler Overload | Spend extra charge for +20% damage, +3 armor, +10% evasion, +50% move speed | Medical 5; Pharm-thusiast |
| Crash Recovery | Regenerate 2% HP/sec while crashing | Medical 8; 4+ perks |
| Nature’s Best Friend | Permanently tame creatures; XP; no loot; do not follow | Medical 10; Nature’s Friend; 7+ perks |
| Lasting High | Use inhaler while crashing; −50% heal; −30% crash depletion | Medical 12; Crash Recovery; 8+ perks |
| Duelist | Perfect block stuns 8s | Melee 1 |
| Heavy Handed | Melee power attacks knock down; 10s CD | Melee 1 |
| Run and Hitter | After sprinting: next hit +25% (1H) or +50% (2H) | Melee 2 |
| Echoing Blows | Melee cone splash: 25% light, 50% heavy | Melee 6; 4+ perks |
| Pitch/Tossball Hacker | Ignore 50% target armor with melee | Melee 8; 5+ perks |
| Tit for Tat | Heal 25% of melee damage dealt | Melee 10; 7+ perks |
| Vital Striker | Light melee +100% sneak; half bonus always applies in combat | Melee 15; Sneak 15; 9+ perks |
| Treasure Hunter | Containers often grant bonus bits/mats | Observation 1 |
| Tracker | Minimap shows hostiles beyond FoV and facing | Observation 3 |
| Face Reader | +20% damage to humans; flags rep-loss dialogue | Observation 5 |
| Keen Observer | +25% weakspot damage while crouched and stationary | Observation 8; Trick Shot |
| Electro-Therapist | +20% Electrocuted stacks; weak automechs become Scrambled (~5s) | Science 1 |
| Rapid Recharge | +500% energy recharge for 5s at ≤10% gadget energy | Science 1 |
| Slow-More | +25% evasion in TTD; +1 energy on evading damage | Science 3 |
| Contingency Screen | Auto-triggers Gas-Energy Deflection at 25% HP | Science 3; specific gadget |
| Targeting Scanner | Mark targets; companions focus; hits regen energy | Science 5; N-Ray Scanner |
| Zyranium Powered | Faster energy recharge as poisoning rises | Science 5; Zyranium Absorption; 7+ perks |
| Weakspot Scanner | +20% weakspot damage while using N-Ray Scanner | Science 6; N-Ray Scanner |
| Sprayer Prayer | Charge Auntie’s Acidic Dematerializer for distance/damage | Science 6; that gadget |
| Cold Blooded | +20% Chilled stacks; shatter Frozen for 20% HP AoE | Science 9; 6+ perks |
| N-Radiator | Every 3s, duplicate damage as N-Ray | Science 20; 12+ perks |
| Assassin | +100% move speed for 5s after stealth kill | Sneak 1 |
| Ghost | When investigated while crouched, become camouflaged briefly | Sneak 2 |
| Stalker | +200% sneak damage vs investigating enemies or around corpses/distractions | Sneak 5; Assassin |
| Silent Steps | Footsteps silent for 8s after leaving stealth | Sneak 6 |
| Light Step | Ignore traps and mines | Sneak 10 |
| Space Ranger | +2.5% damage per Speech level | Speech 1 |
| Palm-Greaser | −50% bribe costs; +20% vendor buy price for stolen items | Speech 2 |
| Wholesale Spender | −10% vendor prices; +20% sell value | Speech 4 |
| Intimidator | Damaging weak enemies frightens them briefly | Speech 5 |
| Charlatan | Lies more believable; less enemy targeting | Speech 6; 4+ perks |
| Grim Visage | Kills frighten nearby humans/creatures | Speech 9; Intimidator; 6+ perks |
| Tall Tale Teller | Lie about more things; +20% damage vs enemies not targeting you | Speech 10; Charlatan; 7+ perks |
| Serial Fanatic | −15% companion ability charge time | Quest “In Pursuit of Purloined Propaganda” (auto) |
| Art Enthusiast | +10% XP from companion kills | Quest “The Pursuit of the Partite Pentaptych” (auto) |
A few late perks demand both high skills and a minimum number of perks owned. Quest perks are free once you finish their chains.
How To Choose Best Perks in TOW2
Start with a plan. Pick a damage lane, a utility lane, and an economy lane, then stay disciplined. For pure gunplay, open with Trophy Hunter, Crabble Rancher, Eden Windage, and Hail of Lead. For stealth, take Pickpocket, Through the Keyhole, Silent Steps, and Suppressionist, adding Assassin or Stalker when possible. For staying power, combine Connoisseur, Pharm-thusiast, and Inhaler Overload, then fold in Bulletshield. Do not chase every shiny perk. Stack synergy that you can trigger in every fight.
More About The Outer Worlds 2
The Outer Worlds 2 launched on October 29, 2025, with early access five days ahead for Premium buyers and upgraded Game Pass users. TOW 2 skill system rewards focus, not scattershot leveling. Putting points into a few key abilities unlocks dialogue paths, opens sealed routes, and sharpens combat early, with Speech and Lockpick giving the widest payoffs. Committing to weapons or stealth decides how you control fights, while spreading points thin leaves you underpowered. The sequel leans into sharper writing, denser faction play, and a colder corporate grip across Arcadia’s fractured frontier.
Vitalii Diakiv writes gaming blogs and guides, focusing on the latest announcements and games matched with pop-cultural phenomena. Second, he covers esports events Counter-Strike 2, Marvel Rivals, League of Legends, and others.
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