Fallout 76: more details on PvP, murder, revenge, and base building after a nuke provided at QuakeCon

Multiplayer in Fallout 76 sounds rather interesting, going by what was discussed during a panel at QuakeCon 2018.

Bethesda Game Studios hosted a Fallout 76 panel at QuakeCon 2018 today, and one of the subjects touched upon was player versus player.

During the discussion on stage, panel host and associate director of content Gary Steinman, producer Todd Howard, project lead Jeff Gardiner, and development director Chris Mayer reiterated many points regarding multiplayer. However, more details were provided on many PvP aspects which should help reassure those worried about running into real-people in-game.

As previously stated, players are free join in PvP with others, but if you are under Level 5 other players can’t kill you in PvP.  This element was put into place to keep higher level players from griefing those who are ill-equipped in the perks department.

The team has also put another anti-griefing mechanic in place to keep from being forcefully engaged in PvP. So, if you are in the process of fighting a monster, a pacifist flag will be put into use. This keeps another player from jumping in front of your bullets to forcefully engage PvP.

Now, once a player is past Level 5, they can be engaged in PvP, although when the first shot hits, it will be more like a "slap in a bar" instead of a full on punch, according to Todd Howard. The player who was shot is free to engage at that point, and the level of the player who dies will determine the number of Caps dropped.

For instance: a lower level player can actually take players higher on the scale with major Power Armor. How? A knife to the back in the proper place could do the trick, and the rewards will be plentiful.

Should a player decide they don't wish to engage in PvP, but the other player decides to dog their every move and kill them anyway - a price is put on their head. They will also receive no XP or rewards for committing what is essentially murder, as Bethesda stated during E3 2018.

At this point, the offending player will pop up as a red star on the map, and every player online can see them - even if the wanted person is in sneak mode. The best part, is the murderer will no longer be able to see where others are on the map, and the bounty reward will come out of their own stash of Caps.

A player who is killed can also seek revenge. If they manage to hunt down the player and kill them, they will earn double rewards.

When a player is killed, they don't have to worry about losing perk points, XP or anything super important. They will, however, lose all of the junk they are carrying. Once respawned, the player will need to decide whether it's worth tracking back to the spot of their demise or not to collect their junk. It may no longer be there anyway, especially if they were killed in PvP, because the opposing player may have carted it off.

Junk is nothing you can't recoup from exploring the world, but should you have something important like screws, it's best to take those back to camp if possible before venturing back out to acquire more junk.

As previously reported, base building in Fallout 4 has been expanded,  and it's important for players to build these settlements.

PvP can also affect a player's camp with the use of nukes, and yes it's a form of griefing, but one which can be easily fixed.  While you can’t drop a nuke directly onto a person in Fallout 76, an area of the map can be chosen as a target. This means if an enemy knows the location of your camp, they can drop a bomb on it if they have the launch codes.

Should a player's camp get nuked, it can be rebuilt thanks to blueprints. Using the blueprint created when the camp was built will allow players to put it back up, or even move it to a different area.

Camps can also be used to lure another player engaged with you in PvP, especially if you have turrets hidden someplace just itching to fire off.

Again, much of what was discussed in the panel is older information, but the extra details provided were welcome. If you want more information, here's everything we know about Fallout 76 so far.

Fallout 76 will release November 14 for PS4 and Xbox One, and on PC through the Bethesda Launcher.

A beta will be made available sometime in October. You can guarantee access by pre-ordering the game,  and it starts first on Xbox One.