Encumbrance has long been a staple of Bethesda’s role-playing games. Any fan of the Elder Scrolls and Fallout games will know the struggle of collecting too much loot and trying to carry it all back in one trip; all while moving painfully slowly. It seems that Fallout 76 encumbrance will be a little different, however.
Encumbrance in Fallout 76: How It’s Different to Previous Games
Bethesda recently detailed a variety of gameplay elements in a news post, following the Greenbrier press event. Encumbrance was one such topic the studio wrote about; “When your inventory exceeds your Carry Weight and you are over-encumbered,” explains Bethesda; “you cannot Sprint or Fast Travel”. Thus far, this matches with what players are used to from previous titles. However, there is a big change along with that; “… though you can still jump and move at your normal running speed.”
Players in Fallout 76 will no longer have their speed reduced while over-encumbered. Although they won’t be able to sprint, they’ll still be able to move at normal speed… at least for a short duration. There is one big caveat which replaces that reduction in speed.
“However,” continues Bethesda; “your normal movement drains Action Points, and your movement slows to a crawl when your AP runs out. To get back below your Carry Weight, drop some items, or even better, place your C.A.M.P. nearby and store excess items in your Stash Box for later use. You can also scrap all your Junk at any Workbench you come across.”
So players will be able to move at their normal speed so long as they have AP. It seems likely that will result in bursts of speed punctuated by pauses as over-encumbered players wait for their AP to replenish. However, the Stash Box may provide a major solution to over-encumbrance. This container is only accessible by the player who owns it, and is kept as part of the player’s C.A.M.P. The player won’t be able to access it when it’s stored away in the C.A.M.P., but it could well eliminate the excess weight dragging players down as they travel from place to place.