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For a cross-game overview of this skill, see Science. |
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Science is a skill in Fallout 3. It determines the chance to hack computers, get extra info from terminals, talk to specific persons, get more dialogue options.
Initial level[]
Example: A starting Intelligence of 5 and Luck of 5.
Description[]
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 American Dream.
