Fallout 76 Steel Reign update and full 2021 roadmap

After over two years, Fallout 76 updates have transformed the game. At launch in November of 2018, Bethesda's first multiplayer game in the Fallout series was plagued by bugs, balance issues, and a major lack of quintessential Fallout personality. Since then, Fallout 76 updates have drastically changed Appalachia, each bringing something new and important to the wasteland. Fallout 76 now has a Battle Royale mode, private worlds for subscription members, NPC companions, and an overhauled story campaign.

Bethesda has been relentless in releasing updates that give players a reason to return to the wasteland. With any luck, the updates will keep coming, as there's no mention of a singleplayer Fallout any time in the known future and we're unlikely to get any indication of one with Bethesda currently working on both Starfield and Elder Scrolls 6. 

Check back here for the details on each update as it happens and information on upcoming patches. Below we've listed all of the changes in Fallout 76's most recent update. Check page 2 for previous patch notes from patch 11 onwards.

Fallout 76 2021 roadmap

Bethesda has published their full roadmap for 2021 with plans for the rest of this year's updates. Sadly, Bethesda's big Expeditions plans have been pushed back again and aren't expected in 2021 anymore. Here's what we can expect to come to Appalachia for the rest of the year:

Spring 2021 - Locked & Loaded update:

• C.A.M.P. slots
• S.P.E.C.I.A.L. loadouts
• Daily Ops expansion 1
• Crafting sliders
• Console aim assist
• C.A.M.P. mannequins

Summer 2021 - Steel Reign:

• Legendary crafting
• Legendary power armor
• Seasons: Unlimited ranks

Autumn 2021:

• Private worlds changes
• Daily Ops expansion 2

Winter 2021 - Tales From The Stars:

• 4 Star Legendaries
• Seasonal Event: The Ritual
• Invaders From Beyond: Public Challenge & Daily Ops surprise
• C.A.M.P. pets

Steel Reign Update - July 7, 2021

PC Patch Version: 1.5.4.15
Patch Size: Steam: 7.1 GB, Bethesda Launcher: 8.7 GB, Microsoft Store: 15.9 GB

Update Highlights

Steel Reign: The Brotherhood of Steel storyline concludes with Steel Reign, bringing you all new quests, locations, rewards and more!

Legendary Crafting: Upgrade your Weapons, Armor and Power Armor with Legendary Crafting.

Season 5: K.D. Inkwell returns in “K.D. Inkwell and Escape from the 42nd Century”, a brand-new Season starting today.

Wallet Upgrades: We’ve increased the max amount of Caps, Gold Bullion and Scrip a player can hold, as well as some of the daily vendor limits.

Minerva: A brand-new Gold Bullion Vendor has come to town, offering discounts in two new events; Minerva’s Emporium and Minerva’s Big Sale!

Steel Reign Questline

This update brings all-new quests to Fallout 76 with the Steel Reign questline, which picks up right where you left off with the Brotherhood of Steel at the end of Steel Dawn.

Steel Reign’s questline is available to any player over level 20 who has completed “The Best Defense”. Players who have completed that quest will then see the quest “A Knights Penance”, which will lead them to speak with Russell Dorsey in Fort Atlas.

Completion of the Steel Reign questline will award the player with brand new items.

Legendary Crafting

With this update, we’re implementing the Legendary Crafting system, which you can use to turn normal items into legendary items, re-roll your existing legendary items’ attributes, and even upgrade or downgrade their star-ratings.

Using a new crafting component, called Legendary Cores, along with a few Legendary Modules, you can now craft “Legendary Upgrades” for your items.

• Visit Weapon and Armor Workbenches, and then open the Modify menu to get started with Legendary Crafting.
• You can earn Legendary Cores as rewards by completing Seasonal Events, Public Events, and Daily Ops.
• As always, Legendary Modules are available from Purveyor Murmrgh in exchange for some Legendary Scrips.

You can craft 1-, 2-, and 3-star Legendary Upgrades for your gear, and the materials required to craft them increase based on the Legendary Upgrade tier you choose.

• Applying a Legendary Upgrade to a normal item will turn it into a legendary version of that item, with 1, 2, or 3 randomly assigned legendary attributes, depending on the tier of Legendary Upgrade you applied.
• Applying a Legendary Upgrade to an existing Legendary Item can increase or decrease the number of legendary attributes that item has, again depending on the tier of Legendary Upgrade you apply. Here are examples of each option:
• Upgrade: Modding a 1-star item with a 3-star Legendary Upgrade will turn it into a 3-star version of that item with 3 random attributes.
• Downgrade: Modding a 3-star item with a 2-star Legendary Upgrade will result in a 2-star version of that item with 2 random attributes.
• Re-roll: Modding a 3-star item with a 3-star Legendary Upgrade replace all 3 of the existing item’s attributes and apply 3 news ones at random.

Legendary Power Armor

In addition to weapons and normal armor, Legendary Crafting can also be used to create pieces of Legendary Power Armor.

Like weapons and armor, Legendary Power Armor pieces can also be upgraded, downgraded, and re-rolled.

Visit any Power Armor Station and modify your favorite set of Power Armor to apply some Legendary Upgrades.

The vast majority of Legendary attributes that are available to normal armor can also be applied to Power Armor, with the following exceptions:

• 1-Star
• Auto-Revive: Chance to revive using a Stimpak
• 3-Star
• Acrobat’s: Reduced fall damage
• Improved Sneaking: Harder to detect while sneaking
• Diver’s: Grants underwater breathing
• Unyielding: +3 to all stats (except END) when low health
• Weightless: 90% less carry weight, does not affect that Chameleon mutation
• Limb Damage: Reduced Limb Damage

Legendary Balance Changes

Alongside the arrival of Legendary Crafting, we’ve also revisited our lineup of Legendary Attributes to add some new ones, and give a tune-up to a few that already existed. Give some of the new and updated Legendary Attributes a test run using your existing items, or by making them using the Legendary Crafting system.

New Legendary Weapon Attributes

• 1-Star
  • Aristocrat’s: Damage increases as Caps increase. Maximum of +50% damage at 29,000 Caps.
  • Juggernaut’s: Damage increases as Health increases. Maximum of +25% damage at 95% health or above.
  • Gourmand’s: Damage increases as you fill your hunger and thirst meters. Maximum of +24% damage.
• 2-Star
  • Last Shot: The final round in a magazine has a 25% chance to deal twice as much damage.
  • Single shot weapons, like Black Powder Rifles, cannot spawn with Last Shot.
  • Steady: +25% damage while standing still
  • Inertial: Replenish 15 Action Points with each kill.
• 3-Star
  • Ghost’s: Attacks that hit enemies each have a 10% chance to generate a Stealth Field.

New Legendary Armor and Power Armor Attributes

• 1-Star
  • Aristocrat’s: Energy and Damage Resistances increase as Caps increase. Maximum of +20 for each resistance at 29,000 Caps.
  • Overeater’s: Increases Damage Reduction up to +6% as you fill your hunger and thirst meters.
• 2-Star
  • Glutton’s: Hunger and Thirst grow 10% slower. This effect stacks up to a maximum of +50%.
  • Fireproof: +25 Fire Resistance
  • Warming: +25 Cryo Resistance
  • Hardy: Receive 10% less damage from explosions
• 3-Star
  • Doctor’s: Stimpaks, RadAway, and Rad-X are 5% more effective.
  • Burning: 5% chance to deal 100 Fire damage to melee attackers
  • Electrified: 5% chance to deal 100 Energy damage to melee attackers
  • Frozen: 5% chance to deal 100 Cryo damage to melee attackers
  • Toxic: 5% chance to deal 100 Poison damage to melee attackers
  • Dissipating: Slowly regenerate Radiation damage when out of combat.

Legendary Weapon Attribute Chagnes

• 1-Star
  • Assassin’s: Increased damage vs. Humans from +10% to +50%.
  • Berserker’s: Removed the damage debuff when Damage Resistance is 80 or higher. The damage buff when Damage Resistance is between 1 and 60 has been slightly reduced.
  • Exterminator’s: Increased damage vs. Mirelurks and Bugs from +30% to +50%.
  • Ghoul Slayer’s: Increased damage vs. Ghouls from +30% to +50%.
  • Hunter’s: Increased damage vs. Animals from +30% to +50%.
  • Mutant’s: Updated functionality. Damage now increases by +5% per Mutation that affects the character, up to a maximum of +25%.
  • Mutant Slayer’s: Increased damage vs. Super Mutants from +30% to +50%.
  • Nocturnal: Removed daytime debuff. Nighttime damage buff has been increased.
  • Suppressor’s: Damage reduction applied to the target has been buffed from 20% for 3 seconds to 25% for 5 seconds.
  • Troubleshooter’s: Increased damage vs. Robots from +30% to +50%.
  • Zealot’s: Increased damage vs. Scorched from +30% to +50%.
• 2-Star
  • Basher’s: Increased bashing damage from +40% to +50%.
  • Hitman’s: Increased damage while aiming from +10% to +25%.
  • Enhanced VATS: Increased the VATS hit chance from +33% to +50%.

Legendary Armor Attribute Changes

• 1-Star
  • Assassin’s: Now reduces damage taken from all humans by -15%.
  • Nocturnal: Removed daytime debuff. Damage and Energy Resistances now increase by +10% per piece of Nocturnal armor during nighttime.

Season 5: K.D. Inkwell and Escape from the 42nd Century

K.D. Inkwell is back in an all-new adventure! This time, we join our heroine on a thrilling adventure to the 42nd Century! After a calibration malfunction, K.D. Inkwell is thrust into a dystopian possible future inhabited by Dolphin Human Hybrids called the M.I.N.D. Organization! These nefarious nautical beings have only one goal in mind: to convert the last remnants of humanity into their soulless collective. Can K.D. escape this wild world? Or will she find herself forced to join the masses of Dolphin Human Hybrids herself?

Season 5 brings 100 ranks to climb, with new rewards such as Legendary Cores, Power Armor Displays, a Red Rocket Collectron and more!

Unlimited Rank Ups

In addition to the 100 ranks full of rewards to earn, we’re also introducing Unlimited Rank-Ups!

New Challenges: Complete specific new Challenges available to players past Rank 100! Note: The repeatable XP challenge will only be available up to Rank 100.

Earn Rewards: Ranks past 100 award rewards such as Perk Card Packs, Legendary Crafting components, consumables, in-game items, Atoms and more!

Keep track of what reward is next on your S.C.O.R.E. Progression bar.

New Vendor: Minerva

A Blue Ridge Caravan Merchant named Minerva has just arrived in Appalachia, and she’s ready to trade a selection of coveted item plans in exchange for your Gold Bullion.

Minerva will arrive during two new events, Minerva’s Emporium and Minerva’s Big Sale. Minerva’s Emporium runs Monday to Wednesday. Minerva’s Big Sale is a special discount event that runs Thursday to Monday.

The items that Minerva has available will rotate regularly, so be sure to check in with her whenever she’s in town! Her wares include Gold Bullion Plans that are normally only available from other Gold Bullion Vendors, or by completing Daily Ops.

Minerva is no slouch when it comes to making sales! She wants your business, and she’s offering discounts on Gold Bullion plans so that you’ll buy directly from her.

When Minerva arrives, she will set up shop at one of three settlements: Fort Atlas, Foundation, or The Crater.

Additional Design Updates

Wallet Changes

• Caps: The max cap limit has been increased from 30,000 to 40,000.
• Gold Bullion: The daily vendor limit has been increased from 200 to 400. Additionally, the max player cap for Gold Bullion has been increased from 5,000 to 10,000.
• Scrip: The daily vendor limit has been increased from 150 to 300. Additionally, the max player cap for Scrip has been increased from 1,000 to 5,000.

New Meat Week Rewards

We’ve added in some new rewards for Meat Week, which will be returning on August 17 – 23.

• Plan: Pepper Shaker
• Plan: Grocery Cart Grill
• Plastic Fruit Wreath
• Plastic Fruit Bowl
• Decoy Duck Set

Additional C.A.M.P. Slots and Perk Loadouts

You can now acquire additional C.A.M.P. Slots and S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Loadouts from the Atomic Shop; these additional Slots and Loadouts are in addition to the two that all players have by default.

• You can unlock an additional three C.A.M.P. Slots for a total of five Slots
  • C.A.M.P. Slots are priced at 1000 Atoms per unlock.
• You can unlock an additional thirteen S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Loadouts for a total of fifteen Loadouts
  • S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Loadouts are priced at 500 Atoms per unlock.
• Slots and Loadouts unlocked from the Atomic Shop are available to all current and future characters on the unlocking Account.
• Both Slots and Loadouts are found in the Account category of the Atomic Shop

Improvements and Bug Fixes

Armor and Power Armor

• Armor: Fixed an issue that could cause a “Server Not Responding” error when being saved by Life Saving Armor.
• Backpacks: Addressed an issue where players could wear a Backpack or use regular armor while in Power Armor.
• Fusion Cores: Addressed an issue where players may lose a Fusion Core when entering and exiting Power Armor.
• Paint: The Nuka-Dark Power Armor paint now changes the name of the Power Armor Pieces when applied.
• Paint: The Yukon 5 paint now displays on the left arm and leg when in the inspect and transfer menus for the T-45 Power Armor.
• Power Armor: Fixed an issue where Power Armor pieces with 100%+ Condition would not appear in the Modify Menu of a Workbench, unless they were attached to a chassis.
• Power Armor: Duplicated Power Armor pieces with Super Duper perk no longer causes multiple armor pieces to be equipped simultaneously.
• Stimpaks: Using a Stimpak quickly while exiting Power Armor no longer causes movement issues.

Art and Graphics

• Moving Target: Fixed the animation for the foil perk card.
• Stairs: The art for the name “Nuka-Cola” on the C.A.M.P. Nuka-Cola Stairs has been adjusted.
• Vault Fireplace: Fixed an issue where the Vault Fireplace was not casting light.

C.A.M.P. and Workshops

• C.A.M.P. Slots: Vendor and Shelter icons now remain greyed out while switching active C.A.M.P. Slots.
• Fertilizer Producer: Brahmin spawned by the Fertilizer producer can no longer be killed by C.A.M.P. owners.

Challenges

• Combat: The Meteoric Sword and Plasma Cutter now correctly count towards the “Kill Scorched with a Sword” Challenge.

Daily Ops

• Blood Eagles: Enemies with Power Fists will no longer have the Icebreaker Power Fist Paint applied to their weapons.

Items

• Bucking Brahmin Ride: Now correctly requires players to hold the interact button to activate.
• Backpacks: The Brotherhood of Steel Backpack skin now correctly has an Atomic symbol in the Armor Workbench.
• Ceiling Lamps: The Stained-Glass Nuka-Cola Ceiling Lamps no longer emit light in an unnatural direction.
• Emotes: Removed the Roman Candle Emote from the Atomic Shop.
• Enclave Intel Officer Uniform: Adjusted the crafting preview.
• Fridge: Sorting by value now works for items stashed in the fridge.
• Fridge: Items in the Icebox Refrigerator no longer occasionally appear on Display items.
• Fusion Cores: Being hit by a Freezer Floater attack now drains Fusion Cores the correct amount.
• Garrahan Employee Outfit: Fixed an issue causing the Garrahan Employee Outfit to clip while exiting a Weapons Workbench.
• Hedge Fences: Changed the building requirements to Wood instead of Concrete.
• Hedge Fences: Fixed an issue where Hedge Fences could float.
• Hedge Fences: Improved the snapping behavior of Hedge Fences.
• Hot Tub: The Hot Tub no longer shares a build limit with the Fire Pit.
• Hot Tub: Players can now soak in the Hot Tub with a friend.
• Icons: The “Feelin’ Fine” Icon now displays properly when equipped.
• Magazines: Tales from the West Virginia Hills magazines are now numbered consistently.
• Mannequins: Items from the Apparel category no longer show in the Armor tab in the Mannequins transfer menu.
• Nuclear Key Card: The description of the Nuclear Key Card in the Atomic Shop has been corrected.
• Pip-Boy: The Brotherhood of Steel Pip-Boy paint now properly adjusts the name of the Pip-Boy when applied.
• Raider Pathfinder Outfit: Fixed the gap between backpacks and the Raider Pathfinder Outfit.
• Signs: Vendor Signs will now correctly appear in the Floor Decor workshop menu instead of Wall Decor.
• Skeeto Spit: "Increases Thirst” is no longer repeated on the item description.
• Train set: The Train set no longer continues to play sounds after power is removed.
• Wasteland Gong: Now correctly requires players to hold the interact button to activate.
• Wood Branch Chandelier: Lights no longer appear bright red when not powered.
• Wood Branch Chandelier: Adjusted the lighting range.

Localization

• All Languages: Corrected the display name of the Skull Lord War Suit in all non-English languages.
• All Languages: Atomic Shop bundles with long lists of items are no longer getting truncated.
• All Languages: Fixed a number of Legendary Weapons and Armor descriptions.
• French: Some radio announcements that were playing in Spanish, now correctly play in French.
• Holotapes: The Overseer’s log no longer plays outdated VO in French, Italian, German and Spanish.
• Italian: Fixed a number of incorrect announcements from the Grafton Mayor.

NPCs

• General: Decapitated NPC’s will no longer respawn their heads when players check their inventories.
• General: Damage numbers are now present when explosives are used to kill creatures.
• Mole Miners: Fixed an issue where Mole Miners would attack with melee, despite having ranged weapons.
• Mothman: Players can now headshot Mothman outside of VATS.

Perks

• Class Freak: Fixed an issue where Class Freak would not reduce negative effects as expected.
• Dodgy: Dodgy now correctly consumes AP on each consecutive hit.
• Electric Absorption: Electric Absorption now works with Laser type weapons.
• Born Survivor: Fixed an issue where the Born Survivor Perk would activate after a player character died.

Performance and Stability

• Control Lock: Purchasing bundles while in the Build Menu no longer can cause a control lock.

Quests and Events

• Primal Cuts: Enemy corpses are no longer disintegrated when using plasma or laser weapons.
• Property Rights: The Objective marker will no longer fail to appear if the player has already entered the Makeshift Vault before speaking to Knight Shin about the Raiders.

Shelters

• Server Room: Clutter items in the Server Room Shelter can no longer be looted.

Sound

• Lights: Cage Bulb Lights and its variants no longer produce a Christmas Gift pickup sound effect when activated.
• Refrigerators: Sounds effects for Opening and Closing refrigerators now correctly play.
• Toys: The Cymbal Monkey in the Uncanny Caverns now plays a sound.

User Interface

• Favorites: Fixed an issue causing the Favorites Wheel to occasionally reset on login.
• Map: The Map now updates faster when items are added or removed from a vendor.
• Pip-Boy: The backgrounds for the Trade and Transfer windows are now aligned with the items list.
• Pip-Boy: Claimed items from the Scoreboard are now added to the “NEW” tab in the Pip-Boy.

Weapons

• Aiming: Addressed an issue where players could become stuck in the Aim position when sprinting, aiming and firing after the character enters a relaxed state.
• Ammo: Fusion and Plasma cores are now correctly consumed if they are stored before being fired.
• Cryolater: The Cryolater can no longer freeze players who are not engaged in PvP combat.
• The Invader: Removed the second “No Upgrade” Slot on the Invader skin.
• Flamer: Vault-Tec Flamer skin now correctly changes the name of the Flamer when applied.
• Gatling Plasma Gun: The Copperhead paint now correctly adjusts the name of the Gatling Plasma Gun when applied.
• Gamma Gun: The Gamma Gun now does the correct damage when not using the charging mod.
• Gauss Pistol: Swapping to the Gauss Pistol and quickly charging, no longer prevents it from firing.
• General: Weapons with Area of Effect damage now take the proper amount of condition damage.
• General: Addressed an issue where magazine sizes could be swapped with heavy-weapon magazines.
• General: Firing is no longer interrupted when aiming down sights in third-person view with scoped automatic weapons.
• General: Fixed an issue where players could get locked into an animation while using auto melee weapons.
• Grenades: Players can now throw grenades while shooting in third-person view.
• Meat Cleavers: Now scrap for the correct amount of materials.
• Melee: Power Fist and Boxing Gloves can now properly receive eligible Tier 2 Legendary Mods.
• Melee: Baseball Bats and Sledgehammers now correctly change names when mods are applied.
• Shish kebab: Extra Flame Jets now display the correct mod description.

World

• AMS Headquarters: Players can no longer get stuck in an elevator.
• Anchor Farm: The Water Purifier in Anchor Farm can no longer be destroyed.
• Morgantown Highschool: Addressed an issue where room light flickering occasionally caused floor texture issues.
• Valley Galleria: Fixed a spot where players could walk out of world.
• Whitespring Bunker: Papers inside the Whitespring Bunker have been updated to say that Thistles give flux when nuked.