All 32 perks, and how to unlock them
32 perks in four trees. Stealth gives Vampire and Scout II, the two that change the game. Progress lives on your profile, so reloading a checkpoint never costs you a counter.
Wolfenstein: The New Order gives you 32 perks across four trees, and every single one has an achievement attached. Most of them are cumulative counters you will fill by accident. A handful are not, and those are the ones people finish the game without.
How the perk system actually works
Progress is tracked on your profile, not your save. If you load an older chapter or checkpoint, perk counters do not roll back, so you can grind a requirement, unlock the perk, then reload and keep it.
That single rule is why the prologue is the best place to farm. The 1946 section has plenty of soldiers, plenty of cover, and no penalty for replaying it.
| Rule | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Counters live on the profile | Reloading a checkpoint does not undo perk progress |
| Some perks need a parent perk first | Pick the parent, then the child unlocks its counter |
| Extra modes disable perks | Enigma modes and combat challenges do not progress anything |
| Every perk has an achievement | 32 perks, 32 achievements, all of them cumulative or repeatable |
The stealth tree, in unlock order
This is the tree worth doing first, because two of its perks make every other collectible hunt easier.
| Perk | Unlocks when | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Scout I | 1 stealth kill on a commander | Marks commander intel on screen |
| Knife throwing | 5 stealth kills | Lets you throw knives |
| Knife sheath + | Knife throwing, then 5 throwing-knife stealth kills | Carries one more knife |
| Silent shot | 5 silenced-pistol stealth kills | More damage from the silenced handgun |
| Scout II | 5 stealth commander kills | Shows commanders on the map |
| Vampire | Silent shot, then 5 stealth takedowns while overcharged | Takedowns restore health |
| Knife sheath ++ | Knife sheath +, then 20 throwing-knife stealth kills | Carries one more knife |
| Assassin | 50 soldier stealth kills and 5 Kampfhund stealth kills | Quieter sprint, faster crouch movement |
Vampire is the one to chase. Takedowns refilling health changes how aggressively you can play the rest of the game, and it costs nothing but patience in the prologue.
The tactical tree, the shooters' tree
Headshots and cover kills, mostly. These come naturally if you aim rather than spray.
| Perk | Unlocks when | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Deadeye | 3 assault rifle and 3 pistol headshots while aiming down sights | More headshot damage when aiming |
| Quick draw | 40 headshot kills | Faster weapon swaps |
| Quick regeneration | Overcharge health to 200 | Health regenerates faster |
| Gun magazine + | 15 pistol kills from cover | Bigger handgun magazine |
| Shotgun magazine + | Gun magazine +, then 10 ricochet kills in shrapnel mode | Bigger shotgun magazine |
| AR magazine + | 80 assault rifle kills from cover | Bigger rifle magazine |
| Marksman magazine + | AR magazine +, then 3 consecutive scoped kills without leaving scope | Bigger Marksman magazine |
| Quick reload | 100 rifle kills, 50 pistol kills, 25 Marksman kills | Faster reloads |
| Double reload | 10 dual-wield kills | Faster dual-wield reloads |
The ricochet requirement on Shotgun magazine + is the one that stalls people. Shrapnel mode bounces pellets off surfaces, so you need to shoot at walls and floors near enemies rather than at the enemies themselves.
Assault and demolition
Sprint, turret and explosive counters. Two of these need deliberate setups.
| Perk | Unlocks when | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Endurance I | 3 kills while sprint-sliding | Faster dual-wield sprint |
| Scavenger | Endurance I, then 3 kills in a row with dual assault rifles without releasing the trigger | More ammo from dual-wield kills |
| Bullet feeder | 20 turret kills | More ammo stored in turrets |
| Grenade pouch + | 10 grenade kills | Carries one more grenade |
| Grenade pouch ++ | Grenade pouch +, then kill a commander with a grenade | Carries one more grenade |
| Bullseye | Grenade pouch ++, then 5 grenade kills on mechanical enemies | Grenades detonate on contact |
| Rocket magazine + | Bullseye, then 5 dual-wield underbarrel kills within 10 seconds | More rocket ammo |
| Vaporize | 5 kills by shooting enemies so they drop live grenades | Bigger explosive vaporisation |
| Sentinel | Vaporize, then 5 kills by throwing grenades back | Less self-damage from your own explosives |
| Hardened | 50 grenade or underbarrel kills | Less damage from enemy explosives |
Rocket magazine + asks for five underbarrel kills in ten seconds. Save it for a room with a cluster of enemies and both launchers loaded, because a partial run resets the timer.
What to do before you leave the prologue
The prologue is a self-contained 1946 assault with soldiers, commanders, cover and a shotgun. If you spend twenty extra minutes there you can bank most of the stealth tree and a good part of tactical before the game properly starts.
- Kill every commander from behind rather than shooting them. That feeds Scout I, Scout II and Assassin at once.
- Do your stealth takedowns while overcharged. Overcharge comes from health pickups above your maximum, so grab a big health item then go hunting.
- Fire the pistol from cover for fifteen kills, and aim down sights for the headshot counters.
- Throw knives only after Knife throwing is unlocked, otherwise the kills do not count toward the sheaths.
Perks you cannot get in one playthrough
You can. Every perk counter carries across chapter select, and none of them are tied to the Fergus or Wyatt branch. If you skipped a requirement in chapter 4, go back to chapter 4 and finish it.
The one real limitation is extra modes. Enigma code modes and combat challenges disable perk progression entirely, so a 999 run will not advance any of these counters.
The enigma code page has the 72-fragment solution set, and the Fergus or Wyatt page covers the one choice that changes what you can upgrade.