Nuclear Winter (mode)

 

For the Fallout 76 update, see Nuclear Winter.

Banner for the sneak peek of Nuclear Winter

“An entirely new way to play Fallout 76, completely changing the rules of the Wasteland.”— fallout.bethesda.net

Nuclear Winter is a 52-player battle royale gameplay mode in Fallout 76. It was first released in a sneak peek form as part of the Nuclear Winter update on June 10, 2019, coinciding with a free trial week of the game. It is currently in a beta form.

Background

The game mode's sneak peak was originally set to end on June 17, 2019, but it was extended following an announcement on June 14. Nuclear Winter later transitioned into its current beta stage. From its first release until patch 13, Nuclear Winter's map was centered around the town of Flatwoods, alongside Sutton, the New River Gorge Bridge, Camp McClintock and Helvetia, among other locations. After patch 13, the map was changed to the urban setting of Morgantown, with Monongah, Grafton Steel, Grafton Dam, Eastern Regional Penitentiary and other areas in play.

Gameplay

In a battle royale where the last team standing wins, players attempt to claim their spot as the overseer of Vault 51. Teams of up to four are formed from up to 52 players. Individuals then choose their spawn point on the map, only visible to fellow team members. Just before deploying to the battlefield, all enemy spawn points are revealed.

A circular ring of fire slowly closes in on the combatants. Visible on the map, it dynamically becomes smaller and quickens based on the concentration of players. Everything outside the ring of fire gradually takes damage, including creatures, vehicles, and player characters.

Exclusive perks are used in a new perk card system for the game mode. A maximum of seven cards are allowed to be equipped at once. The S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats of player characters are carried in from Adventure mode and limit perk choices.

Instead of the usual leveling system, overseer ranks are used to progress and unlock new content. As access is gained to new vault rooms, holotapes, and terminals, the story of Vault 51's original dwellers is revealed.

Features

The Nuclear Winter mode is vastly different from other gamemodes:

• Player characters only have one life and may not respawn.
• Any player character can attack and deal damage to anyone without damage reduction.
• Items and currencies from other gamemodes are not carried over.
• Weapons, armor and supplies are found in crates and containers around the battlefield.
• Armor comes in a complete set that includes arm, chest and leg protection.
• Bobbleheads and magazines are used automatically when picked up and last until the end of the round.
• XP earned goes toward overseer ranks to unlock rewards.
• Only Nuclear Winter-specific perk cards are allowed to be equipped.
• Player characters will drop all weapons, armor and supplies upon death.
• At the end of every match or upon the player character's death, a scoreboard shows how much progress the player character has made.
• Special challenges are only available in this mode. Rewards may include unique items and Nuclear Winter perk card packs.
• Workbenches (cooking, armor, weapon, chemistry, tinker, brewing) cannot be used.
• C.A.M.P. may be used to construct a base, with free construction resources.
• Seen enemy player characters appear with a red arrow overhead.
• Hostile creatures are marked with a red diamond both overhead and on the compass.
• Consumption of food and water is no longer necessary.
• Chem addiction and disease are nonexistent.
• Emote icons are only seen by teammates, though animations and sounds still play.
• The pre-game lobby is a social hub as the interior cell of Vault 51. The main function to this lobby is to allow players to learn lore of Vault 51 and receive help on playing Nuclear Winter.
• Players may start the match with clothing and skins that they have unlocked in the atom shop, but may not bring any normal cosmetics from adventure mode.
• Items are color-coded in inventory menus, indicating item rarity (common, uncommon, rare, very rare, and epic).

Weapons

Gray tier (common)

• 10mm pistol
• Automatic pipe pistol
• Automatic pipe rifle
• Board
• Combat knife
• Hatchet
• Pipe pistol
• Pipe revolver
• Scoped pipe rifle
• Switchblade
• Throwing knife

Green tier (uncommon)

• 10mm submachine gun
• Automatic combat rifle
• Crossbow
• Double-barrel shotgun
• Electrified cattleprod
• Molotov cocktail
• Radium rifle
• Scoped hunting rifle
• Scoped western revolver
• Ski sword

Blue tier (rare)

• .44 pistol (With a short-range scope attached)
• Assaultron blade
• Automatic assault rifle
• Combat sniper rifle
• Explosive bow
• Lever action rifle
• Gatling gun
• Plasma grenade
• Pump action shotgun
• Salvaged assaultron head
• Sledgehammer

Purple tier (very rare)

• 50 cal machine gun
• Automatic laser pistol
• Combat shotgun
• Gauss shotgun
• Handmade assault rifle
• Pole hook
• Scoped lever action rifle
• Super sledge
• Gauss rifle
• Tesla rifle

Golden tier (epic)

• Auto grenade launcher
• Deathclaw gauntlet
• Minigun
• Missile launcher
• Power fist

Armor sets

• Hazmat suit (very rare)
• Marine armor (very rare)
• Scout armor (rare)
• Wood armor (uncommon)
• T-51 power armor (common)

Aid items

• Bufftats (common)
• Chameleon serum (epic)
• Expired stimpak (common)
• Fury (uncommon)
• Grounded serum (epic)
• Marsupial serum (epic)
• Med-X (uncommon)
• Prototype Stealth Boy (epic)
• Psycho (rare)
• RadAway (uncommon)
• Rad-X (common)
• Speed demon serum (epic)
• Stimpak (uncommon)
• Stimpak extra (rare)
• Talons serum (epic)
• Unstable isotope serum (epic)

Miscellaneous

• Nuke briefcase (epic)

Enemies

• Feral ghoul

• Grafton monster
  • Scorched grafton monster

• Scorchbeast
  • Extra crispy scorchbeast

Experience

Experience points are earned at the end of each match or upon a player character's death. An interface displays the player character's performance and statistics for the match. Alongside each statistic is the total XP gained based on performance.

Statistic	Overseer XP
Time survived	+4 XP / minute
Placement XP	See table
Players killed	+20 XP / player
Players downed	+10 XP / player
AI kills	+5 XP / kill
Elite AI kills	+20 XP / kill
Nukes launched	+50 XP / nuke
Revives	+20 XP / revive

Rewards

See also: Overseer rank#Rewards

• Players can earn Adventure Mode XP points and caps depending on what they have done in that match.

Notes

• On PC, the Nuclear Winter mode performs a check to enforce that no third-party mods are installed or alterations to the game files have been made. An error message will be displayed when attempting to start Nuclear Winter mode if the check fails.
• There can only be 2 nuclear briefcases in a match at a time.
• Near the end of a match, a extra crispy scorchbeast will spawn, posing a significant threat to the final survivors.
• In the lobby, there is a single pair of black-rim glasses that the player may pick up and take into the match.

Gallery

Start screen for Nuclear Winter mode

Playable Flatwoods map area for Nuclear Winter mode

Playable Flatwoods map area for Nuclear Winter mode

Pre-release screenshots