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Fallout 76’s next update could revolutionize the endgame experience

Two vault-dwellers and a helmet from a set of power armor.
ZeniMax Online Studios is responsible for some of the most popular MMOs today. Bethesda

Fallout 76 had an undeniably rocky start, with an above-average number of bugs and glitches for even a Bethesda game. It also has one of the best comeback stories in all of gaming and is now a popular, and more importantly, populated, game with a ton of content. The Gleaming Depths update promises to add even more to do in the game, including a brand-new raid, the biggest boss yet, and — finally — four-star gear.

This update marks the start of Fallout 76 season 19, The Scientific Forge. It starts on December 3, but the new raid has already been conquered several times over on the Fallout 76 Public Test Server. However, the biggest news of all isn’t in the new raid or even the better gear.

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Fallout 76 is finally getting pets. That’s right: Players will be able to choose between a Bombay cat and a German Shepard to keep their companions company at CAMP while they’re out on adventures.

The Fallout Day broadcast teased many of these new features, including the upcoming ability to transform into a ghoul. This isn’t expected until the March 2025 update, but you can see a bit of it for yourself if you watch the video.

Fallout Day Broadcast - Official Full Presentation

Bethesda’s continued support of Fallout 76 is encouraging. The game is truly a delight to play (but, like most things, it’s better with friends), and there will be plenty of opportunities throughout the months to come to score double EXP, so you don’t even need to play every day to avoid any FOMO.

Fallout 1st subscribers will receive a few extra bonus items at the start of the season, including a BBQ grill, a plasma core recharger, and a terminal that serves as another vendor at your camp.

Patrick Hearn
Patrick Hearn writes about smart home technology like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, smart light bulbs, and more. If it's a…
The best Fallout 76 mods
Fallout 76 covered in snow.

It's fair to say that Fallout 76 wasn't exactly what fans were hoping for when it launched. Instead of being a single-player RPG like Fallout 4, 3, and New Vegas, 76 was a pseudo MMO where you joined multiplayer servers to play in a persistent world. A multiplayer Falloutsounds great on paper, but the execution wasn't what people were looking for. Many years and updates later, the game is in a far better state, but not quite up to the standard of some hardcore fans. However, Bethesda games are among the most famous for the quality of mods made for them, and at this point, there are thousands of mods available for Fallout 76. We've scoured every inch of Appalachia to collect only the best Fallout 76 mods.
Ultimist's High Detailed Map Plus

The default map in Fallout 76 looks ripped right out of a tourist's guide. That's cool for theming and everything, but not so useful when trying to find anything besides major locations. The map is surprisingly bare in detail considering how much walking around and exploring you do. Ultimist's High Detailed Map Plus rips up that old map and replaces it with a much more detailed and appealing map to navigate. It marks all the normal locations you need, plus every vendor and 440 resource deposits (which you can toggle on or off to reduce clutter). It might not sound like a big deal, but any Fallout fan knows how much time you spend on the map menu.
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Ella Purnell in Fallout.

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