Probably Stolen Perks

Probably Stolen gives you three starting perk points and normally four perk slots. Negative perks return points, while Colorful Character raises the slot limit to seven. Starting perks are unavailable on your very first run, so an absent perk-selection screen at that stage is not evidence of a broken new-game setup.

Choose perks around the repeated problem you want to remove. Vigilant addresses overnight robbery, Diplomatic improves reputation gained through trading and bargaining, and Proficient Scavenger increases Dumping Ground searches. They solve different problems; none is a universal replacement for the others. Check point cost, slot use and conflicts before deciding that a combination fits.

Count both points and slots

Three available points do not mean you can select any three positive effects. Some perks cost two points, others cost one, and the number of selected perks is constrained separately. A negative perk can free points while still occupying a slot.

That distinction becomes important when a build uses several small benefits. You may have enough points left for another choice and still be unable to add it because the normal four slots are full. Colorful Character expands the number of slots to seven; its role is capacity, so assess it in relation to the complete selection rather than as an isolated economic bonus.

Conflicts impose another limit. Lucky cannot be paired with Unlucky, Model Citizen conflicts with Convict, and Well Connected conflicts with Public Enemy. Selecting one side locks its opposing option. Check the full list before assuming that the points from a negative choice can fund the positive perk you wanted.

Starting scenario effects and perk changes add together. Your starting Credits, rent or reputation therefore depend on the combination, not just the perk's description. Look at the final new-game setup after selecting everything, especially when building around a deliberately difficult opening.

Choose a main benefit before adding smaller perks

These choices consume most of the initial point budget. Pick one because its effect matches your intended routine, then spend any remaining point on a complementary function. Avoid paying for a large effect simply because it looks stronger than a one-point option.

A permanent prevention effect and a reputation multiplier also have different timing. Prevention can matter as soon as the relevant danger occurs. A multiplier matters when you perform the actions it modifies. The better choice depends on the run you will actually play, not an abstract tier ranking.

Use Vigilant for the protection it actually provides

Vigilant prevents being robbed during the night. That is a clear benefit if you want to reduce the need to manage burglary protection while building the shop. It also avoids treating every stored valuable as a reason to reassess your overnight setup.

Its scope is specific. Overnight robbery is not the same as a Security inspection, a wanted-customer decision or every other kind of loss. Do not assume that taking Vigilant legalizes stock, removes evidence or makes dangerous story choices harmless.

When comparing Vigilant with an Alarm System, include the equipment and operation involved in your own run. An alarm is a machine with its own requirements; the perk is a starting selection. Claims that one universally replaces the other depend on the actual alarm configuration and should not be converted into a guaranteed saving for every shop.

The useful decision is whether you want to spend two scarce points removing this particular problem. If burglary is a concern you already know how to handle comfortably, the same points may be more valuable elsewhere. If it repeatedly disrupts your runs, the simplicity of prevention may be exactly the benefit you want.

Vigilant and a powered alarm are different ways to address overnight robbery.

Build a reputation plan with Diplomatic or faction perks

Diplomatic adds 33% to reputation earned from trades and bargaining. It fits a run in which counter interactions form a steady part of progression. The perk changes gains from those activities; it is not described as an immediate grant of reputation with every faction.

Well Connected serves that different purpose by adding 15 starting reputation with every faction. Compare a starting boost with an ongoing modifier rather than reading both as the same kind of advantage. Your opening access needs and the amount of trading you expect to do determine which timing is more useful.

Several one-point options target a narrower relationship. Model Citizen starts with 30 extra Security reputation and increases report and Aug-kill rewards by 50% in Credits and reputation. Sycophant starts with 15 extra Upper Levels reputation, increases Upper Levels reputation gains by 25%, and gives Upper Levels customers 10% more budget.

Revolution Sympathizer starts with 25 Revolution reputation. Once Revolution Marketplace Requests are active, it adds another request every Monday. That later condition matters: the perk does not make an inactive request system produce orders immediately.

Pair scavenging perks with the trips you intend to make

Proficient Scavenger gives seven Dumping Ground searches per visit instead of five. It is a one-point option with a concrete effect on a repeatable activity. More searches mean more opportunities to search, not a guaranteed number of valuable finds.

Short Sleeper also costs one point. It removes the next-day customer penalty for going out after hours. The two effects complement different parts of an after-hours routine: one affects a Dumping Ground visit, and the other affects the cost of going out in relation to the following day's customers.

Do not turn that pairing into a guaranteed income build. The value still depends on what you find and how you use or sell it. It is more accurate to say that the pair supports frequent outings than to promise that it pays a particular amount of rent.

Check the conflict between Proficient Scavenger and Maimed before building a point budget around both. Likewise, distinguish an extra-search effect from injury protection. Having more opportunities to search does not itself mean those searches are risk-free.

Add a one-point perk for a specific opening need

Savings adds 150 starting Credits. Its benefit is immediate and easy to compare with an opening purchase, but it does not generate that amount every day. Use it when the opening cash changes your plan, rather than treating it as ongoing production.

Handy supplies a shabby toolbox, screwdriver, wire cutter, crowbar and plasma cutter at the start. It addresses access to tools. Check that these are tools you expect to use before choosing it simply because receiving several objects sounds like a larger reward.

Lucky provides five Luck and conflicts with Unlucky. That is a stat effect, not a promise that every uncertain action will succeed. Tapehead instead starts the cassette player with all seven music cassettes. Its appeal is immediate access to that collection, so compare it with your own priorities rather than forcing it into a profit calculation.

Tinkerer gives an upgrade a 20% chance not to consume its material. The relevant trigger is an upgrade that uses material. It should not be read as a general discount on every item you buy or every production input a machine consumes.

Handy provides tools at the start of a run.

Understand Sawyer's Crew and Welfare Program before selecting them

Sawyer's Crew starts you with the Underground Exchange and Janitorial Service. Janitorial Service is free, while cleanup after vandalism follows its separate reduced cost rule. This supports a particular set of services; it is not a statement that every shop expense disappears.

Welfare Program starts access to the Commissary along with a Magnifying Glass, the Food Stamp Identification Handbook and Mentor's Note: Food Stamps. It also provides a Food Stamp on day one and every Monday according to wealth. Wealth for this calculation is Credits plus one third of the value of your goods.

The wealth condition prevents treating the benefit as a fixed weekly payment throughout a successful run. Growing inventory can change the result even if your cash balance looks modest. Welfare Program also conflicts with Banned from the Commissary, so it cannot be used to cancel that choice while keeping both selections.

Welfare Program stamps depend on the run’s wealth.

Treat a negative perk as a continuing obligation

The extra points from a negative perk are visible at character creation, while its cost appears during play. Compare both sides before using it to fund a positive choice. A drawback that looks small in one business can be disruptive in another.

Avoid calling a negative perk free because another player found it easy to manage. A requirement tied to a recurring consumable still asks you to maintain that supply, and a customer-related drawback still changes the run even if your own shop later becomes busy. Neither experience establishes a universal best selection.

Build the complete combination on paper or in the selection screen, then ask what new actions it requires every day. If the extra maintenance competes with the trade you want to learn, reducing the number of perks can be a better practical choice than maximizing the number of bonuses.

Check the finished build before starting

Confirm the point total, the slot count and every locked conflict. Read each selected effect once more with its trigger in mind: starting resources, reputation gains, overnight protection, searches, outings or weekly requests. This prevents a build from depending on an effect at the wrong time.

Then connect each perk to one intended action. If you cannot name how a selection helps your run, reconsider it before starting. A focused group of compatible benefits is easier to use than a collection of individually attractive effects with no shared purpose.

There is no supported single best build for every scenario and difficulty. The useful result is a legal selection whose benefits you will repeatedly use and whose drawbacks you are prepared to manage. Start with the problem that disrupted your previous run, spend points on that problem first, and use the remaining choices to support the routine you actually want to play.