Todd Howard Explains How PvP Will Work in Fallout 76 During QuakeCon
Ever since the surprise announcement that Fallout 76 would be an online multiplayer game, fans have been clamoring for details on the game’s PvP mechanics. Understandably, many are concerned that the game’s PvP will intrude on the traditional Fallout experience that they are looking for. Todd Howard has addressed the topic at the Fallout 76 panel at QuakeCon; he delved into much greater detail than ever before on how exactly PvP will work.
Fallout 76 PvP Details From QuakeCon
Once again, Howard clarified that players won’t be able to engage in PvP until they reach at least Level 5. Under that, and you can’t be killed in PvP. In addition, players worried about other gamers ambushing them during a battle can rest easy. According to Howard, the game raises a “pacifist flag” automatically when you enter combat with monsters. This means that you cannot be engaged in PvP while the combat continues. After Level 5, players are free to engage in PvP. However, it is still something of an opt-in system.
When a player shoots another player, Howard described it as akin to a “slap in a bar”. Essentially, it won’t do much damage, and will announce to the player that they are being challenged to PvP. They can then choose to fight back, or not. If they do, whomever wins is awarded with a number of caps, with more caps awarded for defeating higher-level players. Of course, players won’t be able to loot one another’s dead bodies. If a player chooses not to engage in PvP, but the attacker persists and kills them, then the game will automatically put a price on their head. Moreover, the attacker will receive no XP or rewards for the kill.
Once a player has a price on their head, they become marked as a red star on the game map. Every player will be able to see their location, even when they are sneaking, and the killer themselves won’t be able to see anybody else. If that wasn’t bad enough, the reward for killing them is taken directly out of their own stash of caps. If the player they killed hunts them down and kills them before anybody else, they’ll earn double the usual rewards.
What Happens When You Die?
When you die in Fallout 76, you don’t lose any XP. However, you will lose all of the “junk” items which you are carrying. Those junk items will be left on the spot of the player’s death, allowing the player to return and retrieve them. These items can be taken by other players, however. Junk items are generally low-value items used solely for crafting, as were highly prevalent in Fallout 4.
Another mechanic used to help minimize the impact of death are blueprints. If your base is destroyed, such as by a nuclear missile launched by another player, the base can be quickly reconstructed using its blueprint. You use blueprints to construct a base in the first place, and this blueprint allows you to quickly deconstruct it, move it, or rebuild it.