Getting Started:
- Switch views by pressing the view button on Xbox controllers to turn the Pip-Boy into a full overlay that allows you to see your surroundings while navigating menus. The view button will also swap between first and third person while playing.
- Edit your character’s look by going to the start menu and going to Character Customization.
- Any pictures you take in photo mode will be pulled into loading screens when you fast travel or load your character
- There are lots of mini-challenges in Fallout 76 that award Atom Points that can be spent on a shop for Cosmetics. Some cycle out every day, others every week. New challenges are added as you continue to reach new goals.
- Except for gas masks, outfits and hats don’t offer any additional defensive bonuses. Only body armor does.
- Remember when exploring that all containers (and a few other unique items, like keys) are instanced for each player, so no one can loot a chest before you get to it. Anything lying in the open (including bobbleheads) goes to whoever grabs it first. Items will respawn over time.
- Keep survival in mind in Fallout 76. Hunger and thirst meters don’t deplete too fast (you get thirsty more often than hungry) Players can get a bonus to stats when about 75%.
- Looking at your Pip-Boy won’t freeze time because the game is online. Use your quick buttons on the D-Pad to use Stimpacks or switch weapons.
- Favorite items that you won’t want to waste time searching for in your inventory – like food and chems – when under pressure. They’ll appear on your favorites wheel.
- Although crafting stations are plentiful, especially near the Overseer’s Camp and Vault 76, only one player can use a workstation for crafting at a time. It can still be used by other players to salvage items, but rather than trying to craft in a crowded area, it may be better to keep moving or build your own crafting station at your CAMP.
- You can fast travel to any place you’ve already visited, but the farther the place is, the more fast Caps it’ll cost. The only exceptions are Vault 76, your CAMP, and anyone in your party, which cost nothing to travel to.
- If you’re feeling lost and unsure of mechanics, the Main questline will lead you through tutorials on preparing food and drink, and also reward you with loot.
Grab, Scrap & Stash:
- Similarly to Fallout 4, exploring and finding junk in all forms are major parts of your adventure. Although junk can be scrapped into base components needed for crafting, it can also become a burden. You drop all your junk when you die.
- In order to be efficient, you should constantly be scrapping your junk after exploring an area. In most cases, this will also cut a surprising amount of weight. Then, head back to your CAMP (or spend a few Caps to relocate it) and build a Vault-Tec Stash to store all of your crafting components. You’ll still be able to use them at a workstation or building from your CAMP when they’re stored.
- Your stash has an 800lb weight limit, so be aware of how much you’re stashing. Scrap all materials to base components before stashing. Scrap extra weapons and armor instead of keeping duplicates.
- Certain locations, like train stations, red rocket filling stations, and the Overseer’s Camp also have Valut-Tec Stashes that let you access your items from the same space.
Combat:
- Early in your adventures, you’ll find that there may be more guns around than ammo, especially when fighting the Scorched, who always drop the weapons they carry. Fight smart, and have a melee weapon as backup to conserve ammo. You can also visit Tinker Stations to craft more ammunition.
- VATS has changed in Fallout 76. Your target is now highlighted in real time, with a constantly changing percent chance to hit them, based on your stats and distance to the target. You don’t need to manually aim – firing will pull from the percent change to hit alone, and will also fill the Critical Meter you can use for a guaranteed hit.
- Tapping the VATS button is a good early warning system that can highlight dangers you might not be aware of – especially minefields and small enemies. BEWARE: each tap drains action points even if there’s nothing to target, so use this button conservatively!
- You can’t participate in PvP until you reach level 5, and will have Pacifist mode permanently enabled. Once you’re past level 5, shooting another player will deal reduced damage and ask them if they wish to fire back. If they do, damage will be normalized. If they don’t, damage will stay reduced. You can re-enable Pacifist mode in options to avoid accidentally engaging in PvP.
- Any player who kills someone who hasn’t fought back will be labeled a Murderer and show as a red icon on the map. They also will not be able to see other player locations. Additionally, they’ll have a much larger bounty of Caps on their head that will be paid from their own stash if they’re killed in revenge.
- If a player continues murdering and has no Caps to pay out as a bounty, they’ll be hit with a sizable debuff when killed, reducing damage output across the board – both against monsters and players – for a certain period of time.
Crafting:
- You only have a few basic recipes for weapons, cooking, armor, and other items when you start the game. You need to find more recipes in the wild, buy them from other traders or payers, or find them in chests.
- Many basic food recipes can be learned by finding the food or plant item for the first time.
- Weapon and Armor Mods can be found in the world or in chests. Plans for mods can be found the same way, or learned by scrapping the associated weapon. Scrapping a weapon or armor that’s in perfect condition might even give you the recipe for how to make it.
- Weapons and armor can break over time. They won’t disappear, they just can’t be equipped. You can repair them at Weapon and Armor workbenches.
- When building your CAMP, you can blueprint other structures to save the layout. When you need to move the location of your CAMP, or logout and then back in, you can pull up the blueprint list which instantly restore your CAMP to the way it was. Your CAMP cannot be placed too close to other static locations and must be on mostly flat terrain.
- Store, don’t scrap – after building your CAMP, if you need to get rid of something, don’t scrap it. Store it so it can be brought back without a cost.
Perks & SPECIAL:
- In Fallout 76, you begin with 1 point in each of the SPECIAL stat categories – strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility, and luck – unlike other Fallout games.
- You can allocate an additional point to any of the stats, up to 15 points max, in any category each time you level up. You stop gaining points at level 50.
- Each time you level up, you can also choose from several Perk Cards from each of the SPECIAL categories. One card per level up.
Death is only the beginning:
- When you reach 0 health, you drop to your knees and await death. Another player can revive you with a Stimpack. If you’re attacked during this period, you’ll die.
- When you die in Fallout 76, you drop all non-essential junk items and components in a paper sack. You’ll be given a quest with a map marker to get your items back, but any other player can loot it if they find it first.
- Build your CAMP outside a dangerous looking location. If you die, you’ll have a place to respawn close by for free.
- Radiation will reduce your maximum health, and you’ll need to use RadAway to regain that health. If you die, you’ll keep your radiation, except if you die entirely from radiation.
- You can start contracting diseases and mutations after level 5. Diseases can only be removed by using cures or waiting until they run their course – death will not get rid of them. They can be transmitted in a variety of ways. Mutations can be acquired when getting hit by radiation, and they can both help and hurt you. They can’t be cured by death and won’t leave you until you use RadAway.
- The Starched Genes perk allows you to keep active mutations indefinitely or prevent you from obtaining new ones.
Advanced Tips:
- Bobbleheads and Magazines are no longer permanent buffs. They’ll enter your inventory and you can choose when to get a temporary but lengthy bonus.
- Staying well fed and hydrated gives you small stat bonuses, so it’s worth it to be constantly eating and drinking even though the Thirst and Hunger meters move fairly slowly.
- Be aware of critters running about for free meals.
- Look at fallen logs when you can to obtain wood, which is needed for cooking most food.
- Fight higher level enemies than you – just because they do more damage doesn’t mean they have a lot more health or armor.
- Power Armor Frames, which can be found out in the world, often next to Power Armor Stations, are valuable and cannot be taken by anyone even if you step out of the frame. If you find one, transfer any armor plates that you can’t equip yet into your inventory so that you can enter the frame. When you exit your Power Armor frame, you can put it into your inventory so that you never lose it.
- Resting in a bed for a while can give you a small bonus. Make sure the frame is off the ground so you don’t get diseases.