Bethesda has a special holiday treat for Fallout 76 players, as it surprise-drops the most exciting update to its open-world RPG since Wastelanders onto the Public Test Server (PTS). If you’ve been eager to become a ghoul in Fallout 76, you won’t have to wait until 2025 to do so, as the transformative update has been made available to play on the PTS right now. With a 75% Steam sale, you can even jump in if you’re yet to try the game but have been tempted by the fantastic performance of Walton Goggins in the Fallout show on Prime.
I had the chance to try the Fallout 76 playable ghoul update recently, and I’m very excited to see how it will change players’ builds. With new ghoul-specific systems and perks (or ‘gherks’), it completely alters the options you have at your disposal in the RPG. You will have to deal with some increased hostility from certain factions – I’m looking at you, Brotherhood of Steel – meaning you’ll need to adopt a disguise if you want to continue their quest lines.
Becoming a ghoul is a truly transformative experience in every sense – radiation is no longer a threat, but instead heals you and provides you with Glow, increasing your maximum health and allowing you to boost attributes such as your damage or speed. You’ll no longer benefit from food and drink, but must manage a Feral meter that turns you into a rampaging, glass-cannon melee berserker if you allow it to drain completely.
The introduction of playable ghouls is set to be the most dramatic shift Bethesda’s RPG has seen since the Wastelanders update in 2020 that introduced NPCs to the world. In my recent Fallout 76 ghoul interview, lead producer Bill LaCoste tells me he expects “a lot of peer pressure for people to be a ghoul,” as there are lots of benefits to be gained by grouping up with other members of the radiation afflicted.
I’m also curious to put a group of ghouls to the test against the recently introduced Fallout 76 Gleaming Depths raid, which is some of the most challenging endgame content the co-op game has ever introduced. There’s also a new themed event featuring Black-Eyed Susan, a totally sweet grandmother who loves floral arrangements and needs your help protecting her favorite meadow from dangerous plant-like predators.
The update also includes a wide range of perk changes, and introduces a new Perks Catalog designed to make it easier to organize your collection, as well as a lot of combat balance changes. Pistols have been given a damage update to compensate for the removal of pistol-specific buffs on perk cards such as Gunslinger and Guerrilla, and the AP cost of many weapons has been lowered to allow you to use them a little more frequently in VATS.
The Fallout 76 ghoul update is live now on the Public Test Server. You can get the game at a 75% discount as part of the Steam Winter Sale, which ends Thursday January 2. You can access the PTS on Steam by heading to the ‘Fallout 76 Public Test Server’ application in your game library. Check the full patch notes courtesy of Bethesda for a full breakdown of everything you need to know.
Alternatively, explore more of the best open-world games, or try another of the best games like Fallout while we await news of a potential Fallout 5 release date.
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