Fallout 76

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Inside the Vault – Survival Mode Beta Overview

March 21, 2019

Fallout 76

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Lock and load!

We’re gearing up to release the Survival Mode Beta on March 26, which is a new, more competitive way to play Fallout 76 that’s separate from the main game, has fewer player vs. player (PVP) restrictions, higher stakes for PVP combat, and even a permanent XP bonus. We’re also implementing scoreboards that you can use to earn bragging rights, as well as new weekly challenges that have legendary rewards. Read on to learn about all of this and more when Beta launches next week.

Choosing Your Mode: Adventure or Survival

Whenever you hit Play from the Main Menu, you’ll be able to choose between Adventure Mode or the new Survival Beta. Adventure Mode is largely Fallout 76 as you know it today, with one significant adjustment: we’re reducing all damage dealt to you by players you are not hostile with to zero. You can learn more about this change further below.

Survival is our new, more competitive game mode featuring rule changes surrounding PVP combat, death and respawn mechanics, and even a 20% bonus to the XP you’ll earn while playing. As we shared in a previous article, everything you can currently do in Adventure —quests, events, and exploration— will still be available to you in Survival. Your current progress with any existing characters will transfer between Survival and Adventure as often as you like, and anything that affects them in one mode will also be reflected in the other.

Be sure to read up on the basics of Survival below before you dive head-first into the new mode, because they just might save your hide!

The Basics of Survival

Bring the Danger

In Survival, it’s open season on other dwellers! You can still quest, explore, and loot as you please, but you can also attack other players without restriction. There’s just one catch—they can freely attack you, as well. You’ll need to be cunning if you choose to go on the hunt, because other players won’t appear on your map unless they are Wanted or one of the top three players on the Longest Life scoreboards (more on that below).

High-Stakes PVP

When you manage to take down your prey you’ll earn twice as many Caps as you would for dweller kills in Adventure Mode. On death, they’ll drop all of their junk as well as a random amount of the aid items they were carrying, which will be yours for the taking. . . so long as no one is around to challenge you for them.

If an opponent manages to kill you, you’ll find the Seek Revenge respawn option has been disabled. However, you can spend some of your Caps to place a bounty on that player’s head, causing them to appear Wanted for everyone in that world. Whether you use this to your advantage and try your luck a second time or let another dweller bring your killer to justice is up to you.

Tuned for Combat

We’ve made some over-arching adjustments to PVP damage in Survival Mode to make weapons feel even more deadly in your hands, while also limiting the likelihood that another dweller can drop you in one hit. To further level the playing field, only the healing effects of one Stimpak of each type can be active at any given time, which will keep players from gaining an advantage by stacking lots of Stimpak healing.

Additionally, you can only respawn at your C.A.M.P., Vault 76, and Train Stations. Fast travel is also limited to these locations, plus any Workshops you own. You’ll become invulnerable for a short period of time after fast traveling, which should help prevent any nasty surprises when you load in. Keep in mind, though, that this invulnerability effect will be removed if you fire your weapon early.

XP is Key!

To help you keep pace with the added dangers posed by the Wasteland, we’re giving you a permanent 20% bonus to any XP you earn in Survival Mode. This should help your new characters get into fighting shape more quickly and give your seasoned characters more frequent level-ups as you conquer Appalachia.

Now that you’ve got a handle on the main differences between Adventure and Survival, let’s take a look at how you can show off your skills in the new Survival Mode scoreboards.

Top the Charts with Scoreboards

Think you’ve got what it takes to outlast everyone else in the Wasteland? Now you can prove it. We’ve added scoreboards to Survival Mode that you can use to keep track of how long you’ve managed to stay alive amid the hardships of Appalachia, gauge your PVP prowess, and keep an eye on a variety of additional stats to see how your performance during your current life measures up against others in your world. You can also view the stats from your best life that week to see how they compare to players in your current world. Your stats will travel with you when you join new Survival Mode worlds, but reset on death or each week—whichever comes first. In a future update, we’re going to give you the ability to compare your scoreboard stats with players on your friends list as well.

When you’re among the top three in a given category, you will receive a bronze, silver, or gold medal next to your name on the scoreboard. However, you’ll need to stay on your guard if you want to stay in the lead. As long as you remain in the top three, your current position in the world will be highlighted on other players’ maps, which is sure to attract attention from those who may be looking to take you down a notch.

Finally, when you die in Survival Mode—don’t worry, it happens to the best of us—the death screen will display a recap of how you performed during that life compared with your personal bests for the week.

Topping the scoreboards is all about bragging rights, but our new weekly challenges in Survival Mode can help you earn something more tangible for your efforts.

Unique Challenges, Legendary Rewards

We’re adding a host of new, more difficult weekly challenges to Survival than the ones you’re used to in Adventure. They may require you to scour the Wasteland for supplies, complete lots of events, or even hunt down legendary creatures. Those of you who are successful will be handsomely rewarded with one of many all-new legendary weapons each week. Here’s a preview of the weapons you’ll be able to earn during the first six weeks following Survival Mode launch:

Week 1 Reward (Mar 26 – Apr 1)

"Crushing Blow" — M79 Grenade Launcher

Double damage if target is full health
+50% Limb Damage

Week 2 Reward (Apr 2 – 8)

"Medical Malpractice" — .44 Pistol

V.A.T.S. crits will heal you and your group
+33% V.A.T.S. hit chance
25% less V.A.T.S. Action Point cost

Week 3 Reward (Apr 9 – 15)

"Sole Survivor" — Lever Action Rifle

+10% damage to players
+10% damage while aiming
+50 Damage Resistance while aiming

Week 4 Reward (Apr 16 – 22)

"The Guarantee" — Fatman

Double damage if target is full health
+50% limb damage
15% faster reload

Week 5 Reward (Apr 23 – 29)

“The Action Hero” — .50 Cal

Shoots an additional projectile
25% Faster fire rate
15% Faster reload speed

Week 6 Reward (Apr 30 – May 6)

“The Quick Fix” — Switchblade

Deal more damage the more chem withdrawal effects you currently have.
40% faster swing speed
+1 Endurance

The fun doesn’t stop there! We’re planning to introduce new challenges and legendary rewards each week going forward. We hope you’ll share your thoughts with us once you’ve completed a few challenges and earned a few new weapons so that we can continue add rewards you’re excited to get your hands on.

Adventure Mode “Slap Damage” Adjustments

Once the Survival Beta is live, we’re making a change to reduce all damage that would be dealt to you by players you are not currently hostile with to zero. This adjustment effectively eliminates “slap damage” and should greatly reduce the likelihood that you’ll fall victim to any unwanted PVP.

However, there are some exceptions. For example, if you have pacifist mode disabled and return fire against another player you will become hostile toward them, meaning you will then take full damage from their attacks. Additionally, attempting to claim another player’s Workshop, or having someone else contest your own will open you up to hostility with that player. You can also still take damage from environmental hazards that may have been caused by another player, such as a car exploding.

With a future update, we’re currently planning to extend this protection to C.A.M.P. as well, which means your home base cannot be damaged by other players’ attacks so long as you and your C.A.M.P. are not hostile toward those players. We’ll have more details to share when we’re closer to implementing this change.

As we’ve mentioned previously, next week’s Beta launch marks our first implementation of a more PVP-focused game mode. We plan to make adjustments based on your feedback to improve on Survival as we move forward to make it fun, challenging, and fair for everyone. We’d love to hear your thoughts on things like weapon balance, death mechanics, and many other aspects of Survival once you’ve had the chance to dive in and play.

Bethesda Game Studios