Welcome to Fallout 76 – A Newcomers Guide

Welcome to Appalachia, Vault Dweller!

When you step out of Vault 76 for the very first time, seeing the Appalachian wilderness laid out before you can feel both breathtaking and a bit overwhelming. Whether you can’t wait to scavenge for supplies, start off on a quest or start building the C.A.M.P. of your dreams, this guide will acclimate you to the wide world of post-nuclear West Virginia and have you playing like a local in no time!

Watch our video below to pick up the basics of the game and to learn how to get the most out of your first 10 levels. You can also read on to catch more tips that you may find useful as you blast your way through irradiated beasts and build a new life in the Wasteland.

Kick Off the Main Story

Once you’ve had a moment to take in the view from the doorway of Vault 76, try heading down the steps in front of you to meet Lacey and Isela. These two adventurers kick off the “Wayward Souls” questline, which introduce you to some core game mechanics, including building your first humble C.A.M.P. From there, you’ll start to uncover the fate of Appalachia and its inhabitants after the Great War, aid the people and factions who remain, and even learn to launch your own nukes along the way.

• TIP: If you encounter any quests that seem tough at your current level, don’t be afraid to spend some time exploring The Forest region and come back to them after you’ve leveled up a few times.
• TIP: An early questline for the Responders faction leads you to Morgantown Airport. Search the Airport’s interior thoroughly for the Small Backpack Plan, which can be crafted at an Armor Workbench to let you carry more loot.

Explore Your Heart Out

Appalachia is split in to six different regions for you to conquer: The Forest, Toxic Valley, Ash Heap, Savage Divide, The Mire and Cranberry Bog. Take your time exploring as you quest and level up to get familiar with the different enemies and harvestable resources that each region provides. Don’t worry about memorizing every place you come across - once you’ve discovered a location, an icon for it will appear on your map that you can Fast Travel to by spending a few Caps.

• TIP: You can Fast Travel for free to your C.A.M.P., your teammates and several prominent locations such as Vault 76, Foundation, The Crater, and Fort Atlas. You can also equip the Travel Agent Charisma Perk Card at level 26 for a discount on Fast Travel.
• TIP: Visit maps found inside Train Stations and climb to the top of Lookout Towers throughout Appalachia to reveal points of interest in the area. You will still need to stop by in-person to fully “discover” these locations, but this tactic can help you find out what’s nearby.

Survive and Thrive in the Wasteland

Radiation, disease and irradiated creatures, oh my! Life outside the Vault is brimming with danger, but Appalachia provides everything you need to stay in tip-top shape. Swipe food, gear, medicine, Stimpaks and more to help you survive from fallen enemies and lootable containers, or earn them as rewards from quests and events. Cooking and Chemistry Stations also grant you the ability to make higher-quality food and even craft your own chems!

• TIP: Keeping your Hunger and Thirst meters filled grants you a few buffs, with many types of food rewarding you with even more bonuses. Just don’t forget to cook raw food and boil water first or you’ll risk catching a Disease.
• TIP: Over time, you may accumulate Radiation from food and drink, as well as the environment itself. Stacking up Rads can severely impact your health, and may even lead to developing Mutations, which offer powerful bonuses, but also come with some negative side-effects. You can cut down on Radiation with RadAway, or increase your Radiation resistance with chems like Rad-X.

You Are S.P.E.C.I.A.L.

Until you reach level 50, you’ll earn an attribute point every time you level up. You can allocate your points into seven different S.P.E.C.I.A.L. categories according to your own personal play style. You’ll also earn Perk Cards that offer bonuses to help make your character even more powerful.

• TIP: At the lower levels, experiment with your Perk Card selections often to find what works well for you. At level 50, you’ll gain access to the highest-level Perk Cards and max-level gear, which is a good time to begin specializing your build to focus on a certain playstyle and weapon type.
• TIP: At level 25, you’ll gain access to Punch Card Machines, which allow you to completely reset your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attributes and Perk Card selections. Build one in your C.A.M.P. or find them in the world to create, save and swap between different builds.

Build Your Appalachian Abode

There’s no place like home and with your Vault-Tec issued C.A.M.P. apparatus, you can bring your home with you! Open your Pip-Boy, select the “Move C.A.M.P.” button, place it in a suitable location, and begin construction on your new digs. Over time, you’ll learn how to build lots of new items for your C.A.M.P. by completing quests and events, or even by purchasing plans from vendors and other players.

• TIP: Workshops are public locations that you can take over to build, craft and mine resource deposits outside of your personal C.A.M.P.s. You can also earn a wide variety of building plans by successfully defending Workshops from enemy attacks. Other players may try to contest your ownership, automatically initiating player vs. player combat inside the Workshop’s build area, so watch out!
• TIP: Hunting for a specific crafting component? Tag them in your Pip-Boy to display a magnifying glass next to their names when you come across them in the world.
• TIP: Don’t hoard or sell weapons and gear that aren’t useful to you. Instead, use your Workbenches to scrap them to learn mod plans that you can add to items of that type to make them even more powerful.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Whether you want to go exploring with your closest allies or you just need a helping hand with a tough event, Fallout 76 is at its best when you’re playing with companions. There are two ways to team up in Fallout 76: Normal Teams and Public Teams. Normal Teams let you invite specific friends and players to your group and can even be created from the Main Menu before you join a world. Public Teams allow anyone in your current world to freely drop in and out of the team, and offer team members a buff based on the Public Team type you choose to create.

• TIP: Daily Ops are challenging, instanced missions that you can complete each day for a chance at rare loot. Since Daily Ops can be difficult to tackle alone, consider starting a Daily Ops Public Team to allow other hardy adventurers to join in the fight and share an XP bonus with them.

Join Some Events

Events in Fallout 76 are short, rewarding and action-packed quests that can be completed alone or with many other players. Some events appear on your map, while others trigger right as you approach the event area. Some events are classified as “Public Events,” which display a hexagon-shaped icon on the map with an exclamation point in the center. Fast travel to Public Events is always free and you can select their map icons to preview requirements and objectives. Public Events appear one a time on a random rotation, so be sure to visit them as often as they pop up. Finally, there are limited-time Seasonal Events such as “Fasnacht Day” and “Meat Week.” These are community-oriented events that only appear once or twice a year and offer themed rewards you can’t get anywhere else.

• TIP: Public Events often offer higher reward tiers for more successful completions. Do your best to play to the objectives to get better chances at rare rewards and to earn appreciation from your event-mates.
• TIP: Certain high-level Public Events will only start when players trigger them. “Scorched Earth” and “A Colossal Problem” require you to drop a nuke on specific locations, while “Encryptid” requires someone to fork over a special keycard from the “Lying Lowe” questline.
• TIP: In addition to in-game events, Fallout 76 also hosts a different community on a near-weekly basis through Double XP weekends, legendary item sales from Purveyor Murmrgh, Hunt for the Treasure Hunter events and much more. Be sure to check out our Community Calendar by visiting the Seasons page on Fallout.com so that you don’t miss out on any of the action.

The Power of the Atom

Go it alone or with fellow survivors to unlock access to the ultimate weapon – Nuclear Missiles. The destruction from nuke launches also creates a high-level zone with rare and valuable resources. Do you protect or unleash the power of the atom? The choice is yours.

• TIP: Dropping a nuke on an area that is known to spawn high-level enemies like the Scorchbeast Queen is a great way to do some serious trophy hunting. Be careful when entering nuked regions, though, as you can succumb quickly to Radiation if you’re not adequately prepared. (Your Power Armor should do the trick!)

Dress to Impress!

In addition to the many outfits you can uncover as you play Fallout 76, you can also spruce up your look with many different cosmetics and C.A.M.P. objects by spending Atoms in the Atomic Shop. Earn Atoms in-game by completing a variety of different lifetime Challenges or by purchasing them with real money.

You can also unlock tons of cosmetics, C.A.M.P. objects, in-game currencies, and more for free by ranking up on the current Season Scoreboard. To rank up, you’ll need to earn some S.C.O.R.E., which is awarded whenever you complete Daily and Weekly Challenges. Learn more about the Seasons system and all of the rewards that are currently up for grabs, by visiting the Seasons page on Fallout.com.

• TIP: The Atomic Shop contains a variety of items that are always free to claim. Be sure visit the Shop to unlock your Personal Terminal, the Punch Bowl, daily freebies and a variety of cosmetics without spending a single Atom!
• TIP: You can earn S.C.O.R.E. from the level-up Daily Challenge as often as you’d like. Stack XP buffs from items and consumables you’ve acquired, Perk Cards and the Casual Public Team type to gain levels and complete the Challenge more quickly.

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We hope you’ve gained some insight into Fallout 76 with our Newcomers Guide. With these tips, you’re that much more prepared to head into the Wasteland. Good luck and until next time, we’ll see you in Appalachia!