After much teasing and some time on the test servers, Fallout 76's Steel Reign update has finally been released. The patch adds more Brotherhood of Steel content along with adjustments to different parts of the game's Legendary Gear systems including the addition of Legendary Crafting, the ability to make Legendary Power Armor piece, and other changes. Maintenance for the update has already concluded, so it should be ready to play on every platform after you've installed it.

Much of the update has already been previewed on the test servers, but some parts related to the Brotherhood of Steel have naturally stayed off those test realms so as to not spoil the questline. As long as you're at least level 20 and have caught up on your Brotherhood of Steel content, you'll be able to pick up immediately what Steel Reign has to offer in that department.

Update 28 is here!

Dive into the conclusion of the Brotherhood of Steel story, Legendary Items, and K.D. Inkwell’s return in the 5th Season for #Fallout76.

Check out the patch notes here: https://t.co/r2PLy0ZSlq pic.twitter.com/4XHGCW5YGd

— Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) July 7, 2021

Below is everything you need to know about how the update affects the game's Legendary Gear systems. For the full patch notes, those can be seen through the Fallout site.

Legendary Crafting

• 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

• 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

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 Changes

• 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.