GuideNo More Room in Hell 2
No More Room in Hell 2 Perks Tier List: All 47 Ranked
Two community tier lists and a sheet of real values agree on more than you'd think: the perks that are always on beat the ones that wait for a moment.
VerdictKeep Sturdy Body and Thick Skin whenever they roll, add Scavenger for gun runs and Foreman for kicks, and don't spend credits on recoil, hipfire or battery perks.
Our No More Room in Hell 2 perks tier list comes down to one rule: a perk that works every second you're alive beats one that waits for a specific gun, a downed teammate or a locked door. Sturdy Body and Thick Skin are the clearest cases. Scavenger, Foreman and Marathon Runner come next. The recoil, hipfire and battery perks sit at the bottom, and nothing in the numbers argues them up.
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About the game
No More Room in Hell 2
Torn Banner Studios
Updated 2026-10-19: Every perk now shows what it actually does at Expert, from the community Info Compendium sheet for version 1.1. The level column is now labeled correctly as the account level needed for Expert (not the unlock level), the percentages are labeled as Zyxtis's own effectiveness rating rather than game stats, and the upcoming Camp Blood perks are noted.
The ranking follows the five bands in Zyxtis's Steam guide "Weapon, Item & Perk Effectiveness", rated mostly with Nightmare in mind. Zyxtis's percentages are a player's judgment, not numbers the game shows you, so each table adds the real effect at Expert and our call. Where Vankrein's perk video disagrees, we say so below the tables.
Screenshot: Steam store page
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How perks work in No More Room in Hell 2
Perks are rolled, not picked. Each Responder's profession starts with one of two possible perks, chosen at random: a Nurse rolls Skilled Medic or Acquired Immunity, a Prepper rolls Scavenger or Builder, and an MMA Fighter rolls Sturdy Body or Adrenaline Rush. More perk slots open as the Responder levels toward 100, and rerolls draw from the perks your account level has unlocked.
Two things cost credits. Rerolling a slot gets pricier the higher the slot: Vankrein's video shows 100 credits for a level 1 slot and 500 for a level 100 slot. Upgrading a perk to Expert costs 1,000 credits, and only once your account reaches the level in the table. The gap between base and Expert is large for most perks, so we'd spend on an Expert upgrade for a perk we're keeping before we'd gamble on a reroll.
Torn Banner reset the perk pool for 1.0: Handgun Reloading, Rifle Reloading and Shotgun Reloading came in, Averaging, Guts and Teddy Bear went out, and the studio said it was lowering the reroll price "to allow for more active buildcrafting." That leaves 47 perks in version 1.1. If you're still learning what credits and loadouts are for, our No More Room in Hell 2 beginner guide walks through the basics first.
GODEEPER: New to permadeath, the Rescue Beacon and what to bring on a first drop? Start there before you spend credits on perks. No More Room in Hell 2 Beginner Guide: Perks and Loadouts →
BESTPRICE: Want No More Room in Hell 2? These stores list it: Buy on Eneba → Buy on Green Man Gaming → Buy on Humble Bundle → Buy on Gameseal →
Top Tier: Scavenger, Hitman, Skilled Medic
| Perk | What Expert does | Expert at account level | Zyxtis rating (base / Expert) | Our call |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scavenger | +30% ammo from pickups | 8 | 30% / 100% | Take it on any gun build |
| Hitman | +30% one-handed melee damage, +15% stamina use | 24 | 30% / 100% | Expert only, for one-handed melee |
| Skilled Medic | +100% healing, on yourself and others | 88 | 50% / 100% | Take it; the squad feels it too |
Scavenger earns its spot on Nightmare, where the compendium's difficulty table lists 40% less ammo picked up (Hard takes 20%). An Expert Scavenger claws a big share of that back, and the extra rounds can be dropped for teammates. On r/nmrih, Azal_of_Forossa described a squadmate who kept racing to ammo piles and insisting that "Bro that's not how that works", while Azal picked up the boosted ammo and handed it out anyway.
Skilled Medic doubles a bandage's 25 base health and a medkit's 100, and the 1.0 patch notes say it "should heal other players more." Hitman is the one to be careful with: the base version adds stamina cost for a modest bonus, so we'd only keep it once Expert is in reach at level 24.
Good tier: 15 perks worth building toward
| Perk | What Expert does | Expert at account level | Zyxtis rating (base / Expert) | Our call |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sturdy Body | 20% less damage taken | 100 | 30% / 75% | Always take it |
| Caravan | +3 kg carry weight, 10% less max stamina | 54 | 40% / 70% | Expert only; skip on melee builds |
| Marathon Runner | 30% less stamina drain while sprinting | 18 | 25% / 70% | Take it |
| Rush | 30% less stamina on charged two-handed attacks | 2 | 10% / 65% | Skip unless you live on charged swings |
| Thick Skin | +20% max health | 48 | 25% / 65% | Always take it |
| Mule | +2 kg carry weight, 5% less max health | 92 | 10% / 65% | Expert only; never the base version |
| Athlete | +20% total stamina | 72 | 25% / 65% | Take it if you kick a lot |
| Handgun Reloading | 40% faster handgun reloads | 11 | 25% / 65% | Low priority |
| Shotgun Reloading | 40% faster shotgun reloads | 21 | 25% / 65% | Worth it for pump and double-barrel users |
| Rifle Reloading | 40% faster rifle, SMG and heavy rifle reloads | 34 | 25% / 65% | Low priority |
| Heavy Shoves | +20 damage on shoves | 64 | 20% / 65% | Foreman does this job better |
| Foreman | +30 damage on kicks | 50 | 20% / 60% | Take it |
| Healing Item Stack | 30% lighter medical items | 52 | 30% / 60% | Take it if you carry medkits |
| Headhunter | +20% melee headshot damage | 80 | 25% / 60% | Melee builds |
| Steel Chamber | +30% heavy rifle damage | 44 | 20% / 60% | Heavy rifle builds only |
Two traps live in this band. Base Mule gives one extra kilo and cuts your max health by 15%, which is close to a negative Thick Skin; only the Expert version is a good trade. Rush reads well in the menu, but the discount applies only to charged attacks with two-handed weapons, and those swings were never what drained your stamina bar.
The reload trio splits opinion. Zyxtis rates all three Good, while Vankrein calls them mid and only defends Shotgun Reloading, because shotguns reload slowly enough to get you hit.
Moderate Impact: 10 perks for specific builds
| Perk | What Expert does | Expert at account level | Zyxtis rating (base / Expert) | Our call |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lucky Pathogen | 20% damage resistance while infected | 42 | 25% / 55% | Solo or small squads with spare pills |
| Stayin' Alive | Revive others 100% faster | 6 | 25% / 55% | Fine early filler |
| Deprived | +20% max health, 2 kg less carry weight | 58 | 25% / 50% | Melee builds; stack with Thick Skin |
| Overkill | 30% more pellets per shotgun shot | 96 | 10% / 40% | Shotgun mains only |
| Mohawk | Rifles hit 2 more targets, 50% less falloff | 22 | 25% / 40% | Rifle penetration builds |
| Penetrating Shot | Heavy rifles hit 1 more target, 50% less falloff | 60 | 25% / 40% | Pair with Steel Chamber |
| Headblown | +30% handgun headshot damage | 12 | 20% / 40% | Take it early on a handgun build |
| Butcher | +40% melee damage to limbs | 56 | 15% / 40% | Skip |
| Icarus | 50% more shotgun range | 14 | 10% / 35% | Shotgun mains only |
| Tight Shot | 30% less shotgun spread | 68 | 5% / 35% | Shotgun mains only |
Headblown is the bargain here. Expert opens at level 12, and it turns a 1911 into a gun that drops the bloody zombies in one headshot (the math is below). Deprived is better than its band suggests on a melee Responder who carries little: Vankrein stacks it with Thick Skin for 144 health instead of 100.
Low and Very Low Impact: 19 perks to skip
| Perk | What Expert does | Expert at account level | Zyxtis rating (base / Expert) | Our call |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resident Genes | Pills and Gene Therapy heal 25 health | 38 | 10% / 30% | Only with Lucky Pathogen |
| Hard Blow | +30% stagger damage on two-handed light and strong attacks | 40 | 5% / 25% | Skip |
| Quiet Steps | 20% less movement noise | 36 | 5% / 20% | Skip; Ranger Boots do more |
| Grenadier | 20% lighter throwables and deployables | 10 | 5% / 20% | Only if you haul explosives |
| Acquired Immunity | 20% infection resistance | 74 | 5% / 20% | Skip if you heal early |
| Vulture | 20% lighter ammo | 32 | 5% / 15% | Only for the squad's ammo carrier |
| Limbo | 30% longer downed time | 16 | 0% / 15% | Filler |
| Doorbreaker | +200% kick damage to doors and barricades | 46 | 0% / 15% | Skip |
| Longer Battery | 50% less flashlight battery drain | 20 | 0% / 15% | Skip |
| Adrenaline Rush | 20% less melee stamina at 20 health or below | 4 | 0% / 10% | Skip |
| Resilience | 25% resistance to fire, poison, electricity and water | 75 | 0% / 5% | Skip |
| Wicked | +20% handgun damage to limbs | 48 | 0% / 5% | Skip |
| Winged | 50% more SMG range | 27 | 0% / 5% | Skip |
| Locked On | 40% less SMG recoil | 31 | 0% / 5% | Skip |
| Steady Shot | 30% less rifle recoil | 76 | 0% / 5% | Skip |
| Steady Hands | 35% less handgun spread | 49 | 0% / 5% | Skip |
| Hellfire | 30% less rifle hipfire spread | 84 | 0% / 5% | Skip |
| Eagle Eye | 80% more heavy rifle range | 28 | 0% / 5% | Skip |
| Builder | 30% lighter boards and batteries | 71 | 0% / 5% | Skip |
Screenshot: Steam store page
The bottom ten are mostly aim-assist perks for habits the game punishes anyway. Ammo is scarce on the hard difficulties, so hipfire and recoil help with the shots you shouldn't be taking. Resident Genes is the one with a real use: it heals off pills, and Skilled Medic doesn't boost it, so it only shines next to Lucky Pathogen on a Responder who infects themselves on purpose. Acquired Immunity sounds essential until you learn that, per Vankrein, zombie hits don't infect you while you're above half health. He also notes that Limbo matters less now that the Rescue Beacon and revive syringes exist.
Where the two community tier lists disagree
Vankrein's perk video sorts perks into god, S, A, B, C and D tiers, working from the compendium's numbers instead of feel. Its two god tier perks, Sturdy Body and Thick Skin, both sit in Zyxtis's Good band. At 12:10 Vankrein puts it plainly: the only reason to skip them "is if you're so good that you don't get hit."
The other splits are smaller but useful:
- Rush: Good for Zyxtis, C tier for Vankrein, who shows at 37:54 that a charged swing costs only a small slice of the stamina bar, so a 30% cut on it barely registers.
- Hard Blow: Zyxtis defended the Low rating in the guide's comments on October 4: "I put Hard Blow in the Low tier because it doesn't really change the situation that much." Weapons with low stagger on light attacks still only make a zombie flinch, even with Expert.
- Butcher: Vankrein's math at 45:06 shows a severed arm needs 60 limb damage, and the kitchen knife and cleaver stay short of it even with Expert Butcher. Round-Mousse-4894 summed up the reaction on r/nmrih: "Was so vindicating to see the numbers on Butcher not add up in any helpful way."
The breakpoints that make small perks matter
Zombies come in three health bands in the compendium Vankrein walks through at 2:31: shamblers at 70, normal zombies at 100 and the bloody primes at 130. That last number explains half the tier list.
- Headblown: a 1911 headshot does 100. At 3:11, Vankrein multiplies it by Expert Headblown's 1.3 and lands exactly on 130, so every prime dies to one bullet.
- Foreman: knocked-down zombies take double damage from everything, guns included. At 10:19 he kicks a prime down for Foreman's extra 30, then finishes it with one 9 mm headshot that would normally take two.
- Headhunter: a large wrench's charged headshot plus a quick follow-up comes to 95, at 8:15. Headhunter pushes the combo past 100, which drops a normal zombie.
- Athlete: the default stamina bar is 100 and a kick costs 50. Two kicks used to leave you gasping with a runner on you; with Athlete you still have stamina left after them.
Screenshot: Steam store page
Mistakes we'd avoid
- Taking base Mule or base Caravan. Both cost you health or stamina at the base level for a small weight bonus. Wait for Expert.
- Rerolling the cheap slots first. Vankrein's advice at 47:20 is to reroll the expensive high-level slots first, because perks already sitting in your low slots drop out of the pool you reroll from.
- Picking Quiet Steps for stealth. At 36:15 Vankrein points out that Ranger Boots cut noise by 50%, more than the perk's 20% at Expert.
- Reading Zyxtis's percentages as game stats. They rate usefulness. The second column is what the perk does.
- Writing off a perk that didn't apply after a Responder swap. That was a bug, and Resupply (1.1) fixed it on September 15.
What changes in Camp Blood (1.2)
Perks are due for a shake-up. In the post-launch Reddit AMA recap, a player asked about buffs because "everyone is just using the stamina and hp perks and all weight related perks." Maxx and Xenon from the dev team answered: "Perks are going to be an area of focus in future updates," adding that the team is "aware of the feedback that some options are underperforming."
The first step is in the Camp Blood (1.2) preview from October 15. Distinguished Service is a new leveling track that only earns XP from retired Responders, and a Responder has to reach level 100 to retire. Its rewards include new perks and passive items "available only through Distinguished Service", with 20 levels at launch. The September roadmap targeted 1.2 for October; as of October 19 the preview is the latest official post, so expect this list to move once it lands.
How we built this list
Checked on October 19, 2026. Perk effects and Expert levels come from the Info Compendium (1.1.0.0) by SchwarzFenrir, whose sheet was last updated October 11. The bands and percentages come from Zyxtis's guide, last updated August 28. We went through Vankrein's video from August 27 with its captions and noted the timestamps above, and we read Torn Banner's Steam announcements from the 1.0 dev blogs through the Camp Blood preview. We didn't play test these perks ourselves; the calls in the last column are ours, built from those numbers.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best perk in No More Room in Hell 2? Sturdy Body, with Thick Skin right behind it: both work every time you get hit, on any build. Zyxtis's Steam guide rates Scavenger, Hitman and Skilled Medic highest, which holds on Nightmare and for gun or one-handed melee builds.
Why are my perks not working in No More Room in Hell 2? If they stopped applying after you switched Responders, that was a bug: the Resupply (1.1) notes list a fix for perks not applying properly after swapping Responders. Base perks are also much weaker than Expert, so a non-Expert pick can feel like nothing.
How do you get Expert perks? Reach the account level listed for that perk, then pay to upgrade it. Vankrein's perk video puts the upgrade at a thousand credits. Scavenger's Expert opens at level 8, Sturdy Body's not until level 100.
What are the best melee perks in No More Room in Hell 2? Hitman and Headhunter for damage, Foreman for kicks that set up knockdowns, and Deprived on builds that carry little. Skip Butcher and Rush: their bonuses rarely change how many hits a zombie takes.
Related Reading
- No More Room in Hell 2 Beginner Guide: Perks and Loadouts: permadeath rules, the Rescue Beacon and a first loadout.
Other shooters on the site where builds and kit decide a run:
- Road to Vostok Beginner Guide: a survival shooter where dying costs you your kit.
- Bodycam Reissad Points Guide: where to spend unlock currency in another shooter.
- DRG Rogue Core Team Compositions: co-op squad roles, the way NMRIH2 teams split ammo and healing.
- Active Matter Complete Guide: an extraction shooter where gear carries risk.
- RIFTSTORM Beginner Guide: extraction and permanent upgrades in a co-op shooter.
- Blood West Weapons Tier List: a horror shooter's guns ranked, undead included.
- Far Far West Best Weapons: a co-op shooter tier list with loadout picks.
- Risk of Rain 2 Item Tier List: stacking passive bonuses in a co-op shooter.
- Killer Bean Weapon Tier List: another gun tier list built on damage numbers.
- Road to Vostok Review: a hardcore survival FPS for players who like the punishment.
- RIFTSTORM Review: an Early Access extraction shooter's verdict.
- Active Matter Launch: what the extraction shooter shipped with on day one.
References
- No More Room in Hell 2 on Steam
- Info Compendium (1.1.0.0) by SchwarzFenrir: perk values and Expert levels.
- Weapon, Item & Perk Effectiveness by Zyxtis: tier bands and ratings.
- Vankrein: NMRIH2 Skills Guide, Perk Tier List
- Road to 1.0: Economy & Progression
- Armageddon (1.0) Update Notes
- Resupply (1.1) Update Notes
- Post-Armageddon Reddit AMA Recap
- Update Preview: Camp Blood (1.2)
- Autumn 2026 Roadmap Update
- r/nmrih thread on Vankrein's perk guide
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