Character Skills in general
Character Skills are the essence of fun in Wasteland 3. You develop Character Skills with your character using Skill Points along with gaining new experience levels, +3 SP per level.
An additional way to earn Skill Points is by reading Skill Books, which can be found while exploring the land.
Each Skill has 10 ranks, the cost of upgrading a Skill to the next rank increases as it rises and goes from 1 Skill Point per rank to 6 Skill Points per 10th rank.
Character Skills in Wasteland 3 are closely related to unlocking more Character Perks and Abilities.
Subsequent ranks in Skill, apart from increasing the strength of a given Skill, unlock the possibility of learning specific for a given Skill - Character Perk or Ability.
Here you will find a full list of Character Perks in Wasteland 3 assigned to specific Skills.
Suggested Character Skills
Skills suggested for all characters
All characters that you play actively and who take part in battles should have at least one or two Skills from the Combat Skills group, i.e. Automatic Weapons, Big Guns, Brawling, Melee Combat, Small Arms or Sniper Rifles.
When choosing Combat Skills, remember that there are several types of ammunition and each of them is more or less limited and the more sophisticated the type of weapon, the harder it will be to get ammunition.
So try to split different types of weapons among the different members of your Team, and maybe teach them to fight with weapons that do not require ammunition.
Another Skill that every active character should have at least for 1st rank is First Aid, you will need it to heal and use healing items.
Skills for specialists you play with
You need at least one (and one is enough) active character that you play with one (or more) of the skills below well developed.
Explosives - to disarm mines and traps
First Aid - for more serious treatment
Sneaky Shit - for disarm alarms and spot hidden objects
Lockpicking - to open containers, doors, and other locked objects
Nerd Stuff - to use and hack computers
Mechanics - repair vehicles, generators and other machines
Skills for your Team Leader
Leadership - to inspire your nearby allies and grants you abilities
Kiss Ass - allows you to sweet-talk information
Hard Ass - allows you to intimidate others
Skills you don't need at all times
If you have Skill Points to teach your active characters these skills then do so, but you might as well create separate characters that you don't play all the time, who will be waiting with the necessary skills in Ranger HQ for the moment you want to use them.
These skills are: Barter, Weapon Modding, Toaster Repair, Survival and Armor Modding.
You Companion Skills
Another method of having the necessary skills is to use Companions, some of them have well developed skills that you may need.
Combat Skills
Combat Skills in Wasteland 3 are Automatic Weapons, Big Guns, Brawling, Melee Combat, Small Arms or Sniper Rifles.
Automatic Weapons
Makes you more effective with submachine guns and assault rifles.
Recommended Attributes: Coordination, Awareness, Speed
Up to:
- Assault Rifle Hit Chance: +30%
- Submachine Gun Hit Chance: +30%
Big Guns
Makes you more effective with heavy machine guns, flamethrowers, and other oversized weapons.
Recommended Attributes: Awareness, Coordination, Strength
Up to:
- Heavy Machine Gun Hit Chance: +30%
- Flamethrower Hit Chance: +30%
Brawling
Makes you more effective with fist-based weapons. Brawlers start out weak but have great potential at high levels.
Recommended Attributes: Coordination, Intelligence, Charisma
Up to:
- Combat Speed: +0,5
- Brawling Weapon Hit Chance: +30%
Melee Combat
Makes you more effective with bladed and blunt weapons.
Recommended Attributes: Strength, Coordination, Speed
Up to:
- Blunt Weapon Hit Chance: +30%
- Bladed Weapon Hit Chance: +30%
Small Arms
Makes you more effective with handguns and shotguns.
Recommended Attributes: Coordination, Luck, Awareness
Up to:
- Semi Auto Pistol Hit Chance: +30%
- Revolver Hit Chance: +30%
- Pump Shotgun Hit Chance: +30%
- Auto Shotgun Hit Chance: +30%
Sniper Rifles
Makes you more effective with sniper rifles.
Recommended Attributes: Intelligence, Awareness, Luck
Up to:
- Sniper Rifle Hit Chance: +30%
General Skills
General Skills in Wasteland 3 are: Animal Whisperer, Explosives, First Aid, Sneaky Shit and Weird Science
Animal Whisperer
Allows you to tame friendly animals to follow you, and temporarily tame hostile animals in combat (level 3 and above).
Up to:
- Tame Animals (Difficulty 10 or Less)
- Animal Companion Damage: +50%
Explosives
Allows you to deal more damage with explosives, defuse bombs, and avoid losing your digits when they go off.
Up to:
- Explosive Resistance: +30%
- Explosive Damage Bonus: +50%
- Disarm Land Mines and Traps (Difficulty 10 or Less)
First Aid
Makes you more effective when using healing items and reviving squad members.
Up to:
- Healing Item Effectiveness: +30%
- Healing When Reviving Allies: +100%
- Use Healing Items Requiring 10 First Aid
Sneaky Shit
Makes it easier to disarm alarms, evade detection, spot hidden objects, and damage unaware enemies.
Up to:
- Perception: +10
- Initiative: +40%
- Detection Time: +3
- Seconds Sneak Attack Damage: +100%
- Disarm Alarms (Difficulty 10 or Less)
Weird Science
Increases the damage you deal with unconventional types of weapons, and serves as a requirement for exotic, hightech equipment.
Up to:
- Energy Damage Bonus: +30%
- Fire Damage Bonus: +30%
- Cold Damage Bonus: +30%
- Use Items Requiring 10 Weird Science
Exploration Skills
Exploration Skills in Wasteland 3 are: Armor Modding, Lockpicking, Nerd Stuff, Mechanics, Survival, Toaster Repair and Weapon Modding
Armor Modding
Allows you to modify armor, granting it increased protection and additional benefits.
Up to:
- Install Armor Mods (Difficulty 10 or Less)
Lockpicking
Allows you to open containers, doors, and other locked objects.
Up to:
- Pick Locks (Difficulty 10 or Less)
- Crack Safes (Difficulty 10 or Less)
Nerd Stuff
Allows you to use and hack computers, and turn hostile robots to your side.
Up to:
- Hack Computers (Difficulty 10 or Less)
- Hack Robots (Difficulty 10 or Less)
Mechanics
You can repair vehicles, generators and other machines more effectively. You also do more damage to mechanical foes.
Up to:
- Damage vs. Robots: +30%
- Damage vs. Vehicles: +30%
- Damage vs. Synths: +30%
- Fix Generators and Machines (Difficulty 10 or Less)
- Repair Kit Effectiveness: +30%
- Use Items Requiring 10 Mechanics
Survival
Improves your ability to avoid dangers on the World Map, and contend with hostile wildlife.
Up to:
- Damage Vs. Animals: +30%
- Damage Vs. Mutants: +30%
- Avoid World Map Encounters (Difficulty 10 or Less)
Toaster Repair
Allows you to repair broken toasters.
Up to:
- Repair Toasters (Difficulty 10 or Less)
Weapon Modding
Allows you to modify your weapons, and strip them down for parts.
Up to:
- Install Weapon Mods (Difficulty 10 or Less)
- Field Stripping Scrap: +100%
Social Skills
Social Skills in Wasteland 3 are: Barter, Hard Ass, Kiss Ass and Leadership
Barter
Allows you to buy items for less, and sell them for more.
Up to:
- Sell Value: +500%
- Buy Cost: -10%
Hard Ass
Allows you to intimidate others to do what you want and throw them off guard.
Up to:
- Succeed at Hard Ass Skill Checks (Difficulty 10 or Less)
Kiss Ass
Allows you to sweet-talk information out of others and bring them to your way of thinking.
Up to:
- Succeed at Kiss Ass Skill Checks (Difficulty 10 or Less)
Leadership
Inspires your nearby allies, and grants you abilities to command the battlefield.
Up to:
- Nearby Allies Gain: +10%
- Hit Chance Ally Bonus on Boss Kill: +25%
- Damage Ally Bonus on Multi-Kill: +20%
- Crit Chance Ally Bonus on Revive: +20% Con Healed
