A blog post from Bethesda in the past few days made mention that an update to celebrate the one year anniversary of the Fallout 76 battle royale mode Nuclear Winter was on the way. Little did we know that today would be that day, as Update 19 makes its way to all versions of the game and brings a lot more than just cattle prods and good times in squads of three. While the major highlights include ally customization, seasonal events, and crafting upgrades, there’s only one real change that needs to be noted. If you remember our reporting as of late on everyone’s dear comrade Communism Bot, then you’ll be sad to know that his work for the Proletariat is now that much more difficult, with the patch notes stating “Collectron Station: The Communist Collectron will now find Propaganda Flyers less often while scavenging.” The Bourgeoisie has won. Communism is quelled.
Regardless, here’s some other major changes making it into this 8GB (for PS4 users, 10GB for Xbox One) update for Fallout 76.
Update 19 Highlights
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Ally Customization: Give your Allies stylish new looks by sharing your wardrobe with them using the new option to customize their outfits.
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Hunt for the Treasure Hunter: Mole Miners have discovered treasure in the Ash Heap! Starting May 21, hunt them down to claim their loot for yourself during a new limited-time event.
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Fasnacht Parade: By popular demand, this Seasonal Event is returning for a full week starting May 25, and there are plenty of new Fasnacht Masks up for grabs.
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Item Naming Updates: We’ve made improvements to the way your weapons and armors are automatically named when you apply new mods and skins.
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Backpack Updates: Changing your Backpack’s appearance is now as simple as applying a skin, and you can now apply them to Small Backpacks, too!
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(NW) Limited Time Challenges: Unlock new cosmetic rewards by completing limited-time Challenges in Nuclear Winter, from May 19 – June 11.
Backpack Appearance Updates
We’ve improved Backpack customization so that you can now apply different appearances to your Backpacks as skins—no more crafting required!
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Head to an Armor Workbench and use the modify menu to swap the appearance of your existing Backpack with any skins you’ve unlocked through quests, events, or the Atomic Shop.
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Skins can now be applied to Small Backpacks, as well for those who have not yet unlocked the normal Backpack Plan by completing the “Order of the Tadpole” quest.
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You can apply skins to your existing Backpacks, as well as any new ones you craft.
Nuclear Winter
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We’ve added 8 Nuclear Winter Challenges that you can complete to earn new “Survivors” themed cosmetic rewards starting today, and lasting until 7:00 p.m. ET on June 11.
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One new challenge will appear in the Character Challenge menu each day until all 8 are available, and they will remain available until the end of the event.
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You can earn the first reward with 150 Overseer XP, and the last with 2,500 Overseer XP. All others will each require 2,000 Overseer XP.
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Overseer XP you earn will roll over from one Challenge to the next, but they must be completed one at a time and in order.
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As you complete each Challenge, you’ll be able to claim new themed rewards, like new furniture for your C.A.M.P., “Survivor’s Denim” and Ghillie Suit outfits, as well as skins for Nuclear Winter’s newest weapons: The Bow, Cattle Prod, and Gauss Shotgun.
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You can learn more about this event directly from ZAX and preview the rewards by reading our latest ZAX Transmission article on Fallout.com.
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New Weapons: The Bow, Cattle Prod, and Gauss Shotgun have been added and tuned for combat in Nuclear Winter matches. Find them in Supply Crates as you scavenge for gear.
There’s far more going on in the update, including a list of bug fixes far too long to put here but can be checked out on the patch notes. Regardless, this is yet another step in the right direction for a game that has much ground to make up in regards to consumer good faith and fixing a broken product.
But, still: Pour one out for Communism Bot. He was just doing his job.
