New Fallout 76: Wastelanders Gameplay Revealed

Bethesda made good on its promise to reveal new Fallout 76 gameplay from the upcoming Wastelanders update this weekend as part of the Bethesda Game Days event. Those in attendance at the Bethesda event got to play part of the Wastelanders content and other Bethesda games, but those at home were still able to catch the reveal of the gameplay through livestreams that have now been archived to revisit. The gameplay Bethesda presented showed off some of the new features like the game's dialogue system for interacting with the numerous NPCs that'll appear throughout the world when the Wastelanders update releases.

Gameplay from the event can be seen below where the developers start with a character exiting the Vault for the first time before encountering the Wastelanders changes almost immediately. While this is the place where you'd normally find other players congregating around the Vault who've also just started their journeys, the player is instead greeted by NPCs and presented with dialogue options.

"Whenever you're chatting up your favorite Ally, a Faction leader, or one of the many other characters you will meet during your adventures, you will be able to choose from a variety of response options," Bethesda said recently about this dialogue system. "The words you employ during your conversations with others can, at times, be even more powerful than your favorite weapons. The decisions you make may help you forge alliances, find an alternate way to get something done, or even have an impact on your reputation with the Settlers or the Raiders."

These allies referenced by Bethesda are another part of the Wastelanders update and are tied to the game's reputation and quest systems.

The gameplay also shows off some of the characters players can expect to find roaming the area in the Wastelanders update. Some of them are traveling NPCs that'll move around while others are fixed in certain locations and will present players with quests to complete and earn their favor. Dialogue options with them often include speech checks which reference various character stats, so expect to see your chosen stats make more of an impact in your Wastelanders conversations.

Fallout 76's Wastelanders update is scheduled to release for all platforms on April 7th, the same day the game will come to Steam.