Fallout 76 dataminers uncover lots of new perk cards, including some for outlaws

The moment new game files appear on our PCs, curious players begin to snoop around in them to see what they might be hiding. The beta only arrived Tuesday but dataminers have already begun digging into Fallout 76's files, and have unearthed some perk cards that we haven't seen yet, including a few that will make engaging in bad behavior a bit easier.

It's worth noting that some or all of these datamined perk cards may not actually be in Fallout 76—game files often contain planned but ultimately unused features. We'll see if we can confirm that these cards are actually in the game as we play more of the beta this week and next.

Most interestingly (to me at least) are the details of a perk card for outlaws: players who have killed other players who didn't want to participate in PvP (the killer is then marked on the map and other players can kill them and collect a bounty). The card's name was already known: it's called, appropriately enough, Outlaw. Now we can see the details, though. The Outlaw perk card reduces the killer's bounty timer (how long they remain marked as wanted) by 20%, 40%, or 60%, depending on what rank the card is. We were told the bounty system was created to discourage players from attacking those who don't want to fight, but this Outlaw card—if it is indeed in the game—provides a bit of an incentive to be a bad guy. On the plus side for the outlaw's victims, claiming bounties is a lot of fun.

Speaking of bad guys, another datamined perk is called Wrecking Ball, which gives a bonus for doing damage to workshop objects, useful if you want to trash someone's camp. Alternately, a perk called Fix It Upper allows you to repair workshop objects for up to 200% of their normal maximum condition, which would help protect your stuff from any Wrecking Ball card bearers.

A card called Penetrator certainly sounds useful: it removes accuracy penalties in VATS while targeting enemy limbs behind cover. One called Lucky Break means equipped armor may repair itself when struck, kind of like when you thump the side of your computer and the fan inside stops making that irritating sound. Cute. And for you mutation fans out there, a card called Frayed Genes will enhance the positive effects of a mutation while using its serum (which also boosts mutation buffs). That sounds like a buff, with a buff, plus a buff. How high will a mutated marsupial be able to jump?

Again, this datamined info may not make it intact into Fallout 76: all we know is, it's in the game files. We'll see how much we can confirm as we play. You can skim the entire list of datamined perk cards in this Reddit post or here on pastebin.

Chris started playing PC games in the 1980s, started writing about them in the early 2000s, and (finally) started getting paid to write about them in the late 2000s. Following a few years as a regular freelancer, PC Gamer hired him in 2014, probably so he'd stop emailing them asking for more work. Chris has a love-hate relationship with survival games and an unhealthy fascination with the inner lives of NPCs. He's also a fan of offbeat simulation games, mods, and ignoring storylines in RPGs so he can make up his own.