Fallout 76's 2021 roadmap has been revealed (opens in new tab), at least partially, and it's shaping up to be a busy year for Bethesda's online RPG. Spring will deliver long-awaited SPECIAL loadouts and camp slots and the summer brings new Brotherhood of Steel story missions and NPCs. The latter half of the year is a bit vague on the details but points to changes in private servers, a new Halloween event, pets for your camp, and at least one flying saucer.
SPECIAL loadouts have been on player wishlists pretty much since launch, as players wanted an easy way to save and swap between perk card configurations. And at long last they're finally arriving. Players will be able to create punch card machines in their camps or visit them in train stations to quickly (relatively quickly, anyway) swap their perk cards and stats. Basically, it's like switching between different character builds on-the-fly. Bethesda is "exploring additional ways to unlock more Loadouts in the future, such as through the Atomic Shop." So if you want more than two loadouts, sounds like you'll need to pay for them with Atoms.
Also this spring, the addition of crafting sliders will allow players to craft stacks of items instead of having to click for each one individually. Camp slots are being added, meaning you'll be able to build and save several different camps, though you'll only be able to have one camp active in the world at a time. That feels like a nice addition for builders who don't want to confine themselves to a single base layout or experiment with different themes.
This summer, the Brotherhood of Steel storyline will conclude with Steel Reign, which includes new quests, NPCs, and locations. Legendary power armor and legendary crafting systems will appear as well.
Worlds are changing this fall, the roadmap says, though no specific information is given as to what that means, other than that the worlds in question are private worlds. Private worlds are currently only available with Fallout First, the poorly-received subscription service that let you play on a private server for $12 a month but was a bit short on the bells and whistles. Players are crossing their fingers for the ability to mod their servers, but Bethesda hasn't yet revealed what the changes will be. There's also an event teased called The Ritual, which sounds like a spooky Halloween activity to me.
Winter brings "Tales from the Stars," which we know involves aliens thanks to subtle clues like Bethesda calling it an "out-of-this-world event" and a picture of a flying saucer. Aliens are no strangers to the Fallout universe, so that's definitely some welcome news. Camp pets, which we were told last year might be coming to Fallout 76 are now confirmed, and I imagine pets will function like companions do—they'll hang around your base, help protect it from threats, and will have some customization options. Maybe even some pet-related quests? I sure hope so.
We might find out more about the roadmap soon—real soon, in fact. Bethesda will be conducting an AMA on the Fallout 76 subreddit tomorrow, March 23, at 8 am PT / 11:30 am ET.
