Fallout New Vegas Traits: 16 Best Traits Ranked

Despite the latest entries in Bethesda’s post-apocalyptic RPG series, players still return to Fallout New Vegas’s wastelands for playthroughs. Thanks to the unlimited resources, playability, and high degree of details, Fallout New Vegas is known among the top-performing games in the Fallout series. The game is already 12 years old, yet it still holds up in 2022 as a classic experience for players. It even features a hardcore mode that pushes the boundaries of difficulties and offers a unique experience to players. For that instance, players seek the ideal Best Fallout New Vegas Traits and Skills to build their perfect Courier for hardcore mode. These traits and many other aspects are what make Fallout New Vegas timeless.

However, with multiple options available for Fallout New Vegas traits, making the tough choice can indeed become overwhelming. Traits are an essential aspect of the game that can affect your gameplay. These can be equipped during the character build, thus allowing players to choose their exemplary character. If you are also one of those players just starting or returning to the New Vegas wasteland, this guide entails everything you need to know about all traits in Fallout New Vegas. With that said, let’s get right into it.

Fallout New Vegas Traits

Fallout New Vegas continues the legacy of traits from previous entries to ensure players can get what they need in character. You will be playing as a character named Courier, which of course, can be changed into your name of choice. But these traits will be an overall makeup of your character. They influence the gameplay choices you make and the aspects you engage in the wide-stretching wasteland of New Vegas.

One of the critical questions that players ask is how many traits can you have in Fallout New Vegas? Although, that purely depends on the type of character you seek for your playthrough. But players will be required to pick a maximum of two or a minimum of 0 traits for their character during the earlier portion of the game.

There are ten unique traits initially in the game that will modify the gameplay in different ways. Once chosen, you will no longer pick the trait for your character again. Unless you have Old World Blues expansion installed, you can again pick two traits from a total of six unique traits for your character.

However, these traits are also double-edged swords, making the game pretty realistic. This means that the traits that you will pick for your Courier character come with both benefits and direct downsides. This significantly changes things for your perfect character build, especially for Fallout New Vegas Hardcore mode. Moreover, these aspects of traits put players into the dilemma of what to choose and what to avoid.

But do not worry, as we will rank all Fallout New Vegas traits from worst to best while detailing their importance for the type of character. This way, you can easily decide which trait to pick for your character build. With that said, let’s discuss top Traits in Fallout New Vegas.

Trigger Discipline

Attribute	Value
Benefits	+20% accuracy with Guns and Energy Weapons
Penalties	-20% fire rate with guns and energy weapons +20% AP required per shot
Form ID	00135EC8

One of the best and entry-level traits of Fallout New Vegas is Trigger Discipline. Many players never pay much attention to the trait, but it can come in handy during long-range combats. The first thing that beginner players notice is the extreme accuracy of strikes and shots from weapons. However, this inaccuracy is what makes the overall game realistic. Players will have to learn these as a skill to maintain weapon accuracy.

For that instance, entry-level players can rely on Trigger Discipline to gain the bonus of 20% more accuracy and 20% slow fire rate on ranged and energy weapons. This way, you can get those sweet headshots. Unfortunately, these sound effects come with a cost.  Players with the Trigger Discipline will have to pay 20% more Action Points for using the V.A.T.S.

If your character relies heavily on long-range combat as Sniper or Gunslinger build, then this Fallout New Vegas trait is a perfect pick-up for you. Otherwise, you will not need this trait for melee build close-range battles. Make your decision after careful consideration because once picked, you will no longer be able to change the traits unless you reset the character.

Kamikaze

Attribute	Value
Benefits	+10 Action Points
Penalties	-2 Damage Threshold, -15% Damage Resistance
Form ID	00135F05

If you do not think of any trait in the list of 10, then Kamikaze is the best choice to go for. This Fallout New Vegas trait does not do much compared to the Trigger Discipline rather than giving +10 Action Points. A character with a heavy build for critical hits and V.A.T.S, extra Action Points can come in handy to enhance the damage to the enemies.

On the worst side, the Kamikaze trait will disregard the -2 Damage Threshold no matter what armor you wear. After all, it is Kamikaze for your Courier character. As said earlier, this trait is a big no for a character built in hardcore mode. But if you are looking for real fun with some extra Action points, Kamikaze is a grand entry for your character. Moreover, you can also get additional +10 Action Points by investing points in Agility and perks. This way, you will not have to pick the trait. You can read our Best Fallout New Vegas Armor article here.

Claustrophobia

Attribute	Value
Benefits	+1 to all SPECIAL stats when outside
Penalties	-1 to all SPECIAL stats when indoors
Form ID	xx0133AE

Another best entry in the Fallout New Vegas entry traits is Claustrophobia. The Claustrophobia trait is available from the Old World Blues DLC pack for Fallout New Vegas. Considering you have Fallout New Vegas Ultimate Edition, you are all set to start the questline for Old World Blues. This Fallout New Vegas trait will grant you +1 to all S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats that will make your character. Meanwhile, at the same time, you will lose -1 S.P.E.C.I.A.L stat point while being indoors.

Overall, Claustrophobia seems pretty much straightforward by offering these stat points. This Fallout New Vegas trait will go hand in hand with the character builds that need extra S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats values to maximize character abilities. Some players may ask what counts as the indoors for the Claustrophobia trait. In that case, only those indoor locations that require loading screens will trigger the penalty for Claustrophobia. Any other sites in the game will continue to consider a +1 value to your S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats.

Logan’s Loophole

Attribute	Value
Requirements	Level less than 30
Benefits	Chems last twice as long Addiction rates are set to 0%
Penalties	Level cap locks at Level 30
Form ID	xx01276E

Logan’s Loophole is a famous and influential trait that might be just what your character build needs. Acquiring Logan’s Loophole trait will allow your character to enjoy Chems with twice the length. On top of that, they are not going to be addicted. You will no longer need to worry about drugs and damage drugs that cause hallucinations and other concerning problems. This trait is also a part of the Old World Blues DLC. This means you will only acquire this once you reach the questline for the expansion pack.

On the contrary, this perk will be capping your level at 30 instead of 50. This is a big drawback, as most Fallout New Vegas perks and weapons unlock beyond level 30. For that instance, Logan’s Loophole will limit your character abilities to unlock maximum stuff and acquire all the bonuses available to the character.

Loose Cannon

Attribute	Value
Benefits	Thrown weapons' throw rate (rate of fire) is +30% faster
Penalties	Thrown weapons have -25% range (velocity)
Form ID	00164ED1

Traits are one of the many aspects that make Fallout New Vegas stand out among other series. They allow hardcore fans and players to make a calculated move at each game stage. Loose Cannon is one of these calculated and effective traits that can take your Courier character to the next level. It lets you avail 30% faster speeds on thrown weapons attacks, making it higher damaging with fast-paced action.

Got ghouls storming at you, throw spears in the fast action gameplay to amputate limbs and rip off the heads without any hassle. If you seek a melee build character with thrown spears and knives as the secondary weapon, Loose Cannon can be of great assistance for killing extra enemies. Like other Fallout New Vegas traits, this trait also has a downside for your character.

With the 30% fast speed, your thrown weapons will have 25% less range to hit the target. the Loose Cannon Fallout New Vegas trait might seem like a heavy investment for your character with this penalty. But it can be an excellent addition for the surface with a melee build, where you will be engaging in close-range fights.

Hot Blooded

Attribute	Value
Benefits	+15% damage when your health is below 50%
Penalties	-2 to Perception and Agility when your health is below 50%
Form ID	+15% damage when your health is below 50%

Speaking of the close-range melee combat, we have just what you need if you are thinking of a character that can do heavy damage to those bloody enemies. Hot Blooded is another beneficial perk for the character builds that want to wreak havoc in the wasteland. In short, Hot Blooded will turn you into a mass-murdering machine in the town. Hot Blooded trait will grant a unique bonus of 15% extra damage whenever your character health drops below 50%.

As soon as you drop the HP below 50%, you will be able to do tons of damage no matter what weapon you have at the moment. Once again, Hot Blodeeded Fallout New Vegas trait will be granted only when you start the Old World Blues expansion. Considering the benefits from the trait, it can quickly become a top priority for the character, like a gunslinger and heavy gunner.

However, it also adds a hefty penalty of -2 Agility and Perception on the flip side. These drop-in points will not affect much of the perks for the ranged weapons builds. Meanwhile, melee weapons will see a significant drop in the character’s performance as they are prone to heavy damage before striking.

Heavy Handed

Attribute	Value
Benefits	+20% damage (Melee and Unarmed only)
Penalties	-60% Critical damage. (Melee and Unarmed only)
Form ID	00135EC5

Apart from the ranged weapons, you can now avail maximum damage bonus through melee weapons. Thanks to the Heavy Handed trait, players will now be able to register 20% extra damage while using unarmed or melee weapons. So swing those baseball bats to rip the head off from ghouls and other kinds of enemies.

Heavy Handed will significantly come in handy as some players may find it hard to find an excellent ranged weapon that can do a ton of damage. Moreover, melee weapons are fun to play, especially in Fallout New Vegas. This is why it is a preferable option among players. When discussing the penalty for the trait, Heavy Handed negates 60% of the overall critical damage using the melee weapons.

This is not much compared to the critical hits for the melee weapons. Melee weapons are bad for registering critical hits in Fallout New Vegas. This means you will not have to worry about doing critical hit damage when you are already getting a 20% extra damage effect on all types of melee weapon entries.

Small Frame

Attribute	Value
Requirements	Agility less than 10
Benefits	+1 Agility
Penalties	+25% Damage to limbs
Form ID	00135EC6

Since all character builds heavily depend on S.P.E.C.A.L stats and perks, players must always consider the character. Your character build influences your overall gameplay, choices, and numerous other aspects resulting in the ending you deserve. For that instance, players also seek different approaches to max out the character’s abilities to make the most out of the storyline and get the best gaming experience.

If you are also one of these players that seek bonuses to leverage the character, then Small Frame is exactly what you need in the character. Small Frame will offer players +1 Agility at the cost of 25% higher damage to limbs. The free Agility point can become highly beneficial if you want to earn those sweet perks granted under the Agility tree. However, the limb damage can halt your gaming experience after a heavy fight with DeathClaw or Feral Ghouls wave.

Small Frame is a prime choice for players playing Fallout New Vegas for the first time at the normal difficulty. But if you are looking for a playthrough in Hardcore Mode, Small Frame will increase problems rather than directly benefiting the players. This is because, in Hardcore Mode, Stimpaks will never heal instantly, but enemies are also ferocious killing machines. Plus, crippled limbs would require doctors to heal instantly.

One of the best ways to counter this is completing the Tough Guy challenge. Tough Guy challenge will grant a unique perk to reduce limb damage by 20%. This way, you can negate the value of limb damage from the Small Frame trait while maxing out the character’s Agility.

Early Bird

Attribute	Value
Benefits	+2 to SPECIAL stats from 6 AM to 12PM
Penalties	-1 to SPECIAL stats from 6 PM to 6 AM
Form ID	xx012767

Early Bird is the best and most demanding entry-level trait among players. You may hear about it all the time as an all-time powerful trait for the characters who rely heavily on the S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats point. If you are seeking a character build with max stats and perks, Early Bird can become of great assistance.

The main reason is that Early Bird grants a whooping two value to all S.P.E.C.I.A.L points from 6 am to 12 pm. This means you will max out the character abilities with unique skills and perks. These abilities will only be available from in-game morning until 12 pm, as the name implies.

However, as soon as the clock hits 6 pm, as the penalty of the Early Bird, your character will lose 1 value to all S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats. This might seem like a heavy penalty at first. But the amount of benefit early Bird trait yields for characters during the daytime is definitely a worthy option available to players.

Hoarder

Attribute	Value
Benefits	+25 lbs. is added to your total Carry Weight
Penalties	-1 to SPECIAL stats while your total carrying weight is below 160 lbs.
Form ID	xx01276D

Looting items and using them to your benefit is crucial for success in Fallout New Vegas. A simple killing spree and minding your own business is never going to cut you some slack. For that instance, you may always want to collect the essentials along the way apart from the daily grind of killing.

This is where Hoarder comes in handy by enhancing your carry weight by 25. Since Hoarder Fallout New Vegas trait is part of the Old World Blues DLC, players can easily acquire it by entering the expansion’s quests. You can carry any item that seems worth and loot off the bodies of boss fights and enemies. This will open the doorways to unlimited crafting of weapons and armors.

However, Hoarder also comes with one hefty penalty that will greatly affect your character. Apart from an increase in carrying the weight of 25, your character will have a -1 value to all S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats when your carrying weight drops below 160 lbs. This means you will always have to carry some weight above 160 lbs throughout the journey in New Vegas wasteland.

Fallout New Vegas allows players to build any character to pursue the gameplay of their choice. If a stealing maniac or looter is your playstyle consideration, a Hoarder is a top trait you will need. Especially, Power Armors or Lone Wanderers can consider Hoarder to loot goodies with bonus carry weight.

Built To Destroy

Attribute	Value
Benefits	+3% Critical Chance
Penalties	+15% weapon wear
Form ID	00137B02

Build to Destroy is precisely what the name says – the trait is ideal for the character builds that want to wreak havoc and chaos with bullets, swinging swords, or explosions. Characters with this Fallout New Vegas trait will be dealing heavy damage, instantly killing enemies without putting much effort into grinding. Build to Destroy will be rewarding players a 3% extra Critical Hit chance to kill the enemies despite their level instantly. Eventually, this can be significant assistance as obtaining Criticals is always painful in Fallout New Vegas.

Apart from the substantial trait effect, your weapons will now break at a 15% faster rate than before. Weapon damage is another issue in Fallout New Vegas that moderates their usage while making it more detailed. Meanwhile, weapon damage is not something that you should be worrying about.

You can negate the 3% faster weapon damage penalty by acquiring the Repair skill. Moreover, with the Jury Rigging perk on your character, players can quickly repair their weapons that are deteriorating fast.

Four Eyes

Attribute	Value
Requirements	Perception less than 10 AND higher than 1
Benefits	+2 Perception when wearing glasses
Penalties	-1 to Base Perception
Form ID	00135EC4

Fallout New Vegas traits guides also bring players the Four Eyes trait that is remarkable as it sounds. In essence, Four Eyes will require players to wear eyewear or glasses on the character. With this gear, players will receive +2 values to Perception, thus unlocking a series of perks under the Perception tree.

At the same time, if a player removes the eyewear or glasses, they may lose one value from Perception. Considering the -1 value from the Perception stat will not make much difference to your Perception-based character build. However, +2 matters are significantly going to benefit your character with numerous perks for explosives, lockpicking, and sneak attacks.

In Hardcore mode, most players rely on the sneak character builds that keep the distance from enemies and infiltrate locations silently. You can take advantage of Four Eyes to gain the Perception values and unlock perks like Friend of the Night for extra sneaking effect during missions.

Fast Shot

Attribute	Value
Benefits	Fire Rate increases by 20%, AP costs are decreased by 20% for all firearms with Energy Weapons and Guns
Penalties	Weapon Spread increases by 20%, V.A.T.S Accuracy decreases by 20% for all with Energy Weapons and Guns
Form ID	00135EC7

Fast Shot can also become your best Fallout New Vegas traits. The Gunslinger or Cowboy character will need Fast Shot trait to avail maximum benefits from guns. This trait increases the fire rate of weapons up to 20%. With this faster fire rate, players will do total damage. Not just that, but you will also enjoy 20% less AP cost while considering VATS with firing weapons.

On the other side, the positive effects also come with a hefty cost of 20% less accuracy for your firing weapons. Although, you might not want to worry about accuracy since you will be able to register a pretty good amount of bullets or lasers with Fast Shot. But still, if you are a perfectionist, you can find different weapons perks that will enhance the accuracy by negating the penalty of the trait. To unlock the true potential of the trait, you must use a minigun or a sniper rifle to decimate enemies completely.

Good Natured

Attribute	Value
Benefits	+5 to Barter, Medicine, Repair, Science, and Speech
Penalties	-5 to Energy Weapons, Explosives, Guns, Melee Weapons, and Unarmed
Form ID	00137AFE

Slash and smash are not the only way to play an RPG like Fallout New Vegas. The game also determines speech and numerous other skills to yield a clean and rewarding experience. Good Natured brings the same aspects for your character, by handing out five skills points to Speech, Medicine, Repair, Science and Barter Skills.

Just because you gain extra skills points to the unique character abilities does not mean it is entirely free. Good Natured also has a hefty penalty of -5 skill points from Energy Weapons, Explosives, Guns, Melee Weapons, and Unarmed. This means your character will lose a considerable portion of Damage skills while investing them into Speech, Barter, Repair, Science, and Medicine.

As said earlier, going in with Guns and even Heavy Weapons in Hardcore mode is not going to be an easy feat. For that instance, you might have to push the investments on solving problems rather than causing violence. Good Natured trait will allow players to do less killing and more talking, diving even deeper into the lore of New Vegas.

Wild Wasteland

Attribute	Value
Benefits	Adds additional "wacky" content and modifies existing content and random encounters
Penalties	-
Form ID	000ED568

Wild Wasteland is a prime trait in Fallout New Vegas. This is because Wild Wasteland is unique compared to other traits mentioned earlier. After acquiring the trait, players will experience noticeable changes to the game as the trait will add more random and “Wacky” content for players.

Wacky means more intense and challenging content with quests, making the game even more enjoyable and engaging. You will encounter different crackheads that start quests, investigations, alien ship with members that attacks your character. These encounters are fun to play if you missed them earlier. Or you can kick them up in Hardcore mode to go a little more beyond the experience.

At the same time, the trait will remove some of the Sane content, which you will not need if you are seeking unique content in the game. Wild Wasteland enables unlimited playability by offering new content to play in different styles.

Skilled

Last but not least, Skilled will shine your character abilities with 5 points to every skill. This trait can quickly become the top choice among players because of the enormous addition of points that are completely free to acquire. Although, you will only obtain this trait during the Old World Blues DLC. But the benefits it entails for all types of character builds are off the charts.

Skilled comes with a minor penalty that reduces your Experience Points up to 10%. You will never notice these points when you are leveling up quickly. Combining it with Built to Destroy will overpower your character with the best Critical hits on the enemies.

Final Words

Traits are a great addition to your character that defines your playstyles to explore tons of hidden content that can not be found in the first playthrough. As a completionist, traits must be an essential part of your character to get to the depth of the Fallout New Vegas lore and enjoy the most experience. Despite the aging graphics, the story lore is the top quality of the game, holding the player’s community together for many years.

With the above traits, you can easily create the character that speaks your playstyle and makes it more memorable in different ways. That is about it for the all 16 traits ranked in Fallout New Vegas. Do you find this guide helpful in finding your trait for the character build in Fallout New Vegas? What is your choice of traits for the Fallout New Vegas Hardcore mode? We will love to hear your thoughts in the comments section down below.