Fallout 76

Overview

Twenty-five years after the bombs fall, Fallout 76 sends you out of Vault 76 and into a ruined West Virginia that is still very much alive with danger, faction trouble, and oddities with teeth. It is an online RPG built around exploring Appalachia, taking on quests, and pushing farther into the wastes with other players at your side or across the fence. Sometimes both.

The game lets you play solo or co-op as you build your survivor with Fallout’s S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system, then decide what kind of wasteland problem you want to be. Heavy armor, stealth, rifles, melee, custom nonsense with a bunker feel — the tools are there. You can also place and expand a C.A.M.P., turning a patch of land into a fortress, estate, outpost, or something more ridiculous.

Fallout 76 keeps growing with free updates, map expansions, and in-game events, so Appalachia is not a static place. Its regions range from forests to the Burning Springs and the Cranberry Bog, with story quests, hidden rewards, and creatures lifted straight from local legend. Mothman, Sheepsquatch, Bigfoot: the woods are less welcoming than a polite postcard would suggest.

Why play it

• Massive open-world multiplayer structure.
• Solo or co-op play options.
• Build and move your C.A.M.P.
• Free updates and map expansions.

Quick facts

Beginner walkthrough

Leave the vault and pick a direction

The story begins in 2102, with your character emerging from Vault 76 after the Great War has left the world broken. From there, you can play solo or co-op and head into West Virginia’s open world to start reclaiming the region. Quests, exploration, and combat all feed into progress, so the early game is about getting your bearings and deciding what kind of survivor you want to be.

Shape your build with S.P.E.C.I.A.L.

Leveling lets you raise one of seven S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attributes: strength, perception, endurance, charisma, intelligence, agility, and luck. Those stats affect what your character can do and how many perk cards you can use. If you want to hit harder, carry more, sneak better, or support a different style, this is where the build starts to harden into something useful.

Use C.A.M.P. to put down roots

You receive a C.A.M.P. that lets you turn raw materials into base structures. It can be placed anywhere on the map and moved later, which is handy when the neighbourhood becomes inconvenient. At your base, you can craft weapons, armor, and modifications, then defend the place with turrets and traps when enemies come calling.

Key characters

• Vault Dwellers fellow survivors

  You leave the shelter with other Vault Dwellers to reclaim the wilderness of West Virginia.

• Mothman legendary cryptid

  This mysterious creature stalks the wilderness and can turn an ordinary trip into a bad idea with better branding.

• Sheepsquatch towering cryptid

  A massive creature from Appalachian folklore that you may end up hunting or being hunted by.

• Bigfoot legendary cryptid

  The legendary Bigfoot is one of the wilderness threats tied to the game’s folklore-driven dangers.

Our take

Fallout 76 is built for roaming, tinkering, and coming back for more Appalachia as it changes. If you want a multiplayer Fallout that lets you quest, build, and chase folklore monsters across an online open world, it offers plenty of systems to sink into. The trade-off is that it stays firmly online and asks for a fair chunk of storage.

FAQ