Fallout 76: Wastelanders has arrived, and with it, the potential start of a new era for Bethesda’s controversial blend of Fallout and multiplayer games. The update adds loads of long-awaited features to the game – plus a release on Steam – but it’s only now that the devs have revealed the full scope of what’s changing, thanks to the newly-released Wastelanders patch notes.
The new NPC dialogue is “similar to Fallout 3”, with ability checks and contextual options. The Fallout 4 dialogue wheel is gone, replaced by a classic list of speech options, and you’ll find expanded dialogue to engage with from the original game’s handful of NPCs. The original main quest has been expanded with both new NPCs and new dialogue for existing characters.
You’ll now meet Lacey and Isela outside Vault 76 to start the new Wastelanders story, with an introductory ‘Wayward’ quest line. The full new story begins at level 20 in Sutton, and ties in with the new faction system. You’ll be able to do quests for both the Raiders and Settlers at first, but the main story will eventually force you to take a side.
Completing the new main story will get you access to a new in-game currency, gold bullion, which you can get by completing daily quests and use to buy unique new items.
Welcome to #Wastelanders, our biggest update for #Fallout76 yet!
With the latest update you'll receive an entirely new main story, characters to meet, a dialogue system, many fixes, and much more.
Check out the full patch notes here to see what's new: https://t.co/HE3KpZQXnu pic.twitter.com/Qrnd6SAvmE
— Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) April 14, 2020
There are also new enemies and new locations, and that’s just the big stuff – the patch notes also highlight a load of smaller changes, including “close to 1,000 fixes for bugs”. There’s also a new radio host, improved clarity on quests and public events, and you now get the option to move to a different world when there’s an active nuke zone.