Fallout 76 - Test Your Metal PTS Highlights

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Written by ValH on March 22nd, 2022

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Test Your Metal, the next major content update for Bethesda's multiplayer survival RPG Fallout 76, is currently live on the Public Test Server. And as a result, we're now treated to this article on the game's website outlining the update's new features and events.

Check it out:

DIVE INTO THREE NEW PUBLIC EVENTS!

“Test Your Metal” returns in our latest update for the Public Test Server, and introduces two brand new Public Events: “Eviction Notice,” and “Moonshine Jamboree.” Once you’ve had the chance to try them out, we’d love to hear what you think! Below, you’ll find a brief rundown of each event to help you get started.

• Please note: As this is an early look at events like “Eviction Notice” and “Moonshine Jamboree” you will encounter instances of NPCs do not play voice lines, or who use "robovoice” instead of voice acted dialogue. Don’t worry! Full voiceover is on the way in a future PTS patch, but we wanted to get these new events into your hands for playtesting as soon as possible. Thank you for your understanding in the meantime.

Additionally, only the three Public Events listed below will be playable in the PTS, so that you have plenty of opportunities to try them during playtesting. One Public Event at a time will kick off every 20 minutes, at random.

TEST YOUR METAL

The Brotherhood of Steel have uncovered that a group of Blood Eagles, calling themselves the Rust Eagles, have been stockpiling spare robot parts to construct an army of combat bots. Concerned about the threat this may pose to Appalachia, Scribe Valdez recently sent a Field Team to investigate

• The “Test Your Metal” Public Event will appear on your map at the Metal Dome, just north of Fort Atlas in the Savage Divide. Travel there and speak with Initiate Pappas to start the event.
• Once Test Your Metal begins, you will join three members of the Brotherhood Field Team to compete as gladiators against the Rust Eagles’ deadly machines.
  • You and the Gladiators of Steel will square off against the bots in three rounds of frenzied combat. Defeat the opposition in one round, and you’ll advance to the next.
  • Once you’ve conquered all three rounds, you will earn some loot, XP, and have a chance to pick up rare rewards, including plans to craft the new Botsmith Armor set.
• Make sure to defend your teammates, and have Stimpaks at the ready if they fall. The more Gladiators of Steel who survive their time in the ring, the higher your chances to earn rare rewards.

EVICTION NOTICE

The Settlers at Foundation have been working to expand on their territory by setting up a new encampment within a nearby blast crater. They even managed to engineer a solution to the crater’s deadly radiation levels by inventing a machine known as a “Rad Scrubber.” However, a radio broadcast from one of the Settlers at the construction site indicated that they’ve been attacked by Super Mutants. Now you must visit the crater to check in on the Settlers and ensure the area is safe so that work can get back underway.

• “Eviction Notice” is a challenging new Public Event tuned for higher-level characters. It will appear on your map at a crater east of Foundation, and south of Huntersville, in the Savage Divide.
• Find and activate the Rad Scrubber within the crater, and then prepare for a fight!
  • Defend the Settlers’ supply crates and the Rad Scrubber from an onslaught of Super Mutants.
  • If the Rad Scrubber takes too much damage it will deactivate. Repair it as quickly as possible, or else rad levels in the area will become much more hazardous.
  • TIP: Destroy the Super Mutants’ meat bags to discourage them from sticking around. You and your event mates may want to try splitting up so that some players can venture out to attack the meat bags, while others focus on defense.
• If you’re successful in driving the Super Mutants from the crater, you will earn Settler faction reputation, some loot, and a chance to receive one of several 3-star legendary weapons that each sport a unique new paint.

MOONSHINE JAMBOREE

You’re invited to join in the Moonshine Jamboree at the Sunday Brothers Cabin! It’s tragic what befell the Sunday boys, but their devotion to mixing up the finest moonshine in all of Appalachia lives on with Moonshiner Ned, their trusty Handy bot. There’s just one problem: Mire Magic Moonshine’s key ingredient is Gulper venom, which Ned can’t acquire alone. That’s where the Jamboree truly shines. Help Ned pick up where the Sunday Brothers left off, by hosting a party that will attract as many of the beasts as possible to the Cabin.

• Meet up with Moonshiner Ned behind the bar inside Sunday Brothers Cabin in The Mire to kick off the festivities.
• Light the Jamboree Bonfire, and then keep your guard up. Hordes of vicious Gulpers who are curious about the raucous Jamboree will soon flood the area.
  • Take down Gulpers and collect as much Acidic Gulper Venom as you can. Pour it, as directed by Moonshiner Ned, into a nearby bathtub so that it can be used to serve up a fresh batch of moonshine.
  • Make sure to defend the three Stills located around the Cabin grounds. If they get destroyed the party will be ruined!
• If you manage to deposit 30 Acidic Gulper Venom in time, and the Stills remain intact, then the Jamboree will be a roaring success.
  • The most masterful moonshiners among you can optionally collect up to 60 Acidic Gulper Venom before the event concludes for increased rewards.
• Speaking of rewards, by completing Moonshine Jamboree, you will earn Raider faction reputation, some loot, the all-new “Gulper Smacker” melee weapon, and a few bottles of Gulpershine, which you can drink to increase the Gulper Smacker’s damage vs. Gulpers.

CORPSE HIGHLIGHTS

You’ve just dropped a Legendary Feral Ghoul—but wait, where is its body? Was it over there? No, perhaps it’s over here…

We’ve all been there before, hunting through tall grass trying to find a foe’s final resting place so we can get our loot and head back to C.A.M.P. In this update, Corpse Highlighting returns to the Public Test Server with some additional bug fixing and polish so that you can easily spot nearby creature corpses and claim your hard-earned loot.

• Corpse Highlights will be enabled by default on the Display tab in the game’s Settings menu.
  • You can now toggle the setting to decide when you’d like Corpse Highlights to disappear from a fallen enemy: After hovering your crosshairs over the corpse to view their quick inventory, or after inspecting the corpse by viewing their full inventory menu.

ADDITIONAL IMPROVEMENTS

In this PTS playtesting phase, we have included some balance changes around VATS critical hits. We would love to hear what you think, and we're looking for feedback from both low- and high-end builds.

• Critical Hit damage bonuses are now all additive, and we've increased the bonuses provided by many items to help compensate for this change. Here's the full list:
  • Standard Receiver Mods: Bonus increased from +68% to +100%
  • Auto Receiver Mods: Bonus increased from +36% to +50%
  • Overdrive: Bonus increased from +15% to +30%
  • Eagle Eyes: Bonus increased from +25% to +50%
  • Eagle Eyes (when buffed by the "Stranger In Numbers" Perk Card): Bonus increased from +32% to +100%
  • Tesla Science Magazine #8: Bonus increased from +15% to +50%
  • Firecracker Berry Juice: Bonus increased from +10% to +25%
  • Sweet Mutfruit Tea, Megasloth Mushroom Soup, Blight Soup, Steeped Thistle Tea: Bonus increased from +20% to +50%
  • All Magazines affecting per weapon type critical: Bonus increased from +30% to +150%
• We've also adjusted the interaction between Luck and how it helps fill the Critical Hit meter.
  • After reaching 12 Luck, the bonus will start to taper off from 1.5 per Luck to 0.05 per Luck at 30, and beyond.
  • For example, 15 Luck would previously give a fill rate of 22.5. Now, it gives 22.02. 30 Luck previously gave 45, and now gives 31.23.

Dev Comment: Our main motivation for making these changes came after a previous fix for incorrect Pip-Boy numbers. Once we did that, we found that understanding the gains that specific bonuses were giving didn't feel very intuitive as a player. Sometimes 30% was really good, and sometimes it wasn't. This should make the overall player experience better, while addressing some less common high-end builds that were overperforming. Those high-end builds should still be powerful with the above changes, just a little harder to achieve.

Thank you very much for your participation in the PTS, we’re looking forward to hearing what you think!

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