With the “Steel Dawn” update of Fallout 76 the Steel Brotherhood returns to Appalachia. MeinMMO presents 3 novelties that are really good and particularly noteworthy.
Steel Dawn was released a week early, already on November 24. The actual release was scheduled for December 1. The patch notes are extensive, and besides the Brotherhood, there are some interesting new features.
Why the new questline is not getting attention here: The return of the Steel Brotherhood is the highlight of the update. A brand new questline focusing on Paladin Rahmani, Knight Shin, and Scholar Valdez. In the first part of the story, you will learn more about the history of the Brotherhood in Appalachia. The quests will take you to new locations all over the map, and you will also encounter the Raiders in Crater and the Settlers in Foundation. With a character above level 20, you can start the new questline directly at Fort Atlas. Fort Atlas is located in the Savage Divide and can be reached via fast travel for free after initial discovery.
Highlights of the Steel Dawn update
With version 1.5.0.19, numerous changes make their way into the game. The update is released for all platforms and brings changes to balancing and performance, in addition to the new questline of the Steel Brotherhood. We would like to especially highlight three highlights of the update here.
Build your own vaults
These are the C.A.M.P. accommodations: With the update, the vault supply room was introduced, which is available to all players for free. The other two accommodations will be available starting Tuesday, December 1, in the Atomic Shop.
If you want to build underground and let your creativity run free, travel to one of the numerous train stations and look for the accommodation center poster at the bulletin board. The short quest “Expansion of the Home” leads you to Vault 51. Upon arrival, you will descend into an existing vault supply room and receive an introduction to your personal vault from a Mr. Handy. The entrance to your personal C.A.M.P. accommodation can then be placed within your own C.A.M.P. Accommodations from other players will be marked on the map with an additional symbol.
Why C.A.M.P. accommodations are so good: The underground housing is instantiated, and items can be placed either freely or as usual in the grid construction. Each accommodation uses its own budget, which is independent of the C.A.M.P. above ground. This opens up completely new possibilities for players in designing their accommodation. If you have always wanted to build a jump’n’run course, you now have the opportunity to do so.
There are these three variants:
- Vault supply room: Available for all at no cost
- Vault foyer: Initially only for Fallout 1st members, later in the Atomic Shop for everyone
- Vault atrium: Available for purchase in the Atomic Shop starting December 1
In a video, Fallout 76 shows how easily you can build really cool vaults yourself.
Less hunger and thirst
Improvements in survival mechanics: In a post-apocalyptic world, hunger and thirst are probably ubiquitous. Even in Fallout 76, consuming pre-war food, such as the highly coveted perfectly preserved cake, or your own “delicacies” was a necessary evil for survival. That is over now. With the Steel Dawn update, the negative effects of hunger and thirst have been removed. Instead, there is now a bonus to AP regeneration, maximum HP, and disease resistance when you are partially nourished and hydrated. If you fill your stomach with Nuka-Cola and delicious food, you get a bonus of +1 endurance and strength when both bars are completely filled.
A relatively simple survival mechanic thus becomes a useful feature. At least I, as a player, make sure to carry reasonable food through the world and not clutter it unnecessarily. MeinMMO author Benedict Grothaus has collected some very helpful tips for inventory management for you.
Even before the release of Fallout 76, we at MeinMMO already reported on eating and drinking in Fallout 76. Many players were concerned that they would panic to a river every few minutes to drink contaminated water or that instead of exploring, they would spend all their time gathering food. After the release, it became clear that food intake is indeed an important factor, but not a decisive one.
The community on reddit is still divided on the issue of eating and drinking. There is a lot of pros and cons regarding the new mechanic. reddit user AFUSMC74 writes that Fallout 76 was never really a survival game, but only included survival elements.
Some buffs and perk cards have become useless from the perspective of reddit user Arsenic_Touch, including legendary perks.
New weapons and armor
What is coming now? The new weapons from the questline of the Steel Brotherhood are impressive. With the plasma cutter, melee fighters receive a new toy of death. Through modifications, the plasma cutter can also be equipped with a fire, electricity, or cryo blade. The respective plans for this can be found in the daily operations and are not tradable.
You will receive the plasma cutter after completing the last mission of the new questline.
The Crusader pistol is a 10mm pistol that can be upgraded through numerous modifications. Players above level 50 receive the blueprint as a reward within the daily operations. The drop rates are fairly low:
- Apprentice: 0.08 %
- Knight: 0.17 %
- Elder: 1.33 %
The less time you need to complete a daily operation, the higher your rank.
The Hellstorm rocket launcher: On its way to Appalachia, the Steel Brotherhood found Hellstorm rocket launchers in an unspecified government facility. Players receive the rocket launcher, which can fire four rockets simultaneously, within the new questline. What is unique is the ability to increase damage with both explosive and heavy weapon buffs.
Which changes do you like best? Steel Dawn is the last major content update of 2020 and the best that could happen to Fallout 76.
On December 15, the third season of Fallout 76 begins and brings the new game board “Scholar of Avalalon”. With the game board, there are new rewards like unique items for your C.A.M.P., atoms, lunchboxes, as well as special paint jobs for weapons and armor, and much more. From December 1 to December 7, you will also receive double the amount of S.C.O.R.E. in daily and weekly challenges, ideal for all players who still need Season 2 rewards.
