Fallout 76 is finally live, so let’s get stick in with a whole mess of Fallout 76 tips for beginners. Fallout 76 has huge potential to be one of the most unique MMOs out there, almost blurring the line between real-time strategy and survival. But as it stands, some of its systems and quirks haven’t…
Fallout 76 is finally live, so let’s get stick in with a whole mess of Fallout 76 tips for beginners.
Fallout 76 has huge potential to be one of the most unique MMOs out there, almost blurring the line between real-time strategy and survival. But as it stands, some of its systems and quirks haven’t been very straightforward or obvious during the recent beta.
Before we get started, have a look at what our man Alex had to say about his first few hours spent playing Fallout 76 as well as everything we know about the game pre-launch.
So, let’s look at 16 things I wish I knew before starting Fallout 76 beta.
It isn’t Fallout 4: Part 1
This might seem obvious, but to the inexperienced eye Fallout 76 looks near identical to the Fallout 4. The landscapes, the gadgets, the hairstyles – it’s a Fallout 4 skin with a twist.
Some of the buttons are mapped slightly differently and you have the addition of the CAMP function from the Pip-Boy which can get a bit fiddly.
There’s also a more functional d-pad that, again, can be a bit clunky and now features the emote function which is quite fun to use.
It isn’t Fallout 4: Part 2
Aside from the odd robot or giant moth, you’ll seldom find an NPC having a walk around the map. The main difference from Fallout 76 and the previous titles is that you and your fellow vault dwellers are responsible for rebuilding society, as opposed to being born or defrosted into a brave new world.
As such, new towns, settlements and hierarchies haven’t been formed and the population hasn’t been out reproducing for very long, so it would make sense that most of your interactions are with ghouls, Scorchbeasts and bomb-resistant robots, aside from your vault pals.
Team Up
Once you’ve left the safety of Vault 76, it can be a lonely old world out there. Apart from the robots and beasties crawling the map, you only have other players to interact with. The difficulty curve when playing solo rises quite dramatically, so whether it’s with friends or some guy you accidentally invited to your party instead of opening your Pip-Boy, it’s a good idea to team up.
Playing in a group means you’ll finish bigger events, can handle more difficult quests and explore the map quicker as you all take a slightly different route or building to inspect. It’s decidedly more fun to play Fallout 76 as it was intended – as a co-op game, not a solo adventure.
You are encouraged to trade resources with your teammates and strangers, such as recipes or mods, which really makes the social aspect of Fallout 76 quite special.
Inventory and stash issues
Being over-encumbered is part and parcel of all Bethesda games, but it feels more pronounced in Fallout 76. Building a CAMP is no easy feat as you need to compete with other players for prime locations, set up defences, etc, and all of this requires resources.
Much like Fallout 4, you can pick up almost everything and some players have reached their inventory and stash limits in a matter of hours. Fallout 4, Fallout 3 and New Vegas all had a plethora of vendors, stashes and workbenches you could use to store your horde of junk, I mean, resources and this feature is definitely lacking in Fallout 76. You’ll need to study the blueprints to see what resources you really need and pick these up accordingly, rather than taking everything at once.
Moving your CAMP will cost you
Should you decide that you’ve had enough of where you’ve settled in your CAMP, you can find a new location and move it there. The blueprints for items around the CAMP have small font and can be tricky to understand, and it isn’t clear at first that for every level you increase and the further you travel, it will be more expensive to set up another CAMP.
You’ll need to go into your Pip-Boy to move your CAMP, not through the CAMP device itself, for reasons known only by Bethesda.
Unlike previous Fallout games, bottlecaps aren’t found in abundance, probably because it hasn’t been established as the unilateral currency at this point, so it’s sometimes worth building on your resources and manning the tent for as long as possible before moving on.
If you jaunt off to a new location, you risk getting your CAMP trashed by friendly opponents or various creatures, giving you another reason to play in a group.
Weapons and armour
Fancy clothes don’t offer any damage protection in Fallout 76, which is disappointing as I had a ballistic weave glittery dress in Fallout 4 that had 110 damage and energy resistance.
If you want to minimise damage, you’re best off equipping body armour or finding a suit of Power Armor sets hidden in Appalachia. Gas masks provide a bonus which makes sense considering it’s only been 25 years since the bombs fell.
Fallout 76 employs Fallout 3’s weapon mechanic in that you need to repair your armour and weapons lest they break, and you’re left punching a Mega Sloth to death. You can repair weapons at workbenches found around Appalachia, at your CAMP and by some specialist vendors. If an item becomes broken you won’t be able to equip it, but it will remain in your inventory, taking up space until you scrap or sell it.
On a more interesting note, there’s every possibility you’ll have two of the same weapons, yet if you switch between them you may find that one will deteriorate quicker than the other, again adding another bit of survival realism into the game.
Power Armour is conveniently found near Power Armour Stations. To lock it to you, simply transfer armour plates into your inventory, enter the frame and lock its ownership to you. You can even put it into your inventory, somehow.
How Perks and SPECIAL work
SPECIAL stats have been around in Fallout games forever and Fallout 76 is no exception.
Upon levelling up, you can allocate points to one of the SPECIAL stats, as well as choosing a Perk Card. There’s often a new type of card per SPECIAL rank and you don’t need to choose a card from the stat you just increased. So, if you increased your Perception SPECIAL, you aren’t locked into choosing a Perception-based card.
You begin with one point in each and raise a single stat by one until you reach 15. The current level cap is 50, so spend your points well. If you have at least three points in Charisma, you can share Perk Cards with your team and can swap them around at any time.
Most types of cards can be combined to make a better version, except for Lockpicking and Hacking.
There are various bonuses to be obtained through the Perk Cards, such as resistance to Rads, muffled movement and greater melee weapon damage.
Hacking and lockpicking
The same lock mechanic from Fallout 4 and Skyrim is present in Fallout 76, as well as a similar method for hacking terminals.
Lockpicking and Hacking Perk Cards work differently from the rest of the cards in Fallout 76. Each skill has three cars ranked between one and three. Unlike other cards, you can’t combine two Rank 3 cards to make a better version of the card.
The only way to improve these skills is to find all three cards and have them equipped at the same time.
Diseases, mutations and hunger, oh my!
Once you’ve reached level five, there’s a chance you’ll start to contract diseases from food and water and you might even begin to mutate. Diseases are only removed with cures or by letting it run its course, which is a risk all its own.
Much like in real life, being well rested in a decent bed with a frame can help prevent diseases entirely as you need to keep your vault gal/guy in top shape. If you die and respawn, you might still carry whatever disease or mutation you had, so get it dealt with asap.
Radiation is as problematic as ever as only RadAway can get rid of it. However, it can also introduce new mutations that either enhance or destroy a part of you, so it’s up to you if you want to wait and see what happens.
Useful mutations can be kept by using the Starched Genes Perk Card, which allows you to keep any active mutations forever, or prevent any new ones from coming, so if glowing green isn’t your thing, we suggest selecting this card as soon as you get it.
You also need to eat and drink regularly when touring West Virginia, borrowing the hardcore mechanic from Fallout: New Vegas. Depending on whether you’re eating homemade soups that inexplicably contain wood, canned goods or knocking back Mentats will affect your hunger and thirst levels and these resources clearly aren’t intended for health regeneration like in Fallout 4.
