The PvP in Fallout 76 caused concerns among many fans. They feared griefers and vicious player killing. At QuakeCon 2018, new information was provided explaining the flow of PvP and protection against griefers. Bethesda has some brutal solutions in store.
PvP is part of Fallout 76: During the Q&A session at QuakeCon 2018 regarding Fallout 76, Todd Howard and other developers discussed the PvP of Fallout 76. The combat between players is supposed to be almost always possible – but there are protective mechanisms.
This is how PvP works in Fallout 76
In Fallout 76, you continuously level up – and can fight each other in the vast areas of West Virginia anytime you want. However, if you don’t feel like it, you can largely avoid PvP.
PvP is “consensual”: When a player attacks another player, their weapons only deal a fraction of the damage. It should feel like someone slapped you in the bar, according to Todd Howard. It’s annoying, but not serious.
The full extent of PvP is only reached when shots are fired back. Once both players have engaged in PvP activities, their weapons deal normal damage instead of just poking. Level and equipment play a role, but not a significant one.
The strength of weapons is adjusted – stronger weapons become slightly weaker, while weaker ones become stronger, so that a player with the best equipment isn’t immediately considered invincible.
Rewards for kills: In PvP, you typically fight to the death. The one who kills another receives a reward in the form of caps. The amount of the reward varies depending on the level of the killed opponent.
If you get shot, you have the option to take “revenge”. If you choose to accept the game’s “revenge” offer, you will receive double the reward for killing the player who took you out.
What happens when I die? When you die, you initially retain all equipped armor and weapons. However, you lose your “junk”. The junk is important for building structures and crafting.
You can retrieve the lost junk from your corpse if no one else has done so. You then have to decide whether what you lost is worth the pilgrimage to your corpse or if you can gather it faster anew.
This is how Fallout 76 protects you from PvP
For those who do not want to participate in PvP or are simply not far enough yet, Bethesda provides some protective mechanisms. In Fallout 76, no one can simply take you down if you don’t want to – at least not without serious consequences.
Bounty on nuisances: If you decide not to participate in PvP, you can simply not respond to attacks and walk away. If someone still decides to kill you with their reduced damage, there will be consequences.
As we reported earlier, “murderers” are given a bounty. Todd Howard called it “making a feature out of assholes”. Wanted murderers appear on the map as a large red star that every other player can see at any time.
Protection from exploitation: Murderers cannot hide and cannot see anyone else on the map. When they die, the player who kills them receives a large reward – which the murderers have to pay from their own pocket. This prevents the PvP system in Fallout 76 from being exploited.
Additionally, to prevent players from constantly throwing themselves in your line of fire to force you into PvP and avoid the “murderer” status, there is the “white pacifist flag”. If you equip this, your attacks will no longer harm players.
Nukes aren’t that bad: PvP also involves your built bases being destroyed by atom rockets. Here you have some options to mitigate the consequences:
- Items you store in your personal stash remain accessible only to you
- You can turn completed buildings into “blueprints” that you can take with you and rebuild anywhere.
If an atom rocket destroys your home, you can easily rebuild it elsewhere.
No PvP before level 5: If you just want to stroll out of Vault 76 into the expanses of West Virginia, getting shot by other players is not the best first greeting. To avoid this, PvP is disabled before level 5 in Fallout 76.
Players who have not yet reached level 5 are simply invulnerable in PvP.
