What things should you consider when starting with Fallout 76? Here you can find out what can make your life easier in post-apocalyptic West Virginia.
Update: This article was published at the release of Fallout 76. Due to the huge success of the Fallout series the player numbers have increased enormously and we have made a few updates here.
Fallout 76 is an online survival RPG and offers a complex mix of survival, crafting, base-building, and role-playing. Therefore, it can be difficult to see everything when starting out.
These 10 tips can help you, especially at the start of Fallout 76.
In the video, you will find the most important information about Fallout 76 in 2 minutes:
1. Holotapes, notes, and terminals are important
That’s why you shouldn’t ignore them: While Fallout 76 is still fundamentally a true Fallout game, there are some important differences. At launch, there were no human NPCs, which is why the main story had to be told in other ways.
This means that holotapes, notes, and terminals become the main quest givers. Furthermore, they are, along with robots, the source of stories that Fallout 76 tells. Therefore, do not ignore them, take your time, and read everything.
And what if I don’t have time to read? Especially when you’re out with friends, this can be a problem. Hardly anyone takes the 5 minutes while the group is waiting for them. However, you can take holotapes and notes with you and read them later. With terminals, this is usually not possible.
Ideally, you try to take the time together to read through everything calmly and learn more about the game world.
2. Junk is not just junk
That’s why junk is so important in Fallout 76: When you are traveling in the game world, you will find all kinds of materials. Don’t leave everything behind. Materials are needed for crafting and building your camp. You can also use it to modify your armor and weapons.
At workbenches, you can process your collected junk and convert it into materials. Keep an eye on the option as you approach the workbench.
What do I do if my inventory is overflowing? Materials that you rarely need can be stored in your camp.
What you can do if you are missing specific materials: If you are missing items like screws, you can mark them. Every item that contains the required material will now be marked for you with an icon. This greatly simplifies your search.
3. Take care of your equipment
It can quickly happen that your equipment breaks. To reuse weapons and armor pieces, you must first repair them. Pay attention to the indicators in your inventory.
This is how to tell how long your equipment will last: Each weapon and armor piece has a status bar. It tells you the condition of that item. If the bar is nearly empty, you should find a workbench and repair the item. You will need the appropriate materials for that.
What if a piece breaks? Weapons that are destroyed can no longer be used. Armor pieces will still be equipped, but they will have no positive effect on your toughness.
If the equipment piece is destroyed, repairing it will cost you more materials. Some pieces are easier to repair than others. For example, leather armor primarily requires leather, while metal armors need screws and other rare materials for repairs.
4. There’s an alternative menu
Some may be annoyed that the Pip-Boy menu takes up the whole screen. You can easily change the menu view.
This is how you switch the menu: Open your menu. At the bottom of the bar, you will see the menu item “View”. The corresponding button will also be displayed. On PS4, you need to press the touchpad.
The alternative menu may be a bit clearer for some players. A big advantage is that you can now also see the environment.
5. Enemy levels determine loot
Why is it important where I am? While it is not shown on the map, some areas are more suitable for beginners than others. Especially at the beginning, it is important to know which locations to avoid for a while.
The level of your loot depends on the enemy level. If you are in a higher-level area, you may not be able to carry most gear.
This is how strong the monsters are in the respective areas:
- The Forest: Enemy level 1 to 10
- Toxic Valley: Enemy level 10 to 25
- Ash Heap: Enemy level 25 to 35
- Savage Divide: Enemy level 15 to 99
- The Mire: Enemy level 30 to 99
- Cranberry Bog: Enemy level 35 to 99
6. You can share perks – thanks to charisma
If you often travel in a group, the special attribute charisma is particularly worthwhile. The associated perks usually have a positive effect for your entire group. You can even share perks if your value is high enough.
This is how you share perks with your friends: Switch to your attributes and perks in the menu. If you have invested enough points in charisma, you can share a perk with your group.
Which perks you can share depends on your charisma level. You need at least three charisma points for every skill point required by a corresponding card. Consequently, you need a minimum of three charisma points to share a perk.
7. V.A.T.S. can be improved and is good for critical hits
With the V.A.T.S., you can target enemies. When it is active, you are shown a percentage chance of hitting enemies. It doesn’t matter where you aim. If the chance is high enough, you’ll hit the enemy. V.A.T.S. can be improved with corresponding perk cards.
This is how you improve your V.A.T.S.: If you invest skill points in perception, you will receive perk cards for your V.A.T.S. With additional perks, you can now not only target enemies, but also body parts.
This increases your chance for critical hits and, ideally, you can even sever body parts.
This is how you use V.A.T.S.: If you have an enemy in your sights, you must press the Q key on PC or the L1/LB button on Xbox and PS4. With the appropriate perks, you can then target the respective body parts using the mouse wheel or the right stick. When V.A.T.S. is active, you consume stamina points. If your stamina runs out, it will be deactivated.
8. Get supply drops
In the game world, you can randomly find requests for supply drops. These are incredibly useful, as they can provide rare gear and important resources.
This is how you request a supply drop: You can find the respective demand holotapes in the game world. They can be carried by enemies or found in containers. Once you find such a supply drop request, you must visit one of the radio towers scattered throughout the game world.
There, you will usually encounter enemies that you must eliminate. You can request the drop at a terminal at the station. It may happen that you have to repair this terminal first. The costs for that are not very high. Once the terminal is active, you need to load the corresponding holotape. If the quest for the supply drop is active, the landing zone will be shown on your map.
A robot will now drop a crate at that location.
Who can benefit from the supply drop? In principle, any player in the vicinity can receive the message and go to the drop point. Anyone can loot the crate without stealing from others.
9. Always have enough food and water with you
In Fallout 76, players suffer from hunger and thirst. If you don’t pay attention to both, it can quickly become annoying. But you can prevent this.
This is how you always have enough to eat and drink: There are several tricks to prevent food shortages. You should
- hunt animals and collect their meat.
- take as much water as possible from water sources.
- look for all kinds of canned goods and other food in buildings.
It is important that you process your water and the meat from animals at a cooking station. Boiled water has a significantly lower radiation dose than dirty water. The same goes for meat after it has been cooked.
What if there is no cooking station nearby? It’s better to consume raw meat and dirty water than to suffer from hunger and thirst. The radiation is annoying, but it can be easily reduced with Radaway.
Hunger and thirst negatively affect your stamina and are therefore much more bothersome than slightly increased radiation. But be careful: Radaway makes you more susceptible to diseases for a while.
10. Diseases can be annoying
Diseases can afflict you under various circumstances and can be quite bothersome. To prevent this, a few things should be noted.
This is how you can get sick in Fallout 76:
- Food and liquids that have not been treated (the chance of illness is shown in the menu)
- Sleeping on mattresses or sleeping bags that lie directly on the ground
- Certain monsters can infect you with diseases through their attacks. These are usually marked with the affix “sick”.
This is how you prevent diseases: Again, it’s advisable to process your food at the cooking station. Enemies that are particularly infectious are either marked in the name or with a symbol. You should eliminate these as soon as possible and avoid getting hit by them.
What should I do if I am sick? Antibiotics and remedies can heal you. But you need luck to find these more often.
Fallout 76 remains one of the best survival games even in 2024: The 25 best survival games of 2024 for PS5, Steam, and Xbox
