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You've learned to split the atom... and command it. Radiation weapons do 50% more damage and Fusion Cores last an extra 25% longer.— Rank 1 description

Nuclear Physicist is an Intelligence perk in Fallout 4.

Effects[]

Taking ranks of this perk increases the Radiation damage caused by capable weapons and extends the duration of fusion cores when used in Power armor or a Gatling laser. Higher ranks double the damage amount and increase the duration, up to +100%, as well as grant the ability to eject fusion cores from Power Armor akin to explosives.

Ranks[]

Rank Requirements Description Form ID
1 INT 9 You've learned to split the atom... and command it. Radiation weapons do 50% more damage and Fusion Cores last an extra 25% longer. 001D246F
2 INT 9, LVL 14 Radiation weapons now do double damage and Fusion Cores last an extra 50% longer. 001D2470
3 INT 9, LVL 26 Fusion Cores can be ejected from Power Armor like devastating grenades and Fusion Cores last twice as long. 001D2471

Examples[]

Because radiation poisoning differs from every other damage type in Fallout 4, and its mechanics may not be immediately apparent, here are some scenarios to help evaluate its effects on different weapons.

Example 1[]

Consider a hypothetical Irradiated pipe pistol that does 8 points of base damage and 50 rads, used on an enemy with no Radiation Resistance and 100 HP.

Each shot will do 8 damage and poison the enemy with 50 rads, reducing their maximum HP by 5. Because 8 is more than 5, the radiation damage will be unnoticeable unless the target attempts to heal, as the damage overlaps. Each shot effectively deals 5 unhealable and 3 healable points of damage, of which only the healable damage is shown as a decrease in the enemy's HP bar.

Example 1 with healing[]

Assume the aforementioned enemy was shot 8 times. They now have 400 rads (-40 max HP) and are at 36 HP, having taken 64 points of base damage. The enemy heals; however, due to their radiation poisoning, they can only heal to a maximum of 60 HP rather than their initial full health of 100 HP.

Example 2[]

Consider the same weapon, but now with enough ranks in Nuclear Physicist to have Irradiated weapons deal twice the radiation damage. The hypotheetical Irradiated pipe pistol now deals 8 base damage point and 100 rads.

Each shot will deal 8 damage and poison the enemy with 100 rads, reducing their HP by 10. As 10 is more than 8, it is the weapon's base damage that no longer matters, as the target is taking 10 unhealable damage per shot.

Affected weapons[]

Atom's Judgement Far Harbor (add-on)
Gamma gun
Gatling laser
Final Judgment
Irradiated legendary weapons
Nuka grenade
Nuka Quantum grenade Nuka-World (add-on)
Radium rifle Far Harbor (add-on)
Kiloton radium rifle Far Harbor (add-on)
Radical Conversion Far Harbor (add-on)
Shem Drowne sword

Fusion Core Ejection[]

Fusion core explosion

Fusion core explosion

Fusion core grenade after ejection

Fusion core after ejection

The description of rank 3 stating that a fusion core can be ejected appears to indicate a similarity to a grenade, but in truth they act more like time-based mines. To use this feature, no explosives of any kind can be selected in the inventory when using the 'throw explosives' button. Once used, the fusion core will be ejected from the rear port where it's normally inserted to activate the Power Armor. The core will begin to beep and after approximately four seconds it will detonate. It will let off a nuclear explosion similar to a destroyed vehicle or a mini nuke with the damage being similar.

  • This ability can be used accidentally easily as you only have to press the button and not hold it down. On a PC using a keyboard, the ability can also be used incidentally when using Alt-tab as Alt is the default key used to activate the ability. When returning to the game and resuming, often there will be a fusion core mine. It is recommended you save prior to minimizing Fallout 4.
  • The ability can be useful when used while fleeing enemies, particularly since the core is ejected behind you.
  • This ability can also be used while using a jet pack upgrade. This can be both an entertaining and effective tactic for dispatching large groups of enemies.
  • The ability has no cool down. As long as you have fusion cores, you can eject a fusion core 2-4 times per second.
  • The explosion size and damage are the same regardless of the charge left in the fusion core. This can be used favorably to discard near-to-empty fusion cores rather than waiting for them to be used up.

Bugs[]

  • PCPC With rank 3 of the perk, the duration of fusion cores is only increased by 50% (the same as rank 2), and not twice as long like the description says. [verified]
    • This can be fixed by removing rank 2 of the perk with console command player.removeperk 1d2470, and then adding it again with console command player.addperk 1d2470.
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