Fallout 76 Perks

General information
Like Fallout 4 perks, perk cards in Fallout 76 replace skills from previous titles. Each perk card costs points in its SPECIAL attribute to equip. Cards of higher rank are created by combining 2 identical cards of lower rank. Higher rank cards have greater effects. Players can equip multiple cards within a SPECIAL attribute so long as the total point value of the cards equipped does not exceed the attribute level. The maximum attribute level is 15 for each attribute and 56 across all SPECIALs. Players can swap cards at any time; this can be especially useful when switching between solo and group play.

At each level-up, players can choose 1 SPECIAL attribute to increase as well as a new perk card (use navigation buttons to filter, by SPECIAL type, through unused perk cards). Players will also receive perk card packs at level 4, 6, 8, and 10, and then every 5th level. After level 50, players will continue to level up and receive card packs but cannot increase any SPECIAL attribute. Each pack contains 4 cards, some of which may be level-locked (These perk cards require a minimum level to be equipped and will display a padlock and the level needed to equip them). After level 50, at each level-up, users may either choose a new perk card or reallocate a point from one SPECIAL ability to another ability.

Besides perks that have group effects, perks can be selected to be shared among team members. Each player can only choose one perk to be shared at a time, and the selected perk can be changed at any time during gameplay. However, the player must have a Charisma point level that is at least 3 times the rank of the perk card that is to be shared, regardless of what SPECIAL attribute the shared perk card belongs to.

Some crafting plans require specific perks to be used.

There are 205 unique perk cards in the launch version of the game.

To unlock every perk and maximize them, the player must reach at least level 543.

Strength
Each point of strength adds 5 lbs of carry capacity, starting with 155 lbs at Strength 1.

Nuclear Winter
There is a separate collection of perk cards when playing Nuclear Winter. Some cards are upgraded versions of the ones found in Adventure/Survival mode, while some are brand new and exclusive to the Nuclear Winter game mode. All perk cards still have a SPECIAL point requirement, so the player character will need points allocated in certain SPECIAL attributes in order to equip the perk cards they desire. Unfortunately, there is no way to change your SPECIAL point allocations while playing in Nuclear Winter mode at this time, so the player will have to change it in Adventure/Survival mode, instead.

If the player enters Nuclear Winter with their Adventure/Survival mode character, they will retain all of their SPECIAL point allocations but lose all of the passive stats that go along with them.

The player character has the ability to pick only seven perk cards for a round of Nuclear Winter. However, they will have the opportunity to change their card selections prior to the round starting, while the player character is able to explore Vault 51 while waiting in a queue for a match to start. The player character is not able to change their perk card selections during the match itself.

The Legendary Race
Legendary perks are a term for the 16 powerful, passive abilities equippable to the player character, with the first legendary slot unlocking at level 50, and new ones at certain level milestones onward at 75, 100, 150, 200, and 300. Upon unlocking a slot, a single legendary perk card can be chosen and fit into that slot, offering its bonus immediately.

Each legendary perk has four ranks and can be leveled up with "perk coins", which can be earned by scrapping unused normal perk cards.

Legendary perk slots are account-wide, so those slots will be instantly available on any new character, allowing a varying degree of legendary perk cards for each possible build, though without the benefit of having them at the maximum rank.