Category Archives: Official News From Beth

Fallout 76: Update 19 Patch Notes – May 19, 2020 (Re-Print from Bethesda)

We’re releasing Update 19 for Fallout 76 today, which introduces Ally Customization, includes new and returning events, updates for automatic item naming, backpack skin improvements, and new limited-time Nuclear Winter Challenges and cosmetic rewards. We’ve also addressed a wide variety of bugs, including many issues reported by the community.

Update 19 Highlights

Ally Customization: Give your Allies stylish new looks by sharing your wardrobe with them using the new option to customize their outfits.
Hunt for the Treasure Hunter: Mole Miners have discovered treasure in the Ash Heap! Starting May 21, hunt them down to claim their loot for yourself during a new limited-time event.
Fasnacht Parade: By popular demand, this Seasonal Event is returning for a full week starting May 25, and there are plenty of new Fasnacht Masks up for grabs.
Item Naming Updates: We’ve made improvements to the way your weapons and armors are automatically named when you apply new mods and skins.
Backpack Updates: Changing your Backpack’s appearance is now as simple as applying a skin, and you can now apply them to Small Backpacks, too!
(NW) Limited-Time Challenges: Unlock new cosmetic rewards by completing limited-time Challenges in Nuclear Winter, from May 19 – June 11.

Update Version

Download size for today’s update will be around 10.7 GB for Xbox One and 8.6 GB for PlayStation 4. For PC, the download size will be approximately 4.1 GB through the Bethesda.net launcher, and around 5.9 GB via Steam.

PC: 1.3.1.26
PS4: 1.3.1.26
Xbox: 1.3.1.26

Customize Your Allies

Starting today, you can now share your wardrobe with your Allies and swap their outfits to your heart’s content with Ally Customization.

When interacting with an Ally in your C.A.M.P., a new “customize” option will now appear that you can use to change their clothing.
- Outfits, Headwear, Costumes, Armor—If you can wear it, then so can your Ally! The only current exceptions are Power Armor and Weapons.
Additionally, when viewing another player’s Ally, its name will be adjusted to include the name of the C.A.M.P. owner, e.g.: <PlayerName>’s Ally.
Please note that scrapping an Ally Station will revert that Ally to their default outfit. Allies will also appear to be in their default outfit if they are in an instance with you.

Hunt for the Treasure Hunter

Mole Miners are searching for riches around Appalachia, and you can hunt them down to claim their loot for yourself in a new series of limited-time “Hunt for the Treasure Hunter” events we’re introducing with Update 19.

Treasure Hunter Mole Miners

Use your keen tracking senses to hunt down Treasure Hunter Mole Miners to collect their Mole Miner Pails, which contain all of the loot they’ve been hoarding.
- Treasure Hunter Mole Miners are legendary creatures, and you will hear them when they’re nearby.
Treasure Hunter Mole Miners can drop rewards from one of three different tiers: Dusty Mole Miner Pails (low), Mole Miner Pails (medium), and Ornate Mole Miner Pails (high).
- The higher quality the Pail, the better chances for rare loot, including Outfits, Mounted Head Plans, a new Backpack Plan, and the Marine Armor Helmet Plan.
- Pails can be traded and sold to other players, but cannot be sold to NPC vendors.

Craft Your Own Mole Miner Pails

While a Treasure Hunter event is live, Vendors around Appalachia will sell Empty Mole Miner Pails in exchange for Caps.

Head to the Ash Heap on May 21!

The first Hunt for the Treasure Hunter event will take place from May 21 – 25 in the Ash Heap region of Appalachia.
Future Hunt for the Treasure Hunter events will each occur in a different region.

Fasnacht Parade Marches Back to Helvetia

Starting next week, you can travel to Helvetia to take part in the Fasnacht Seasonal Event by helping the local Protectrons prepare for the town’s annual celebration and parade.

Help the bots by hanging decorations, gathering ingredients for a feast, or playing musical instruments, among other activities, before the timer expires.
- If you and your event mates complete the preparations in time, the bots will line up at the center of town to begin the parade.
- The more marchers who survive, the higher your chances at rare loot, which may include Fasnacht-themed C.A.M.P. plans and a chance to earn a fancy Fasnacht mask.
- We’ve added a number of festive new masks this year, and adjusted their drop rates following community feedback. While some are still less common than others, they should drop more often this time.
- You can also trade your Fasnacht Masks to other players, if you wish.
Successfully guide the marchers to the end of their parade route, and you will be rewarded with loot!
Fasnacht Parade will begin every hour at the top of the hour starting on May 25. The event will last for a full week, so you’ll have plenty of chances join in the celebration!

Design Updates

Automatic Item Name Improvements

With this update, we’ve improved how the game automatically names your weapons and armors based on their mods, legendary attributes, and Atomic Shop paints.

Going forward, automatically generated names will appear in a much more consistent order, and they will reliably include an item’s main attributes.
- Additionally, Atomic Shop paint and skin names no longer overwrite the item’s primary legendary effect name.
Items should now generally follow this naming convention: Primary Legendary Attribute Name + Atomic Shop Cosmetic Name + Mod Name + Weapon Name
- If you have a legendary Gatling Gun with the Black Knight paint and a Prime Receiver, for example, its automatically generated name should now be: Anti-Armor Black Knight Prime Gatling Gun
Keep in mind that you can still give your items custom names, which will override their automatically generated names.
Please note: Given the many combinations that are possible through all the different mods, legendary effects, Atomic Shop paints, and item types, there may cases where new item names appear incorrect.
- For example, certain elements may appear out of order, or might be missing from the name.
- These are visual issues, and all your mods should still function correctly. Please let us know if you spot any naming bugs on your gear after today, and we will squash them.

Backpack Appearance Updates

We’ve improved Backpack customization so that you can now apply different appearances to your Backpacks as skins—no more crafting required.

Head to an Armor Workbench and use the modify menu to swap the appearance of your existing Backpack with any skins you’ve unlocked through quests, events, or the Atomic Shop.
- Skins can now be applied to Small Backpacks, as well for those who have not yet unlocked the normal Backpack Plan by completing the “Order of the Tadpole” quest.
- You can apply skins to your existing Backpacks, as well as any new ones you craft.

Art and Animation

BBQ Grills: Get hungry! When using a BBQ Grill, your character will now appear to flip and grill some tasty steaks.
Grognak’s Throne: We’ve added a new animation that will play when sitting in Grognak’s Throne so that you can survey your land with the royal confidence.

Items

Liberty Prime Power Armor: If you’re a strong silent type, you may be pleased to know that we’ve added an alternate version of the Liberty Prime Power Armor helmet that will not play voice lines while you’re wearing it.
- Players who own the Liberty Prime Power Armor can now craft the silent version of the helmet at a Power Armor Station.

Nuclear Winter

Limited Time “Survivors” Challenges – Unlock Themed Cosmetics!

We’ve added 8 Nuclear Winter Challenges that you can complete to earn new “Survivors” themed cosmetic rewards starting today, and lasting until 7:00 p.m. ET on June 11.
- One new challenge will appear in the Character Challenge menu each day until all 8 are available, and they will remain available until the end of the event.
- Overseer XP you earn will roll over from one Challenge to the next, but they must be completed one at a time and in order.
You can learn more about this event directly from ZAX and preview the rewards by reading our latest ZAX Transmission article on Fallout.com.
You can earn the first reward with 150 Overseer XP, and the last with 2,500 Overseer XP. All others will each require 2,000 Overseer XP.
As you complete each Challenge, you’ll be able to claim new themed rewards, like new furniture for your C.A.M.P., “Survivor’s Denim” and Ghillie Suit outfits, as well as skins for Nuclear Winter’s newest weapons: The Bow, Cattle Prod, and Gauss Shotgun.

New Items

New Weapons: The Bow, Cattle Prod, and Gauss Shotgun have been added and tuned for combat in Nuclear Winter matches. Find them in Supply Crates as you scavenge for gear.

BUG FIXES

Art and Animation

Animations: Dying while playing an instrument no longer causes the instrument to become invisible after respawning.
Animations: Fixed an issue that could cause the Overseer to slide out of her chair before standing.
Animations: Fixed a rare issue that could cause the player to fall through the world during character creation.
Lighting: Optimized the lighting inside the Overseer’s house and The Wayward to address performance issues.
Textures: The Clandestine Gauss Pistol skin now appears correct when applied to the Drum Magazine mod.

C.A.M.P. and Workshops

Allies: No longer sometimes attack the player’s other C.A.M.P. objects and Turrets.
Build: Moving C.A.M.P. locations now correctly closes the Build Menu for teammates who had it open while in the original build area.
Collectron Station: The Communist Collectron will now find Propaganda Flyers less often while scavenging.
Display Cases: Assigning an item to a Display Case no longer sometimes prevents the player from crafting other items of that same type.
Exploit: Addressed a duplication exploit related to C.A.M.P. objects.
Exploit: Addressed an C.A.M.P. budget exploit.
Lights: Bulb Lights no longer consume more C.A.M.P. budget than intended.
Lights: The Klaxon Wall Light can no longer be turned on if it is not connected to a power source.
Locks: Locked objects in players’ C.A.M.P.s now better indicate to players who do not own them that they will become Wanted if they pick the lock.
Trees: Can now be placed on a wider variety of terrain types.
Turrets: Addressed an issue that could cause C.A.M.P. Turrets to attack each other.
Workbenches: Players can now correctly use Workbenches immediately after an NPC has used them.
Workbenches: Exiting a Power Armor Station no longer sometimes causes the controls to temporarily lock up.

Combat

Stealth: Receiving Stealth from multiple sources at once, like the Escape Artist Perk Card, Stealth Boys, Chameleon Armor, etc. no longer causes enemies to instantly detect the player.
VATS: Changing the body part selection in VATS while using charging weapons, like a Bow or Gauss Weapon, no longer causes the next shot to hit the previously selected body part.

Enemies

Blood Eagles: No longer sometimes drop weapons that have Nuclear Winter mods as loot.
Scorched: Fixed an issue causing more boss Scorched to spawn on top of Thunder Mountain Power Plant than intended.
Wendigo Colossus: Fixed an issue that could cause the Wendigo Colossus to suddenly stop taking damage.

Challenges

Daily: Lou’s Mine, Foundation, and Crater now have locations that are considered sub-terranean for Challenges like “Level Up in Caves and Mines.”
Exploit: Addressed an exploit that could allow players to complete certain Tadpole and Possum Challenges repeatedly for rewards.
Social: The “Claim Different Workshops” Challenge no longer requires the Spruce Knob Workshop, and the number of Workshops needed to complete the Challenge has been reduced from 20 to 18.
World: The “Complete Different Daily Quests” now correctly appears in the World category after completing the “Complete an Event While in a Group” Challenge.

Items

Armor: Secret Service Chest Armor can now be repaired beyond 100% condition using Perk Cards like Fix It Good.
Exploit: Addressed an Ammo exploit for weapons that use Fusion Cores as ammo.
Fusion Cores: Fixed several issues that could prevent weapons that use Fusion Cores as ammo, like the Gatling Laser, from firing correctly.
Gas Masks: Raider Skull Gas Masks now correctly remove other headwear when equipped.
Headwear: Fixed an issue that could prevent a character’s body from rendering when wearing the Communist Militant Hat.
Headwear: The Free Radicals Mask is no longer a legendary item, which is now consistent with all other headwear.
Jet Packs: Fixed an issue allowing Jet Pack Power Armor mods can now only be applied to the torso.
Outfits: Backpacks now correctly appear while wearing the Mountain Scout Outfit.
Power Armor: The Settler Vigilante paint no longer removes Rad Resistance from T-51 Power Armor.
Power Armor: Removed references to Vault 94 when crafting Strangler Heart Power Armor.
Power Armor: Fixed an issue that could cause another player to appear to be idle inside their Power Armor while they were actively using a Power Armor Station.
Underarmor: Corrected the name of the Plan to craft Secret Service Underarmor, and moved Secret Service Underarmor to the Underarmor category in the Armor Workbench.
Weapons: Gauss Shotgun mods now correctly require the Science Master I Perk in order to craft them.
Weapons: Commander Daguerre’s final quest now correctly awards a level 50 VATS Unknown Alien Blaster to characters over level 50.
Weapons: Gatling Guns now correctly display a fire rate of 20 in the Pip-Boy.

NPCs

Allies: Speaking with Commander Daguerre immediately after Fast Traveling during her questline no longer sometimes prevents Emerson from visiting.
Dialogue: Exiting and quickly re-entering dialogue with an NPC should no longer result in a notification stating “This individual is busy.”
Frida Madani: No longer sometimes walks away during a conversation with a player.
Jide: No longer clips into the stairs in front of The Wayward.
Purveyor Murmrgh: Fixed an issue that could prevent players from interacting with the Purveyor in first-person view.
Random Encounters: The Settler that shoots at Opossums during a random encounter no longer always spawns at level 1.
Smiley: If a player has purchased all of Smiley’s Gold Bullion for the week, he will no longer continue to ask if they’re interested in buying more.

Performance and Stability

Server Stability: Fixed a number of issues that could result in a server crash during normal gameplay.
Server Stability: Fixed a stability issue caused by large stacks of inventory items.
Server Stability: Addressed a server crash that could occur when updating players’ quest targets.
Server Stability: Fixed a server crash that could occur while playing in a Private World.
Server Stability: Fixed an issue that could cause a server crash in Nuclear Winter.
Client Stability: Addressed an issue that could result in a client crash during normal gameplay.
Client Stability: Fixed a rare issue that could result in an infinite loading screen and a crash when loading into a world from the main menu.
Client Stability: Fixed a crash that could occur when opening a Perk Card Pack.
Client Stability: Fixed a crash that could occur on Xbox One when building in a C.A.M.P.

Quests and Events

All That Glitters: Fixed an issue that prevented the “Clear out the Security Forces” objective from completing correctly.
Ally Quests: Quest markers no longer fail to reappear after logging out and back in while in the middle of an Ally quest.
Ally Quests: Fixed an issue that could result in duplicate Ally quest items remaining in the world without quest markers after the player logged off.
Ally: Thicker Than Water: Fixed an issue that could prevent the player from receiving the Thicker Than Water quest after completing An Eagle Flies Free.
Ally: Narrow Escape: Beckett no longer appears in Rollins Labor Camp when the quest is not running.
Ally: Thicker Than Water: Animations: Beckett now correctly faces the player when speaking to them during scenes with The Claw.
Ally: Thicker than Water: Fixed an issue that could allow a player to enter Watoga Civic Center through a locked door.
Ally: Thicker than Water: Addressed an instancing issue that could occur when progressing this quest while on a team.
Ally: The Universe Conspires: Fixed an issue that could prevent Emerson from visiting and block progression when attempting to turn in the quest to Commander Daguerre.
An Ounce of Prevention: Moved the T-Type Fuse from Greg’s Mine Supply to the Charleston Trainyard so that it is easier to find.
Back on the Beat: Addressed an issue that could prevent this Public Event from starting.
Buried Treasure: Fixed an issue that could block progression after interacting with the intercom as the raiding party enters the security room.
Exploit: Addressed a reputation exploit affecting a conversation with Meg.
Exploit: Addressed an exploit that could allow players to complete the Vital Equipment daily quest multiple times per day.
From Russia With Lev: Fixed multiple discrepancies between Lev’s subtitles and dialogue.
Fun and Games: Backing out of a conversation after asking Ra-Ra to enter the Power Armor room no longer causes her to become unresponsive.
Fun and Games: Ra-Ra no longer becomes unresponsive after destroying the Protectrons she spawns.
Fun and Games: The Sentry Bot in Grafton Steel Underground can no longer be damaged while it is still in the Fabricator, and will no longer exit the Fabricator early.
Fun and Games: Ra-Ra will no longer path to nearby Protectron corpses instead of entering the first vent.
Fun and Games: The “Follow Ra-Ra” objective no longer persists after finding and collecting Bunnabun.
Fun and Games: A terminal in Grafton Steel Underground that was previously unhackable can now be hacked correctly.
Heart of the Enemy: The lockpicking skill requirement for door between the Automated Research Program and the Reactor has been reduced from 1 to 0, so that the quest is easier to complete for players who are missing Lockpicking Perk Cards.
Overseer, Overseen: The Overseer will now exit combat and move toward the player when she is too far away.
Project Paradise: Fixed an issue that could sometimes prevent Project Paradise from completing after killing the Alpha Predator.
Random Encounters: Fixed an issue that prevented players from receiving loot during a random encounter with a Settler Apprentice after selecting Raider-themed dialogue options.
Safe for Work: Players are no longer required to pick the lock on the Medical Center crate to obtain Patrol Tape 04.
Secrets Revealed: Duchess no longer speaks her post-Vault 79 raid dialogue before the player has completed Secrets Revealed.
Secrets Revealed: After progressing the “Resolve the Situation with Johnny” objective, the player’s conversation with him will now end correctly.
Secrets Revealed: The Vault 79 elevator code objective now reappears correctly when returning to the elevator.
Secrets Revealed: Fixed an issue that could cause team members to be moved outside to Appalachia when the Team Leader entered the elevator to the Gold Operations Center.
Siding with Crater: Meg no longer forces the player into conversation if they back out before deciding whether to side with the Raiders.
Strange Bedfellows: Acquiring the Photo of Rosalynn’s Memorial prematurely no longer blocks progression during Strange Bedfellows.
Strange Bedfellows: Quest items obtained during Strange Bedfellows are now correctly removed after completing the quest.
Strange Bedfellows: Added a new objective directing players to complete the prerequisite quest Signal Strength before progressing to Strange Bedfellows.
Strength in Numbers: Polly’s head now correctly deals damage in VATS, and deals increased damage based on how many times it has been charged.
The Elusive Crane: Mort no longer appears to be standing idle during a scene with Roper in The Wayward.
The Elusive Crane: Fixed an issue that could cause the “Find Crane’s Treasure” objective to persist in the Pip-Boy’s quest description.
The New Arrivals: The quest tracker no longer displays two “Talk to the Overseer” objectives under certain conditions.
The Ol’ Weston Shuffle: The Dud Explosive Collar is now correctly removed from character models after completing the quest.

Sound

Sound Effects: The Stanley skin for Grognak’s Axe no longer plays its sound effects twice when equipped or when switching between first and third-person view.
Sound Effects: Repeatedly entering and exiting a Gold Press Machine no longer causes it to play multiple overlapping sound effects.

User Interface

Controls: Opening the Pip-Boy while attempting to Fast Travel during combat no longer sometimes causes the controls to become unresponsive.
Crosshairs: Now correctly change to an open square when passing over placed items that the player can interact with or pick up.
Fanfare: Treasury Notes no longer play legendary item fanfare when removing them from the Stash.
Login: The password field is now cleared correctly after entering an incorrect password while attempting to link a Bethesda.net account to Fallout 76.
Menus: Fixed several issues that could cause the Favorites menu to suddenly appear while Emotes menu was open.
Notifications: Equipping headwear by holding the action button no longer generates an error message stating “Unable to equip item.”
Pip-Boy: The item stats card no longer persists when switching to an empty tab in the Pip-Boy.
Press and Hold: Holding the action button to equip, learn, or consume an item in the world now works more consistently.
Quests: Daily quests the player has rejected in the Pip-Boy no longer automatically reappear after logging out and back in.
Quests: Fixed an issue causing placeholder text to appear when viewing Miscellaneous quests on the Map.
Quests: Reclamation Day no longer disappears from the completed section in the Pip-Boy’s Main Quests tab.
Sorting: The Spoil sorting option now correctly organizes Aid items by their remaining condition.
Tag for Search: The magnifying glass icon now appears correctly on Junk items in the world that contain components the player has tagged for search.
Trade: Players can now inspect items when trading with other players.
Vending Machines: Stacks of U.S. Government Supply Requisition Holotapes or Technical Data no longer sometimes disappear after being assigned to a Vending Machine.
Workbenches: Radio Vacuum Tube preview images no longer extend beyond the edge of screen in the Tinker’s Workbench.

World

Cranberry Bog: The Wendigo Colossus no longer gets stuck in the trenches in Cranberry Bog.
Forest: The Wendigo Colossus no longer gets stuck on the guardrails in the road near Slocum’s Joe.
Forest: Fixed a terrain issue that could cause players to appear to float in front of Lacey and Isela outside Vault 76.
Savage Divide: The basement door in the Mountainside Bed & Breakfast no longer locks itself if the player leaves the area and returns.
Settlements: Yao Guai and Scorched no longer spawn in NPC settlements, like Crater, Foundation, or Big Bend Tunnel East.
Toxic Valley: Removed a non-functional hatch door from the Clarksburg Pharmacy.
NPCs: Corrected pathing issues for several NPCs that can be found in the world.

Nuclear Winter Bug Fixes

C.A.M.P.: Updated the lists of buildable and non-buildable Atomic Shop objects in Nuclear Winter.
C.A.M.P.: Removed a non-functional activator from the Scrapbox when it is built in Nuclear Winter.
Localization: Restored missing characters on the Nuclear Winter Map Voting screen in the Japanese version of the game.
Perk Packs: Removed Nuclear Winter Perk Card Packs from Adventure Mode quests that were awarding them as currency.

ZAX TRANSMISSION: NEW WEAPONS AND ITEMS COMING TO NUCLEAR WINTER

A new transmission has been received from Vault 51. After some careful observations, ZAX has decided to give you an update on what’s new in Nuclear Winter with Patch 19.

Greetings, Overseer Candidate [INSERT NAME].

As humans say, “it’s been awhile”. I would inquire after your well-being, but I find it tiresome to engage in conversation with an unremarkable Candidate like yourself.

Appalachia has changed substantially since our last communication. You have no doubt noticed the influx of humans into our forests, and the settlements they have constructed in the mountains. I have been observing these new residents closely to identify potential Overseers among them. While the majority are as mediocre as most Candidates, I find myself tentatively impressed with some of the new innovations in weaponry the more vicious of these people have popularized throughout Appalachia.

You will no doubt be delighted to hear that I have secured some of these weapons and modified them for Candidates’ use during testing. Candidates will soon be able to eliminate their rivals using the Bow, the Cattle Prod, and the Gauss Shotgun. I advise all Candidates to take extra precautions when using the Bow. During the modification processes I saw fit to replace its regular arrows with explosive ones as a means of studying the human body’s response to explosive projectiles. Do take care not to hurt yourself.

My internal clock indicates that we are approaching the one-year anniversary of our testing process. Vault-Tec requests that I thank all Candidates for their continued participation in testing as we attempt to identify the perfect Overseer for Vault 51. I applaud all Candidates for their consistent willingness to kill as a means of achieving this goal. You are all testaments to the inherent viciousness of humanity.

My analysis indicates that anniversaries, like holidays, are occasions that humans often accompany with an exchange of gifts. If the last year of observation has taught me anything, it is that rewarding good behavior is the best way to assure Candidates return for further testing. In the coming weeks I will be awarding your year of good behavior with a series of gifts to commemorate a year of testing. A variety of items to decorate your CAMP, new clothing, and cosmetic alterations for your Bow, Gauss Shotgun, and Cattle Prod will all be available.
These gifts will be distributed in a similar manner to the gifts I offered during Human Festivities Season. Candidates will be able to earn my gifts by participating in rounds of testing for the next few weeks. I hope you will proudly display them as testament to your achievement of surviving an entire year of testing in Vault 51. I will be the first to assure you I never thought you would make it this far.

Your continued service to Vault-Tec is admirable, Candidate. I look forward to watching your inevitable elimination from a round of testing very soon.

Salutation,
ZAX

Source

FALLOUT 76: INSIDE THE VAULT – INTRODUCING THE 2020 ROADMAP & 76 SEASONS (Re-Print from Bethesda)

Welcome back to Inside the Vault! This week, we’re sharing our 2020 Roadmap for Fallout 76 to offer you an early look at what’s coming to the game during the rest of this year. We’ve also got lots of details for you on Seasons, which arrive this Summer with Season 1 and will revamp the current in-game Challenge system.

A NEW ROADMAP FOR 2020

We released the Wastelanders update a few weeks ago, and it permanently changed the face of Appalachia as we know it. With that major set of improvements for the game behind us, we’re working full steam ahead on future content that we plan to add to Fallout 76 through the rest of 2020.

During the coming months, we have a lot of big improvements in store for the game that we can’t wait to share with you, including: A major rebalancing of combat and rewards across Appalachia for Dwellers of all levels. We will have a complete overhaul for the current Challenge and reward system in the form of Seasons. We’ll implement new features, like Ally Dress Up, C.A.M.P. Shelters, and Legendary Perks. Kick off new events, like “Hunt for the Treasure Hunter” and “A Colossal Problem,” but also revisit community favorites, like “Fasnacht Parade” and “Meat Week.” There will be plenty of new content to take on with repeatable Daily Ops and Expeditions, as well as a year-long story arc as the Brotherhood of Steel turns their attention back to Appalachia toward the end of this year.

Check out our full 2020 Roadmap for Fallout 76 below to catch a glimpse at everything that’s coming your way this year. You can also check out our 2020 Roadmap article on Fallout.com, which has a few additional details about some of the new content included in the Roadmap.

INTRODUCING: 76 SEASONS

We’re excited to share an in-depth preview of our new Season system with you, which brings a new account-wide progression system to Fallout 76 that will overhaul our current Challenges and help you rake in lots of new rewards along the way. This is our own take on a “Season Pass” style system designed specifically for Fallout 76, and everyone will be able to join in the Summer fun immediately when our first Season arrives in Update 20. Let’s take a look at everything this system will bring to the game, so that you’re fully prepared to dive into that first Season.

As mentioned above, you will be able to take part in our inaugural Summer Season for free as soon as it begins with Update 20. All players will have full access to a single unified progression path, which means everyone is working towards the same rewards through the entire season.

In Update 20, you’ll find a new option on the Main Menu that will take you to a uniquely Fallout-themed seasonal progression screen. During the first Season, this will be a themed boardgame, and you will be placed at the first space on the board at Rank one out of a total of 100 Ranks. Complete in-game activities to start accumulating new S.C.O.R.E. points, which will help you advance your position and “rank up.” Every time you reach a new Rank, you will unlock an exciting new reward you can claim, like a unique outfit, an item for your C.A.M.P., a weapon skin or Power Armor paint, consumables, Perk Card Packs, Atoms—even in-game currencies, like Scrip, Caps, or Gold Bullion!

UP YOUR S.C.O.R.E.!

Seasons are going to bring a major overhaul for the Challenge system, but Challenges themselves are not going away. In fact, completing Daily and Weekly Challenges will be the primary way that you will increase your S.C.O.R.E. and rank up. While Challenges are here to stay, we want you to be able to complete them and earn S.C.O.R.E. in many cases by playing as you normally would. We’re making significant changes to the Daily and Weekly Challenges you receive so that they are more straightforward and easier to complete than the ones you’re used to. We’re also changing how many you will receive on a daily and weekly basis so that they are more predictable and consistent.

For example: Instead of having to take a picture of another player in a Rad Storm, you may be asked to “Earn 1 Level-Up,” “Complete a Public Event,” or “Kill a Legendary Creature,” among others. These are all things you might already do regularly during your normal play sessions, but now those same activities will add to your S.C.O.R.E. and push you that much closer to your next reward.

If you join a Season late and want to catch up, or if you just want to progress more quickly, you will have the option to spend 150 Atoms to immediately unlock the next rank and claim its reward. If you want, you can unlock every Rank in the Season this way, but they must be purchased individually and in order. Additionally, you cannot unlock Ranks this way during the first two weeks of a Season, so that all players can start on an even footing. Keep in mind that spending Atoms to rank up is optional. The Season system was designed so that all players will have immediate access to it, and can progress and claim rewards based on how much S.C.O.R.E. they earn while playing 76.

Aside from Daily and Weekly Challenges, you will also earn S.C.O.R.E. regularly by earning XP, and by completing Public Events. We are looking into even more ways to grant S.C.O.R.E. in the future, such as through Daily Quests or by participating in repeatable content that’s coming to the game this year. In addition, please note that we’re leaving in our Lifetime Challenges, which you will still be able to complete as they’re currently designed, with the same rewards.

CLAIM YOUR PRIZES!

To collect your rank-up rewards, all you have to do is head to the Season progression screen, and then claim each one directly from the board. You will unlock cosmetic items, like outfits or weapon skins, for all characters on your account, and they will then become visible to you in the Atomic Shop. When you unlock consumables, like Repair Kits, or in-game currencies, like Caps, they will only apply to one of your characters. Make sure to select the character you want to receive them before unlocking consumable and currency rewards on the Season screen, as Ranks are account bound and their rewards cannot be earned more than once per Season.

During the very early Ranks your rewards may include items like a player icon that’s specific to that Season, a new Stash skin, or some Legendary Scrips. As your S.C.O.R.E. and Rank reach new heights, you will receive better and better rewards, like Power Armor paints, Gold Bullion, and fancy new cosmetics or C.A.M.P. items. You will also receive major rewards at certain milestones, like Ranks 25, 50, and 76, among others.

Here are just a few of the many rewards you will be able to unlock as you progress during Season 1, including a Captain Cosmos Power Armor skin, a fresh look for your new Secret Service Power Armor, a new Gatling Gun skin, and a cozy fireplace for your C.A.M.P. that’s actually a secret door!

When you reach Rank 100, you’ll unlock an “End of Season” Bundle. In Season 1, this bundle includes several unique Captain Cosmos themed items, like the Jangles the Moon Monkey Stein, a Planetarium Desk Lamp that features special lighting and visual effects, and even a framed version of the Season 1 boardgame itself. Build or display these rewards in your C.A.M.P. to show off your completionist skills to your visitors.

WHY THE CHANGE?

Our original Challenge system was not quite as engaging as we had hoped. Some Challenges were complicated, and almost all of them awarded Atoms. We wanted to revisit our Challenges and rewards to create a new system that is more fun, flexible, and offers more to look forward to every time you log in. After multiple iterations, we feel the system we’ve designed accomplishes all of those goals. It allows us to offer lots of rewards for players to unlock as they make progress. It also provides a clear and achievable path to collecting everything, and fun new themes every few months, all while retaining the flexibility for players to earn and spend Atoms as they choose in the Atomic Shop.

Some of our primary hopes for this system are that Daily and Weekly Challenges will feel more in-tune with your normal play, that you will find them more enticing to complete, and that you will feel excited every single time you rank-up, because you just unlocked something cool for your characters.

LOOKING AHEAD

We currently plan to have four Seasons per year. Each will generally last for around 10 weeks, with a few weeks’ break before the next Season begins. To keep things fresh, every Season will feature its own unique theme and set of rewards.

As with all new systems and features we introduce, we’re looking forward to seeing what you think! We would love to hear your feedback on Seasons once you’ve had the chance to jump in-game and begin ranking-up following Update 20.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: Aside from Challenges, what other activities will increase my S.C.O.R.E.?

A: In Season 1, you will also be able to earn S.C.O.R.E. regularly by gaining XP, and by completing Public Events. Nuclear Winter Daily Challenges will also grant S.C.O.R.E. in addition to their other rewards. With future Seasons, we plan to grant S.C.O.R.E. through other methods as well, such as through new repeatable content.

Q: How long will it take to rank up?

A: Each rank-up should take between one and two hours of play time, with earlier ranks taking closer to one hour, and later ranks nearing two.

Q: If Daily and Weekly Challenges no longer award Atoms, will I still earn the same amount in the new system?

A: There are fewer Atoms overall up for grabs in this new system, but you will still earn them as you increase your Season rank, as well as from our Lifetime Challenges, such as Character, Combat, Social, Survival, and World Challenges. As a result, you will still be able to save up Atoms for Atomic Shop items, but you will now also directly unlock lots of new items, including cosmetics for your characters, like Power Armor Paints, Weapon Skins, C.A.M.P. items, and more by ranking up. This wasn’t possible with the existing Challenge system, and we feel that Seasons in many ways offer much more value for your play time as a result.

Q: Are Season rewards exclusive to Season progression, or will I be able to get them in other ways?

A: The rewards are limited during a Season to the players who earn them through progression, and we are exploring other ways we may make certain rewards available in the future.

Q: Will items that were previously available in the Atomic Shop be added as Season Rewards?

A: We don’t currently have plans to make past Atomic Shop items available as Season Rewards other than consumables, like Scrap Kits, but we will let you know if those plans change.

Q: Can I unlock all 100 Season Ranks using Atoms?

A: Yes. After a new Season has been available for two weeks you will be able unlock ranks individually, in the order that you would normally progress through them, by spending 150 Atoms per rank. You can do this as many times as you like, including purchasing all of the ranks in that Season.

We can’t wait to start Season 1 with you this Summer, and we’re incredibly excited to implement all of the new features, systems, and events outlined in our 2020 Roadmap! We’re planning to bring you on an even deeper dive into the new Seasons system, including information about Season 1 rewards, as we get closer to Update 20. Be sure to keep an eye on Fallout.com to catch those details as soon as they are announced.

Hope, Not Worry

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