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S.P.E.C.I.A.L Stats in the Wasteland

By OldCentury

Learn how each S.P.E.C.I.A.L stat helps your dwellers while outside the vault.

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Created by

OldCentury
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Category: Characters, Gameplay Basics, Walkthroughs

Languages: English

Posted

Updated

5 Apr, 2017 @ 10:17am

5 Aug @ 3:29pm

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Guide Index

Overview

Disclaimer

Strength

Perception

Endurance

Charisma

Intelligence

Agility

Luck

Before you go...

Comments

Disclaimer

This guide was originally created in 2017 when Fallout Shelter released on Steam.
Since then, the Fallout community has done much more research into the SPECIAL stats.
Some of the information has been updated.

Steam currently uses version 1.13 of Fallout Shelter.
Mobile devices use a later version.

There may be differences between the two versions.

Strength

In a Quest:

No effect (older sources suggest this increases weapon damage).

In the Wasteland:

Increases the chance of breaking open a locked container - can potentially find extra loot.

Perception

In a Quest:

Effects the speed of the critical hit indicator. Higher Perception levels make the indicator move more slowly.

In the Wasteland:

Helps the dweller find more loot.

Endurance

In a Quest:

Increases maximum amount of health.

In the Wasteland:

Increases maximum amount of health.
If Endurance is 11 or higher the dweller is not effected by radiation. To gain an Endurance stat above 10, the dweller needs to equip an outfit which boosts Endurance.

Charisma

In a Quest:

No effect.

In the Wasteland:

Improves encounters with people met in the Wasteland. Can potentially earn a reward.

Intelligence

In a Quest:

No effect.

In the Wasteland:

The dweller is more likely to know an enemy's weakness. This can result in increased damage against certain creatures.
Improves the outcome of medical-related interactions with people in the Wasteland, such as helping someone who is injured. Can potentially earn a reward.

Agility

In a Quest:

High Agility makes the dweller use their weapon more often in a fight.

In the Wasteland:

Determines how quickly the dweller can flee from a fight. This effects the amount of Hit Points the dweller will lose while escaping.

Luck

In a Quest:

Effects how quickly the critical meter fills / how often you can fire a critical shot.

In the Wasteland:

Increases the amount of Caps the dweller finds.
More likely to find higher quality loot, such as rare items.

Before you go...

Did this guide help you in your Wasteland exploration?

If so, please leave a rating or favourite this guide.

Thank you.

292 Comments

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karunbartok 7 Oct @ 6:40am

ive said this from f01 and it has never failed me all you need for EVERY and i meen any/every fallout game.. is luck baby

gmushty 22 Sep @ 3:02am

thanks no cap it did really help me

Megotta 5 Aug @ 1:37pm

So, concerning the topic on strength increasing weapon damage on Quests. I want to share my experience.

I went on a quest, a single dweller quest. I sent the dweller with no outfit and a Dragon's Maw for a weapon. They were lvl 50 and full stats.

I was lucky enough to get +7 Strength Fatigues during the quest so I put it on. Not thinking about it, the difference was extremely noticeable. What took 4-5 hits, only took 2-3.

So as far as the debate, I would say strength still effects weapon damage, even beyond 10 Strength.

Space Whale 27 Jul @ 7:56pm

Thank you for those changes, I appreciate it.

OldCentury [author] 27 Jul @ 4:36pm

@Space Whale

I was unaware of these findings.
Thanks for letting me know.

Space Whale 27 Jul @ 12:03pm

@OldCentury

The wiki you linked is an archive of an older version, and is no longer accurate. The new wiki (that I linked) does not indicate that Strength increases damage for ANY weapon.

The people who have dug into this the most, /r/falloutshelter or /r/FOshelter, have discovered that Strength does NOT impact damage in any capacity.

https://github.com/therabidsquirel/The-Fallout-Shelter-FAQ/wiki/Section-2:-SPECIAL

Please read section 2.6 for more information.

OldCentury [author] 26 Jul @ 8:16am

@Space Whale -

The following sites suggest that the Strength stat does increase damage and carrying capacity:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/178144-fallout-shelter/74434716
https://fallout-archive.fandom.com/wiki/Fallout_Shelter_SPECIAL
https://www.playbite.com/q/which-stat-maximizes-damage-fallout-shelter
https://www.reddit.com/r/foshelter/comments/172455t/what_does_each_special_stat_do_combat_wise/
https://www.playbite.com/q/how-does-strength-affect-damage-for-melee-weapons-fallout-shelter
https://steamproxy.com/app/588430/discussions/0/135513549097956931/
https://www.quora.com/What-does-the-high-stats-of-dwellers-do-in-fallout-shelter
https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/223904/what-does-each-special-stat-in-fallout-shelter-do

OldCentury [author] 26 Jul @ 8:15am

I appreciate that there is still some confusion as many sources have conflicting information.

It's also possible that Bethesda have altered the SPECIAL stats since release in 2017.

I will edit the guide to reflect this ambiguity.
Thank you for the update.

Space Whale 24 Jul @ 3:34pm

Your description for Strength is entirely incorrect.

All it does is increase the efficiency for vault dwellers working in power rooms.

It does NOT increase the number of items brought back from the wasteland, that is fixed at 100 items max.

It also does NOT increase the damage for any weapon.

It does still affect the opening of lockers when exploring.

This link shows a chart that displays what ALL stats actually do:
https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Fallout_Shelter_SPECIAL

Pixel 23 Jul @ 7:25pm

thanks for good guide that is not just one of those guides dumb guides on how to open the game!

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