With the appearance of NPCs in Fallout 76, players have wondered what happens when you blow them up. Now we have the answer in a video, and it’s exactly what you would expect from a Fallout game.
What do the NPCs do? If an atomic bomb falls on an NPC town in the new Wastelanders update of Fallout 76, then honestly, not much happens. The NPCs put on protective suits and go about their business. Some even seem a bit annoyed while dusting off.
This is a reaction that fits perfectly with their dry humor: “An atomic bomb? Damn, then I can’t wear my nice dress.” The video from YouTuber Rattler shows it all in action:
With Wastelanders, two major factions have come to Fallout 76: The Raiders and the Settlers. Both have a base, essentially a large town, in the north and south of the map respectively. Rattler chose Foundation, the base of the Raiders. However, all new locations likely work as targets unless they are in safe zones like the Wayward.
Where do the bombs come from? The bombs are actually meant to provide endgame content for players by opening a kind of raid at certain locations. The atomic bombs summon the Scorchbeast Queen.
To even get an atomic bomb, you have to work through a long series of encrypted messages and crack a code, to finally enter it in a heavily guarded bunker. How to get codes and fire a nuke is explained here.
Players praise the details – and the humor
How players react: So far, over 25,000 people have watched the video and commented on it. Bethesda is praised for the attention to detail, although with a little jab:
- “That they put on a suit is more effort than I expected”
- “I expected ghouls and 100% of the settlement in ruins […] Good to know that Bethesda isn’t going the way of outright jerks.”
- “I love this guy who is cleaning. Damn, that dedication.”
The video creator Rattler himself says: “It’s not much, but I appreciate the effort. That’s a cool little detail.” Bethesda has indeed put a lot of effort into the NPCs, and MeinMMO author Benedict Grothaus finds it was absolutely the right decision.
Why should you even do that? There isn’t really any advantage to attacking the settlements. There’s neither extremely good loot nor bosses that appear because of the atomic bomb, at least none are known so far.
Still, many players seem to feel the need to express their opinions to the new NPCs with atomic emphasis. In your biggest wishes for Wastelanders, MeinMMO readers even revealed that they would like to drive the NPCs away again, after all they fought to make it habitable.
Overall, the update is exceptionally well received and seems to be the salvation for Fallout 76 that many fans hoped for the game. After initial difficulties, the ratings on Steam have skyrocketed and more than doubled. Currently (April 17), they are “mostly positive” with 71%.
