If you’ve played a lot of Fallout 76, there’s a good chance you’ve reached a point where improving your build can feel almost beyond your reach. With the upcoming Milepost Zero update, which is currently in public testing, Bethesda is cracking open its crafting system in a bold new fashion. Ahead of its full release, PCGamesN sat down with lead producer Bill LaCoste and creative director Jon Rush to discuss the change and what it means for the future of the revitalized multiplayer RPG.
The Fallout 76 Milepost Zero update is making some smart improvements to the six-year old Bethesda survival game. It’s changed a lot in that time, from that notorious, much-maligned launch to the modern day, where it’s become what might be the most fun way to spend time in the Fallout universe. Now, Milepost Zero is taking the next step, with new features that are the perfect way to fill downtime between events and daily ops.
Another key change that will likely cause even more dramatic shake-ups is the new legendary crafting system. Put simply, this is a much more open-ended way to approach putting Fallout 76’s most powerful, build-defining mods onto items. Previously, getting your hands on the best legendary mods to create the ultimate gear has been a largely random process, requiring you to gamble valuable resources to craft an item and hoping that you hit the specific effect you want on it.
That’s all changing in Milepost Zero. Now, every time you scrap a legendary item there’s a small chance that you’ll learn the ability to craft one of the legendary mods it bears, in much the same way that you unlock crafting for standard mods. Once you’ve picked up the skills to make a specific legendary mod, you’ll be able to build modules for it at the Tinker Bench using legendary particles (earned from the scrapping process), and then either apply them to weapons and armor, or sell them through your camp shop to other players.
“Really the crux of the decision was to rely less on an exclusively RNG experience to get that gear that you want,” Rush tells me. “Our players have specific playstyles they want to adhere to, and they want the gear to be able to support that. So what this does is it gives players agency – rather like a little tiny light at the end of the tunnel. So you can at least see what you’re progressing towards; where you want to go.”
“What’s also kind of cool is it also sort of opens up a whole new economy in the game,” Rush continues. “So, okay, I scrapped something and – oh – now I know how to create Bloodied mods. Well, I’m rich now!” For those out of the loop, ‘Bloodied’ refers to a particularly popular legendary modifier that amplifies your damage when your character’s health is low, and is core to many players’ favorite builds – including mine. As such, the idea of being one of the first players to learn the ability to make and sell ready-to-cook Bloodied mods to others is rather enticing.
I’m certainly convinced by the proposal. As someone who’s poured hundreds of hours into Fallout 76, I reached a point where I had an almost perfect loadout for the build I wanted. Unfortunately, that meant that unless I completely swapped it out for something different (which would itself necessitate many more hours of starting from scratch), the chance of getting any upgrades on my gear was so slim that it didn’t feel worth pursuing further.
With this new legendary crafting system coming into action in Milepost Zero, those upgrades feel like they might feasibly be attainable. Plus, as I also discussed with Rush and LaCoste, the new Fallout 76 caravan routes are a great way to make sure you aren’t just left sitting around waiting for some action. Perhaps it’s time to strap on the power armor once again and get to work.
If that’s not enough to keep you busy, check out our Fallout London review to see if the ambitious fan-created project is worth your time. We’ve also got more of the best games like Fallout to try if you can’t wait until we finally get a Fallout 5 release date.
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