The Fallout 76 Wastelanders expansion has already brought such memorable content as thieving NPCs, communist robots bad at their collecting duties, and, uh…dialog trees. Could players ask for more? Should they ask for more? Well, have no fear as Bethesda showed off the 2020 content roadmap and it includes new challenge systems, loads of content for all seasons of the coming year, and the return of everyone’s favorite dirtbag, hypocrite Luddites in power armor, The Brotherhood of Steel. How will the Brotherhood mess things up this time around for normal people? Only time will tell. In the meantime, this trove of content coming in Update 20 appears to be pushing Fallout 76 once more in the right direction.
Revealed in a blog post by Bethesda, the 2020 roadmap isn’t just an overhaul of the end-game system but a complete dump truck of new items and things to do. Effectively a battle pass themed around a board game, the new end-game S.C.O.R.E. System replaces the old weekly and daily challenges that, essentially, boiled down to the same handful of repeating quests to turn currency and gear. Bethesda says “While Challenges are here to stay, we want you to be able to complete them and earn S.C.O.R.E. in many cases by playing as you normally would. We’re making significant changes to the Daily and Weekly Challenges you receive so that they are more straightforward and easier to complete than the ones you’re used to.”
This change comes in the form of a board game screen that players will move across as the season progresses, earning the player Atoms, rare consumables, cosmetics, buffs, and more. Think of it as a battle pass in regards to how you will earn stuff. Hitting Rank 100 on the board will net players the “End of Season” bundle, which includes skins and items that you’ll only ever be able to get by hitting this rank.
And while the details are scant at the moment, the roadmap lays out the future of Fallout 76 in the form of more events, questlines, and even the return of the Brotherhood of Steel to Appalachia. Last we heard from the Brotherhood they had turned tail and ran, leaving the Responders to their fates and vacating Appalachia completely. The Steel Dawn questline will answer questions about their mission in the region and more.
This is a significant content drop and gives folks such as myself who were won over by the Wastelanders expansion even more hope for the post-apocalyptic future. Is Fallout 76 finally hitting its stride? All signs and roadmaps point to “yes.”
The Fallout 76 Update 20 pack comes sometime in the near future.
