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Fallout: New Vegas

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Intelligence

By
Nathan Garvin
Skills
Science
Repair
Medicine

Intelligence affects the Science, Repair and Medicine skills. The higher your Intelligence, the more Skill Points you’ll be able to distribute when you level up.

“A smart cowboy’s good at most anything, from suckin’ the poison out of your rattler bit to fixin’ your broken wagon axle.”

Intelligence is again a solid attribute… and even though it has been reduced in potency, the fact remains that a character with higher Intelligence will have higher skills, which does all kinds of good things. Not only will you pass more [Intelligence] checks, but more skills means you’ll pass more skill checks, too, and in New Vegas, there are a lot of them. Simply put, a more Intelligent character is a more versatile, stronger character. And yes, half-points do carry over to next level, so with a 9 Intelligence, you’d get 16 skill points to distribute on one level, and 17 on the next. With all the new DLCs, Intelligence has become somewhat less useful. Sure, with more levels you stand to gain more benefit from each point of Intelligence… but there are so many new levels, so many new books, that you just don’t need as much Intelligence to max out all your skills. Having a high Intelligence is still nice for some dialogue options… but it’s nothing a well-timed Mentat can’t get you.

Intelligence Skills Description
1 +2 Sub-Brick
2 +4 Vegetable
3 +6 Cretin
4 +8 Knucklehead
5 +10 Knowledgeable
6 +12 Gifted
7 +14 Smartypants
8 +16 Know-it-all
9 +18 Genius
10 +20 Omniscient

Start out with six Intelligence. Your first priority in Fallout: New Vegas should be to get the Intelligence Implant from the New Vegas Medical Clinic to ensure you’re gaining as many skill points per level as possible… hence the “New Vegas Medical Clinic Run” section. Again, you don’t need quite as much Intelligence with the expansions installed, so an end total of seven is more than enough.

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Guide Information
  • Publisher
    Bethesda Softworks
  • Platforms,
    PC, PS3, XB 360
  • Genre
    RPG
  • Guide Release
    1 November 2015
  • Last Updated
    7 December 2020
  • Guide Author
    Nathan Garvin

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The year is 2281 - two hundred years after the old world was eradicated by nuclear fire - and now the New California Republic has become powerful along the western coast of what used to be the United State of America. They’ve expanded east into Nevada, but across the Colorado river to the east a united army of tribals - Caesar’s Legion - have been organized under the guise of ancient Rome. War never changes, and impending conflict looms between the two sides, the prize being the Hoover Dam and control over the Mojave. Stuck in the middle are the residents of Nevada and the jewel in the desert; the city of New Vegas. But the mysterious overlord of New Vegas has his own plans for the future of the Mojave…

You are Courier six, an employee of the Mojave Express who has been entrusted with delivering a mysterious Platinum Chip. The delivery goes horribly awry, however, and after you are robbed and nearly killed for the package you were carrying, you must set out in pursuit of your attackers. Along the way you’ll have to navigate the political struggles between factions both large and small, making friends and enemies between the various groups as your actions in the Mojave influence your reputation. Ultimately, a new overlord of the Mojave will be crowned… but will you place that crown upon the brow of Caesar, the New California Republic, the mysterious ruler of New Vegas… or yourself?

  • Character creation strategies including a run-down of SPECIAL attributes, Skills and Perks.
  • An ideal chronological order of events walkthrough that will take you through the entire Mojave.
  • Complete walkthrough of all the main quests and side quests, including faction quests and endings.
  • A power-gamey New Vegas Medical Center run, for those gamers who want to get off to a great start.
  • Information about factions and reputation.
  • The locations of stat-boosting Skill Books, unique weapons and armor and collectible Snowglobes.
  • A Trophy Guide including detailed information (when necessary) about how to obtain all the game’s trophies.
  • Old World Blues DLC.

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