“Covers a variety of high-technology skills, such as computers, biology, physics, and geology.”— In-game description
Science is a skill in Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout 3, Fallout Tactics, and Fallout: New Vegas.
Fallout and Fallout Tactics
Example: A starting Intelligence of 5.
The Fallout Tactics 1.27 patch notes readme file says:
“The science bonus to criticals on robots is working properly”
suggesting that Science somehow affects critical chance or effectiveness against robots (at least in Tactics).
Uses
- Improve Shady Sands' agriculture
- Disable robots at The Glow
- Hack the location of Mariposa Military Base at the Los Angeles Vault
- Hack computers at Mariposa
Ways to increase
- Big Book of Science: permanent increase up to 91%
- Lost Hills, Vree: permanent +15%, ask for a computer course
Fallout 2
Example: A starting Intelligence of 5.
Uses
- The Den: Persuade Vic's guard at the Slaver's Guild to speak with Vic
- Vault 8: Find some endorphin blockers to make a cure for Jet, gain combat implants, use the library terminal for experience
- Gecko: Talk to Enclave communications officer using Gecko's nuclear power plant terminal
- Broken Hills: Divert more electrical power to Eric's home
- New Reno: Ask Big Jesus Mordino about his health, bust up Wright's still beneath the train station
- Stables: Obtain a Stables ID badge from Marjorie Reed, ask Myron to make super stimpaks
- Sierra Army Depot: use and hack various terminals, assemble body for Skynet
- New California Republic: Receive the Test mutagenic serum on a super-mutant quest from Dr. Henry, repair the NCR force field terminal if Officer Jack destroys it, use Roger Westin's force field terminal, use the Vortis' holding center terminal in order to free the slaves in the slave pen
- Vault 15: Diagnose the problem with the generator on level 2, obtain Vault 13's location using the library terminal on level 3, use the force field terminal on level 3, obtain the NCR spy holodisk using the terminal on level 3 near Darion
- San Francisco: Use and hack the Shi Emperor mainframe
- Navarro: Use and hack the Central Computer terminal (next to Enclave technician), install the K-9 motivator to fix K-9
- Enclave Oil Rig: use the DataPlex 2000 SmarTerminal, receive a reward from Enclave Oil Rig trap room puzzle
Ways to increase
- Big Book of Science: permanent increase up to 91%
Fallout 3
Example: A starting Intelligence of 5 and Luck of 5.
Science primarily allows you to hack terminals using a mini-game. Certain terminals have different difficulty levels, and different Science skill levels are required to hack them. The difficulty ratings and skill levels are: Very Easy (15), Easy (25), Average (50), Hard (75), and Very Hard (100). Your Science skill relative to the difficulty rating affects how hard the minigame is (at Science 100, average terminals are a breeze, presenting only about 5 possible passwords). Harder terminals have more words, longer words, and fewer brackets. Higher leveled science may cause bugs that cause the opposite to be true where high level terminals have about eight long passwords and one to two brackets while very easy terminals have twenty to thirty passwords and no brackets whatsoever
Ways to increase Science
"Always be prepared to explain the hows and the whys."
- Permanent
- Leveling up (10+INT (+3 with Educated perk))
- Bobblehead - Science (+10)
- Big Book of Science (+1 or +2 with Comprehension)
- Daddy's Boy/Girl (+5 for each rank, max 3 ranks)
- Tag! (+15)
- Survival Expert (+2, 4 or 6)
- Covert Ops (+3) (Operation: Anchorage)
- Temporary
- Mentats (+2-10 depending on Intelligence, a perfect Intelligence of 10 will see no benefits)
- Enclave scientist outfit (+5)
- Lesko's lab coat (+10)
- Scientist outfit (+5)
- The Surgeon's lab coat (+5)
- Vault lab uniform (+5)
- Lab coat (+5) (Broken Steel)
Perks that require Science skill
| Perk | Required | Level | Additional Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entomologist | 40 | 4 | Intelligence 4 |
| Nerd Rage! | 50 | 10 | Intelligence 5 |
| Robotics Expert | 50 | 12 | |
| Cyborg | 60 | 14 | Medicine 60 |
| Computer Whiz | 70 | 18 | Intelligence 7 |
| Quantum Chemist | 70 | 22 |
Interactions that require Science skill
- 50 Science to hack the RobCo production facility mainframe during the quest Wasteland Survival Guide.
- 50 Science to reactivate the robots during the quest Big Trouble in Big Town.
- 60 Science to unlock certain dialogue options with Doctor Lesko during the quest Those!. This allows you to learn he had been using a modified form of Forced Evolutionary Virus to induce pyrosis reactions in giant ants, creating fire ants.
- 75 Science skill to disarm a slave collar.
- 75 Science to modify healing archways to fully heal the player, though this reduces their number of uses to three. (Mothership Zeta)
- 75 Science to hack the mobile base crawlers' mainframe. (Broken Steel)
- 80 Science to deactivate the repulsion fields aboard the crawler. (Broken Steel)
- 60 Science to bypass the Speech check required to convince John Henry Eden to self-destruct during the The American Dream.
Fallout: New Vegas
“The Science skill represents your combined scientific knowledge and is primarily used to hack restricted computer terminals. It can be used for conversion and recycling of Energy Weapon ammunition at the workbenches. Some crafting recipes also require Science.”
Example: A starting Intelligence of 5 and Luck of 5.
Like in Fallout 3, your Science skill relative to the difficulty rating affects how hard the mini game is. Notably, at Science 100, even Hard terminals will have very few words to choose from. This can possibly be as low as 5 possible passwords which, combined with the Computer Whiz perk, means an 80% chance of getting most terminals off the bat without even having to look at the words.
Unlike Fallout 3, your Science is used for more than a few random dialogue checks and hacking. Many workbench crafting recipes, and some campfire recipes, rely on Science, specifically ones involving Energy Weapons ammunition and chem crafting.
Ways to increase Science
- Permanent
- Leveling up (up to +15 or +17 with Educated)
- Big Book of Science (+3 or +4 with Comprehension)
- Logic Co-Processor (+2 depending on Intelligence, a perfect Intelligence of 10 will see no benefit.)
- Good Natured (+5)
- Skilled (+5)
- Temporary
- Programmer's Digest (+10 or +20 with Comprehension)
- Night Person (+2-4 at night depending on Intelligence, a perfect Intelligence of 10 will see no benefit.)
- Mentats (+2-4 depending on Intelligence, a perfect Intelligence of 10 will see no benefit.)
- Party Time Mentats (+2-4 depending on Intelligence, a perfect Intelligence of 10 will see no benefit.)
- All-purpose science suit (+5)
- Scientist outfit (+5)
- Followers lab coat (+10)
- Followers doctor coat (+5)
Dr. Klein's scrubs (+10 up to +14 depending on current Intelligence)- Dr. Mobius' scrubs (+15 up to +19 depending on current Intelligence)
- Light Switch 01 Upgrade: "Smart Lights" (+5-9 (depending on current Intelligence) for 12 hours or until the player uses the Light Switch 02 Upgrade: "Mood Lights"
- Black coffee (+2 to +4 depending on Intelligence; an Intelligence of 10 will see no benefit, Survival can increase the bonus by up to +12 at 100%)
Perks that require Science skill
| Perk | Requirement | Level | Additional Requirements |
|---|---|---|---|
In Shining Armor 
|
70 | 2 | Repair 20 |
| Vigilant Recycler | 70 | 6 | — |
| Math Wrath | 70 | 10 | — |
| Nerd Rage! | 50 | 10 | Intelligence 5 |
| Robotics Expert | 50 | 12 | — |
| Computer Whiz | 70 | 18 | Intelligence 7 |
| Nuka Chemist | 90 | 22 | — |
Interactions that require Science skill
- 25 Science to use the chemistry set in Doc Mitchell's house.
- 25 Science to discover that Victor has been overridden when you asked him to help fighting the Powder Gangers in Goodsprings.
- 30 Science to reprogram Primm Slim to become the Sheriff of Primm.
- 35 Science to deduce, when speaking to Pete, how the Boomers knew to inhabit the Nellis Air Force Base.
- 45 Science to obtain the rebreather without finding a pressure cooker for Jack in Volare!
- 50 Science to hack Daniel Contreras' terminal and download the weapons manifest to get the weapon This Machine.
- 50 Science to figure out who hacked Primm Slim in Primm.
- 50 Science to teach Jack how to make Party Time Mentats, Slasher, Rocket and super stimpak in Aba Daba Honeymoon.
- 50 Science to get Loyal to give you the sonic emitter in Ant Misbehavin'.
- 50 Science to suggest an alternative to Fixer for Jacob Hoff.
- 55 Science to upgrade the rocket trajectory at the end of the quest Come Fly With Me.
- 55 Science to run the bypass on ED-E, thus lowering the Repair requirement to 35 (instead of 65). However, on the Xbox 360 (no patches) this is reversed, 55 Repair lowered to 35, requiring 65 Science.
- 60 Science to repair Rhonda in Black Mountain.
- 60 Science to reprogram Fisto for Wang Dang Atomic Tango without a program disc.
- 60 Science to persuade Clanden to make a chlorine bomb in How Little We Know.
- 60 Science to persuade Ralph to give you his chlorine for free in How Little We Know.
- 70 Science to convince Keely that the player must return the data of Vault 22 to Thomas Hildern in the quest There Stands the Grass.
- 70 Science to suggest to Scribe Ibsen to partition the terminals during the unmarked quest Hidden Valley computer virus.
- 80 Science to bypass the credit check to enter The Strip.
- 80 Science to convince Scribe Ibsen to delete the Brotherhood of Steel's files on the computers at Hidden Valley.
- 90 Science to convince Henry to test the Stealth Boys on nightstalker brains in Guess Who I Saw Today.
- 100 Science and 75 speech to end the conflict with Klein without the use of violence.
- 100 Science to activate self-destruct without generating Hidden Valley self-destruct password in the Brotherhood of Steel Hidden Valley bunker.
Notable Science experts
- Elizabeth Kieran (98) - NCR Major providing aid to NCR squatters living in Freeside.
- Lady Jane (98) - a caravan merchant living in Freeside.
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