The Outer Worlds 2 perks explained

Wondering how perks work in The Outer Worlds 2? With over 90 perks, the perk system allows you to customize your build so you can refine your playstyle and character.

Now that The Outer Worlds 2 release date isn't far off, we're busy planning our builds, considering the best traits in the RPG game. Alongside weapons and armor in The Outer Worlds 2, we also need to consider perks, and with so many to choose from, each providing extra bonuses such as increasing your health or weapon benefits, here's how they work.

You get to unlock perks on every even character level, and a new tier of perks with every five perks unlocked. By accessing certain perks like Psychopath, you can gain better perks such as Serial Killer, which gives you a max health bonus based on the amount of human hearts you've collected, lovely.

To access some perks, you also need to invest in certain The Outer Worlds 2 skills, such as Sneak if you want to unlock further perks that help you avoid traps and perform sneak attacks.

Here are some of the known The Outer Worlds 2 perks and what they do:

Perk	Description	Effect
Bulletshield	You gain a bonus to damage resistance and max health, but enemies are more likely to target you over your companions.	10% Damage Resistance 10% Base Health
Trophy Hunter	You gain a small innate chance to land a critical hit. This bonus is increased against bosses.	+5% Critical Chance +20% Critical Chance against Bosses
Commando	You unlock an additional weapon equipment slot.	Melee +1 or Guns +1
Sharpshooter	Marksman and sniper rifles deal increased damage at distances >20m, but less below that distance. Sneak attack damage for marksman rifles is also increased.	+100% Sneak Attack Damage +30% Damage to far enemies -15% Damage to near enemies
Pickpocket	Gain the ability to pickpocket others. Pickpocketing can be activated by crouching up to an unaware human and having enough Lockpick skill	N/A
Foodie	Consumed food and drinks heal for more. Additionally, drugs add additional inhaler charge.	+25% healing from Food and Drink +25% inhaler charge from Drugs
Survivalist	Creatures always drop raw meat, which can be eaten as food	N/A
Heavy Handed	Melee power attacks knockdown the enemies hit. Has a cooldown between activations. Cooldown: 10 seconds.	N/A
Ninja	While sprinting or sliding, incoming attacks against you have an increased chance to be outright avoided, increasing your Evasion. This is increased further when in light or medium armor.	Ninja: +10% Evasion Chance in Heavy Armor Ninja: +20% Evasion Chance in Light and Medium Armor
Serial Killer	Humans you kill drop their heart. Gain a bonus to max health for each of these trophies you've collected. The chance to drop is 100% if the target wasn't hostile with you.	+5% Max health per heart collected
Assassin	After scoring a kill from stealth, your movement speed is dramatically increased for a short time.	Movement Speed +100% for 5s

Here's a list of all the perks in The Outer Worlds 2:

Bulletshield
Trophy Hunter
Commando
Sharpshooter
Pickpocket
Heavy Handed
Assassin
Space Ranger
Ninja
Scrapper
Point Blank Artist
Manual Reset
Duelist
Treasure Hunter
Ghost
Pyromaniac
Two Birds, One Bullet
Restricted Access
Inspiring Commander
Psychopath
Automech Jammer
Bag Check
Shiny New Toy
Tossball Winger
Crabble Rancher
Brand Enthusiast
Bandolier Nerd
Serial Killer
Momentous Entry
Foodie
Through the Keyhole
Supersonic Arms
Electro-Therapist
Rapid Recharge
Duelist
Survivalist
Deep Drums
Run and Gun

Though it looks like there are over 90 perks coming to The Outer Worlds 2, these are the ones we've seen so far. We'll be sure to add more as we find them, including what each one does and the skills you need to unlock to get them. In the meantime, find out which companions you can recruit and all the factions they belong to.