Deciding what the best Weird West Ace of Spades perks are can be intimidating at first. Especially since they’re permanent buffs that you can’t respec/reset. Certain ones are better than others and it can be hard to tell until spending cards to find out.
Without knowing the benefits of every upgrade tier, you don’t always know what’s worth upgrading. Also, it’s important to mention that you will benefit from certain perks more depending on how you play. Such as going into every battle guns blazing or sneaking through bushes quietly.
This Weird West guide has three sections: Best Perks to Pick, Decent Perks, and Perks to Avoid.
Best Perks to Pick in Weird West
High Jumper
Jump higher, and take less fall damage.
| Level 1 | Jump 10% higher |
| Level 2 | Jump 25% higher |
| Level 3 | Jump 50% higher |
High Jumper is easily my favorite Ace of Spades perk because of how much access it gives you. Everything from alternate routes to loot hidden in bird nests. You’ll never run out of opportunities to take advantage of the extra jump height it gives you. Especially at the tier 3 upgrade where you get an extra 50% jump height total.
This can help with sneaking into a compound that has tall walls that you normally can’t get past. While you can stack furniture to climb higher sometimes, it’s never quite as convenient. Also, you can use High Jumper to reach building rooftops for fun money-making opportunities.
Ambusher
Inflict more damage to unaware targets.
| Level 1 | 25% more damage |
| Level 2 | 60% more damage |
| Level 3 | 100% more damage |
Ambusher has the potential to significantly increase your damage, especially when combined with a strong relic ability. You can use the tier 3 upgrade for 100% more damage to unaware targets with the Sentry Silencer rifle ability. With the perk and ability combined, you get an extra 100% and 200% damage toward unaware enemies.
Sentry Silencer also makes your shot quiet so this works well for taking out enemies quietly. Even if you use it to take out a powerful enemy near others, it’s still worthwhile. This makes Ambusher a strong perk that quickly pays off.
Posse Leader
Boost posse members’ damage output and maximum Hit Points.
| Level 1 | 15% extra damage and Hit Points |
| Level 2 | 40% extra damage and Hit Points |
| Level 3 | 80% extra damage and Hit Points |
Posse Leader is one of the best perks because it makes your crew stronger as a whole. You’ll benefit from your followers staying alive and dealing more damage than usual. Once completely upgrade to tier 3, your followers will deal 80% more damage and have 80% more health.
This is a game-changer when you have followers in your posse that you actually care about. As opposed to the random bounty hunter in a saloon that may as well be nameless. I’ve always got a quick save ready to go for when a major follower gets taken out. So if you’re anything like me, I recommend Posse Leader to avoid save scumming.
Bullet Dodger
Increase fire rate during dodge leap.
| Level 1 | 25% increased fire rate |
| Level 2 | 60% increased fire rate |
| Level 3 | 100% increased fire rate |
Bullet Dodger may not sound like much at first but you can immediately see the impact it makes. This increase in fire rate is on top of your normal fire rate despite being in slow motion for the dodge leap. My favorite time to take advantage of Bullet Dodger is with a Revolver or Rifle.
The main negative of using this perk is that you consume one AP bar for each dodge leap. So if you’re saving those for stronger abilities instead, you may not get much use out of this passive. However, it’s definitely worth taking advantage of to deal some quick DPS/damage.
Quick Stealth
Increase speed while crouched.
| Level 1 | 10% increased crouch speed |
| Level 2 | 20% increased crouch speed |
| Level 3 | 40% increased crouch speed |
Quick Stealth is a useful quality of life improvement if you like to play quietly. The increase in crouch speed makes it much easier to sneak past enemies on patrol. Regardless of whether you’re sneaking through an area with or without bushes. You’ll benefit from the extra movement speed.
With that said, I’d still consider this Ace of Spades perk to be optional. As explained in my 10 Best Weird West TIps and Tricks guide, there’s a useful trick for getting around quietly. You can still roll to get around fast without making any sound. The only negative is that you can only roll far rather than make small movements.
Decent Perks in Weird West
Demolitionist
Deal more explosive damage with dynamite and cluster dynamite.
| Level 1 | 25% more explosive damage dealt |
| Level 2 | 60% more explosive damage dealt |
| Level 3 | 100% more explosive damage dealt |
I didn’t take advantage of Demolitionist much in my first playthrough, but it definitely has the potential to be a strong perk. It can be difficult to use dynamite well since enemies will typically run before it explodes. Not to say you can’t take advantage of slow motion to try and shoot it.
However, you can’t ignore the fact that explosives are limited in Weird West. So you may not always have an opportunity to use them. With that said, you can at least buy them from gun stores in towns. And they do restock over time with new inventory.
Locksmith
Gain a chance to save one of your lockpicks from breaking when picking a lock.
| Level 1 | 25% chance to save one lockpick |
| Level 2 | 50% chance to save one lockpick |
| Level 3 | 90% chance to save one lockpick |
I originally wanted Locksmith to be one of the best perks but it falls short for one disappointing reason. Regardless of how many lockpicks you use to pick a lock, you can only save one. Therefore, if you use five lockpicks to open a chest and Locksmith activates, you’ll only consume four lockpicks.
Part of me hoped that it would trigger a chance for each lockpick. However, it would probably be a little ridiculous with the level 3 chance being as high as 90% to not consume one. If they lowered the level 2 and 3 percentages, I’d prefer it roll for each one. Otherwise, Locksmith is mostly good in the beginning when you’re only using one or two lockpicks at a time.
Quick Reload
Increase reload speed with firearms.
| Level 1 | 10% increase in firearm reload speed |
| Level 2 | 25% increase in firearm reload speed |
| Level 3 | 50% increase in firearm reload speed |
While the Quick Reload perk may seem mediocre, it’s easy to forget that you reload one bullet at a time. Aside from the bow which doesn’t benefit here, every other weapon reloads the same way. This can help keep you firing regardless of which weapon you find yourself using more frequently.
Especially if you use this with the Bullet Dodger perk previously mentioned. You can quickly reload and set yourself up for another slow motion dodge packed with action. Also, you’ll definitely benefit more from using Quick Reload with high-capacity weapons.
Healthy
Increase your maximum Hit Points.
| Level 1 | 10% increase in Hit Points |
| Level 2 | 25% increase in Hit Points |
| Level 3 | 50% increase in Hit Points |
The Healthy Ace of Spades perk gets an honorable mention since it may save your life. Aside from loading a previous save, once your dead in Weird West, that’s it. So you may want Healthy for that extra chunk of health so you can take a beating. Regardless of whether you’re playing on a harder difficulty or not.
The only thing I don’t like about Healthy is that the health increase isn’t significant. Until you get to level 3, the first two levels feel a little mediocre. With that said, you may prefer to take Trail Medic below for recovering health more easily instead.
Trail Medic
Recover more Hit Points when using bandages.
| Level 1 | 20% more Hit Points recovered from bandages |
| Level 2 | 50% more Hit Points recovered from bandages |
| Level 3 | 100% more Hit Points recovered from bandages |
Trail Medic is an okay perk to get to level 1 or 2 if you don’t want to completely upgrade it. Bandages can make or break whether you survive in the middle of a tough battle. Having that extra chunk of healing from Trail Medic can prevent needing to use multiple bandages instead.
The only reason I debated getting Trail Medic is because there are plenty of ways to heal. The reality is you’ll mostly use bandages when you need that quick heal and the fight isn’t over yet. Otherwise, you can heal by drinking water, eating food, sleeping in a bed on normal difficulty and below, etc.
Perks to Avoid in Weird West
Scrounger
Find more money in containers.
| Level 1 | 10% more money in containers |
| Level 2 | 25% more money in containers |
| Level 3 | 50% more money in containers |
Scrounger doesn’t feel worth it unless this perk increases how often money appears in containers. My assumption is that it only increases the amount of money when there’s already money in the container. If that’s the case, it’s not worth getting a whole $5 to $10 more every so often.
Especially since it’s rare to find a lot of money in containers. This makes it so the increase from Scrounger isn’t likely to be significant enough. Not to say you can’t rob a cash register that may have a good chunk of money. If anything, you’re more likely to find metal nuggets and bars.
Haggler
Reduce shop prices and service fees.
| Level 1 | -5% discount on shop prices and services |
| Level 2 | -12% discount on shop prices and services |
| Level 3 | -30% discount on shop prices and services |
Haggler only benefits you if you frequently buy from shops or purchase expensive gear like a $1,500 weapon. However, you can lose out on this perk by having a negative reputation. While a positive reputation can lead to shop discounts, a negative one will increase the price. Even though Haggler can reduce the penalties from a negative reputation, it starts to not be worth having.
If you’re playing like a criminal anyway, you may as well steal what you need. Due to how easy this is as explained in my guide on How to Get Money Fast, you won’t need Haggler. I’d like this perk more if it increased the value of my items.
Hunter
Move faster when aiming with Rifles, Shotguns, or Bows.
| Level 1 | 5% faster when aiming Rifles, Shotguns, or Bows |
| Level 2 | 15% faster when aiming Rifles, Shotguns, or Bows |
| Level 3 | 30% faster when aiming Rifles, Shotguns, or Bows |
Someone may find a better use for Hunter, but for me, I can’t see it. By far, this perk seems like the most useless one. It doesn’t serve a major purpose and the increase in speed isn’t anything crazy. Plus, you can easily stop aiming to regain your speed.
I can see two different situations where Hunter can be useful, but it’s not enough for me to waste Ace of Spades cards on. First, the movement speed can help close the distance when you’re using a shotgun. This makes it easier to get high damage up close. Second, you can use Hunter to chase enemies that can teleport.
That’s all there is to this Weird West guide on the best perks to use. Comment below if you have a perk tip of your own to share. Especially if it’s about one I said isn’t worth using. Otherwise, take a look at our 10 Best Weird West Tips and Tricks as well.
Jeff is a journalist with over 10 years of experience writing, streaming, and making content about video games. With an associate degree in journalism, he’s a sucker for RPGs, survival games, roguelikes, and more.