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Fallout 76 is one of the strangest stories in gaming. Like most online titles these days, the launch was a complete disaster. Everything that creator Todd Howard said about the game was famously memed into oblivion accordingly. It didn’t work; it was missing features, it looked dated, and the Fallout 76 gameplay just felt so uninspired compared to their last massive hit in Fallout 4.
But like all games of this ilk, it was a work in progress, and slowly, the game got better and better. The robot N.P.C.s that formerly were the main quest givers in the world were replaced by 100s of human and ghoul N.P.C.s, and instantly, the game finally became more like the fallout game it was meant to be. In addition to that, tons of content was added in the forms of new groups to join, missions to take part in, and even a new battle royale mode was implemented at one point.
I’ve been a Fallout fan since Fallout 3 came out and make it a point to play anytime this iconic series releases a game. Fallout 76 didn’t do it for me at first, but over time, the updates it has been implementing have made the experience one that Bethesda can finally be proud to stamp their name on, and in many ways, it’s as good as the Elder Scrolls Online.
The reason you’ll be gripped for hours on end here is because of the awesome quest structure in place. You basically get the single-player style quests from the Fallout games with the added ability to play with a friend or a random stranger if you’d like. We’re going to take a look at how Fallout 76 quests work as well as how to find them, what kinds there are and so much more.
Let’s explore the Fallout 76 Wasteland, shall we?
Fallout 76 Quests Overview
When Fallout 76 was first released, the way they were given was pretty lame, to say the least. Instead of the classic method of finding an N.P.C., listening to their story, and then going on a quest from there, we were forced to listen to holotypes, read terminals and even read notes for quests. There were also some robots in the world that gave out the quests too, but those didn’t have much personality, and the result was a very lifeless game.
With the Wastelanders Update came a ton of N.P.C.s to the game, and now, human quest givers are the main form of quests you’ll receive even though the original quests still remain.
How Do You Access Quests In Fallout 76?
In order to start a quest, you have to find the quest givers in any particular area. You can find these marked on your map, and you will generally be directed towards an area that has a quest giver available. You will be able to take on quests with a team most of the time, although there are a few quests in the game that require you to be alone for them.
Conversely, there will be a few quests in the game that require cooperation from your teammates, so it’s never a bad idea to wander around the Wasteland with a group of friends.
Tips For Questing in Fallout 76
Explore
If you want to travel the path of the main questline in Fallout 76, that’s fine, and you’ll be directed to it from the start of the game, and you’ll never have to veer off that path if you don’t want to. The main questline is fun, but in my opinion, the real meat of Fallout 76 takes place within the side quests that are available.
In order to find the side content, you’re going to have to explore a lot. Anytime you see an area of interest pop up on your map, you should always check it out. This might not work for those of you laser-focused on a current quest, but it’s a habit you should learn to develop as you never know what exciting rewards or quests might lie in that area.
Be Curious
The majority of Fallout games have a ton of secrets to discover as is, and considering that Fallout 76 is a game that’s meant to be played for years and years, that means that the amount to discover is generally going to be 10 fold compared to a normal game in the series.
The best way to find these secrets is by searching everything you find. Desks, lockers, terminals, chests, etc. All of it can have either new equipment or a clue to something that will lead you on an exciting quest. Search the dark corners of areas, go toward the random fire you see in the distance, it will pay off, I promise you.
Don’t Shoot First
Something to take note of is that you may run into Fallout 76 characters in hostile areas that might need your help, so while you might be in the midst of a combat zone, keep in mind that there might be an innocent person hiding looking for your help and shooting them might aggro them to the point that the quest won’t be available until you come back at a later time.
Know Your Level
Some areas in the game will simply be beyond your pay grade at certain points, and when that happens, you’ll see a red marker above an enemy, letting you know that they might be too strong for you at this point in the game.
Some side quests will send you into areas that have enemies of this ilk, and while the reward for these missions will obviously be greater, you might not be able to handle the challenge it requires
Come Prepared
Many quests in the game might take you to a dungeon of sorts that puts you in an enclosed area with no access back to the surface, and when that happens, you’re generally going to be out of luck when it comes to item vendors. To counter this, you should always have a solid stack of StimPaks on you as well as Rad-Away and Rad-X for dangerous areas. You should also make sure your ammo will be able to last against whatever potential horrors you’re going to face.
In terms of your gear, your armor is always the most important thing when it comes to determining your damage defense, so know what type of mission it’s going to be going in and see if you can figure out which armor will be best for fighting the type of creatures you’re going to be going up against. If your quest has you taking on robots that use laser weapons, get a good armor that can defend against that before setting out, otherwise you might find yourself at a big disadvantage.
What Kind of Quests Are there in Fallout 76?
Like most MMOs, Fallout 76 is chock full of tons of different quests to take on, and every couple of months, they have to add ons that give you even more content to explore while playing.
At the start of the game, you will begin in a vault as most classic Fallout games do. From there, you’re free to explore the world as you see fit.
Main Questline
There is a singular main quest that you will follow throughout Fallout 76 that acts as its main storyline. You will start this quest as soon as you exit the vault for the first time, and it will be identified as the main quest in your Pipboy so you can tack it whenever you feel like engaging in it again. You can go through the majority of the quests in the main questline with friends, although some are only done by a single player.
The main questline will introduce you to a lot of the mechanics at play in Fallout 76 and might lead you to sidequests, so it’s worth noting where you left off between play sessions, so things don’t get too confusing between all of the different quests.
The very first mission of the game is called Reclamation Day, and it will begin the second the game starts. From there, you get the mission First Contact and anything following that directly concerns the main questline here.
While quests are able to be done by teams in Fallout 76, your story is yours individually, so you will need to pick up quest items regardless of whether or not someone in your team has grabbed them already. There are cases where there will be multiple quest items if it is a required pickup for all members of your team.
When you complete the main questline, there is Endgame content available to do as well, so even though the story may be complete, you will still find yourself with a ton to do in this game. Each DLC added to the game continues the main story, so it’s technically not even finished to this day.
Events
In addition to the main questline of the game, you can also participate in various events throughout your time in the Wasteland. The way events work is that they are random events that pop up around the map at different times.
When they appear, you and any players in the vicinity will have shared progress on them and can participate if they so choose. These events do not have a level requirement either, so feel free to jump into these regardless of your progress through the game.
Depending on the time of year, there will also be seasonal events that get thrown in and are generally going to be appearing once per hour. Unlike normal missions, you can fast travel to any event that is happening on the map.
In your PipBoy, you will see a section called EVENT. This will list all of the events currently happening in your game world. The events that pop up will have a timer associated with them, and because of that, you’ll have to act quickly and coordinate with other players in order to successfully complete an event.
Side Quests
Side quests are quests that pop up that have little to nothing to do with the main storyline taking place in the game. You may get beckoned over by an N.P.C. in a new area to come to talk to them, and they’ll have an icon on the map to boot. When you start a side quest, you can still engage in other quests, too; you just have an option now on what path you’d like to follow.
Side quests are very much worth taking on because they tend to offer rewards that the main questline doesn’t have available. This can be anything from new armor to weapons or other equipment you will find some use for. Each side questline will have its own string of quests to follow up on as well, so you can look at them as beginning mini-stories in themselves.
Certain side quests in the game can leave you with permanent features to your game such as improvements to your C.A.M.P., companions that roam around your home, or even new developments in the mainland of the game, such as areas being completely nuked, which causes all kinds of resources to become available as well as the presence of new and terrifying enemies.
There are several factions and groups throughout the game that you can receive side quests from, and some of them might even have opposing views, leaving you to decide whether you want to play sides or just stay neutral and pick up the resources and rewards regardless of the moral implication.
Mistress of Mystery Quests
Separate from actual side quests are the Mistress of Mystery quests in Fallout 76. These quests concern the continuation of a character you may recall from Fallout 4 called the Silver Shroud. You might remember him leaving behind his clothes for you to wear and the mystery of his whereabouts being unknown.
Here, we get to follow the threads related to him, and these quests deal with uncovering the circumstances surrounding the Order of Mysteries. These play out like their own storyline and are some of the more engaging quests that you can find in the game.
Responders
These quests revolve around the disaster relief organization that takes place in Appalachia. They are actually one of the first people you run into right after leaving Vault 76 in the opening of the game.
You are required to register as part of this group in one of the first missions of the game, but from then on out, it’s up to you whether you want to take on missions from them or not. You will be directly involved with them at times throughout the main quest, but you can also find them in various places throughout the map like Grafton Station, Morgantown, Charles, Welch, and Lewisburg.
Secondary Quests
These quests have nothing to do with any faction, but rather these are stories that you can discover on your own. They add a ton in terms of depth to the Fallout 76 world, and the only way to discover them is by doing your own exploring.
For example, you may find research notes left behind on a person’s corpse, and all of a sudden, you’ll be tasked with completing this person’s research in order to find a better cure for radiation sickness.
You also might get attacked by a random group of Prison Marshals for seemingly no reason, and as soon as you defeat them, you’ll be tasked with a quest that has you figuring out why you’ve been falsely accused.
These types of missions tend to be the most interesting ones in the game because of their random nature and lack of relation to anything else happening in the game at the time. There’s no agenda of factions here, just pure weirdness that goes in a post-apocalyptic world, and it’s fantastic.
Daily Quests
As is the tradition for most MMOs these days, Fallout 76 also has a daily questing system in it as well. These quests can be performed once a day, and usually, they give out solid rewards in the process.
The quests that revolve around this type are generally of the go here and kill that variety, but on occasion, you will be tasked with slightly more unique quests. Regardless of the quest type, these are very easy to finish, so they won’t pull you off your current path all that much, and you’ll get a great reward for finishing them.
Miscellaneous Quests
In addition to all of the above, there are also a set of quests referred to as Miscellaneous Quests. Generally, these quests are able to be completed rather quickly and will usually go something like clear out an area, craft a weapon, or investigate an area. They don’t really give out many rewards either, though they can be incredibly helpful when learning the mechanics of the game.
DLC Quests
When the DLC started getting unrolled for Fallout 76, a lot with the main game changed. Not only was there more content now, but the story was expanded, and several factions were added into the game as well, making it more populated than ever.
You also were given the ability to choose outcomes of certain questlines depending on what you said or did during the mission. It made Fallout 76 feel like a proper Fallout game finally.
Wild Appalachia
This was the first official DLC for Fallout 76, and rather than dealing with an extension of the main quest, this update introduced a handful of sidequests to take on. You begin the questline here by reading a copy of C.H. Monthly, October. Once you read the third letting in it, you will hear about a Sheepsquatch sighting in Berkely Springs, and you’ll be off and running from there.
Wastelanders
The Wastelanders DLC introduced a ton of new features to the game, including tons of new quests as well as populating the world with N.P.C.s who made Appalachia feel like a truly lived-in place for the first time.
Main Quest
Wastelanders came complete with its own main storyline to boot, and although it is not as long as the initial one, it’s very much an extension to it that has various outcomes and different groups you can choose to support on each side.
The main quest here is broken into two sides, and depending on which side you choose, then the opposing side’s quests will be unavailable to you in this playthrough, so choose wisely. Depending on who you choose to support during the raid on Vault 78, you will either be able to take on quests from the Settlers or the Raiders. These quests will be entirely unique and lead to completely different outcomes in the story.
In order to begin the Wastelanders questline, you simply start up the game. Wastelanders is a complete overhaul to how so many things work in the main game, and part of that is in a bunch of new quests that have been infused within the main story. You’ll know you’ve started things up properly when you see the quest Wayward Souls comes up on your screen.
Character Specific Quests
Within each of the DLC storylines, you’re also going to be taking on quests for characters that follow a particular path for each. Usually, these quests are not all that long, and there aren’t too many available for characters, but they add tons to the story and have some solid rewards to acquire as well.
Ally Quests
In addition to random characters that give out quests in the Wastelanders update, there are also specific characters that you can ally and build affinity with that have lengthy questlines as well. Here are some of the characters you’ll be questing for and how to find them.
Sophia Daguerre
You’ll automatically start this quest in the Wastelanders update by hearing an emergency broadcast signal that you’ll have to go investigate. Once you do, you’ll pick up Sophia’s radio beacon, and from there, you’ll begin her quest line as well as get access to her radiant quests too.
Beckett
Once you enter the Ash Heap, you will get a radio transmission that will direct you to the Rollins Labor Camp. Once you get there, you’ll discover Beckett in jail. You can choose to help him out here, and if you do, you’ll be able to take on his questline.
Not only that, but this character will also appear as a C.A.M.P. ally for the rest of your game. Allies like Beckett will defend your C.A.M.P. from any threat to the area, including those from other players. Beckett is also a merchant and romanceable as well.
Radiant Quests
Radiant Quests are quests that can be repeated while playing Fallout 76 and are given by individual characters. The quests usually are pretty fast and include killing an enemy or retrieving a particular item. These are totally unique, and you can take them on any time you’d like.
The Legendary Run
The quests introduced by this DLC are all of the side quest variety. You can begin the quest here by traveling to Founding. Once there, you will need to speak with Maggie, and then you’ll set out on a mission to find her father. The questline her is a short one, but this DLC marked the beginning of the first official season of Fallout 76.
One Wasteland For All
This DLC focused on bringing new types of daily and radiant quests into the game. You can begin this quest at any time. If you go to Cranberry Bog, you’ll eventually find a note on a pike with a person skewered on it, and the note will direct you to Watoga Towers, where you will begin the first Daily Op.
Steel Dawn
This DLC released a major questline for the Brotherhood of Steel, and with it came tons of new main quests to engage in involving the new faction brought into the game.
In order to access this questline, you have to be at least level 20. Once this happens, you will be asked to listen to the Brotherhood of Steel welcome broadcast, and from there, you will visit Fort Atlast and speak to Paladin Rahmani. Once you do that, the initial quest called Forging Trust will begin.
Steel Reign
The direct follow-up to Steel Dawn, Steel Reign added in more quests that dealt with the conclusion of the Brotherhood of Steel storyline that took place prior. In order to start this questline, you need to first complete the story missions in Steel Dawn until The Best Defense quest has been completed.
Once that happens, you’ll be asked to meet up with Russell Dorsey outside Fort Atlast. From here, you’ll reunite with Paladin Rahmani and begin the questline for Steel Reign.
Night of the Moth
While not a full content update, Night of the Moth finally deals with a long-standing group of enemies in the Fallout 76 universe called the Cult of the Mothman. In this questline, you will finally take on the heretics that make up this group.
In order to start the quest, you need to speak to Interpreter Clarence. Once you do that and prepare for the ritual, you’ll be ready to take on the challenges that this seasonal DLC provides.
Upcoming DLC Quests
In the coming year, there will be 4 new updates, with each one expanding on the already massive amount of content that Fallout 76 currently has. According to the roadmap released by Bethesda, we’re going to be traveling to new lands, having seasonal events for each time of year and even going back to some places of the past, hinting at Fallout 76 possibly going to the route of Elder Scrolls: Online and slowly injecting areas of past Fallout games in Fallout 76.
F.A.Q.
Question: How many players are allowed on Fallout 76 servers currently?
Answer: Currently, the game can only handle up to 28 players on a server. That might not sound like a lot, but the world seems to funnel players together for certain story quests, and you’ll likely never be waiting too long before running into someone in this game. There was an experimental model that had 50+ players squaring off in a battle royal mode, but it was cancelled recently.
Question: How do you play with a friend in Fallout 76?
Answer: In order to play with a friend in Fallout 76, you have to go into the social menu of the game, find the friend you’re looking to play with, and select join world. This merely places you in their game world, so to go even further and join a team with them, you have to then invite them to your team while in their game world. When they hit accept, you’ll be good to go.
Question: Is Fallout 76 good now?
Answer: A loaded question for sure, but in its current state, Fallout 76 is one of the most unique MMOs ever made. With the recent DLC that added numerous things to the game in the form of a much more fleshed out storyline, the stability issues being fixed on the servers, and the game being supported more than ever, there is tons of reasons to be excited about Fallout 76 right now and the future. For me, the biggest addition is the human N.P.C.s to the world, which thankfully washed out the terrible taste of the initial launch, where all we had were robots and holotapes to tell us of the current state of the world.
Conclusion
Much like Bethesda’s other MMO Elder Scrolls Online, Fallout 76 is a lot to take in. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the number of things you can do in this game, as well as the various quests you’ll be asked to go on. My advice is to take it slow.
This is a massive game with hours and hours of content, so there is no rush to dive into everything all at once. If the quest system overwhelms you, you can always just take a break and enjoy the views of the post-apocalyptic West Virginian Wasteland. If you do choose to go down the questing road, make sure you’re ready for all the challenges that await, as some of these can get pretty tough.