Fallout 4 universe.
I started a new playthrough of Fallout 4, one of my favorite games in the Fallout series, (despite me having to send Marcy Long to the pillory all the time,) and everything was peachy for a few good levels into the game. However, I realized that to upgrade my laser musket, I need the Science! perk. Ok then, I take my new level point and I try to upgrade my intelligence in the base SPECIAL perks tab at the top so I can unlock that perk next time I level up, but it tells me that the "requirements are not met." To be honest, I didn't think there were requirements to upgrade the base SPECIAL perks.
I'm not too upset after this, because there are still plenty of perks I can access. However, as I get more skilled and gain more levels, the perks that I can't get for some reason begin mocking me. Once again, I try upgrading my base SPECIAL perks, but it still tells me I have not met the requirements to do this.
Now, judging by the lack of other questions on this website about this issue, I am guessing this isn't a very common thing, so it must be something rare that I did to trigger this. One idea I have is that I had a few mods loaded. The unofficial bug patch mod, (of course,) and a few others for improving the night sky, better sound effects for the weapons, etc. Unless something about this caused my base SPECIAL perks to lock me out, (for some inconceivable reason,) I have no idea why this would happen. If someone could offer advice about what I should do to fix this, I would very much appreciate it!
P.S., I would add a picture to help explain what happened, but I am playing on Xbox and writing this question on PC. Maybe the console I'm using might be part of it, who knows. 🤔
Best Answer
This is a not-uncommon bug that prevents players from ranking up existing perks. My search revealed about a dozen posts on Reddit of other people experiencing the same problem.
SPECIAL perks have no other level requirements so there's no reason you wouldn't be able to unlock them. If possible, reload a save from before your level-up and retry. Otherwise, try using console commands to set your level to the appropriate value:
There are a variety of mods available in the community mod manager that allow you to tweak your SPECIAL stats. If necessary, you can install one of these to fix the incorrect value.