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You're not stupid! Just...different. The main advantage is the accrual of XP at a faster-than-normal pace, which allows you to level up, receive a Perk Point, and gain more levels and perks with haste. If you’re going the Idiot Savant route for huge XP bumps, make sure you scour merchants. Since you'll never get Gun Nut or Science, you can still find mods for sale at pretty reasonable rates. Intelligence-reducing apparel also helps, too.— Fallout 4 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide

Idiot Savant is a Luck perk in Fallout 4.

Effects[]

Taking ranks of this perk grants a random chance to receive a 3x multiplier to XP, the frequency of which is determined by how low Intelligence is. Higher ranks increase the multiplier to 5x, in addition to granting a random chance to receive 3x XP when killing for a short duration, again determined by how low Intelligence is.

Ranks[]

Rank Requirements Description Form ID
1 LCK 5 You're not stupid! Just... different. Randomly receive 3x XP from any action, and the lower your Intelligence, the greater the chance. 001D245E
2 LCK 5, LVL 11 You now randomly receive 5x XP from any action. The lower your Intelligence, the greater the chance. 001D245F
3 LCK 5, LVL 34 Randomly receiving bonus XP from any action may trigger 3x XP for all kills for a short period of time. The lower your Intelligence, the greater the chance. 001D2460

Rank 1 & 2, at an Intelligence stat of 1, grants an 11% chance to get 3x, then 5x XP, with each stat increase of Intelligence lowering the chance by 1%. The minimum chance is 1% at an Intelligence of 11 or higher, and the net result is that at any Intelligence level, increasing your rank in this perk (up to 2) is better than increasing your Intelligence for the purposes of accruing experience. Rank 3's kill-XP-gain duration lasts 60 seconds in total and works independently of the XP bonuses from ranks 1 and 2.

Comparison to Intelligence-based XP gain[]

Intelligence Multiplier from INT Chance Average at Perk Level Overall at Perk Level
1 2+ 1 2+
1 1.03 11% 1.22 1.44 1.257 1.4832
2 1.06 10% 1.20 1.40 1.272 1.484
3 1.09 9% 1.18 1.36 1.286 1.4824
4 1.12 8% 1.16 1.32 1.30 1.4784
5 1.15 7% 1.14 1.28 1.311 1.472
6 1.18 6% 1.12 1.24 1.322 1.4632
7 1.21 5% 1.1 1.20 1.331 1.452
8 1.24 4% 1.08 1.16 1.339 1.4384
9 1.27 3% 1.06 1.12 1.346 1.4224
10 1.30 2% 1.04 1.08 1.352 1.404
11 1.33 1% 1.02 1.04 1.3566 1.3832
12 1.36 1.3872 1.4144
13 1.39 1.4178 1.4456
14 1.42 1.4484 1.4768
15 1.45 1.479 1.508
16 1.48 1.5096 1.5392
17 1.51 1.5402 1.5704
18 1.54 1.5708 1.6016
19 1.57 1.6014 1.6328
20 1.60 1.632 1.664
30 1.90 1.938 1.976
40 2.20 2.244 2.288
50 2.50 2.55 2.6

When comparing the value of a perk point put into raising Intelligence versus XP gained through Idiot Savant, one can compare benefits above. Each point in Intelligence improves experience gain by 3%. Consulting the above table, it can be seen that with Rank 2 of this perk, average experience gain is optimized at 2 INT and actually drops with each additional Intelligence point until very high levels of Intelligence (15+).

Notes[]

  • Idiot Savant events are tracked in the Pip-Boy Data under "Bright Ideas."
  • When the perk activates, a laughing Vault-Boy appears above the compass, and one of several possible laughing sounds are heard. The experience that would have been earned will instead be boosted to 3x (for rank 1) or 5x (for rank 2 and above). This boost is multiplicative with any normally additive experience bonuses from being Well Rested or having high Intelligence itself.
  • When Rank 3's kill experience duration activates, it temporarily shuts off the chance of getting bonus experience, including the bonus experience that would have been gained from the action triggering the rank 3 ability. Because of this, rank 3 may beget a net loss of expected experience, depending on playstyle.
  • When Rank 3's effect triggers, a blank perk with no name, description or picture will appear at the top of the perk list under stats. This represents the temporary 3x XP kill bonus.
  • With only one level in this perk, more overall experience is gained by having a higher Intelligence score. Because the second rank of this Perk is not available until Level 11, a character with an Intelligence of 2 may actually find themselves at an experience deficit for several levels compared to a character with 10 or more Intelligence.
  • This perk can trigger even upon completing a quest, which typically grants a large amount of experience. For some quests that complete when ending dialogue is finished rather than when it starts, making a save and reloading if the perk doesn't trigger will allow the massive XP gain to happen eventually.

Behind the scenes[]

The term "idiot savant" is an obsolete term in psychology for Savant syndrome, where a person with neurological disorders or brain injuries displays exceptional skill in a specific field.

Bugs[]

PCPC Playstation 4Playstation 4 Xbox OneXbox One If the Idiot Savant perk activates when turning in a quest, one will sometimes not get the 3x or 5x multiple of experience points.[verified]

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