Intelligence

Intelligence is one of the Primary Statistics in the SPECIAL character system. It represents knowledge, wisdom and the ability to think quickly. A high Intelligence plays an important role for any kind of character.

Fallout, Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics
Modifies: the number of new Skill Points per level, dialogue options, and many skills.

One of the unique qualities of Fallout and Fallout 2 was the difference in gameplay caused by creating a low intelligence character. If you have a low intelligence, many NPCs will simply shrug you off, while others will insult or even attack you. It is possible to complete the game as an idiot, but most side-quests are impossible to do, and character growth is limited, as is the story involvement possible - while you can certainly bumble through the main quests, almost all plot details and background information will be left missing. Furthermore, due to limited-at-best NPC interaction, almost all side-quests are unavailable. Because of this, playing as a low intelligence character is only recommended for experienced players looking to role-play, or as a humorous replay option.

Intelligence can be raised permanently in Fallout 2 using ACE and the Yellow memory module (+1) and by the Hubologist zeta scan in San Francisco (also +1 luck, though you may have to save/reload to get a bonus rather than a penalty). Mentats give a temporary +2 Intelligence.

Fallout 3
Modifies: Medicine, Repair, and Science skills, as well as the number of new Skill Points per level.

Intelligence determines the number of skill points you receive each time you level up. The base number of skill points gained per level is 10+Intelligence. Skill points gained for raised intelligence are not retroactive for past levels, so increasing this primary stat early if at all is the best. Also, temporary modifiers to intelligence (e.g. from Night Person or Button's Wig) do not affect the number of skill points gained.

One of the methods to maximize skill is to place 9 points in intelligence at character creation, then rush to Rivet City Science Lab and grab the bobblehead once you are out of the vault at level 2. The easiest way to get there is by the west side of river (don't forget to ignore all npcs, so that you don't gain a level accidently). After the Citadel, you can swim around Jefferson Memorial to reach Rivet City. Another strategy is to swim the entire route to Rivet City, thereby avoiding all encounters once you reach the water. If you start the Contract Radiation Sickness objective for the Wasteland Survival Guide quest beforehand, you can Fast Travel back to Megaton afterwords and have your radiation healed for free.

It should be noted that with Comprehension, Bobbleheads, and the base skills, it is entirely possible to reach the magic total of 1300 skill points required to maximize all skills with a merely average Intelligence, even without Educated. It is even possible to max all skills with a starting Intelligence of 1, but this is very difficult, and requires meticulous min-maxing.

Ways to increase Intelligence

 * The Bobblehead - Intelligence is in the Rivet City Lab.
 * The Night Person Perk increases your Perception and Intelligence when the sun is down.
 * The Intense Training perk will allow you to increase your Intelligence (or any other S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stat) once for each time that you take it.
 * Lincoln's Hat and Button's Wig each give +1 to the stat. This does not affect skill points gained at level up, but does increase the relevant skills.
 * Mentats gives a temporary +5 to the stat. This does not affect skill points gained at level up, but does increase the relevant skills.

Fallout: New Vegas
Intelligence affects skill points differently than it did in Fallout 3. The number of skill points gained each level is based on the formula 10 + (0.5 * INT per level, including level 1), where INT is your Intelligence. If you get a non-whole number of skill points per level (e.g. 10.5 for INT 1) it will be saved for the next level up, so you will get 11 skill points for your first level up and 10 on your next.


 * Intelligence currently determines bonuses to the Survival skill, due to a bug.

Educated versus Comprehension
The maximum number of skill points per level is 15 until level 4, 17 if Educated is selected for a total of 487 skill points with the perk and 435 without it. It appears that Comprehension has been reduced in effectiveness (along with the number of permanent skill books), with the existing number of x4 permanent books per skill the total points gained from Comprehension are identical to those of Educated. However there is an optional Big Book of Science that will allow Comprehension to grant more bonus skill points, though the player loses the ability to control the Archimedes II super laser.

Can pick which skills gain the bonus 52 points, making this perk much more effective for players looking at longterm character development.
 * Educated

No control over point distribution, +4 to each skill upon locating all of the books (+5 to Science if optional book is taken). However this perk also allows the player to temporarily boost skills by +20 using magazines, which is convenient throughout the game for shoring up weaknesses in the build.
 * Comprehension

All characters will gain +12 points (+16 with Comprehension) to each skill if all 4 permanent skill books for that skill are found. Science will be +15 or +20 with the optional book.
 * Books

Level names and statistics
Inteligencja Интеллект Intelligence