**** Official Fallout 76 Thread ****

[Angilion]

Launched my first nuke today. Did it solo. Killed the queen and got her loot. It was easier than I expected. Ultracite power armor is amazing. So many bullets it deflected and barely a scratch.
Also finaly got all the overseer tapes. So now I can go play Wastelanders stuff.

Now you'll be chasing faction rep, so here's a bit of useful info and my opinion

Spoiler

1) You can do both factions quests right up to the point at which you choose one faction to breach vault 79 with you. That gets you a fair bit of rep with both factions and it gets you more story.

2) Split the 1000 bullion you can pick up during the vault 79 breach. 500 for you, 250 for each faction. That keeps both factions relatively happy. You'll be chasing bullion for months anyway, so 500 less is neither here nor there really.

3) How you turn in daily faction quests affects how much rep you get with them. There are exact numbers available online (I posted a link to a Google doc listing them all), but a good rule of thumb is decline a reward for the quest. You won't get the trivial reward of caps you won't need and you'll get extra rep. For retirement plan, either kill the ex-member and tell Rockies that Appalachia has a new corpse (to get bonus Raider rep on top of the standard amount for the quest) or tell the raider to try moving to Foundation (to get bonus Foundation rep on top of the standard amount of raider rep for the quest). Give mirelurk queen meat to Blackeye in the Ohio River Rapids raider fishing outpost for some more raider rep. Give (don't sell) photos to the other side rather than giving them to Davenport. So give Foundation photos to Crater or vice versa. You get rep with the faction you give the photos to. You get none from giving the photos to Davenport. He won't like it, but he'll still give you the treasury notes and he'll continue to offer the quest daily.

Giving the photos to the other side might be a roleplay issue for you, but I justified it in a roleplaying context by doing it to/for both factions and arguing that it humanises each faction to the other without giving either faction an advantage over the other.

 

[Kronos]

I've never used Vortex (I still use the old NMM for FO4 - it still works) so I can't be sure what it does, but I'm not sure it works properly with FO76 since modding is not really supported in FO76. Any mod manager for FO76 will have to edit ini files for you, preferably creating one if it doesn't already exist. My guess is that Vortex doesn't.

I can see one issue with that list, assuming you want to save perk loadouts. To do that, PLM requires another mod, SFE. You can load loadouts without it, but you can't save them. There's a workaround using the Nukes Dragons website and manually editing config files for PLM, but I forget the details.

Note that SFE is installed completely differently to other mods. It's a dll swap - you download it, decompress it and you get a dll. dxgi.dll IIRC. You have to replace the existing version of the DLL (it's in the main FO76 folder, not the FO76 data folder where the other mods go) with the SFE version and you have to do that every time the game is updated by Bethesda but only after the author of SFE has created a new version of SFE for the new version of FO76. It's less fuss than it sounds - it's just a simple copy and replace job and PLM will continue working without SFE, just without the option to save new loadouts.

For general mods, there are two steps. This assumes you've downloaded mods as archives in the BA2 format, not as loose files. I forget how to handle mods as loose files. Most mods are either BA2 only or available as a choice between BA2 and loose files.

First step:

Decompress the downloaded file to wherever you like. I created a folder for FO76 mods, to keep things all in one place neatly. You should then have a BA2 file that's the mod. Maybe some other files, e.g. a readme, maybe not.
Copy or move that BA2 file to the FO76 data folder. By default on Win10, that's Program Files(x86)\Bethesda.net Launcher\games\Fallout76\Data

Second step:

Add a correctly formatted entry to an ini file, referencing that BA2 file by name.

You can add entries to default ini files, but it's better to add them to the ini file specifically for customising settings.

By default, at least on Win10, the ini files are in documents\my games\Fallout 76.

In there you will find 2 or 3 ini files. Fallout76.ini and Fallout76Prefs.ini for sure. You might or might not have Fallout76Custom.ini there. If you don't, create it in there. It's a straightforward text file, so notepad is just the job.

In the early days you had to copy&paste references to files from the unmodded game, but a patch some while ago changed that. Files listed in a setting in the custom ini (and I think also in the other inis) are now appended to those for the unmodded game, so now you can just put references to your mods in your custom ini and that part of the job is done. Much less faff.

Here's my current Fallout76Custom.ini as an example. It would usually have Better Inventory in there too, but I still haven't got around to downloading the post-Wastelanders version. You might see other people's ini files putting the references to the mod files into a different list, not sResourceIndexFileList. Works the same, but I found that when I used a different list I had to edit the ini after most updates because the references in the unmodded game had changed. I don't think that's still the case due to the change to custom ini entries being appended to lists rather than replacing them. AFAIK, the only issue now is if the number of entries in the list exceeds the limit. I forget what the limit is, but you're unlikely to reach it. I'd still recommend sResourceIndexFileList because Bethesda has hardly anything in that list so there's even less chance of whatever you add to the list causing it to reach the limit. I have also read that some mods have to be put in a specific list, but I don't recall any details. Something to do with mods that change textures.

[Archive]
sResourceIndexFileList = Power Armor Clean HUD.ba2, IntRaw.ba2, BetterPALight.ba2, PerkLoadoutManager.ba2
[SaveGame]
fAutosaveEveryXMins=2.0000

It's also a good idea to read the mod desc to see if that particular mod has to be installed in any particular way.


There's also a bit of a question mark regarding Lockpicking Bar. Some people argue that it gives a player an advantage in play over players without that mod, which probably isn't allowed by Bethesda's vague semi-defined rules about mods in FO76. Technically, Bethesda might ban you over it. Maybe. Perhaps. Probably not, but with Bethesda's sterling track record of customer service, who knows? The same might be said for Glowing Items.

Thanks for taking the time to write the lengthy post but I really cannot be bothered with all the hassle for what I minor tweaks. So I will uninstall them.

 

[Angilion]

Thanks for taking the time to write the lengthy post but I really cannot be bothered with all the hassle for what I minor tweaks. So I will uninstall them.

This might be useful to you. It's a config tool and mod manager specifically for FO76, giving you a GUI for FO76 mod management. It also has a GUI for changing other values in ini files, like field of view, pip-boy colour and many other things including many that you can't change from the options menu in the game (e.g. 1st person field of view). I've never used it, so I can't comment on it. It looks like you just use tickboxes to enable/disable mods and various settings. I suspect you still have to put the mod files in the data folder, but you don't have to use a text editor to edit ini files. Click the tickbox next to the mod's name in the tool's GUI and it edits the FO76 custom ini file for you to add that mod to the list.

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout76/mods/221

Maybe me going back to the days of command line everything is an advantage when modding for FO76. It's very minor hassle for me. Using Windows GUI for this sort of thing is much easier than using DOS, CP/M or suchlike. Eh, when I were a lad

EDIT: Oops, my mistake! I gave you the wrong link. That's for an old FO76 mod manager that doesn't work any more. DanF's post following mine has the right link.

 

[DanF]

Thanks for taking the time to write the lengthy post but I really cannot be bothered with all the hassle for what I minor tweaks. So I will uninstall them.

You can try this program, it does most of the work for you now. Just a couple of steps to get it working correctly.

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout76/mods/546

- install fallout 4 creation kit from the Bethsda launcher
- manual download the mods and store the zips in a folder (I just use /downloads/fo76)
- start that program and click Manage Mods
- set the Path boxs to your game install location and the downloaded creation kit locations here's mine
-- D:\Bethesda.net Launcher\games\Fallout76
-- D:\Bethesda.net Launcher\games\Tools\Archive2\Archive2.exe

that's it, then just File > Add Mod > select the mod zip and then click Deploy

 

[DanF]

hit lvl 38 now and exploring the Mire, it's a pretty cool location, really atmospheric and keeps you on your toes when mirelurk queens and stuff are walking around.

The lvl 20 The Fixer is still doing good work, can still one shot most mobs from stealth headshot but will make up a new lvl 40 sniper for the harder enemies

 

[Angilion]

hit lvl 38 now and exploring the Mire, it's a pretty cool location, really atmospheric and keeps you on your toes when mirelurk queens and stuff are walking around.

The worldbuilding is good in FO76. I avoid the Mire most of the time because it's well made - dark and dank and cluttered and littered with mobs you walk into because you couldn't see them through the vegetation. I even liked the "edge of the world" part in the far east of the Mire, when you can see the limit to which the Mire has spread. Though not being able to go past that "edge of the world" magic fence and explore the sort of semi-mire area beyond niggled at me.

The lvl 20 The Fixer is still doing good work, can still one shot most mobs from stealth headshot but will make up a new lvl 40 sniper for the harder enemies

Won't be long before you reach L50 and can use the L50 Fixer I made for you.

I'm grinding raider rep so I can buy the plans for the gauss minigun and mods for it. Although I sort of miss rifle and shotgun and the gauss shotgun from the settlers might tempt me back to that build. T-65 and a legendary gauss shotgun and in we go!

 

[DanF]

Yeah it feels a bit more dangerous, as a stealth build a lot of areas are just too easy. I've stuck with the lvl 20 gun and armour as there's nothing really challenging atm. Sure it will change when hitting 50 and doing the harder content.

Stealth level is so high now I can sit fairly close to a camp and just sneak vats headshot everyone before they find me. The firerate of the fixer lets it get off 3+ shots to the snipers 1 so it's still better in close quarters than a lvl 30 .50 cal sniper.

God I wish there was a way to permanently remove some Daily quests, the Someone To Talk To just keeps on popping up and activating

 

[Angilion]

Yeah it feels a bit more dangerous, as a stealth build a lot of areas are just too easy. I've stuck with the lvl 20 gun and armour as there's nothing really challenging atm. Sure it will change when hitting 50 and doing the harder content.

Stealth level is so high now I can sit fairly close to a camp and just sneak vats headshot everyone before they find me. The firerate of the fixer lets it get off 3+ shots to the snipers 1 so it's still better in close quarters than a lvl 30 .50 cal sniper.

You could take a trip to the Cranberry Bog area if you're feeling daring. Fancy a L80 Mirelurk Queen backed up by 2 L80 Mirelurk Deep Kings with all 3 of them poisoning you? I go there every day to get mirelurk queen meat for the raider fishing post, to get a paltry 25 rep. That combo managed to kill me today. The rate of health loss due to poison was higher than the rate of health gain from a stimpak. There's usually only 1 queen and 1 king.

I'm not sure how many bullets you'd need for that, but I can get through ~500.

But yeah, the Forest, Ash Heap, Toxic Valley and Savage Divide areas do quickly become easy. I use them for events, dailies, scavving and just slaughtering Blood Eagles and cultists because that's what they're for.

God I wish there was a way to permanently remove some Daily quests, the Someone To Talk To just keeps on popping up and activating

You and me both. As if anyone would do that quest more than once.

 

[Kronos]

You can try this program, it does most of the work for you now. Just a couple of steps to get it working correctly.

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout76/mods/546

- install fallout 4 creation kit from the Bethsda launcher
- manual download the mods and store the zips in a folder (I just use /downloads/fo76)
- start that program and click Manage Mods
- set the Path boxs to your game install location and the downloaded creation kit locations here's mine
-- D:\Bethesda.net Launcher\games\Fallout76
-- D:\Bethesda.net Launcher\games\Tools\Archive2\Archive2.exe

that's it, then just File > Add Mod > select the mod zip and then click Deploy

I moved over to Steam will this method still work or should I go back to Bethesda launcher as the mods are still not working and I tried a manual method this morning after getting rid of Vortex?

 

[DanF]

yeah it'll still work. The fallout 4 creation kit can be installed from the launcher and is just used for a program to unpack the ba2 files. It'll warn about owning fallout 4 but just ignore that

 

[DanF]

I'm not sure how many bullets you'd need for that, but I can get through ~500.

haha, I've killed everything apart from a lvl 50 mirelurk queen. lvl 62 charred go down in a couple of headshots. Fixer is doing 200-250 sneak headshots, the .50 is doing 400-450 which kills all the normal enemies.

Crit perks and master rifleman will all unlock in 40-50 levelling so should be pretty strong

 

[Angilion]

haha, I've killed everything apart from a lvl 50 mirelurk queen. lvl 62 charred go down in a couple of headshots. Fixer is doing 200-250 sneak headshots, the .50 is doing 400-450 which kills all the normal enemies.

Crit perks and master rifleman will all unlock in 40-50 levelling so should be pretty strong

Opposite route to me, in a way. I've gone for rate of fire over damage per shot. Not much chance of sneak headshots with a minigun I'm not sure what damage it's doing. My guess would be ~60 per shot, but I'm guessing at how the effect of perks and mods apply. Base is 24, the tri-barrel mod adds 6 (and increases accuracy and decreases recoil and decreases rate of fire from ridiculous to slightly less ridiculous), my perks add 60% and the furious effect adds 50% after the first 10 bullets (which is about a second of firing). Oh, and I have Bloody Mess on as well, so there's another 15%. Mine fires 25% faster too. Which is hardly necessary with a minigun, but more is more! I don't generally use it. The ammunition use is so high that I'd have to spend half my playtime scavving for materials to make bullets. It's just for big mobs and fun times. Although everything I shoot with it explodes, which means that using it against a group turns looting into picking through a mass of bits of bodies with no idea which bits belonged to which mobs. Sometimes I just lose them entirely. I might install a mod that turns meat piles into balloons or something. I've lost some legendaries that way.

The exploding thing is fun in the "Feed The People" event at Mama Dolce's. I hadn't done it for ages because the reward is irrelevant after low levels, but now it gives 2 treasury notes loads of people are doing it. I prefer to stand on the upper walkway, where I can cover 2 of the 3 machines to be protected. The walkway is a grid, so the smaller chunks fall through. It's entertainment for the players on the ground floor while they wait for the next wave of mobs

There are lots of viable builds in FO76 in general play. If you really min/max the sneak critical thing with a suitable legendary fixer you can definitely get over 2000 damage per shot. Probably more. There's a player who makes FO76 videos on doing maximum damage with various builds and weapons, but I can't remember who it is.

 

[Kronos]

Decided to start a new character as I have made so many mistakes even though I was level 69 with my current character.
Need to pay more attention to what I am doing with weapons and perks.

 

[jasoncb]

Decided to start a new character as I have made so many mistakes even though I was level 69 with my current character.
Need to pay more attention to what I am doing with weapons and perks.

Can't you just swap points around as you level though?

 

[Kronos]

Can't you just swap points around as you level though?

Probably but that is just one small aspect of the game that I made a mess of and I have plenty of time at the moment.

 

[Angilion]

Decided to start a new character as I have made so many mistakes even though I was level 69 with my current character.
Need to pay more attention to what I am doing with weapons and perks.

Many people find the FO76 build planning page on the Nukes & Dragons site useful for planning a build:

https://nukesdragons.com/fallout76/perks

You can make any valid combination of stats and perks in a planner, so you can sort out what you want before playing the game. Look at all the perks, see what they do, see how much of each stat you need for all the perks you want, that sort of thing. You can also choose different weapons and armour and legendary effects on them in the planner, to see the effects they would have in the build you've planned. You can even see the effects of mutations and addictions. The latter is usually just all bad, but there is a such a thing as a junkie build that does a lot more damage when you're addicted to drugs and suffering withdrawal symptoms. Pretty much everything you could want for planning a build is on that page.

 

[Kronos]

Many people find the FO76 build planning page on the Nukes & Dragons site useful for planning a build:

https://nukesdragons.com/fallout76/perks

You can make any valid combination of stats and perks in a planner, so you can sort out what you want before playing the game. Look at all the perks, see what they do, see how much of each stat you need for all the perks you want, that sort of thing. You can also choose different weapons and armour and legendary effects on them in the planner, to see the effects they would have in the build you've planned. You can even see the effects of mutations and addictions. The latter is usually just all bad, but there is a such a thing as a junkie build that does a lot more damage when you're addicted to drugs and suffering withdrawal symptoms. Pretty much everything you could want for planning a build is on that page.

Thanks will have a look, one thing I do not understand and you refer to it often is the word 'build' what exactly do you mean by that?

 

[DanF]

Builds are just a plan of the perks, special points and other things that make up your character. I'm making mine of a really popular one which is based on sneak single shot rifle crits. It'll hit lvl 50 sacrificing a couple of perks for some quality of life ones. Once I hit 50 then can get other cards and make up different sets of perk cards for different situations and use this to swap them https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout76/mods/124

Original build - https://www.falloutbuilds.com/builds/ladydeath/
Mine - https://nukesdragons.com/fallout76/...72ic3i30a72a80ar2a00an2ao0l71lt2lv2lk2la2&m=8

 

[Kronos]

Builds are just a plan of the perks, special points and other things that make up your character. I'm making mine of a really popular one which is based on sneak single shot rifle crits. It'll hit lvl 50 sacrificing a couple of perks for some quality of life ones. Once I hit 50 then can get other cards and make up different sets of perk cards for different situations and use this to swap them https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout76/mods/124

Original build - https://www.falloutbuilds.com/builds/ladydeath/
Mine - https://nukesdragons.com/fallout76/...72ic3i30a72a80ar2a00an2ao0l71lt2lv2lk2la2&m=8

Thanks will definitely look at the way I use Specials and Perks.

 

[Kronos]

You can try this program, it does most of the work for you now. Just a couple of steps to get it working correctly.

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout76/mods/546

- install fallout 4 creation kit from the Bethsda launcher
- manual download the mods and store the zips in a folder (I just use /downloads/fo76)
- start that program and click Manage Mods
- set the Path boxs to your game install location and the downloaded creation kit locations here's mine
-- D:\Bethesda.net Launcher\games\Fallout76
-- D:\Bethesda.net Launcher\games\Tools\Archive2\Archive2.exe

that's it, then just File > Add Mod > select the mod zip and then click Deploy

I really do not know what I am doing wrong, followed your link, went through set up and deployed two mods but for some inexplicable reason they are not working.

EDIT: I think they are as the game does look far better with the his res mod. I think that I had not clicked the apply button.
Any other mods anyone can recommend.?