In today’s RPG landscape, romance is almost a required inclusion in any companion system. At some point, you will need to foster a relationship with your companions in order to reap the best rewards from them. The Commonwealth of Fallout 4 is no exception to this rule. The world may have ended, but people are still looking for love.

The Fallout 4 romance options aren’t limited to your companions in this game, but you do have plenty of options among them. Including some outliers, here are the romance options you’ll find after leaving Vault 111. We’ve gone ahead and ranked them for you, but we’re giving some info so you can pick which fits your needs.

In this update, a companion not previously included was added into the ranking. If you’re still wondering about which Fallout 4 romance option to pursue based solely on their affinity perk, it’s now even easier to look through the ranking by checking each affinity perk listed below.

10 Worst Romance Option In Fallout 4: Gilda Broscoe

  • Temporary Perk: Lover’s Embrace - Gain +15% experience points for 8 hours.

Kicking this list off is a romance option that is not with a companion at all.

Gilda Broscoe was once a beautiful and famous actress before the Great War. Before the bombs dropped, Gilda paid for a place in the ultra-exclusive Vault 118 along with her love, Keith McKinney. The two became subjects in the Robobrain experiments which led to their appearance in the Fallout 4 Far Harbor DLC as robots.

During the quest Brain Dead, the player will encounter Gilda and can eventually flirt with her. If successful repeatedly, the player is able to take Gilda on a date which will result in the temporary perk Lover’s Embrace, which can typically only be obtained from sleeping in a bed with a romanced companion.

9 Magnolia

Like Gilda Broscoe, Magnolia is not a companion. Also like Gilda Broscoe, romancing Magnolia will grant you the Lover’s Embrace temporary perk. Unlike Gilda Broscoe, Magnolia is a synth, meaning she very much looks human. You encounter Magnolia in the town of Goodneighbor where she performs as a singer in The Third Rail.

Since Magnolia isn’t a companion, there aren’t many opportunities to build a relationship with her. If the player wants to romance her, they will have to pass a few charisma checks based on her limited interactions at the bar. She’s definitely a step up from Gilda, but the lack of commitment keeps her below the companions on this list.

8 Hancock

  • Affinity Perk: Isopode – 20% faster Critical Hit rate if the player has at least 250 rads.

Speaking of Goodneighbor, the town’s ghoul mayor who you can recruit is another potential partner for romantic involvement. John Hancock is an odd sort who enjoys when you use chems, and when you act violent or generously. As with other companions, these actions are derived from his own nature.

Hancock is a fantastic companion for flavor. He’s an extremely aggressive ghoul with a perpetual chip on his shoulder and a heart of gold hidden deep down. Nevertheless, his companion perk doesn’t stack up to others, making an investment of time better spent elsewhere.

7 Cait

  • Affinity Perk: Trigger Rush – Action Points regenerate 25% faster when the player’s health is 25% or below.

Hancock isn’t the only chem-addict companion available for romance. Cait is a former slave and cage fighter with a very upsetting background. She appreciates anything criminal, drinking hard liquor, and using chems.

Over time bonding with her, some of Cait’s likes and dislikes take a pretty radical turn as she comes to terms with certain aspects of her history. She’s certainly an enjoyable companion but maxing affinity with her needs a payoff and her companion perk isn’t the best. It beats Hancock’s, but it’s not giving a lot of breathing room.

6 Piper

  • Affinity Perk: Gift of Gab – Bonus experience for successful persuasion checks and the discovery of new locations.

Moving on from chems, Piper is a reporter living in Diamond City with her sister Nat. The two publish a newspaper known as Publick Occurrences, which has a tendency to land Piper in trouble with Mayor McDonough and others. As a result, she is frequently threatened.

Piper really appreciates a mixture of things that the previous two companions enjoy. She enjoys helping the innocent and lockpicking, but does not support stealing, lying, or feeding certain characters chems. For reaching maximum affinity with Piper, you obtain the Gift of Gab perk. The earlier you get it, the better, as it allows you to accumulate a lot of extra experience points.

5 MacCready

  • Affinity Perk: Killshot – Gives the player a 20% increased chance of scoring headshots when using VATS.

Robert MacCready is a mercenary who you’ll first encounter in the Capitol Wasteland of Fallout 3. He is a fantastic sniper who occasionally offers you ammo when being used as a traveling companion. MacCready enjoys asking for money on quests and most criminal activity. Given his affiliation with Goodneighbor, he does not condone any actions that cause hostilities there.

MacCready’s companion perk is immensely useful. Using this perk wisely can make you a much more effective sniper, and it doesn’t have a limited window of use like Gift of Gab.

4 Curie

  • Affinity Perk: Combat Medic – Heals the player to maximum health once they fall below 10%, once per day.

Just when you thought you were done with robots, there’s Curie. This optional companion can be recruited as a Nanny Bot if you access Vault 81 and retrieve the cure from her. Curie appreciates a wide berth of kindnesses and will eventually seek to be transferred into a synth body, which is how romance becomes an option.

For reaching a maximum relationship with Curie, you’ll be granted the Combat Medic perk. This is understandably powerful and is definitely worth building a relationship with Curie for.

3 Porter Gage

  • Affinity Perk: Lessons In Blood – Gives the player 5% more experience per kill and +10 Damage Resistance.

Porter Gage is introduced in Fallout 4’s Nuka-World DLC. He’s a hardened raider who persuades the Sole Survivor to take on the role of the Overboss and bring glory back to the raiders of Nuka Town. He’s a strong companion in combat and prefers to use his handmade rifle to take down enemies. To find him, head to the Fizztop Grille.

Given that he’s one of the last companions to be added into the game, he’s also among the toughest. Like a good raider, he’ll appreciate similarly violent and harsh views on life. Due to being betrayed in the past, it will take a while for him to warm up to a romance. His affinity perk is a fantastic one to unlock since it’s so general that it applies to almost any character build.

2 Preston

  • Affinity Perk: United We Stand – Increases damage dealt by 20% and damage resistance by 20 points against three or more enemies.

Oh, Preston Garvey. If you have played 20 minutes of Fallout 4, you’re likely surprised to see Preston this high on the list. Just know that it’s certainly a bittersweet placement.

Preston is the leader, and sole remaining member, of the Minutemen. He offers plenty of insight early in the game and introduces you to the settlement system. Since the Minutemen ending of Fallout 4 is the only foolproof ending that you can’t possibly be locked out of, he gains some respect.

What really helps Preston is that his companion perk is very useful. Given that enemies in the Commonwealth tend to attack in groups, there’s plenty of value here.

1 Best Romance Option In Fallout 4: Paladin Danse

  • Affinity Perk: Know Your Enemy – 20% bonus damage against ghouls, synths and super mutants.

Danse is a companion who isn’t accessible until relatively late in the game. Initially, he is only intermittently involved with you until certain events occur that cause him to question the nature of his existence. Until that point, Danse is the commander for Recon Squad Gladius.

Danse has some very interesting story elements which make building affinity with him a relatively enjoyable experience. The biggest downside to this relationship is that Danse is very supportive of the Brotherhood of Steel. If you aren’t planning to join this faction, you might want to consider a different option. If you do build a relationship with Danse, you will unlock his companion perk, which offers bonus damage against ghouls, synths, and super mutants — the most common enemies you encounter.

NEXT: Fallout 4: Things That Make No Sense About The Railroad