Fallout season 2 has been an epic journey. We’ve had deathclaws, feral ghouls dressed up like Elvis, and monumental reveals that have left us wondering whether this season has, in fact, been a secret Fallout 4 adaptation.
A lot has happened from Fallout season 1 to season 2, but as far as we can tell, only a couple of weeks have passed throughout the course of the show. That isn’t a particularly long stretch of time in the Wasteland. However, even in just that short span of time, our protagonists Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell), Maximus (Aaron Moten), and the Ghoul (Walton Goggins) have gone through a lot. And so, as the video game adaptation reaches a natural resting point, it’s worth asking the same question you’d post right before a big boss battle in one of the games: Exactly how much have these three characters leveled up since the start of the season, and what perks have they picked up along the way?
[Ed. note: Spoilers ahead for all of Fallout season 2.]
How you level up across the Fallout games largely remains the same: by earning experience points. To do that, players need to complete quests, discover new places, pick locks, hack computers, defeat enemies, etc. There are also different items you can pick up, like magazines or clothing, which help you earn additional EXP throughout your time in the Wasteland. You can maximize the EXP earned through perks — an in-game skill system that gives the player character different traits unique to them — like Idiot Savant, a luck perk that occasionally doubles your EXP depending on how low your Intelligence stat is.
The point is, depending on what you start with, you can either level up pretty fast or your journey will feel more like a slow burn. As we’ve watched Fallout season 2, we’ve come to the conclusion that while Lucy, Maximus, and the Ghoul have all leveled up throughout the season, some leveled up far more than others. In Fallout: New Vegas, the level cap is 50, which is what we’ll be comparing our three protagonists against, instead of the infinite level cap that is Fallout 4.
The Ghoul
Let’s start with the Ghoul. Having been around in the Wasteland for 200 years, it would be fair to say that, out of the three, he’s at the highest level. Granted, he spent a long time buried underground, but even by the time of his first introduction in season 1, it was obvious the Ghoul was a man to be reckoned with.
Based on the Ghoul being underground for so long and the way he still gets his ass handed to him several times throughout both seasons, particularly with the giant radscorpion and later Lucy (who is clearly at a much lower level) whose able to punch him through a window, we would say he’s around the level 20-25 mark. He’s a powerful ally — and a terrible enemy to have — but he isn’t as invincible as you start to feel when you hit level 35 to 40.
As for his perks, because the Ghoul is, well, a ghoul, we can narrow down his perks to mostly being Endurance-oriented. For one thing, he certainly has the Cannibal perk, having happily chowed down on human flesh in the latter half of season 2 after being found by Maximus. There’s also the inhaler the Ghoul sucks on, which, while we don’t have written confirmation on what’s in it, may be what keeps the Ghoul from turning feral, and also heals him. It could also be chemicals, and if that’s the case, then Chem Resistant and it allowing him not to get drugged up also makes sense. There’s also the fact that ghouls can be healed via radiation as well as stimpaks, so it’s safe to assume the Ghoul also has the Ghoulish perk.
However, it isn’t all Endurance for the Ghoul. Considering how good he is with explosives, having rigged the Caesar’s Legion camp to blow, it’s plausible he has some perks in Perception too, like Demolition Expert.
Maximus
While the Ghoul has plenty of experience, Maximus is still a young man whose perspective has been shaped by the loss of his family at Shady Sands and by the Brotherhood of Steel, which rescued him from the carnage. In season 1, Maximus is finding his feet as an initiate, which, narratively speaking, puts him at level 1. That doesn’t mean he isn’t educated or strong, but his experience out in the Wasteland is still pretty minimal. He improves massively by the end of season 1, with a lot more EXP under his belt, but he’s still fairly green.
By the time the season 2 finale arrives, however, Maximus is far wiser and stronger than when we were first introduced to him. He’s faced the horrors of the infighting within the Brotherhood of Steel, reunited with old friends, and, most importantly, gone hand-to-hand with deathclaws and lived to tell the tale. With that in mind, we would put Maximus around level 10-15.
If the Ghoul pumped all his points into Endurance, then Maximus feels far more Charisma-based. How else can you pull off the line, “You wanna make my cock explode now?” without making the audience roll their eyes?
Jokes aside, his friendship with Thaddeus and Dane shows he’s reliable, friendly, and pretty Inspirational. Maximus also took quite the beating from more than a handful of deathclaws and was still willing to fight them, showing that he’s probably rocking with the Toughness and/or Lifegiver perks.
Lucy
Like Maximus, Lucy is an intelligent and resourceful character who was shaped by the people who raised her in Vault 33 — but her experience with the Wasteland and all its delights (and horrors) was even lower than Maximus’. In fact, Lucy is only thrust into the Wasteland due to circumstance, which is a good enough reason for almost every Fallout protagonist who starts in a Vault, so she, too, starts at level 1.
Yet by the time Lucy and Maximus reunite during the season 2 finale, she, too, has gone through a very similar narrative arc to Maximus. She’s completed her quest to find her father and bring him to ‘justice’ — though whether that justice was humane or not is up for debate. Regardless, Lucy and Maximus are starting Fallout season 3 with a near enough clean slate, having finished multiple side-quests and their own beginning personal mission before they are caught up in the machinations the Wasteland has in store for them. So, like Maximus, it feels correct to say that Lucy is in the same 10-15 range as Maximus.
Yet while Lucy and Maximus’ levels are the same, mechanically, these two are very different characters.
For one thing, Lucy does not possess the gift of the gab. She fails plenty of speech checks at the Caesar’s Legion camp, and utterly fails to convince the Great Khans at Novac that walking away is the right thing to do. She also fails to sneak her way around in Sonny’s Sundries, showing that her stealth isn’t all that great, either.
However, what she lacks in Charisma and Agility, she more than makes up for by pumping all her EXP into Perception. Her ability with a rifle is unmatched, and her being able to target limbs of the Khans in Novac with a fair amount of ease suggests she’s got the Sniper perk. She’s also certainly got the Pickpocket perk, as she’s able to grab the Power Fist from Sonny’s and manages to subdue her father with a pair of handcuffs without being noticed.
Final thoughts
Fallout season 2 ends with Lucy and Maximus reunited, and while each has plenty of weaknesses on their own, together they’ll balance each other out in preparation for the war coming their way. As for the Ghoul, he’ll have plenty to endure on his long journey to Colorado, but with renewed hope that his wife and daughter are alive somewhere, there’s a good chance he, alongside Lucy and Maximus, will pick up some more skills (and levels) along the way.
All episodes of Fallout season 2 are now streaming on Prime Video.
