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Rain Man may not have been set in a nuclear wasteland, but Fallout 4 proves that savants always come out ahead no matter where they are.

Idiot Savant is the Best Way to Play Fallout 4

Rain Man may not have been set in a nuclear wasteland, but Fallout 4 proves that savants always come out ahead no matter where they are.
This article is over 7 years old and may contain outdated information

No matter the RPG, players like to maximize their XP gained/hour, and Fallout 4 understands that – every point you have invested in your Intelligence stat boosts your XP gain by 3%, meaning players can specifically tailor their characters to earn levels as fast as possible.

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If, somehow, a constant 130% (with 10 Intelligence) XP income isn’t enough, a character with 5 or more Luck can take the Idiot Savant perk, which can boost the amount of XP a character gains to astronomical amounts.

/u/minusra performed a very detailed breakdown of Idiot Savant on Reddit, and the numbers clearly show that the best way to maximize your XP gains is by taking the perk.

It’s important to note that, despite the implication that you need low Intelligence to benefit from Idiot Savant, a lower Intelligence merely boosts the perk’s proc rate. And given that Idiot Savant has no drawback, you will always earn more XP with the perk, regardless of your character’s Intelligence.

In fact, if you only plan on taking Idiot Savant I, the 3x XP bonus chance isn’t quite enough to outweigh the benefit of having high Intelligence. 5 Intelligence may be the “sweet spot” for Idiot Savant I, but you’ll gain more experience at 8+ Intelligence if you’re willing to invest the stat points.

However, Idiot Savant II’s 5x XP bonus chance makes those procs valuable enough that 1 Intelligence is the sweet spot — you’ll need 14+ Intelligence to outpace a character with only 1 Intelligence in this case.

If you’re one of those players that loves watching that experience bar fill up over and over again, then the Idiot Savant perk is for you!

Hopefully that answers your question! Be sure to check out the rest of our Fallout 4 guides if you need more tips for enjoying your next playthrough. 


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