There are 12 Companion Perks in Fallout 4 (FO4). Check out our guide for a list of all companion perks, best companion perks, companion perk effects, how to get them, and find out if companions have to be with you to activate the Companion Perk!
| Companion Perk Guides | |
|---|---|
| Best Companion Perks | Companion Perk IDs |
List of Contents
- All Companion Perks List
- Best Companion Perks Tier List
- Are Companion Perks Permanently Active?
- What are Companion Perks?
- Related Guides
All Companion Perks List
Companion Perks and How to Get
| Companion Perk | Effect and How to Get |
|---|---|
| Berserk | Effect:Deal 20% more melee weapon damage when health falls below 25%.How to Get:Reach Maximum Affinity with Strong.Companion: Strong |
| Cloak and Dagger | Effect:Increases Stealth Boy duration by 40% and deal 20% more sneak attack damage.How to Get:Reach Maximum Affinity with Deacon.Companion: Deacon |
| Close to Metal | Effect:50% faster terminal cooldowns and gain one extra guess when hacking.How to Get:Reach Maximum Affinity with Nick Valentine and complete the Long Time Coming companion quest.Companion: Nick Valentine |
| Combat Medic | Effect:Heal 100 HP when health falls below 10% (once per day).How to Get:Reach Maximum Affinity with Curie and complete the Emergent Behavior companion quest.Companion: Curie |
| Gift of Gab | Effect:Earn Double XP for successful speech checks and discovering new locations.How to Get:Reach Maximum Affinity with Piper.Companion: Piper |
| Isodoped | Effect:Get 20% faster Critical Hits when receiving 250 Radiation Damage.How to Get:Reach Maximum Affinity with Hanco*ck.Companion: Hanco*ck |
| Killshot | Effect:Increases headshot accuracy in V.A.T.S. by 20%.How to Get:Reach Maximum Affinity with MacCready and complete the Long Road Ahead companion quest.Companion: MacCready |
| Know Your Enemy | Effect:Deal 20% more damage to Feral Ghouls, Super Mutants, and Synths.How to Get:Reach Maximum Affinity with Paladin Danse.Companion: Paladin Danse |
| Robot Sympathy | Effect:Receive +10 damage resistance against robot energy weapons.How to Get:Reach Maximum Affinity with Codsworth.Companion: Codsworth |
| Shield Harmonics | Effect:Receive +20 Energy ResistanceHow to Get:Reach Maximum Affinity with X6-88.Companion: X6-88 |
| Trigger Rush | Effect:Action Points regenerate faster when health falls below 25%.How to Get:Reach Maximum Affinity with Cait and complete the Benign Intervention companion quest.Companion: Cait |
| United We Stand | Effect:Deal 20% more damage and gain +20 Damage Resistance when facing three or more enemies.How to Get:Reach Maximum Affinity with Preston Garvey.Companion: Preston Garvey |
Best Companion Perks Tier List
Overall Best Companion Perks Tier List
| Companion Perks Tier List | |
|---|---|
 S-Tier | Killshot Combat Medic United We Stand |
 A-Tier | Know Your Enemy Cloak and Dagger Gift of Gab |
 B-Tier | Trigger Rush Berserk Shield Harmonics Robot Sympathy |
 C-Tier | Close to Metal Isodoped |
1. Killshot
| Effect | Increases headshot accuracy in V.A.T.S. by 20%. |
|---|---|
| Unlock Req. | Reach Max Affinity with MacCready and complete the Long Road Ahead companion quest. |
Killshot is the best Companion Perk in Fallout 4 due to its ability to improve your headshot accuracy while in V.A.T.S. mode. The head is the weakest point of most enemies in the game, so you'll definitely want to increase your chances of hitting that vital spot.
2. Combat Medic
| Effect | Heal 100 HP when health falls below 10% (once per day). |
|---|---|
| Unlock Req. | Reach Max Affinity with Curie and complete the Emergent Behavior companion quest. |
Combat Medic is a great companion perk, since it can save you from the brink of death by healing you to a 100 HP as soon as your health is very low. The only downside is that this perk only activates once per in-game day.
3. United We Stand
| Effect | Deal 20% more damage and gain +20 Damage Resistance when facing three or more enemies. |
|---|---|
| Unlock Req. | Reach Max Affinity with Preston Garvey. |
United We Stand comes in extremely useful, as there will be a lot of times where you'll be going up against several enemies at the same time, so receiving a buff to Damage and Damage Resistance can increase your odds of surviving these deadly encounters.
4. Know Your Enemy
| Effect | Deal 20% more damage to Feral Ghouls, Super Mutants, and Synths. |
|---|---|
| Unlock Req. | Reach Max Affinity with Paladin Danse. |
Know Your Enemy is a good combat perk as you will often encounter a lot of Ghouls, Super Mutants, and Synths in the game. You'll be able to kill these types of enemies within mere seconds due to the damage buff that you'll receive when facing them.
5. Cloak and Dagger
| Effect | Increases Stealth Boy duration by 40% and deal 20% more sneak attack damage. |
|---|---|
| Unlock Req. | Reach Maximum Affinity with Deacon. |
Cloak and Dagger's perk effect is not only restricted to Stealth builds, but also works for aggressive playstyles as you can inflict bonus damage when ambushing unsuspecting enemies.
6. Gift of Gab
| Effect | Earn Double XP for successful speech checks and discovering new locations. |
|---|---|
| Unlock Req. | Reach Max Affinity with Piper. |
Gift of Gab is a good perk to have for bonus XP and leveling up fast due to the vast amount of locations and settlements, as well as speech check dialogues in the game.
7. Trigger Rush
| Effect | Action Points regenerate faster when health falls below 25%. |
|---|---|
| Unlock Req. | Reach Max Affinity with Cait and complete the Benign Intervention companion quest. |
Trigger Rush is a high risk, high reward perk as you'll need your health to be below 25 percent for it to activate. When it's active, your Action Points will recover quicker, allowing you to spam V.A.T.S. mode multiple times during drastic situations and may even save your life at the very last second.
8. Berserk
| Effect | Deal 20% more melee weapon damage when health falls below 25%. |
|---|---|
| Unlock Req. | Reach Max Affinity with Strong. |
Berserk is a suitable perk for Melee weapon users as the perk activates when you're low on health, and most likely your health points will always be low since you're going to take a lot of damage when fighting in close-quarters combat.
9. Shield Harmonics
| Effect | Receive +20 Energy Resistance |
|---|---|
| Unlock Req. | Reach Max Affinity with X6-88 |
Shield Harmonics is a perk that only shines in late game, as enemies using energy weapons are not that common early on. Nonetheless, it's still a decent perk to have to survive against Brotherhood of Steel soldiers using laser rifles and gatling lasers.
10. Robot Sympathy
| Effect | Receive +10 damage resistance against robot energy weapons. |
|---|---|
| Unlock Req. | Reach Max Affinity with Codsworth. |
Robot Sympathy is a handy perk when infiltrating locations with a lot of security robots and turrets guarding the place, since it toughens up your resistance from robot energy weapons.
11. Close to Metal
| Effect | 50% faster terminal cooldowns and gain one extra guess when hacking. |
|---|---|
| Unlock Req. | Reach Max Affinity with Nick Valentine and complete the Long Time Coming companion quest. |
Close to Metal is probably one of the useless companion perks since you can just save your game before attempting to hack a terminal and then reload that file if ever you fail your hacking attempt.
12. Isodoped
| Effect | Get 20% faster Critical Hits when receiving 250 Radiation Damage. |
|---|---|
| Unlock Req. | Reach Max Affinity with Hanco*ck. |
Isodoped is a very risky companion perk because you'll need to absorb a certain amount of radiation for it to activate. You can find different alternatives to build up Critical Hits faster, such as investing in the Critical Banker perk.
Are Companion Perks Permanently Active?
Companions Don't Have to be With You for Companion Perk to be Active
Once you have unlocked a Companion Perk, that perk is yours forever and will remain active even without the companion in your party.
It is highly recommended that you drop a companion immediately upon gaining access to their perk and move on to unlocking another companion perk until you get all of them!
What are Companion Perks?
Unique Perks Unlocked by Reaching Max Affinity
Companion Perks are unique abilities of companions that are unlocked by reaching maximum affinity with them. These perks usually provide a boost in stats to specific weapon types, buff your resistance to different types of damage, and many more passive bonuses that can help in combat.
You can increase affinity of a companion by doing various actions in-game that they like. Most of them will approve good deeds, while others prefer you dive into evil activities.
Fallout 4 Related Guides
List of All Companions
All Companions
| All Companions in Fallout 4 | |
|---|---|
| Cait | Codsworth |
| Curie | Deacon |
| Dogmeat | Hanco*ck |
| MacCready | Nick Valentine |
| Paladin Danse | Piper |
| Preston Garvey | Strong |
| X6-88 | |
Other Companion Guides
| Other Companion Guides | |
|---|---|
| All Companion Perks List | All Romance Options |
