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I think we’re all tired and sick of diseases, wouldn’t you agree? But you can’t escape the microbial terrors, even in video games.
Fallout 4’s Survival Mode added new difficulties for players, but the introduction of diseases shook things up in the game. Diseases were a game element that not only made its way into Fallout 76 but has been integrated into the base game and expanded. Welcome to a Fallout 76 Diseases Guide.
Key Info Upfront
- What are diseases?: Temporary debuffs in the game with no positive effects
- How are they obtained?: From diseased creatures, certain foods, and environmental factors
- How are diseases removed?: Waiting out the duration of the disease, disease cures, and antibiotics
Overview
Diseases in Fallout 76 are temporary debuffs gained from creatures or environmental hazards, and the diseases the player can contract depend on those factors.
Diseases used to be something players could get at any point; nowadays, players cannot become infected with one until level 15. The list of diseases is as follows:
| Disease | Effects | Duration | Cause |
| The Blight | -1 to all S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats | 30 Minutes | Caused by diseased Scorchbeasts, diseased Grafton Monsters, diseased mega sloths, or diseased mirelurk queens |
| Blood Worms | Take 25% more damage | 15 Minutes | Caused by diseased radroaches |
| Bone Worms | Take 50% more limb damage | 15 Minutes | Caused by diseased molerats/radrats or stepping on traps such as punji boards |
| Buzz Brain | INT -2 | 60 Minutes | Caused by diseased ants |
| Dysentery | Periodic water loss | 15 Minutes | Eat raw carrots, spoiled meat, or swim in toxic water |
| Fever Claw | -25% Damage with melee weapons | 15 Minutes | Caused by diseased mirelurk hunters |
| Flap Limb | STR -2 | 60 Minutes | Caused by diseased mirelurks |
| Glowing Pustules | Bleed radiation from wounds when hit | 15 Minutes | Caused by diseased glowing ones, or diseased radstags |
| Heat Flashes | E.N.D. -2 | 45 Minutes | Inflicted by diseased honey beasts |
| Jelly Fingers | +50% Ranged VATS AP Cost | 15 Minutes | Inflicted by diseased stingwings |
| Lock Joint | +50% Melee A.P. cost | 15 Minutes | Inflicted by diseased wolves |
| Needle Spine | -10 Carry capacity | 15 Minutes | Inflicted by diseased anglers |
| Parasites | Periodic food loss | 15 Minutes | Inflicted by diseased ticks, diseased bloodbugs, swimming in the water, eating raw mutfruit, and drinking cream |
| Rad Worms | +50% Radiation damage | 15 Minutes | Inflicted by diseased feral ghouls and diseased mutant hounds |
| Rattle Hands | -25% Ranged Weapon damage | 45 Minutes | Inflicted by diseased mirelurk kings |
| Shell Shock | Action Point drain from wounds | 45 Minutes | Inflicted by diseased mongrels, and diseased deathclaws |
| Sludge Lung | -50 Max AP, -50 AP regen | 60 Minutes | Inflicted by diseased wendigos, exposure to toxic air without a gas mask, assault gas marks, or spacesuit helmet |
| Snot Ear | PER -2 | 15 Minutes | Inflicted by diseased snallygasters or diseased gulpers |
| Swamp Gas | C.H.R. -2 | 15 Minutes | Inflicted by diseased bloatflies |
| Swamp Itch | A.G.I. -2 | 15 Minutes | Sleeping in a sleeping bag/mattress on the ground |
| Weeping Sores | Bleed from wounds | 45 Minutes | Inflicted by diseased radscorpions and diseased yao guai |
| The Whoopsies | L.C.K. -2 | 15 Minutes | Inflicted by diseased mirelurk spawn |
*Scorched Plague is a cut disease that would have players take an additional 5% from Scorched enemies and gain immunity when a player completed the quest, An Ounce of Prevention.
See also: Comprehensive Fallout 76 Quest Guide.
Disease Prevention
While there are many ways to contract diseases, prevention is the first step to keeping yourself safe in Fallout 76 and the real world.
The first step is to keep your stomach full and hydrated. The game no longer has debuffs for not eating or drinking. Still, there are many benefits to consuming food and beverages outside the buffs consumables grant, as Well Fed and Well Hydrated will give the player +35% disease resistance.
Beware that consuming food can put the player at risk of disease (uncooked food and Dirty Water even more) unless you have either the Herbivore or Carnivore mutation active, which prevents diseases from plants and meat, respectively.
Environmental hazards come in the form of waterborne and airborne diseases. If you are standing in water or a plume of smoke, a warning will appear in the corner of the screen, warning the player that you are in danger of getting a disease.
Certain pieces of apparel can also keep you safe from diseases, particularly environmental diseases. Any selection of headwear with the tag, “Revents damage and disease from airborne hazards,” is instrumental when navigating The Ash Heap and Toxic Valley, blasting gases that can infect the player.
Hazmat suits are not only one of the best items for resisting radiation but prevent airborne and waterborne diseases.
However, the drawback is that armor cannot be worn with hazmat suits. I don’t often wear hazmat suits as there isn’t a doubt in my mind that I’ll be dealing with dangerous enemies if I need any disease and radiation protection.
As you can see from the list above, quite a few creatures can inflicDiseasese on the player. They will always be given the “Diseased” tag in front of their name to warn players before they decide to pick a fight.
A handful of consumables can help reduce a player’s chance of contracting a disease. Some foods, like the Vegetable Medley Soup, increase disease resistance by 20. Still, the strongest consumable would be Antibiotics, which not only cure a disease but also lower your chance of disease by 50%.
And finally, some Perk Cards in Fallout 76 can help in the prevention of diseases:
| Perk | Attribute | Level | Max Rank | Max Rank Effects |
| Iron Stomach | Endurance | 4 | 3 | Your chance of catching a disease from food is reduced by 90% |
| Natural Resistance | Endurance | 10 | 3 | You are 90% less likely to catch a disease from the environment |
| Rejuvenated | Endurance | 12 | 2 | You gain much-increased benefits from being Well Fed or Well Hydrated |
| Thirst Quencher | Endurance | 6 | 3 | Drinking any liquid has a 90% reduced chance to causDiseasese |
| Vaccinated | Endurance | 16 | 3 | The chance of catching a disease from creatures is reduced by 90% |
Curing Diseases
Diseases do not have permanent effects but have limited timers that players could wait out before they are cured naturally. These are not the worst debuffs in the game, but they are troublesome depending on how drastically they affect your playstyle.
Some of these diseases can take up to an hour of real-time to run their course, which might not be worth waiting out for some players. If you’re looking to get back out there faster, there are a few ways to get rid of a disease.
The most straightforward way to remove a disease would be to use a Disease Cure, a consumable that will automatically cure a disease.
It requires Purified Water and different plants depending on the version of the recipe to craft; a Forest Disease Cure will require two Bloodleaf, Firecap, and Snaptail reeds, while the Toxic Valley recipe needs two Bloodleef, Thistle, and Toxic Soot Flower.
Its stronger cousin, Antibiotics, which we discussed above, can also curDiseasese and give you that extra resistance.
The drawback is that it requires some high-ranking Perk Cards and two Disease Cures to craft; however, the Chemist Perk Card that is required to craft them doubles the creation of healing items and chems and will produce enougDiseasese Cures to craft Antibiotics.
If you’re having trouble getting your hands on consumables to eliminate a disease, the player can build two structures at their C.A.M.P. to remove diseases.
The Sympto-Matic is a workshop item that the player can step inside, and after a few moments, it will cure a disease. The second is the C.A.M.P. ally Solomon Hardy, a doctor who sells medical supplies and can heal the player and remove radiation, mutations, and diseases.
See also: Fallout 76 Workshop Locations.
There is another way a player can cure a disease, though it is found in a particular location and can be hard to spot. Suppose you find yourself in the Whitesprings Resort area and contract a disease from one of the many feral ghouls or radstags that wander the grounds at a gazebo near the tennis courts.
In that case, a Sulfur Water Fountain is hidden against the wall near the ring of flowers that will cure diseases if the player drinks from it.
FAQs
Question: How Many Diseases Are There?
Answer: As of writing this article, there are twenty-two diseases.
Question: Is There Any Way to Gain Benefits From Diseases?
Answer: The diseases do not come with positive effects, but there is a mutation known as Plague Walker that can benefit the player for being diseased.
With the mutation in effect, if the player gains a disease, they create a poison aura with damage maxing out at four diseases and inflicting 25 poison damage per second on enemies; however, the aura’s radius is relatively short.
Question: Can Power Armor Protect Me From Diseases?
Answer: As of writing this article, no. However, a Legendary Two-Star effect on armor and Power Armor pieces called Antiseptic grants +25% Environmental Disease Resistance to the player.
Fallout 76 Diseases Guide: Final Thoughts
Diseases, while not as punishing as they are for Survival Mode in Fallout 4, make for an intriguing mechanic for players to navigate around and encourage players to keep an eye on what they consume, what is going on in the environment around them, and how to keep themselves safe in a hostile wasteland.