Fallout 76 - Beginner's Guide and Nuclear Winter Update

This year's E3 will bring us the official "Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase." But ahead of that big reveal fiesta, we get this development update for Fallout 76 that kicks off a Free Play week, shares some information about the upcoming Coming Storm update, announces the discontinuation of the battle royale Nuclear Winter mode, and directs us to a detailed Newcomers Guide.

Here's the video part of the latter:

And some additional information:

JOIN US FOR THE XBOX AND BETHESDA SHOWCASE AT E3!

It’s once again that wonderful time of year when we all gather (virtually) at E3 to find out what’s next for all of our favorite titles across the gaming industry (and hopefully see some new ones announced). This year, we’re teaming up with our friends at Xbox to bring you the “Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase,” and we can’t wait to share more with you about what’s in store for Fallout 76 this year, and beyond. We hope you’ll join us on Twitch this Sunday to catch the Showcase live. Check the details below, and we’ll see you there!

TUNE IN LIVE THIS WEEKEND:
  • Where to watch: Twitch.tv/Bethesda
  • When: 1:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 13
PLAY FALLOUT 76 AND TRY FALLOUT 1ST FOR FREE THIS WEEK!

Grab some pals and get ready to storm the Wasteland, because we’re celebrating E3 with a Free Play Week for Fallout 76! Starting today, you can download Fallout 76 on your platform of choice to experience the entire game completely free until June 16. During Free Week, we’re also kicking off a Fallout 1st Limited Preview, which will enable you to take the Scrapbox and Survival Tent membership benefits for a test drive. All you will need to do is head to the Atomic Shop to claim the free Fallout 1st Limited Preview “item,” then unlock the Scrapbox from the Shop’s Fallout 1st page, and head in-game to try out both features. Additionally, you’ll be able to burn through those early-game levels at twice the usual speed with a full week of Double XP in all game modes.

Finally, Fallout 76 is on sale for a limited time. All of the progress you make during Free Week will remain intact, and you can head here to purchase the game for a discount of up to 67% off. You can learn more about Free Play Week, the Fallout 1st Limited Preview, and catch an introduction to Fallout 76 by visiting our Newcomer’s Guide on Fallout.com.

THE COMING STORM…

Ad victoriam! The Steel Reign Update is coming in July, and you can prepare for the new questline by getting fully decked out in Brotherhood gear with “The Coming Storm,” a limited-time in-game event that kicks off June 15.

Once the event begins, stop by the Atomic Shop to claim the Brotherhood of Steel Backpack Skin for free—you’ll need to have this Backpack equipped in order to earn event rewards. Don’t worry if your character hasn’t learned how to craft Backpacks yet, because you will also be able to claim a Small Backpack Plan for free in the Shop.

Once you’re wearing your spiffy new pack, venture into Appalachia to take on Daily Challenges that will either require you to complete in-game events in specific regions of Appalachia, or to capture Workshops. Each Daily Challenge will award you with a free consumable, like a Lunchbox, a Perk Card Pack, or a Repair Kit, among others. By completing Daily Challenges, you’ll also earn progress toward a recurring Weekly Challenge that will offer a different Brotherhood themed cosmetic reward each week, like a player icon, a Pip-Boy skin, and new flags for your C.A.M.P.

If you complete at least two Weekly Challenges before The Coming Storm concludes on July 6, you’ll also unlock the new Brotherhood of Steel Recon Helmet pictured above.

Good luck, and remember to equip your Brotherhood Backpack!

AN UPDATE ON NUCLEAR WINTER IN FALLOUT 76

As a development team, we view Fallout 76 as a game that is continually evolving with each update we release. We love adding new ways for you to enjoy Appalachia, whether through questlines, events, Daily Ops, new features, quality of life improvements, or even gameplay modes.

When we first introduced Nuclear Winter, we were thrilled to watch so many players from our community, as well as many newcomers, dive head first into our take on the ruthless last-player-standing Battle Royale genre. Over time, however, we’ve seen the vast majority of players prefer to explore other aspects of the game. It has also become tougher to put full Nuclear Winter lobbies together without also making sacrifices on match wait times. Additionally, we’ve found it challenging to provide meaningful updates for Nuclear Winter, while also developing and supporting exciting new content for Adventure Mode in recent and upcoming updates. With all of this in mind, we are currently planning to sunset Nuclear Winter Mode in an update coming this September.

We know that some of you are incredibly passionate about Nuclear Winter, and that you may find this news disappointing. Ending support for the mode was a difficult decision, and not one that we made lightly. We’re still working to provide methods of PVP combat for those who enjoy squaring off against other former Vault Dwellers, and a little later this year, we will release details on how we plan to offer players even more ways to play Fallout 76. Additionally, we’re going to compensate everyone who participated in Nuclear Winter, from those who only joined a single match to our most battle-hardened Overseers.

GET PERK COINS FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION

Whether you occasionally dabbled in Nuclear Winter, or fought your way through thousands of matches, we want to ensure that your efforts there are properly rewarded. When Nuclear Winter goes offline, we’re going to fill your characters’ pockets with Perk Coins, which can be used to upgrade your Legendary Perks in Adventure Mode. Each character will receive 6 Perk Coins per Overseer Rank they achieved, up to a maximum of 600, as well as 1 Perk Coin for each Overseer Ticket they earned, up to a max of 200. All players who completed at least one Nuclear Winter match will also receive a Nuclear Winter themed Pennant for their C.A.M.P.s.

EARN NUCLEAR WINTER REWARDS IN ADVENTURE MODE

Nuclear Winter offers a wide variety of Overseer rank-up rewards, and we’d like to ensure that you can still unlock them through other means. Some items, like the Vault Boy statues, will remain exclusive to those who earned them. Others, such as Power Armor and weapon paints, outfits, C.A.M.P. objects, and more will be awarded by completing events, including Scorched Earth, Project Paradise, Encryptid, A Colossal Problem, and even Hunt for the Treasure Hunter.

We would like to thank everyone in the community who spent time competing in Nuclear Winter. It will remain online until September, which means you still have plenty of time to squeeze in some more matches. While we have decided to disable this mode, Fallout 76’s future remains very bright. We can’t wait to share more details with you on all of the new features and adventures we’re planning to bring to the game throughout 2021, and for years to come.