Flaws are permanent negative effects applied to the player character in exchange for an additional perk point. The number of Flaws one can have in one playthrough is limited to 3 on Normal difficulty, 4 on Hard, and 5 on Supernova.
Cause[]
A prompt to accept or reject a Flaw will come up at any point in the game after performing certain actions repeatedly. These actions are summarized in the table below.
Effect[]
When a Flaw is accepted, it will immediately grant a perk point and begin applying the relevant negative effect to the Stranger. Some Flaws apply their negative effect all the time, while others only activate under certain circumstances. There is no negative consequence for rejecting a Flaw.
Permanent vs. Temporary effects[]
Some flaws like Corrosive Weakness are permanently active which means no matter how the damage was received (weapon shot, attack by a raptidon, stepping into a sulfur pit) the damage the Stranger takes will be multiplied.
Temporarily active flaws on the other hand only become active when in vicinity of a trigger (Pithecophobia is triggered while near Primals) or under specific conditions (Impediphobia is triggered when the Stranger is over-encumbered). The spider icon will appear on the active effects bar when one is experiencing a phobic attack.
Flaws[]
| Name | Cause | Effects | Game description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acrophobia | Repeatedly taking fall damage | Dexterity -1 Perception -1 Temperament -1 |
After repeatedly falling from great heights, you no longer function well when the ground is far beaneath you. |
| Chrono-Lethargy | Taking damage while in TTD | -25% Tactical Time Dilation Meter Max | Repeatedly taking damage while in TTD has reduced the amount of time you can spend using the effect. |
| Compulsive spender | Buying too much expensive stuff | Vendor prices +20% | After having spent so many Bits, you're likely to offer more Bits when making a purchase. |
| Corrosive Weakness | Suffering too much corrosive damage | Corrosive Damage Received +25% | Suffering too many corrosive burns has made you weak against Corrosive damage. |
| Cynophobia | Being attacked by Canids | Phobic: Perception -1 Perception -1 Temperament -1 |
Mauled too many times by Canids, you get the jitters every time one's attacking, making you less effective. |
| Drug Addiction | Repeatedly consuming drugs | Dexterity -1 Perception -1 Temperament -1 |
Taking as many drugs as you have has turned to an addiction. |
| Entomophobia | Being attacked by insects | Dexterity -1 Perception -1 Temperament -1 |
After having been swarmed by insects too many times, you're no longer your best when being attacked by them. |
| Farsighted | Repeatedly blinded while holding melee weapons | Melee Weapon Skills -10 | Repeated eye injuries have made it harder for you to notice things close to you. |
| Guilt-Ridden | Killing a high amount of human enemies | Ranged Weapon Sway +100% Ranged Weapon Spread +50% |
Killing so many people has made you uneasy when fighting humans. |
| Herniated disk | ? being overburdened too often? | -1 Body Attributes when at or above 50% Carrying Capacity | Carrying too heavy a load too many times has weakened your back, making you lose that spring in your step when carrying a significant amount of weight. |
| Herpetophobia | Being attacked by Mantipillars and Mantisaurs | Phobic: Dexterity -1 Perception -1 Temperament -1 |
After too many encounters with Mantipillars and Mantisaurs, you're not quite yourself when any of the Manti-family of creatures are attacking your party. |
| Impediphobia | Being encumbered too many times. | Phobic: Dexterity -1 Perception -1 Temperament -1 |
After being encumbered one too many times, you no longer function well while encumbered. |
| Nearsighted | Repeatedly blinded while holding ranged weapons | Ranged Weapon Skills -10 | Too many blows to the eyes have made it harder to see things far away from you. |
| Food Addiction | Eating a lot | Dexterity -1 Perception -1 Temperament -1 |
You can't seem to stop yourself from eating, even food that's bland or horribly flavored. Not eating often will cause withdrawals. |
| Paranoid | Repeatedly getting caught by guards in Restricted Areas | Personality Attributes -1 | Repeatedly getting caught by guards in Restricted Areas has made you jittery, doubly so when roaming around Restricted Areas or sneaking. |
| Partially Blind | Repeatedly taking damage in the eyes | +100% Ranged Weapon Spread | Too much damage to your eyes has permanently lowered your accuracy. |
| Permanent Concussion | Repeatedly getting hit or shot in the head | Mind Attributes -1 | Having been hit in the head one too many times, your mental faculties have been permanently affected. |
| Permanently Crippled | Suffering fall damage too many times | Movement speed -30% Unable to dodge |
Your legs have been damaged too many times, and your movement speed has now been permanently lowered. |
| Permanently Maimed | Repeatedly getting hit or shot in the arms | Offense Skills -20% | Your arms have taken way too much damage, and you're no longer as good with weapons as you used to be. |
| Physical Damage Weakness | Suffering too much physical damage | Physical Damage Received +25% | Taking too much Physical Damage has made you soft and vulnerable to more Physical damage. |
| Pithecophobia | Repeated encounters with Primals | Dexterity -1 Perception -1 Temperament -1 |
After getting repeatedly beaten up by Primals, you no longer function when they attack you and your companions. |
| Plasma Weakness | Getting burned too many times | Plasma Damage Received +25% | Getting burned too many times has made you susceptible to Plasma damage. |
| Raptiphobia | Repeated encounters with Raptidons | Dexterity -1 Perception -1 Temperament -1 |
Repeated encounters with Raptidons has lessened your effectiveness when they're attacking you or your Companions. |
| Robophobia | Repeated encounters with Automechanicals | Dexterity -1 Perception -1 Temperament -1 |
Automechanicals now give you the willies, and when they're attacking your party you're not as effective as you should be. |
| Shock Weakness | Suffering too much Shock damage | Shock Damage Received +25% | Having been shocked too many times, you have become sensitive to Shock damage. |
| Smoke Addiction | Using Nicotine Consumables | Dexterity -1 Perception -1 Temperament -1 |
You don't know what they put in with the tobacco, but you can't go long between smokes without suffering withdrawal symptoms. |
| Vermiphobia | Repeated encounters with worm-like creatures. | Dexterity -1 Perception -1 Temperament -1 |
Constantly taking damage from Parasites and Infected Humans, you're no longer as effective around worm-like creatures. |
Related achievements-trophies[]
| Icon | Name | Description | Gamer Score | Trophy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Flawed Hero | Acquired 3 flaws. | 15 | Bronze |
Notes[]
- Being in the vicinity of SAM will trigger the effects of Robophobia, even though the flaw itself states that the effects are only in place during combat with robots.
- If the Stranger chooses not to accept a particular flaw it is possible (but not guaranteed) the choice will become available again later in the game.
- The Flaw prompt appears to only occur once per playing session on current location. This means, if you were on Monarch, for example, and was prompted with a flaw, regardless if you accept it or reject it you won't be getting any more flaw prompts until you change location. Flying away from a planet to, say, Groundbreaker, and spend some time there (sleeping) was confirmed as working method for resetting the flaw chance.
- Flaw prompt is based both on chance and on count: the more you trigger required condition the more chance for flaw to pop up, but it's not guaranteed.
Nietzsche's Reward perk increases damage the Stranger can deal by 5% for every flaw they accepted to have.- Mantiswarms on Monarch are a good source of Blindness if one wishes to gain any of the flaws caused by it.
