Introduction
Fallout: New Vegas. The very name conjures images of a desolate Mojave Wasteland, desperate factions vying for control, and a Courier with a bullet in the brain. But before you can even step foot into that iconic landscape, you’re faced with a critical decision: choosing your character’s traits. These permanent modifications can dramatically shape your experience, turning you into a charismatic diplomat, a stealthy assassin, or a heavily armored tank. Selecting the wrong traits can lead to a frustrating playthrough, while the right ones can unlock your character’s full potential. The key is understanding which traits offer the most significant advantages and how they synergize with your desired playstyle.
Picking the right traits in New Vegas isn’t just about surviving; it’s about thriving. It’s about crafting a narrative, forging your own path, and leaving your mark on the Mojave. I once made the mistake of choosing ‘Wild Wasteland’ thinking it would be a hilarious addition. While it did add some quirky encounters, it ultimately felt like a wasted trait slot that could have significantly boosted my combat abilities. That’s when I realized the importance of carefully considering each trait and how it fits into your overall build.
This guide is designed to provide you with a comprehensive understanding of the best traits New Vegas has to offer. We’ll delve into their benefits, explore their drawbacks, and ultimately help you make informed decisions to create the ultimate Courier, ready to conquer the Mojave.
Understanding Traits in New Vegas
Traits in Fallout: New Vegas are essentially permanent modifiers to your character’s stats, skills, or abilities. They are chosen during the initial character creation process, adding a layer of strategic depth to the game. Unlike perks, which are acquired as you level up, traits are set in stone from the very beginning, meaning their impact is felt throughout your entire playthrough.
You’re allotted two precious trait slots to customize your Courier. Given the limited number, it’s vital to choose traits that offer substantial advantages or complement your chosen playstyle. Some traits are universally beneficial, providing boosts to essential stats or skills, while others are more situational, catering to specific builds or roleplaying preferences.
It is also worth noting that there is a way to respec your character’s stats and traits once in the game, through the *Old World Blues* DLC. It is a quest that can be started around level fifteen and by the end of the DLC, you get to use a machine that will remove one trait, all traits, or both stats and traits. It is worth researching as it does impact the initial character building decisions for many people.
The Must-Have Traits: Top Tier Choices
Some traits in New Vegas simply stand above the rest, offering such significant advantages that they’re practically indispensable for most character builds. These are the traits that provide the most bang for your buck, significantly enhancing your character’s capabilities and overall survivability.
Small Frame
This trait grants you a permanent increase of one point to your Agility stat, but comes with the downside of increased limb damage. Agility is arguably one of the most valuable SPECIAL stats in New Vegas, affecting your Action Points (AP), which are crucial for VATS combat, your skill points available for key skills like Sneak and Guns, and your overall movement speed. The increased limb damage can be mitigated with good armor, healing items, or perks that reduce limb damage, making the Agility boost well worth the trade-off. Almost any build can benefit from Small Frame. It elevates combat effectiveness and opens up opportunities for more strategic gameplay.
Skilled
This trait is a powerhouse for early-game skill progression. It provides a permanent plus five to all skills, allowing you to immediately excel in a wider range of tasks. The downside is a ten percent reduction in experience gained. It does mean you’ll level up slightly slower at the start, but the initial boost to your skills is invaluable, allowing you to pass skill checks, craft better items, and perform more effectively in combat from the very beginning. More so, the experience point drawback diminishes greatly as you level up and is practically nonexistent by the end game. Skills are the backbone of character progression in New Vegas, and Skilled gives you a significant head start.
Solid Choices: Situational or Build-Dependent Traits
While the previous traits are generally beneficial, others shine in specific situations or for particular character builds. These are traits that offer strong advantages but require careful consideration of your playstyle and character goals.
Good Natured
If you envision your Courier as a smooth-talking diplomat or a compassionate healer, Good Natured could be an excellent choice. It grants a plus five bonus to non-combat skills like Speech, Barter, Medicine, Repair, and Science, but subtracts five from combat skills. In the early game, this makes combat more challenging. However, if you plan to rely on dialogue options, skill checks, and creative problem-solving to navigate the Wasteland, the boost to non-combat skills will be invaluable. The Good Natured trait is perfect for pacifist builds or characters focused on diplomacy and quest completion.
Built to Destroy
If you prefer a high-risk, high-reward playstyle focused on critical hits, Built to Destroy is definitely worth considering. It increases your critical hit chance by three percent, allowing you to deal massive damage more frequently, however it also makes weapons degrade faster. If you’re willing to invest in weapon maintenance or acquire the Jury Rigging perk (which allows you to repair weapons with similar types), the increased critical hit chance can significantly boost your damage output, especially when combined with other critical hit-enhancing perks and weapons. Built to Destroy is best suited for characters who utilize VATS frequently and focus on maximizing their damage potential.
Fast Shot
For the player that prefers a spray and pray build or using automatic weapons, the Fast Shot trait will be useful. The player will fire all projectile weapons at a higher rate of speed, however, the trade off is reduced accuracy. For weapons that are already highly accurate, it may be a waste of a trait, but for those weapons that have a high rate of fire and low accuracy, it greatly increases damage per second (DPS).
Traits to Avoid: Underpowered or Detrimental
Not all traits are created equal, and some are simply not worth the investment. These traits often come with drawbacks that outweigh their benefits or offer advantages that are easily obtainable through other means.
Trigger Discipline
While this trait does improve weapon accuracy, the cost of a slower firing rate is simply too high for most builds. In New Vegas, DPS (damage per second) is often more important than pinpoint accuracy, especially in close-quarters combat or against multiple enemies.
Heavy Handed
While the bonus to melee damage might seem appealing at first glance, the reduction in critical hit chance is a significant drawback. Critical hits are a crucial component of many melee builds, and sacrificing that potential for a small damage boost is rarely worth it.
Wild Wasteland
This trait introduces more odd encounters, references and changes some events or weapon locations. However, it doesn’t offer any tangible benefits to your character’s stats or abilities. While the added absurdity can be entertaining, it ultimately occupies a valuable trait slot that could be used for something more impactful.
Trait Combinations and Builds
The real power of traits lies in their ability to synergize with each other, creating unique and specialized character builds. By carefully selecting traits that complement your desired playstyle, you can craft a Courier who is truly unstoppable.
The Skill Monkey
Skilled + Good Natured. This build is all about maximizing your character’s skills, allowing you to excel in a wide range of tasks and overcome almost any challenge. You’ll be able to breeze through skill checks, craft the best items, and navigate social situations with ease. This build is perfect for pacifist runs or players who enjoy exploring every nook and cranny of the Mojave Wasteland.
The VATS Assassin
Small Frame + Built to Destroy. This deadly combination turns you into a master of VATS combat, capable of unleashing devastating critical hits with pinpoint accuracy. You’ll be able to take down even the toughest enemies with a single well-placed shot, making you a force to be reckoned with in the Mojave Wasteland.
The High DPS build
Small Frame + Fast Shot. This deadly combination turns you into a monster with automatic weapons, using the faster fire rate to unleash incredible damage per second on your enemies.
Conclusion
Choosing the right traits is a critical step in creating a successful and enjoyable Fallout: New Vegas experience. By carefully considering the benefits and drawbacks of each trait and how they synergize with your desired playstyle, you can craft a Courier who is perfectly suited to conquer the challenges of the Mojave Wasteland. Experiment, explore different combinations, and most importantly, have fun discovering the endless possibilities that New Vegas has to offer. Remember, there’s no single “best” build, the best build is the one that you enjoy playing the most. Now get out there and make your mark on the Mojave!
