QuakeCon: Bethesda Reveals New Details for Wastelanders Update

Earlier this year, Bethesda revealed a lengthy roadmap for Fallout 76, which, at the time, was just the bare bones of what players could expect from the game when each of its three major updates- Wild Appalachia, Nuclear Winter, and Wastelanders- released throughout the year.

During E3 2019 this past June, we got a deeper look at Nuclear Winter, which not only included two new Vaults, but which also turned out to be a battle-royale mode, to the surprise of fans.

Also at Bethesda’s E3 showcase, we got a tease of Fallout 76’s third big update, Wastelanders, with the promise that it will “fundamentally change” the game. Fast forward to QuakeCon 2019, and now we finally have more details about the many updates that Wastelanders is bringing to the game.

One of the biggest and probably most notable change that Wastelanders will bring to Fallout 76 is the inclusion of human NPCs and dialogue trees; and according to Bethesda’s project leader Jeff Gardiner, the NPCs will “fully infest the map”. As far as how the dialogue trees will function, they will run more like Fallout 3, with a full list of conversational options, rather than the vague choices in Fallout 4; and the options during these NPC encounters are influenced by the attributes you invest in your S.P.E.C.I.A.Ls.

With this next update, Bethesda is really going all-in with bringing the human element into the Wasteland of Appalachia. Settlements and factions (including the raiders) are making a return, and their addition will change the feel of the game, making it seem more alive and varied. There will also be random encounters, points of interest, and a quest line that Gardiner mentions will be “sustainable” as opposed to something lackluster that players will ultimately forget about. Companions are also returning, though the mechanics of how that will work are still in development.

These new features in Wastelanders are just the beginning of what’s to come for the future of Fallout 76, and the panel of devs mentioned that these changes will ultimately influence the way they build on the game going forward.

The Wastelanders update will launch this fall, and will be free for all Fallout 76 players.