• News

Fallout 76 Wastelanders DLC introduces Human NPCs this fall

The Wastelanders expansion is coming to Fallout 76 later this year and will include a host of new features.

Sam Chandler

June 9, 2019 5:49 PM

2

Fallout 76 is receiving a free expansion called Wastelanders, which was announced during the Bethesda E3 2019 presentation. Please take a look at the Wastelanders gameplay trailer below!

Fallout 76 Wastelanders

The Wastelanders expansion for Fallout 76 looks to be a major overhaul to the core gameplay of Bethesda’s critically lambasted title. The game originally launched with zero NPCs, instead opting for audio logs to tell the game’s main story. Now, Wastelanders will be backtracking on this design choice and adding NPCs back into the game.

Originally, the idea was that any person you saw in the wasteland was another player, but now it could very well be an NPC. This is precisely the kind of design that players have been wanting, which would no doubt make Fallout 76 feel more like the standard singleplayer experience delivered in previous titles.

One of the problems with having only audio logs meant that the rich dialogue trees for which Fallout was known (especially Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas) was entirely absent from this latest entry. However, with the announcement of Wastelanders came the revelation that full dialogue trees would be making their triumphant return.

There are allegedly consequences that come from the results of these conversations, so it could be that important decisions must be made. It also seems as if a character's Charisma and Perception have an effect on these dialogue options. It could spell problems for those players who have opted to pour their skill points into other areas and who might now face rather long grinding sessions in order to increase the trait responsible for successful conversations.

Winning back players to Fallout 76 is not going to be an easy feat. If the new story, weapons, and NPCs don’t win Bethesda any favors, perhaps the new Fallout 76 battle royale mode will do just that. Then again, perhaps the battle royale ship has sailed.

For more E3 2019 coverage, you’re already in the right place. Although, you could always check out the Shacknews Twitch channel where we’ll be streaming interviews with developers all week long!

Sam Chandler

Head of Guides

Hailing from the land down under, Sam Chandler brings a bit of the southern hemisphere flair to his work. After bouncing round a few universities, securing a bachelor degree, and entering the video game industry, he's found his new family here at Shacknews as Head of Guides. There's nothing he loves more than crafting a guide that will help someone. If you need help with a guide, or notice something not quite right, you can message him on X: @SamuelChandler