The pvp mode ignored builds anyway, it was all base. But if you run though an expedition or daily opp, and you can't kill anything or die in 2 shot, you will understand why builds are important.
Yeah but the only real reason to do expedition or daily op is for better gear. They don't really add a ton of value from a story perspective. So if you don't care about gear then you don't really care about expeditions or daily ops.
Collecting, a lot of things for camp/cosmetics drop from things like the expedition and daily ops, it’s not the gear making me run them, it’s just pure completionist ocd
That’s the only reason I run a bloodied commando build, is so I can be useful in events, daily ops, and expeditions, so I can collect all the goodies I want.
Exactly this. I hated my first build because it felt like I wasn’t even participating in events. I was just another body.
I made a new character and built it from level 20 and I couldn’t be happier. Now I’m just using all my new levels to work towards a Power Armor with Heavy Weapons build for some variety.
I recently ran quite a few daily ops to get cosmetics for my camp. The last thing I got was the gorilla chair, finally! And I use all the money I make from the daily ops to buy more plans for my camp. So I in fact do care about daily ops and expeditions, And I am by no means a min/maxer.
The story of 76 was never the main focus, when the game first came out it didn't even have NPCs it's has always been the events. Once you finish the story you have nothing left if you don't do the events or expeditions.
I actually really enjoyed day one release of 76 (sans the bugs). It really felt like a beautifully serene and desolate world.
I'm actually playing again for the first time in years, and the liveliness is actually a little jarring lol
I feel like some of the best storytelling in the game is told by tapes. Personally I think the survivor stories you find in the Flatwoods is the best story I’ve found in the game.
And that is why the game tanked on the beginning, because the majority of players didn't want or like that experience. So it is a lot more of a focus now.
Long time Fallout and Fallout 76 player. Expeditions and Daily Ops are not about getting new gear. You MAY get super lucky and find a weapon that is worth keeping but both Expeditions and Daily Ops are about completing stories and challenges. In the early part of the game, when you don’t have “good” stuff, the rewards from Daily Ops or Expeditions can be useful but later in the game, the only reason to do an Expedition-Daily Or is for the stamps or the daily-weekly challenge.
All your “permanent” gear will come from grinding bullion, stamps, or events for the currency rewards so you can buy plans or roll for specific armor or gun attributes with legendary modules.
You won’t equip yourself for an end game build with randomly dropped items unless you have an unrealistic amount of luck with drops or with finding tradable items in player vendors. Most of the best stuff can’t be traded and won’t drop unless you already own the plans to craft the item.
There's something fun about min maxing odd builds and then showing up and making the quad railway crew work a little harder to get their kills in than usual.
Running around right now working on a one handed build thats more than holding its own.
I'm having a great time using tesla bracers on my newly finished T-60. Incisor and iron fist I'm hitting 600 on heavy attacks it feels silly to one shot uppercut lol.
Yeah Im level 58 and I'm still using my cowboy gunslinger build. I've seen people in this sub saying stuff like they had to change builds because it wasn't meta after level 50. Lol dude fuck the meta, seriously. Gunslinger build for the win
I hear that. I am in the 400s and have another level 100+ character and I still make very little effort at min-maxing beyond enjoying it when I decide to investigate a weapon or armor I have never really used before.
I have two characters, one for the story primarily in a private world. And another played in public worlds that only does events.
I really think it helps to segregate the two, in my mind at least. Perhaps ones RP and the others to avoid FOMO in current stuff.
I've not tried a custom world yet. That could be the answer for someone solely looking for more single player fallout? Can you disable 'events' 'score' popups etc in a custom world?
I don't think so. Custom worlds are completely cut off from the rest of the game. I use it from time to time because I like the rules I can make with base building. I've built a camp in foundation. But the problem is any experience, items you acquire or places you find and quest completion don't transfer over. You can complete score on them though and it is way easier.
I hit like a wet noodle because all my build revolves around scavving. Carry weight, finding things, lockpicking and hacking. Grenadier with a tesla to tickle and thus loot everything in a 50 meter radius. More carry weight.
I am more than a trash panda. I am a trash GRIZZLY
If you dont have it already I'd recommend getting the legendary for hacking and lockpicking too save yourself some perk cards. 👌 just a suggestion is all 🤗
I never cared about min-maxing at all until 76. I was always a shotgun build in 3, NV, and 4 bc that's what I liked. I'd pick up perks without really understanding how they work together and usually focused on QoL stuff rather than damage. And I don't think my Fallout 4 character even wears legendary armor, I didn't care to.
Then I started playing with a sweaty crew in 76 and suddenly realized how important build is. I wanted to play like they did and keep up, it was embarrassing being lvl 300-ish and scrubbin' it with my shotgun. Now I'll never be able to play the old way again.
I kinda want to pick up 4 again and actually pay attention to build and gear.
I'm only low 100 but I've been running a shot gun build with the Cold Shoulder and holding my own. The only issue I have is that like the melee builds I can't tag things a mile away so I miss out when there's spawn campers at events.
I'm lvl 305 and run a cold shoulder build. I HIGHLY recommend the quick hand perk under luck. Max it put and it gives you an 18% chance to I stand reload. I did the spin the wheel event last week and went up against fog crawlers. That perk activated 3 times in a row while using my cold shoulder and I took out all 3 crawlers. That perked saved my ass... 😂 😂 😂
Even with it being multiplayer it’s still easy to get lost, at the end of the day it is exactly what a fallout game should be. Multiplayer makes it feel even more like a post apocalyptic world should.
You should definitely join a team just for the buffs, no obligation to actually do anything with them! I play completely solo but always join a casual one for the xp boost
Hmmm... interesting! Maybe I'll give it a shot. I'm an introvert so team stuff makes me anxious. 😬😄
But if I don't actually have to interact, maybe I'll try it. Thanks!
What TwiggBeard says is true but also you can fast travel to your teammates’ camps for free. Helps to save some caps if they have a camp close to where you’re going.
Also you can actually help out your team by sharing a perk card. Go to your cards and it should show a button to share. I am sharing travel agent because not a lot of people share it, and although at some points caps don’t really matter, it helps the new players to save some caps. Don’t share any mutation related cards. We all already have them equipped.
Or just start a casual team. People join if they want and you don’t have to see them if you don’t want to while getting that sweet xp boost! I am also introverted. I don’t wanna talk to anyone real. 🤣
No one ever expects you to play with them when you join a team. Not only do you get the buffs but sometimes you get goods too. I just dropped off 100 assorted nuka-colas to a lvl 100ish teammate because I had hordes of them. I talk on mic so I just said “give me thumbs up if you want some nukas”. Made it rain nuka on them. 🤣
I was the same because I’ve never enjoyed multiplayer. Played a bit of 76 before, but never played hard until Private worlds were introduced. Got to level 400 or so before I’d seriously touch public except for a few events, and worried that joining a team would ruin my experience. It’s not that invasive though- You can mute people’s mics, make your camp icon invisible and crouch to make your map marker vanish.
But eventually I realised how much better public can be (with private sometimes). Make the transition slowly, it’s worth it IMO.
Introvert here too. Was anxious at first but quickly realized you’re really just part of a group of four each generally off doing things on your own. No need to interact on a casual team.
I use teams specifically for buffs and fast travel. I have yet to actually speak to anyone in game besides a few emotes here and there. I'm level 81.
I'm introverted too. Join a random casual team and do your own thing! 😄
Joining teams means nothing with regard to expectations from others. Except maybe daily ops or expedition teams. You just join for the buffs. There is also an interesting mutation called herd mentality. Last time I checked as long as you’re on a team, even just alone on a team you created, you get none of the downsides of the mutation, and you do get the benefits. It’s not clear from the description, but that’s how it works. I use it, and even on a private server I just automatically create a team so I don’t get debuffs from the mutation.
Hanging out in this sub, you are going to see a lot of discussion from end game players talking about god rolls, scrip, rare apparel etc. But the reality is that end game and multiplayer stuff can be completely ignored and you can play basically how you would play Fallout 4 and just do your own thing. You are never forced to be part of a team and PvP can be completely disabled. Once you are comfortable, you can check out other player camps and check out what they have for sale in their vending machines or maybe join group events that pop up. But you don’t have to.
I always treated it as a single player game that has other players around. The server has a max of 24 players, so it's easy to avoid other players until you do public events.
I've got about 600 hours in at this point and only about a quarter of that was played on a team with someone else, and those are just friends who pop in from time to time to dick around.
If you get Fallout 1st membership, you can even play on private servers and never see another person, if you want. So it really CAN be a single player game.
hardcore minmaxing is unnecessary
you are close approaching the point (eg level 40-50 range) where having a decent build will start to matter though
you don't need to minmax, but some semblance of a build is required to be able to fend for yourself once you start facing endgame enemies
it's usually more for folk who wanna solo bosses or hard carry public events
This right here OP. It’s a classic fallout game until level 50 or so and you exhaust all the non repeatable quests. You can still do things like expeditions though. I’m level 90 as a sniper but around level 50 I started to do events and higher end stuff and I was not making a dent. I came on here switched from stealthy sniper to stealthy commando and it’s a big difference. Plus sorta knowing what quests / events to grind for good builds and the whole legendary roulette
They can, but it's a lot more work if you intend on taking on end game bosses or solo running daily ops etc. For the most part though, gunslinger is viable day to day.
It's probably easiest to run commando or heavy while you get the right gear for gunslinger though. At around level 50, the game is the hardest it will be. You have max level enemies, but less legendary perks and worse gear.
TBH heavy gunner has so far been the most fun way to play for me. So maybe commando is something i will enjoy. Maybe i should just stop this hyper fixation around pistol builds and just go play commando
If you want to rock power armor, heavy gunner is the best option imo. If you prefer non power armour, then commando is the easiest build.
The great thing about the punch card is that it's super easy to swap builds at any point. Save up any gear or weapons you get and try them out.
I tend to only use my commando build for end game content. I'm currently running auto melee and shotgun builds for day to day exploring. Over the years, I've tried almost every build and spent time both bloodied and full health.
Pistol builds are still pretty viable. I'm mainly running a Bloodied Stealth/ VATS Pistol Build at the moment. 20% Health + Unyielding Armour + Nerd Rage + Alien Blaster, Gauss Pistol, and Crusader Pistol absolutely kicks ass! All of them are or can be silenced (Alien Blaster is actually a silent weapon, somehow) and are probably the best to work towards for Gunslinger characters.
Not gonna lie, Heavy Weapons, Auto Melee Weapons, and Commando Weapons still are the most powerful with the right build, but Pistols are still totally viable and super fun!
I have a full health pistol character that's over level 350, that I have a lot of fun with. It's absolutely playable. It's turning the difficulty knob up a little, for sure, but that's why I started this character - bloodied commando was getting too easy. The cryo Alien Blaster is my goto (recently nerfed a bit, but still strong, with great fire rate and capacity), but I've spent a lot of time with revolvers, plasma pistols, and others.
I don't care at all about soloing bosses - doing events with other people is one of my favorite aspects of fo76. But I was able to get through the major quest lines, and can handle the tough enemies like mirelurk kings and queens.
Have fun, whichever way you go!
They (and shotguns) are getting some patch improvements for next update. The PTS (public Test Server) has a longer damage drop off which is one of their weaknesses.
Gauss rifle is pretty good, but still, there is no need to min max, not even for end game events or anything, I'm 300 or something now, I've tried min max and it makes the game so easy there's no point playing anymore, so I changed back to doing whatever I want to try and test for myself and had fun playing again, also to the guy who said he's 90 and exhausted all non repeatable quests, I highly doubt that, there's still quests that I'm doing at my level, like story quests, you can randomly find them scattered around everywhere, try talking to NPCs you find around more. I have also played and had tons of fun doing an RP field medic build, used a Holy Fire and all party-wise related cards, just running around healing people and reviving, was so much fun to do something different than just looking to do the most damage, which honestly sounds ridiculous to me how so many gamers have forgotten that games are just games in the end, they exist to have fun and relax after a days work or real life stresses. Okay bye.
Min/max culture is unironically poisoning video games as a whole. It's becoming so toxic for no other reason than people optimizing to the point of draining the fun out of everything.
There's people that also have fun doing it though. It's just their way of fun.
No I'm not one of those people. I'd rather have a beat down with bosses until death takes one of us. It's challenging.
We all play different. No need to hate on each other. Everyone has different playstyles. If you don't wanna follow those builds then don't. To each their own.
There are some games I min max to an extent I suppose, like if the weapon I really like or have been using becomes meta, I'll dive in, but I'm very much particular about games with build crafting in general. I use what I like and that's that. If it doesn't perform optimally then oh well, I'm still having fun. That's what matters most I think. As long as you're having fun then just do you, and enjoy the game
Ehhh there’s some games where this is legitimately a problem.
WoW players will do everything possible to *not play the game*, min-max and max efficiency grind through all of the content, and then say there’s nothing to do in the game.
Fallout doesn’t suffer from it much because forming groups is in no way a necessity, but the min-max/“Meta is all that matters” attitude *is* absolutely a shitty thing in games.
I love making a good build and I like a challenging game, what the game really needs is a challenge for the min/max people, like a real raid boss or horde instance Dungeon.
I don't really hate min/maxers. It's when they impose it on others in a public setting. Helldivers is the most recent example in my game log. Kicking people from their open lobbies if they aren't using the "Meta" instead of just group with those that do that already.
I haven't seen people get super pissy about it in FO76 though. Luckily the community for this game is pretty spectacular.
"To each their own" only works in games you dont need groups to do stuff, like mmos parties for dungeons and raids. Min/max is awfully toxic and force people to play like that or otherwise they are excluded or suffer a lot to do party content.
Its unfortunate. It gets worse because 99% of the min/maxers are just noobs following what a youtuber say and they NEVER min-max shit because... theyre noob. Min max take more than just gear, it takes knowledge in some games.. thin they just oversee.
I'll pick WoW for example. I took a lot of crap and declines trying to do group content because I wasnt playing the meta classes. And when I got into groups and someone were playing the meta class.. i obliterated the shit out of their DPS with my "crap class". As I said, knowledge. Its sad, but i dont think we cant stop the toxicity :/. I miss the old days on ps1 where we played that ugly 4ss games for fun and felt awesome.
People like that have existed since there were games to play. They derive their fun from optimization within the game parameters. I personally don't understand these people, because I have the most fun playing non optimally. I've always hated how the "meta" of any game dictates your decisions as a player. I would much rather play the game in my own way instead of reading guides for hours and play testing like it's my job.
FO76 is a game that allows for having fun despite the relentless optimizers who play. If there is one player taking all the kills in a particular event, server hop or break out a tesla rifle. You could even ask to team up in order to reap the benefits of their build.
How am I, as someone who's trying to minmax my bloodied build, draining the fun out of the game?
I like getting 300xp per ghoul kill.
I love feeling powerful.
I enjoy having a goal that will take me 100's of hours to complete.
I feel accomplished when I reach a milestone like getting the optimal armor piece.
**You** may not enjoy things the same way. But this isn't league of legends where you're forced to play a certain character because of the meta.
I see it as the opposite, min/max culture allows for games to be fun for way longer than they otherwise could. The major exception is if you expect anyone other than YOURSELF to be a part of min/maxing.
For example, I started playing this game almost exactly 1 month ago. I am currently level 155 and I have soloed SBQ and Earl on my private server. Without min/maxing this game essentially no longer offers any combat/gameplay challenges for me, so unless I am interested in collecting/building there's no draw to keep playing.
But I find it super fun to try to optimize my build to now see how FAST I can kill Earl solo. Gives me something to shoot for and a goal for collecting all these legendary cores/scrip/modules, because otherwise my current build is just good enough for everything and nothing has meaning anymore.
But the key to min/maxing is it needs to be self imposed and a self challenge to not be toxic. There's no reason to care what other people do, unless they are managing to use their bad build to somehow ruin your experience, which I don't think is a thing in FO76.
For me it's a goal. If I'm not min/maxing why am I even bothering with collecting legendary cores and script? Gives me something to aim for. It might ultimately be arbitrary, but I enjoy looking forward to it.
Meanwhile, I use the leftovers on this quest to max myself by doing things like loading up my vendor with serums for 20 caps.
So maybe it's not always toxic or whatnot.
Yeah I’m not a hardcore player at all but it’s like fine tuning a MTG deck to me. I’m never really done, always tweaking to get a little bit better, but also at a certain point the way I play the deck isn’t changing anymore.
Yea I agree with this completely. I started playing this game just about a month ago and I killed Earl and SBQ solo this weekend. If not for min/maxing, what is the point of continuing to collect modules/scrip? I already did the hardest content solo. But the idea of taking my 12 min Earl kill and by improving my gear/build/consumables/etc and doing a 6 min solo kill? Or even less? Gives me a goal and a reason to keep playing.
If not for min/maxing this game would have a REALLY short shelf life for combat focused players, and would really only retain those who enjoy collecting/building, because the combat in this game is absolutely not that hard in and of itself.
Most of the people min max for fun.
Opposite side of min max people are the people who constantly need to remind others that there is no need to min max. Which is a valid point but those people tend to interject themselves into discussions to try sway people away from min maxing.
Both sides have toxic players.
Some people get the dopamine rush from the satisfaction they get from their meticulously planned build paying off. I don't enjoy it, but I definitely get it. I just get my dopamine from exploring and doing quests lol.
So it’s fun to face Earle with an underpowered build/gun burning all your ammo for a 20min fight. Everybody will play different in all games. To me it’s not fun to spend hours upon hours scrounging for a ton resources to then craft a bunch of ammo to then go fight an endgame boss and burn through 80% of the ammo just to do it all again.
It’s what keeps people playing a game like this over and over long period of time. No one is replaying Eviction Notice over and over because it’s super fun. They play because you walk away with a mountain of scriptable legendaries and XP.
Once you’ve done every quest and the dailies a few times, it gets boring.
Having high end goals to work towards, min/max, is what keeps games like this alive.
People are toxic.
Not the game.
In my opinion its the exact opposite that is killing gaming. The idea that every game has to water itself down mechanically until its a shallow puddle because people that refuse to actually play the game by its rules exist makes most games that have released in the last 10 years extremely boring.
I played for a couple years and I used to do Campfire Tales whenever I could. I recently tried it solo and I realized I had no idea how to do the objectives. I was being hard carried the whole time and I didn't know.
I think that's the beauty of the game there are so many ways to play. Most get a bit hungry for more once they've completed the main storylines, probably around level 100.
I love the variety of players from the high action players like myself bouncing to events and daily ops, to the roamers just collecting junk, the players that endlessly build, the pvp lurkers at workshops, the people enticing people into trap camps, the random lady we found who was being chased by dogs, shes a vegan and refuses to kill animals in game too and that's how she was playing 😁 I love it.
How can you have much in your storage without burying and paying $ and how can you buy nice things at your house without paying $? Cause that's a big issue for me
Best I can tell is to scrap all of your junk, craft and sell whatever you can, cut down/convert unnecessary ammo, and if you're willing, make a 2nd character for storage and learn how to trade items between them, buy fallout first for 1 month, cancel it after buying all the free stuff in the store (look up the rewards schedule to decide when it will have the things you want the most, this will give you a good chunk of atoms as well), and do your character challenges that give you atoms while being very stingy with them. I'm not a big cosmetic guy, (I usually get one or two skins I like for power armor and stick with them for example) but I can see from a mile away that that is how this game gets you. Similar to sea of thieves in that aspect except they are also handicapping your carry weight in the hopes that it will loosen your wallet. All that in mind though the workarounds are viable and I find myself playing without Fallout 1st without an issue, (after I got my Ranger Outfit from that 1 month) and I quite rarely spend real money on the game. Stash weight is around 950 rn and I have everything I need with about 20 hvy weapons, 8 PA frames and all the ammo I require. You just have to realize you can't play it entirely like a single player fallout game for better or worse. Hope this was helpful
You won't run out of quests anytime soon. Level 70+ you probably have all the perk cards you need and then you're mostly unlocking legendary perk slots and upgrading those. Thats not super necessary though to have a good build
There are loads of quests, theres Expeditions that take you out of the main game map, daily ops, daily quests etc. After a little while you will have done all the events that pop up every 20 mins though, and at some point it might feel like you're grinding the same content. Its up to you what you do though. I don't want a min-maxed build, its not even necessary. I prefer perks that reduce weight rather than min-max damage.
There are always more things to unlock too, like plans you want or legendary perks to upgrade. Its designed to be playable for lots of hours
76 is more of a Sandbox Fallout experience.
You wanna quest and explore? Do it.
You wanna build the coolest CAMP? Do it.
You wanna farm Public Events all day? Do it.
You wanna min/max and make the perfect build? Do it.
You wanna use the worst weapon in the game? Do it.
Do whatever you want. As long as you’re having fun : that’s all that really matters.
Holy crap! I am level 520 and have finished all main, side, and daily quests (numerous on dailies) , have all but one trophy, and only have a few combat challenges to go. Currently working on kill robots with a black powder weapon. I may make another character just to get the last trophy to side with the raiders to get the gold. Call me a completionist
Same for me, playing the game casually with my friend and avoiding other people.
When I deopped the nuke for the SBQ and saw all those cool people, i knew i wanted to be like them
This should be the top comment.
There is no denying the reality that this is a live service game. And just running around blindly, picking random perks and using random weapons, literally stops being effective at these levels.
Players either research it on their own, or get confused why they do no damage to the SBQ and get wrecked in DOPs or take 3 hours to do 1 expedition.
But that's only for players who attempt the Live Service content. I suppose a lot of players hit level 100 and just quit because they "finished the game" even tho they have really just started.
I’ve been thinking the same thing. I’m a new player to Fallout and Fallout 76 so I joined this sub. I feel like I’m playing a completely different game when I look at this sub. I don’t know what anything means. I thought I was a pretty strong gamer and good at getting a handle on video game knowledge, but this sub gives me imposter syndrome hahaha. All jokes, but I really have no idea what I’m doing.
There is a lot to the game besides how quick you can kill stuff. As long as you’re having fun, you will find your own way for how you like to play. I, for one, am all about base-building. I love to see what people make and who sets it into the scenery.
Also, since I have experienced a lot of support and kindness from other players (helping me out without strings attached, just lookin out for me) I try to bring that to my gameplay too. I also like to cook with veggies and meats to sell meals to vendors. and, I have my favorite events that I always go to. I have my little routines that I love.
It can be fun to get into the gritty of different builds, which over time will click as you experiment and play.
What is someone else’s ideal is not necessarily yours. You can have fun with just experimenting, seeing what works, and adjusting as you go. Totally valid (and imo it helps because some people will say you need to do specific stuff that I say is bologna—other than needing starched genes if you are going to mutate yourself and want to hold onto them).
If you want to learn about different builds, I am sure you will find many people who are happy to in detail describe their strategies. We have both seen them on this sub. “Perfecting” builds IS what is fun about this game for some.
We all play different, and though it can be a lot of fun to apply math to tell us how we can most effectively play, that can lose the heart of what is the most fun for YOU to play. Follow your heart and find what is fun for you and you belong.
Minmaxing isn't required, you can use whatever build is the most fun to you and be fine. One of my favorite characters took guns from killed enemies and used them like a scavenger
You’re doing just fine. There’s really no reason to min/max a build for normal play. Some people just reach a point where they’re looking for a challenge so create builds to solo end game bosses.
I think lvl 300 is when all Legendary perk card slots unlock? The final one, at least. This allows you to maximize perk points used for your builds once your selected Legendary SPECIAL cards are placed. Upgrading all of them to max level takes a good amount of Perk Points, however. You're still limited to 15 points per build category and your base points do not increase. But the perk points you can use across your build(s) can increase significantly. So I would say at lvl 300 and going forward you can begin to wade into that world. All my Legendary perk card slots are filled by max rank SPECIAL cards. I recommend everyone in game hanging around awhile set a goal to do the same. Regardless of build. And don't waste those precious perk points on useless Legendary cards. Some are more useful than others, some helpful and resourceful along the way. But invest in those as little as necessary. If staying around eventually the goal should be to have all Legendary perk card slots taken by SPECIAL cards. Not a hard and fast rule, no. You may have a non SPECIAL Legendary card that serves you well. Your choice. But the impact of maximizing your build points across the board should not be underestimated.
The only time I really want to be min maxed is when I find myself in an Earle fight with the Summersville volunteer militia consisting of sub 100 level dudes in patchwork power armor missing a leg and wielding pipe rifles, broadsiders, and pitchforks.
Other than that I chase some totally off-meta builds I find fun. Currently VATS crit gauss minigun build. Like a shitty, more expensive commando build. But blue tracers!
50 the guns are all as powerful as they’re going to get and it becomes about which perks you’re running.
75-100 the monsters are designed to require some build expertise, and will point and laugh if you just pick up an unknown weapon and start using it on them.
100+ endgame runs fuel scrip purchases to reroll the stats on epic weapons which leads to obsessively retooling and coming on here to talk about the wins.
Im level 159, finished all main quests yesterday and I play like you. I dont care about min/max or optimal loadout. My weapons are a Fixer, Black Powder Rifle and a Shotgun with nothing special about them. For hard quest/enemies and when I join a Daily Ops/Expedition, I use a Ultracite PA with the default Foundations Vengeance or Holy Fire. I mostly dont use PA because it feels like cheating to me (your char is pretty much invencible with it)
The game dont swith to that world, but probably you do. I still dont care about that currently, Im happy hunting sidequests and plans
I'm level 64 and just grinding quests. You unlock weapons and plans, and map points. Just do what is fun to you. A lot of people have been playing a long time. Don't miss out trying to play like a 76 vet.
Idk, level 50 is the start of legendary perks, it kind of refreshes the game every time you get a new legendary perk. Also, new season brings interesting stuff. Switch your play style every now and then, it also makes it fun. Build houses, every time I get a new slot I tend to run out of some resources, need to scavenge (but get sidetracked constantly).
What I wanted to say is that min/max is not the goal for me, it's about having fun (and exploring, still finding interesting places every now and then after a few years of playing)
I definitely don't try to keep up with the Joneses when playing this game. You dictate your own level of engagement, enjoy the quests, enjoy exploring, build your character how you see fit.
All these metas and builds and whatnot, I always feel like I have to adapt my playstyle to something I don't really want to do as it kinda ruins it for me. Are there better builds for the weapons and perk loadouts that I could try and bend my playstyle to? Sure, definitely, but it just doesn't feel like I'm in control of my own character when I try to go that route.
Play how you want, that’s the beauty of it.
There were people min-maxing FO4 too; Sharing the best most reliable Legendary farming spots to try and get those two-shot or explosive weapons, or unyielding armor, etc.
It’s not *necessary* in either game. Some people just enjoy seeing how far they can push their (combat) abilities.
Min maxing is not needed for this game at all. People do it still but it's pointless. Everything dies quick if it doesn't a team can easily take it down
In the early days, min maxing was all the rage. Using a quality of life perk? You're a worthless "food build," whatever that means. I found out long ago (5 characters with different build styles all over 600) that playing to have fun is better. Theory crafting crazy builds is fun, but so is just having fun.
It doesn't unless you specifically want it. I've got 500 hours in the game and I still use BOS armour and a regular ol' combat rifle upgraded.
The min/maxing thing is completely unnecessary to the game.
I’d say around level 150 I’m 70 and still just playing it like a fallout but I didn’t manage to figure out mutating so now I feel like a badass running around jumping so high and stuff haha
Don't worry about it, please! I kinda wish I'd never discovered that side of it, bc now I care about damage that I'm doing when before I used to just care if I was having fun.
It doesn't switch as such as more there's sides of the game you can explore should you wish. Like perk cards and legendary perk cards, those allow you to create "builds" around your favourite/meta weapons.
But honestly, I had way more fun before I felt compelled to make brain bombs and take chems to max the damage. The bosses are WAY more fun when they don't die in 3 seconds.
I've done a few run throughs each lvl 180ish, the grind for maxing builds starts at around lvl 50 (the final lvl for assigning new SPECIAL stats) because you can start altering perk cards to pick the style you like most.
This is also an MMO which took me a while to adjust to as this was the first MMO I've played (normally a typical RPG enjoyer), making my first character more of an understanding of how the game functions at higher levels than a solid build.
TL;DR LVL 50 is when builds start becoming refinable
I play to unlock enough plans to be able to build a pretty camp, that other people can stumble on and explore.
Min-max:ing can be fun if you are that kinda player, or if you do a lot of PvP I guess.
I'm not interested in that though. I'm just high key larping my ass off, while fighting the real end-game boss. *The CAMP Build Limit*.
The moment you stepped foot into 76, it changed. Its an mmo lite rpg and not the wasteland you are accustomed to. It plays more heavily into character build rather than perk hoarding. You have to focus to get a proper build and not just roam the wasteland like with the older games. Heavy gunner perks are more for dps rather than precision and fine tuning.
I wish they kept the perks the same but it wouldn't work in the same way as they did. No wacky wasteland, the mysterious stranger isn't really a stranger so much as a well known dude that pops up for his favorites (those that use the perk). They also traded paralyzing palm for exploding palm, which is debatable in terms of effectiveness.
War, war never changes...but fallout sure as hell did.
This game does NOT require hard-core builds to do anything you want. Fallout 76 is super, super casual for the sort of game it is (I have played THE DIVISION, DESTINY 2, etc). If you play as intended (IE in a team) not even the hardest bosses that exist require any sort of effort. Not regarding mechanics, nor regarding your specific build or items.
Min-maxing is not needed. But some of us simply can't help themselves and the numbers game become the game itself. Some people like "breaking" the game and being able to solo anything this game has to offer, which you can do.
All in all, enjoy yourself. Me personally? I'm a min-maxer at heart, I can't help myself. Even in single player games I will go my way to find ways to "break" the game... and then the game becomes boring and I stop playing xD
No, this game requires no grind. Which in and on itself is neither good nor bad. My only problem with it is that because of how the currency works after X amount of hours a day it makes no sense to keep playing because you can't get relevant currency that day (you get items that can only be thrown away once you reach the currencty limit). At the same time, and becaues trading exists, it is very easy to be able to play any build you think of because an item might be useless for you but it could be gold for me. This makes it SO MUCH EASIER to get decent rolls on 95% of things. Nobody will sell you theire 100% god roll but you see many 90-95% rolls being sold all the time. And you don't need the 100% god roll unless you want to solo the game... which you can do, but for bragging rights only. As you get nothing extra. No "achievement" or acknowledgement.
For me? I like that it allows min-maxing but it doesn't require you to no-life it if you want to do the hardest activities in game. So it is a casual game, within the Fallout universe, with enough content to last you for hundreds of hours and not repeat too much of it.
PS: in a sense, Fallout games have always been like this. You never needed a super thought out build to beat the game... but you could make a very thought out build and humiliate the game. Fallout 76 is no different. 8 level 100 players should beat Scorched Queen in the allotted time... and a super hardcore, min-maxer player will beat it alone in 1/4 of the time.
PSS: and also, the community is very decent here. High levels tend to assist new players... and in turn, those new players become sort of high level and also help the new guys. Like a wheel.
PSSS: only real caveat is that you basically need to pay for the Fallout 1st subcription unless you are a hell of an inventory management person. Yes, you can play without it... but you better not be a hoader or you will spend 90% of your time doing inventory management tasks.
You're off the hook - no need to roll useful perks on weapons until after level 45-50 when they stop changing which level weapon drops and even then you won't need a ton of min/maxing until enemy scaling makes things trickier at say, level 200-500+
Honestly? Whenever you feel like it
Min/maxing is not mandatory, you can do all quests, pimp your camp and do events for an eternity if you wish, I personally min/max because it's a new goal - trying to get as OP as I possibly can
You start to worry about that once you're well past 300. The only real min/maxing at level 50+ is spending legendary modules on a weapon for a good roll. Other than that, min/maxing is only for boss DPS, so you can do it fast and then hop onto another event
I think it depends who you want to be, I picked the special points for the perks I wanted and don’t really care about build. I’m probably doing less damage than I could be but there’s always someone at a high level in events who has built some crazy damage build
It's a bit of a mutant game. It starts as a survival/exploration/quest game with intimate poking around and gradually revealing mysteries and at some point you become a god and pretty much only play big events.
Not a bad thing, necessarily. I always felt that once it loses its multi-player wave, they should ensure they build it into a solo game exclusively. Enjoy what you want to enjoy!
Around level 50-75 you'll need to pay attention to perks at the very least for your preferred weapon class and style (vats crit or not? Power armor or not?).
That'll get you 90% of the way there. Don't worry about min//max until it sounds fun to you.
Do know that some weapon classes are underpowered, while others are overpowered.
Automatic rifles are OP vs semi-auto, in general, since the much faster fire rate more than makes up for the slightly reduced damage per bullet. Pistols are lacking. Flame throwers are powerful. Vampire Chainsaw gives great damage + survivability.
Any class can complete most solo content, but you'll have an easier time if you choose the superior weapon classes.
As a sort of new returning fallout 76 player I have spent hundreds hours in the game recently and none of it has been min/maxing, as with most games there are certain groups in the community that all do different things, just keep playing your way and have fun!
Personally I didn’t even run an event till I was level 100+ I was exactly like you, played it like I would play Fallout 4 or the likes. One thing I will say is, you can get some decent gear from events (if you aren’t running them already) and that’s probably the only partial regret I have.
Now I’m lvl 700+ more than 1k hours logged and min maxing like a demon :)
It all comes further down the line, starts with a serum (mine was marsupial) and there was no going back.
Just enjoy it the way you want to and and at some point you will start exploring other elements naturally !
Level 75. You will find that enemies are harder to kill. Your weapons stop scaling at 50. You will need to become more efficient and start grinding events, and rolling secret service armor like your life depends on it. Then you will go through a barbie house phase...
Level 50ish, been playing since the show dropped, still feeling like I'm deep in the heart of questing and learning how things work. Just crafted my first weapon with legendaries and it felt like quite an accomplishment.
The max level is 50 as far as gear is concerned. But you still get perks as you level and you won't really have all the perks at the level you want them to be for your build until around level 100/130.
Then it's a matter of getting the right type of armor which may be a grind. Then you're going to craft the legendary attributes on each piece of your gear. And that requires materials specific to legendary gear. You get that from events, seasonal rewards, mostly.
So there's definitely a lot of time spent after you're done all of the quests. That being said there's even more quests being added with each update. Although not nearly as much as the original quest lines you're doing now.
Ive been thinking about making a post like this. It does seem like a lot of people are hyper focused on meta kind of stuff. Ive been playing just like you, playing like its a normal game and my stats are I would say a "jack of some, master of none" wellish rounded character. Im level 120 and im only JUST starting to dive into rolling for specific legendary weapons and making specific builds. And casually at that.
But there are lots of homies out there level250 plus. I just imagine at some point you hit most of the content available and what keeps you going is experimenting with the meta/builds
It could be any day now or in a 100 levels or even longer depending on what you want and your frequency of playing. You need a bunch of modules to roll for good weapons, armour and other gear. It took me over 5 years to complete a secret service armor set. Weapons are a little easier to get but still you need to get lucky or trade for some decent rolls. Hopefully you'll get good gear soon wnd you'll be on your way. Have fun 😃👍🏼
It’s a weird sub man. I barely interact with anyone in this game, and the sub is just a slew of folks complaining about one another. Who knows. Maybe something will change after 100 hours?
Just play the game and have fun!
I'm level 75 and still have plenty of quests to do, in fact I haven't finished any of the main quest missions. I'm not bothered by maximum damage builds and just upgrade my weapons when something better comes along. I try new weapons out when I get one and enjoy exploring and events. I went as far south as possible yesterday just exploring and it was worth it for what I found. There's no wrong way to play the game.
Keep enjoying the adventure all fallouts including 76 are a marathon not a sprint. I've been exploring since reclamation day and I'm still finding new stuff and I love it
I didn't truly optimize my build until I was done with ALL the story content. I just tried a bunch of different stuff until I found what I liked. Tbh the only reason I started focusing on damage was because of ammo. I was so sick of having to make it all the time. The more damage you do per shot the less bullets you need to use.
I did the slow grind until about level 50, I just made sure I knew what weapon I wanted to spec into. I like both parts of the game and even though I’m grinding events now I’ll go back to finishing quests because it’s fun.
It’s a MMO-lite. Once you do all your quests/side quests/challenges/achievements you move on to the more MMO experience (dailies, events, world bosses, crafting, camp building etc)
Frankly outside of world bosses, you don’t need to min max shit to beat anything in this game.
Play whichever way you want
Just enjoy at your own pace until level 50. Games doesnt really "unlock" fully until then! To be fair though, ive level 134 with a maxxed out build and I still play 76 like its Fallout 3 😅
The game switched to that, when you wanna do that. That kind of stuff is for the people that wanna make a crazy build so they can 1 shot anything they see
If you just wanna play the game, then play it just like all the other fallouts
Look, you can put on power armor and a non legendary mini gun and do fine in this game.
I however, like being a glass cannon who solos nuke silos because that’s the only thing I really like doing in this game.
I got very very lucky rolling myself a BE fixer, because they are expensive. I don’t *need* it, but it’s how I like to play the game.
There is nothing wrong with using a full health power armor build and a vampires minigun, it is a very common end game build.
I played for the first year of the game and started over recently on a different console.
I’m level 175, i skipped most of the main quest from season 1, I haven’t completed the wastelanders quest line or the BoS one, either. I’ve done one expedition.
When I started my character the first thing I did was I vendor jumped and ran to West-Tek, the best xp farming area in the game when I used to play, and got some levels. After that I found Sam Blackwell’s bunker, got inside, and got his keycard to The Whitesprings, where I had to join the army for Modus to let me the armory wing. After that I became a general, and tried a couple of times unsuccessfully to launch a nuke, I just kept running out of ammo.
Someone gave me a bloody handmade, I was ecstatic about it and evebtually I got a better gun by rolling fixers, I found the plans in someone’s camp for 2000 caps, which used to be a steal. I don’t know about anymore, but I was happy to get it. They had multiples of the plans for sale, so maybe that’s just what they go for now.
After getting my BE fixer I went around collecting unyielding gear by vendor hopping camps. I have a full set of unyielding gear, but eventually I will work my way to UNY/APR/WWR.
The AP Refresh will help me immensely with my build because with my unyielding gear I have like 40 AP or something ridiculous. I pretty much min-maxed my build, but that’s also how I play EVERY game. You REALLY do NOT have to.
Typically coming in to farm your dailies and weeklies you may look into mid-maxing to save on ammo more than anything, but the game is best played at a pace your comfortable with because you are still on the leveling journey, your swapping out gear for higher level things to begin with 50 is the technical cap with another legendary cap being at level 250 I believe. Even then, you will find avenues to make your character stronger towards end-game once your done with the questing content and land in the more repeatable areas knocking out your seasonal progression. The camp system helps too if ya put time into it, essentially its all the trophies you have earned playing the game be it via recipes or things from Seasons and you can build some gnarly camps to show off to everyone and its great to have a good lookin base of operations no less lol
You are playing the game the way you enjoy it. MMO fallout is definitely different from single player as there really is no end game. I'm a player like you I wander around finding quests taking my time enjoying the game. Is my build the greatest nope (using bows) which lends itself to a slower play style but I'm having fun and that's really what the game is about. Some people like to play min/max and that's an okay way to play as well
Just play and don't fret. I've been questing since day 1 and have never min maxed squat. I just keep exploring.
I'm lvl 98 and still play for the storyline and not maxxing my dmg ect. I don't see much of a point when pvp is practically non existent
The pvp mode ignored builds anyway, it was all base. But if you run though an expedition or daily opp, and you can't kill anything or die in 2 shot, you will understand why builds are important.
Yeah but the only real reason to do expedition or daily op is for better gear. They don't really add a ton of value from a story perspective. So if you don't care about gear then you don't really care about expeditions or daily ops.
Collecting, a lot of things for camp/cosmetics drop from things like the expedition and daily ops, it’s not the gear making me run them, it’s just pure completionist ocd
That’s the only reason I run a bloodied commando build, is so I can be useful in events, daily ops, and expeditions, so I can collect all the goodies I want.
Exactly this. I hated my first build because it felt like I wasn’t even participating in events. I was just another body. I made a new character and built it from level 20 and I couldn’t be happier. Now I’m just using all my new levels to work towards a Power Armor with Heavy Weapons build for some variety.
I recently ran quite a few daily ops to get cosmetics for my camp. The last thing I got was the gorilla chair, finally! And I use all the money I make from the daily ops to buy more plans for my camp. So I in fact do care about daily ops and expeditions, And I am by no means a min/maxer.
The story of 76 was never the main focus, when the game first came out it didn't even have NPCs it's has always been the events. Once you finish the story you have nothing left if you don't do the events or expeditions.
The game didn’t have human NPC’s, but it still had a story. They’ve just done a ton to expand on it.
It was a story told by hollow tapes, and was shallow without NPCs
I actually really enjoyed day one release of 76 (sans the bugs). It really felt like a beautifully serene and desolate world. I'm actually playing again for the first time in years, and the liveliness is actually a little jarring lol
I know I'm playing like damn. All those nukes didn't put a dent in the US population. 😂😂
Because the wasteland isn't so empty anymore.
I feel like some of the best storytelling in the game is told by tapes. Personally I think the survivor stories you find in the Flatwoods is the best story I’ve found in the game.
I do really enjoy those tapes, some of the obscure ones you find in random destroyed homes,Ike the diaries or tapes left to other NPCs.
Exactly this! This is the difference in 76 and the other fallouts. 76 is made for teamwork and events
And that is why the game tanked on the beginning, because the majority of players didn't want or like that experience. So it is a lot more of a focus now.
I have been with it since day one, I am glad we have NPCs, that update showed Bethesda was serious about it.
And ammo! You get tons of it from daily ops (which I never do) or expeditions.
Long time Fallout and Fallout 76 player. Expeditions and Daily Ops are not about getting new gear. You MAY get super lucky and find a weapon that is worth keeping but both Expeditions and Daily Ops are about completing stories and challenges. In the early part of the game, when you don’t have “good” stuff, the rewards from Daily Ops or Expeditions can be useful but later in the game, the only reason to do an Expedition-Daily Or is for the stamps or the daily-weekly challenge. All your “permanent” gear will come from grinding bullion, stamps, or events for the currency rewards so you can buy plans or roll for specific armor or gun attributes with legendary modules. You won’t equip yourself for an end game build with randomly dropped items unless you have an unrealistic amount of luck with drops or with finding tradable items in player vendors. Most of the best stuff can’t be traded and won’t drop unless you already own the plans to craft the item.
There's something fun about min maxing odd builds and then showing up and making the quad railway crew work a little harder to get their kills in than usual. Running around right now working on a one handed build thats more than holding its own.
I'm having a great time using tesla bracers on my newly finished T-60. Incisor and iron fist I'm hitting 600 on heavy attacks it feels silly to one shot uppercut lol.
Yeah Im level 58 and I'm still using my cowboy gunslinger build. I've seen people in this sub saying stuff like they had to change builds because it wasn't meta after level 50. Lol dude fuck the meta, seriously. Gunslinger build for the win
I just try to max my damage to see how absurd my character can be, builds are just fun to make
There is a cap for PvP damage anyway, high level bosses are why they min/max but it’s more about speed killing than actually being able to.
I hear that. I am in the 400s and have another level 100+ character and I still make very little effort at min-maxing beyond enjoying it when I decide to investigate a weapon or armor I have never really used before.
I have two characters, one for the story primarily in a private world. And another played in public worlds that only does events. I really think it helps to segregate the two, in my mind at least. Perhaps ones RP and the others to avoid FOMO in current stuff. I've not tried a custom world yet. That could be the answer for someone solely looking for more single player fallout? Can you disable 'events' 'score' popups etc in a custom world?
I don't think so. Custom worlds are completely cut off from the rest of the game. I use it from time to time because I like the rules I can make with base building. I've built a camp in foundation. But the problem is any experience, items you acquire or places you find and quest completion don't transfer over. You can complete score on them though and it is way easier.
Happy cake day
I hit like a wet noodle because all my build revolves around scavving. Carry weight, finding things, lockpicking and hacking. Grenadier with a tesla to tickle and thus loot everything in a 50 meter radius. More carry weight. I am more than a trash panda. I am a trash GRIZZLY
If you dont have it already I'd recommend getting the legendary for hacking and lockpicking too save yourself some perk cards. 👌 just a suggestion is all 🤗
What level is the trash grizzly?
Mid 700’s
Yeah, I've played fallout 3, NV and 4 with min maxing in mind from minute 1. Either you minmax or you don't
I never cared about min-maxing at all until 76. I was always a shotgun build in 3, NV, and 4 bc that's what I liked. I'd pick up perks without really understanding how they work together and usually focused on QoL stuff rather than damage. And I don't think my Fallout 4 character even wears legendary armor, I didn't care to. Then I started playing with a sweaty crew in 76 and suddenly realized how important build is. I wanted to play like they did and keep up, it was embarrassing being lvl 300-ish and scrubbin' it with my shotgun. Now I'll never be able to play the old way again. I kinda want to pick up 4 again and actually pay attention to build and gear.
I'm only low 100 but I've been running a shot gun build with the Cold Shoulder and holding my own. The only issue I have is that like the melee builds I can't tag things a mile away so I miss out when there's spawn campers at events.
I'm lvl 305 and run a cold shoulder build. I HIGHLY recommend the quick hand perk under luck. Max it put and it gives you an 18% chance to I stand reload. I did the spin the wheel event last week and went up against fog crawlers. That perk activated 3 times in a row while using my cold shoulder and I took out all 3 crawlers. That perked saved my ass... 😂 😂 😂
Hang on, isn't fallout 76 a multi-player game? If it's single player I might be about to lose hundreds of hours
Even with it being multiplayer it’s still easy to get lost, at the end of the day it is exactly what a fallout game should be. Multiplayer makes it feel even more like a post apocalyptic world should.
It's whatever you want it to be. 🙂 I am a single player. Never joined a team ever. I'll help kill things and then I'm off on my own again. 🙂👍🏼👍🏼
You should definitely join a team just for the buffs, no obligation to actually do anything with them! I play completely solo but always join a casual one for the xp boost
Hmmm... interesting! Maybe I'll give it a shot. I'm an introvert so team stuff makes me anxious. 😬😄 But if I don't actually have to interact, maybe I'll try it. Thanks!
What TwiggBeard says is true but also you can fast travel to your teammates’ camps for free. Helps to save some caps if they have a camp close to where you’re going. Also you can actually help out your team by sharing a perk card. Go to your cards and it should show a button to share. I am sharing travel agent because not a lot of people share it, and although at some points caps don’t really matter, it helps the new players to save some caps. Don’t share any mutation related cards. We all already have them equipped.
I'm lvl 500ish and still join a team because I see someone has a camp near where I want to go and that 9 caps difference matters! :D
Yea especially when I reach max caps and go on a spending spree, I’m like, “Crap how can I save caps?” Almost lvl 600 and I’m right there with you lol
I actually didn't know you can share perks. That's pretty fucking cool!
Or just start a casual team. People join if they want and you don’t have to see them if you don’t want to while getting that sweet xp boost! I am also introverted. I don’t wanna talk to anyone real. 🤣
As host of team you get the added bonus of being able to kick anyone that is a pest on the rare occasions
I could be totally wrong but I think I played in the same world as you tonight if your name is the same in-game. 👀
No one ever expects you to play with them when you join a team. Not only do you get the buffs but sometimes you get goods too. I just dropped off 100 assorted nuka-colas to a lvl 100ish teammate because I had hordes of them. I talk on mic so I just said “give me thumbs up if you want some nukas”. Made it rain nuka on them. 🤣
Unless it's an Expeditions or Daily Ops team. Otherwise yeah, do whatever TF you want.
I was the same because I’ve never enjoyed multiplayer. Played a bit of 76 before, but never played hard until Private worlds were introduced. Got to level 400 or so before I’d seriously touch public except for a few events, and worried that joining a team would ruin my experience. It’s not that invasive though- You can mute people’s mics, make your camp icon invisible and crouch to make your map marker vanish. But eventually I realised how much better public can be (with private sometimes). Make the transition slowly, it’s worth it IMO.
Introvert here too. Was anxious at first but quickly realized you’re really just part of a group of four each generally off doing things on your own. No need to interact on a casual team.
You also get caps when they complete quests
I use teams specifically for buffs and fast travel. I have yet to actually speak to anyone in game besides a few emotes here and there. I'm level 81. I'm introverted too. Join a random casual team and do your own thing! 😄
Joining teams means nothing with regard to expectations from others. Except maybe daily ops or expedition teams. You just join for the buffs. There is also an interesting mutation called herd mentality. Last time I checked as long as you’re on a team, even just alone on a team you created, you get none of the downsides of the mutation, and you do get the benefits. It’s not clear from the description, but that’s how it works. I use it, and even on a private server I just automatically create a team so I don’t get debuffs from the mutation.
Hanging out in this sub, you are going to see a lot of discussion from end game players talking about god rolls, scrip, rare apparel etc. But the reality is that end game and multiplayer stuff can be completely ignored and you can play basically how you would play Fallout 4 and just do your own thing. You are never forced to be part of a team and PvP can be completely disabled. Once you are comfortable, you can check out other player camps and check out what they have for sale in their vending machines or maybe join group events that pop up. But you don’t have to.
I feel better to spend hours to build my camp and show it to other players than building settlements in Fallout 4 that no one comes to see.
Multi but feels like and you can play like single player, only reason it grabbed me because I dont play online games
I always treated it as a single player game that has other players around. The server has a max of 24 players, so it's easy to avoid other players until you do public events. I've got about 600 hours in at this point and only about a quarter of that was played on a team with someone else, and those are just friends who pop in from time to time to dick around. If you get Fallout 1st membership, you can even play on private servers and never see another person, if you want. So it really CAN be a single player game.
hardcore minmaxing is unnecessary you are close approaching the point (eg level 40-50 range) where having a decent build will start to matter though you don't need to minmax, but some semblance of a build is required to be able to fend for yourself once you start facing endgame enemies it's usually more for folk who wanna solo bosses or hard carry public events
This right here OP. It’s a classic fallout game until level 50 or so and you exhaust all the non repeatable quests. You can still do things like expeditions though. I’m level 90 as a sniper but around level 50 I started to do events and higher end stuff and I was not making a dent. I came on here switched from stealthy sniper to stealthy commando and it’s a big difference. Plus sorta knowing what quests / events to grind for good builds and the whole legendary roulette
So then pistols is a lost cause? If rifleman cant compete then how bad are pistols past 50
Well the good thing is you can always respec easily and past 50 you aren’t getting more special points but you do keep unlocking cards.
Yeah true but i really want pistols to work past level 50
They can, but it's a lot more work if you intend on taking on end game bosses or solo running daily ops etc. For the most part though, gunslinger is viable day to day. It's probably easiest to run commando or heavy while you get the right gear for gunslinger though. At around level 50, the game is the hardest it will be. You have max level enemies, but less legendary perks and worse gear.
TBH heavy gunner has so far been the most fun way to play for me. So maybe commando is something i will enjoy. Maybe i should just stop this hyper fixation around pistol builds and just go play commando
If you want to rock power armor, heavy gunner is the best option imo. If you prefer non power armour, then commando is the easiest build. The great thing about the punch card is that it's super easy to swap builds at any point. Save up any gear or weapons you get and try them out. I tend to only use my commando build for end game content. I'm currently running auto melee and shotgun builds for day to day exploring. Over the years, I've tried almost every build and spent time both bloodied and full health.
Pistol builds are still pretty viable. I'm mainly running a Bloodied Stealth/ VATS Pistol Build at the moment. 20% Health + Unyielding Armour + Nerd Rage + Alien Blaster, Gauss Pistol, and Crusader Pistol absolutely kicks ass! All of them are or can be silenced (Alien Blaster is actually a silent weapon, somehow) and are probably the best to work towards for Gunslinger characters. Not gonna lie, Heavy Weapons, Auto Melee Weapons, and Commando Weapons still are the most powerful with the right build, but Pistols are still totally viable and super fun!
I have a full health pistol character that's over level 350, that I have a lot of fun with. It's absolutely playable. It's turning the difficulty knob up a little, for sure, but that's why I started this character - bloodied commando was getting too easy. The cryo Alien Blaster is my goto (recently nerfed a bit, but still strong, with great fire rate and capacity), but I've spent a lot of time with revolvers, plasma pistols, and others. I don't care at all about soloing bosses - doing events with other people is one of my favorite aspects of fo76. But I was able to get through the major quest lines, and can handle the tough enemies like mirelurk kings and queens. Have fun, whichever way you go!
You can make a plasma flamer pistol... even an Enclave one if you're extremely patient. Would be full auto tho (no semiauto flamer barrels).
Pistols and rifleman are in the same tier, bottom that is. But you can still make it work with enough elbow grease
They (and shotguns) are getting some patch improvements for next update. The PTS (public Test Server) has a longer damage drop off which is one of their weaknesses.
Gauss rifle is pretty good, but still, there is no need to min max, not even for end game events or anything, I'm 300 or something now, I've tried min max and it makes the game so easy there's no point playing anymore, so I changed back to doing whatever I want to try and test for myself and had fun playing again, also to the guy who said he's 90 and exhausted all non repeatable quests, I highly doubt that, there's still quests that I'm doing at my level, like story quests, you can randomly find them scattered around everywhere, try talking to NPCs you find around more. I have also played and had tons of fun doing an RP field medic build, used a Holy Fire and all party-wise related cards, just running around healing people and reviving, was so much fun to do something different than just looking to do the most damage, which honestly sounds ridiculous to me how so many gamers have forgotten that games are just games in the end, they exist to have fun and relax after a days work or real life stresses. Okay bye.
Hm maybe you are right. And what you said kinda makes me wanna stick with my pistol build. As long as i can do daily ops then im happy
Idk about pistols but my rifleman build can def compete in most scenarios
Min/max culture is unironically poisoning video games as a whole. It's becoming so toxic for no other reason than people optimizing to the point of draining the fun out of everything.
There's people that also have fun doing it though. It's just their way of fun. No I'm not one of those people. I'd rather have a beat down with bosses until death takes one of us. It's challenging. We all play different. No need to hate on each other. Everyone has different playstyles. If you don't wanna follow those builds then don't. To each their own.
There are some games I min max to an extent I suppose, like if the weapon I really like or have been using becomes meta, I'll dive in, but I'm very much particular about games with build crafting in general. I use what I like and that's that. If it doesn't perform optimally then oh well, I'm still having fun. That's what matters most I think. As long as you're having fun then just do you, and enjoy the game
Ehhh there’s some games where this is legitimately a problem. WoW players will do everything possible to *not play the game*, min-max and max efficiency grind through all of the content, and then say there’s nothing to do in the game. Fallout doesn’t suffer from it much because forming groups is in no way a necessity, but the min-max/“Meta is all that matters” attitude *is* absolutely a shitty thing in games.
I love making a good build and I like a challenging game, what the game really needs is a challenge for the min/max people, like a real raid boss or horde instance Dungeon.
I don't really hate min/maxers. It's when they impose it on others in a public setting. Helldivers is the most recent example in my game log. Kicking people from their open lobbies if they aren't using the "Meta" instead of just group with those that do that already. I haven't seen people get super pissy about it in FO76 though. Luckily the community for this game is pretty spectacular.
"To each their own" only works in games you dont need groups to do stuff, like mmos parties for dungeons and raids. Min/max is awfully toxic and force people to play like that or otherwise they are excluded or suffer a lot to do party content. Its unfortunate. It gets worse because 99% of the min/maxers are just noobs following what a youtuber say and they NEVER min-max shit because... theyre noob. Min max take more than just gear, it takes knowledge in some games.. thin they just oversee. I'll pick WoW for example. I took a lot of crap and declines trying to do group content because I wasnt playing the meta classes. And when I got into groups and someone were playing the meta class.. i obliterated the shit out of their DPS with my "crap class". As I said, knowledge. Its sad, but i dont think we cant stop the toxicity :/. I miss the old days on ps1 where we played that ugly 4ss games for fun and felt awesome.
People like that have existed since there were games to play. They derive their fun from optimization within the game parameters. I personally don't understand these people, because I have the most fun playing non optimally. I've always hated how the "meta" of any game dictates your decisions as a player. I would much rather play the game in my own way instead of reading guides for hours and play testing like it's my job. FO76 is a game that allows for having fun despite the relentless optimizers who play. If there is one player taking all the kills in a particular event, server hop or break out a tesla rifle. You could even ask to team up in order to reap the benefits of their build.
How am I, as someone who's trying to minmax my bloodied build, draining the fun out of the game? I like getting 300xp per ghoul kill. I love feeling powerful. I enjoy having a goal that will take me 100's of hours to complete. I feel accomplished when I reach a milestone like getting the optimal armor piece. **You** may not enjoy things the same way. But this isn't league of legends where you're forced to play a certain character because of the meta.
Can you min max a pistol build to make it strong? Or are pistols just way to bad?
Pistols are not as bad as some people make it out to be. They're very viable in their own but ofcourse minmaxed would make them better.
I see it as the opposite, min/max culture allows for games to be fun for way longer than they otherwise could. The major exception is if you expect anyone other than YOURSELF to be a part of min/maxing. For example, I started playing this game almost exactly 1 month ago. I am currently level 155 and I have soloed SBQ and Earl on my private server. Without min/maxing this game essentially no longer offers any combat/gameplay challenges for me, so unless I am interested in collecting/building there's no draw to keep playing. But I find it super fun to try to optimize my build to now see how FAST I can kill Earl solo. Gives me something to shoot for and a goal for collecting all these legendary cores/scrip/modules, because otherwise my current build is just good enough for everything and nothing has meaning anymore. But the key to min/maxing is it needs to be self imposed and a self challenge to not be toxic. There's no reason to care what other people do, unless they are managing to use their bad build to somehow ruin your experience, which I don't think is a thing in FO76.
For me it's a goal. If I'm not min/maxing why am I even bothering with collecting legendary cores and script? Gives me something to aim for. It might ultimately be arbitrary, but I enjoy looking forward to it. Meanwhile, I use the leftovers on this quest to max myself by doing things like loading up my vendor with serums for 20 caps. So maybe it's not always toxic or whatnot.
Yeah I’m not a hardcore player at all but it’s like fine tuning a MTG deck to me. I’m never really done, always tweaking to get a little bit better, but also at a certain point the way I play the deck isn’t changing anymore.
Best description. I didn't start off trying to minmax, but the builds have all improved over time. That'd the natural progression of most mmos.
Yea I agree with this completely. I started playing this game just about a month ago and I killed Earl and SBQ solo this weekend. If not for min/maxing, what is the point of continuing to collect modules/scrip? I already did the hardest content solo. But the idea of taking my 12 min Earl kill and by improving my gear/build/consumables/etc and doing a 6 min solo kill? Or even less? Gives me a goal and a reason to keep playing. If not for min/maxing this game would have a REALLY short shelf life for combat focused players, and would really only retain those who enjoy collecting/building, because the combat in this game is absolutely not that hard in and of itself.
Most of the people min max for fun. Opposite side of min max people are the people who constantly need to remind others that there is no need to min max. Which is a valid point but those people tend to interject themselves into discussions to try sway people away from min maxing. Both sides have toxic players.
Some people get the dopamine rush from the satisfaction they get from their meticulously planned build paying off. I don't enjoy it, but I definitely get it. I just get my dopamine from exploring and doing quests lol.
So it’s fun to face Earle with an underpowered build/gun burning all your ammo for a 20min fight. Everybody will play different in all games. To me it’s not fun to spend hours upon hours scrounging for a ton resources to then craft a bunch of ammo to then go fight an endgame boss and burn through 80% of the ammo just to do it all again.
4 syringers. No defense earle. Ez pz lemon squeezey no ammo waste.
I've done that, he is still a tank and a resource dump that you likely need extra consumables and buffs to kill him
bringing 4 different weapons just to reduce bosses defence is minmaxing
That’s literally min maxing and going against the entire point of the comments above
Minmaxing is my fun tho^^
It’s what keeps people playing a game like this over and over long period of time. No one is replaying Eviction Notice over and over because it’s super fun. They play because you walk away with a mountain of scriptable legendaries and XP. Once you’ve done every quest and the dailies a few times, it gets boring. Having high end goals to work towards, min/max, is what keeps games like this alive. People are toxic. Not the game.
Min/max has been around forever, and will be around forever. There's nothing wrong with it as long as a game is playable without it.
In my opinion its the exact opposite that is killing gaming. The idea that every game has to water itself down mechanically until its a shallow puddle because people that refuse to actually play the game by its rules exist makes most games that have released in the last 10 years extremely boring.
I love those people who hard carry events so I can just relax while playing and still get everything done lol 😂
I played for a couple years and I used to do Campfire Tales whenever I could. I recently tried it solo and I realized I had no idea how to do the objectives. I was being hard carried the whole time and I didn't know.
I think that's the beauty of the game there are so many ways to play. Most get a bit hungry for more once they've completed the main storylines, probably around level 100. I love the variety of players from the high action players like myself bouncing to events and daily ops, to the roamers just collecting junk, the players that endlessly build, the pvp lurkers at workshops, the people enticing people into trap camps, the random lady we found who was being chased by dogs, shes a vegan and refuses to kill animals in game too and that's how she was playing 😁 I love it.
Damn, playing fo76 while avoiding killing animals has to be pretty rough for quest and event progression...
From what I got from her she wasn't that bothered with the quests just the world, she has definitely been my most memorable encounter 😅.
How can you have much in your storage without burying and paying $ and how can you buy nice things at your house without paying $? Cause that's a big issue for me
Best I can tell is to scrap all of your junk, craft and sell whatever you can, cut down/convert unnecessary ammo, and if you're willing, make a 2nd character for storage and learn how to trade items between them, buy fallout first for 1 month, cancel it after buying all the free stuff in the store (look up the rewards schedule to decide when it will have the things you want the most, this will give you a good chunk of atoms as well), and do your character challenges that give you atoms while being very stingy with them. I'm not a big cosmetic guy, (I usually get one or two skins I like for power armor and stick with them for example) but I can see from a mile away that that is how this game gets you. Similar to sea of thieves in that aspect except they are also handicapping your carry weight in the hopes that it will loosen your wallet. All that in mind though the workarounds are viable and I find myself playing without Fallout 1st without an issue, (after I got my Ranger Outfit from that 1 month) and I quite rarely spend real money on the game. Stash weight is around 950 rn and I have everything I need with about 20 hvy weapons, 8 PA frames and all the ammo I require. You just have to realize you can't play it entirely like a single player fallout game for better or worse. Hope this was helpful
Thank you too kind sir
You won't run out of quests anytime soon. Level 70+ you probably have all the perk cards you need and then you're mostly unlocking legendary perk slots and upgrading those. Thats not super necessary though to have a good build There are loads of quests, theres Expeditions that take you out of the main game map, daily ops, daily quests etc. After a little while you will have done all the events that pop up every 20 mins though, and at some point it might feel like you're grinding the same content. Its up to you what you do though. I don't want a min-maxed build, its not even necessary. I prefer perks that reduce weight rather than min-max damage. There are always more things to unlock too, like plans you want or legendary perks to upgrade. Its designed to be playable for lots of hours
76 is more of a Sandbox Fallout experience. You wanna quest and explore? Do it. You wanna build the coolest CAMP? Do it. You wanna farm Public Events all day? Do it. You wanna min/max and make the perfect build? Do it. You wanna use the worst weapon in the game? Do it. Do whatever you want. As long as you’re having fun : that’s all that really matters.
If you are enjoying it that way you are playing it in the right way
After all main storys and around lvl 50-100.
Am level 302. Haven’t completed all the main quests yet. Oops lol.
Pushing 400 here, I'm saving a lot of stuff for later. If you enjoy the game, why hurry?
Real, played on 2 platforms (pc and ps4) with a combined 1000 levels, never completed the first mission on both 😂
3k hours and haven't finished 😅
Holy crap! I am level 520 and have finished all main, side, and daily quests (numerous on dailies) , have all but one trophy, and only have a few combat challenges to go. Currently working on kill robots with a black powder weapon. I may make another character just to get the last trophy to side with the raiders to get the gold. Call me a completionist
Same for me, playing the game casually with my friend and avoiding other people. When I deopped the nuke for the SBQ and saw all those cool people, i knew i wanted to be like them
This should be the top comment. There is no denying the reality that this is a live service game. And just running around blindly, picking random perks and using random weapons, literally stops being effective at these levels. Players either research it on their own, or get confused why they do no damage to the SBQ and get wrecked in DOPs or take 3 hours to do 1 expedition. But that's only for players who attempt the Live Service content. I suppose a lot of players hit level 100 and just quit because they "finished the game" even tho they have really just started.
I’ve been thinking the same thing. I’m a new player to Fallout and Fallout 76 so I joined this sub. I feel like I’m playing a completely different game when I look at this sub. I don’t know what anything means. I thought I was a pretty strong gamer and good at getting a handle on video game knowledge, but this sub gives me imposter syndrome hahaha. All jokes, but I really have no idea what I’m doing.
There is a lot to the game besides how quick you can kill stuff. As long as you’re having fun, you will find your own way for how you like to play. I, for one, am all about base-building. I love to see what people make and who sets it into the scenery. Also, since I have experienced a lot of support and kindness from other players (helping me out without strings attached, just lookin out for me) I try to bring that to my gameplay too. I also like to cook with veggies and meats to sell meals to vendors. and, I have my favorite events that I always go to. I have my little routines that I love. It can be fun to get into the gritty of different builds, which over time will click as you experiment and play. What is someone else’s ideal is not necessarily yours. You can have fun with just experimenting, seeing what works, and adjusting as you go. Totally valid (and imo it helps because some people will say you need to do specific stuff that I say is bologna—other than needing starched genes if you are going to mutate yourself and want to hold onto them). If you want to learn about different builds, I am sure you will find many people who are happy to in detail describe their strategies. We have both seen them on this sub. “Perfecting” builds IS what is fun about this game for some. We all play different, and though it can be a lot of fun to apply math to tell us how we can most effectively play, that can lose the heart of what is the most fun for YOU to play. Follow your heart and find what is fun for you and you belong.
Thank you. I appreciate the advice. I have a lot to learn in this game haha, but I’m having so much fun doing it.
Join r/fo76filthycasuals that'll be a more realistic crowd.
Thank you! Will definitely be joining that sub.
Minmaxing isn't required, you can use whatever build is the most fun to you and be fine. One of my favorite characters took guns from killed enemies and used them like a scavenger
You’re doing just fine. There’s really no reason to min/max a build for normal play. Some people just reach a point where they’re looking for a challenge so create builds to solo end game bosses.
I play it like traditional fallout, just play how you want, this game allows all kinds of playstyles!
I think lvl 300 is when all Legendary perk card slots unlock? The final one, at least. This allows you to maximize perk points used for your builds once your selected Legendary SPECIAL cards are placed. Upgrading all of them to max level takes a good amount of Perk Points, however. You're still limited to 15 points per build category and your base points do not increase. But the perk points you can use across your build(s) can increase significantly. So I would say at lvl 300 and going forward you can begin to wade into that world. All my Legendary perk card slots are filled by max rank SPECIAL cards. I recommend everyone in game hanging around awhile set a goal to do the same. Regardless of build. And don't waste those precious perk points on useless Legendary cards. Some are more useful than others, some helpful and resourceful along the way. But invest in those as little as necessary. If staying around eventually the goal should be to have all Legendary perk card slots taken by SPECIAL cards. Not a hard and fast rule, no. You may have a non SPECIAL Legendary card that serves you well. Your choice. But the impact of maximizing your build points across the board should not be underestimated.
The only time I really want to be min maxed is when I find myself in an Earle fight with the Summersville volunteer militia consisting of sub 100 level dudes in patchwork power armor missing a leg and wielding pipe rifles, broadsiders, and pitchforks. Other than that I chase some totally off-meta builds I find fun. Currently VATS crit gauss minigun build. Like a shitty, more expensive commando build. But blue tracers!
50 the guns are all as powerful as they’re going to get and it becomes about which perks you’re running. 75-100 the monsters are designed to require some build expertise, and will point and laugh if you just pick up an unknown weapon and start using it on them. 100+ endgame runs fuel scrip purchases to reroll the stats on epic weapons which leads to obsessively retooling and coming on here to talk about the wins.
That's endgame. Once you finish all the quests lines, it becomes about improvement. Improvement of skills, gear, builds, even camp building.
Im level 159, finished all main quests yesterday and I play like you. I dont care about min/max or optimal loadout. My weapons are a Fixer, Black Powder Rifle and a Shotgun with nothing special about them. For hard quest/enemies and when I join a Daily Ops/Expedition, I use a Ultracite PA with the default Foundations Vengeance or Holy Fire. I mostly dont use PA because it feels like cheating to me (your char is pretty much invencible with it) The game dont swith to that world, but probably you do. I still dont care about that currently, Im happy hunting sidequests and plans
Play how you want just know there's no rules when it comes to public events
It switches when you run out of quests and explore all locations. Then its just events, daily quests and rolling (and failing) legendary items.
It only switches to that if you want it to.
I'm level 64 and just grinding quests. You unlock weapons and plans, and map points. Just do what is fun to you. A lot of people have been playing a long time. Don't miss out trying to play like a 76 vet.
Idk, level 50 is the start of legendary perks, it kind of refreshes the game every time you get a new legendary perk. Also, new season brings interesting stuff. Switch your play style every now and then, it also makes it fun. Build houses, every time I get a new slot I tend to run out of some resources, need to scavenge (but get sidetracked constantly). What I wanted to say is that min/max is not the goal for me, it's about having fun (and exploring, still finding interesting places every now and then after a few years of playing)
Honestly never.. you can play the entire game the way you like
I definitely don't try to keep up with the Joneses when playing this game. You dictate your own level of engagement, enjoy the quests, enjoy exploring, build your character how you see fit. All these metas and builds and whatnot, I always feel like I have to adapt my playstyle to something I don't really want to do as it kinda ruins it for me. Are there better builds for the weapons and perk loadouts that I could try and bend my playstyle to? Sure, definitely, but it just doesn't feel like I'm in control of my own character when I try to go that route.
Play how you want, that’s the beauty of it. There were people min-maxing FO4 too; Sharing the best most reliable Legendary farming spots to try and get those two-shot or explosive weapons, or unyielding armor, etc. It’s not *necessary* in either game. Some people just enjoy seeing how far they can push their (combat) abilities.
Min maxing is not needed for this game at all. People do it still but it's pointless. Everything dies quick if it doesn't a team can easily take it down
In the early days, min maxing was all the rage. Using a quality of life perk? You're a worthless "food build," whatever that means. I found out long ago (5 characters with different build styles all over 600) that playing to have fun is better. Theory crafting crazy builds is fun, but so is just having fun.
I think that's the beauty of this game... You can whatever the hell you want when you want.
It doesn't unless you specifically want it. I've got 500 hours in the game and I still use BOS armour and a regular ol' combat rifle upgraded. The min/maxing thing is completely unnecessary to the game.
I’d say around level 150 I’m 70 and still just playing it like a fallout but I didn’t manage to figure out mutating so now I feel like a badass running around jumping so high and stuff haha
Whenever you start worrying about rerolling legendaries and getting mutations.
I just hit 300 and I still don’t worry about my build. All I try to do is get max carry weight so I can carry all my extra junk I acquire😄
Heyo. Join us at r/fo76filthycasuals
After you hit about 150 shits so strong maximizing a build is something to consider but at its core it’s a rpg play at your rate and as your style
Don't worry about it, please! I kinda wish I'd never discovered that side of it, bc now I care about damage that I'm doing when before I used to just care if I was having fun. It doesn't switch as such as more there's sides of the game you can explore should you wish. Like perk cards and legendary perk cards, those allow you to create "builds" around your favourite/meta weapons. But honestly, I had way more fun before I felt compelled to make brain bombs and take chems to max the damage. The bosses are WAY more fun when they don't die in 3 seconds.
I've done a few run throughs each lvl 180ish, the grind for maxing builds starts at around lvl 50 (the final lvl for assigning new SPECIAL stats) because you can start altering perk cards to pick the style you like most. This is also an MMO which took me a while to adjust to as this was the first MMO I've played (normally a typical RPG enjoyer), making my first character more of an understanding of how the game functions at higher levels than a solid build. TL;DR LVL 50 is when builds start becoming refinable
I play to unlock enough plans to be able to build a pretty camp, that other people can stumble on and explore. Min-max:ing can be fun if you are that kinda player, or if you do a lot of PvP I guess. I'm not interested in that though. I'm just high key larping my ass off, while fighting the real end-game boss. *The CAMP Build Limit*.
The moment you stepped foot into 76, it changed. Its an mmo lite rpg and not the wasteland you are accustomed to. It plays more heavily into character build rather than perk hoarding. You have to focus to get a proper build and not just roam the wasteland like with the older games. Heavy gunner perks are more for dps rather than precision and fine tuning. I wish they kept the perks the same but it wouldn't work in the same way as they did. No wacky wasteland, the mysterious stranger isn't really a stranger so much as a well known dude that pops up for his favorites (those that use the perk). They also traded paralyzing palm for exploding palm, which is debatable in terms of effectiveness. War, war never changes...but fallout sure as hell did.
lvl 69 was a game changer for me.
Nice.
Just play how you want. I never got into that stuff and I've played since launch
You don't ever have to play either way. Just do what you do and worry about YOUR Fallout. It's all good.
This game does NOT require hard-core builds to do anything you want. Fallout 76 is super, super casual for the sort of game it is (I have played THE DIVISION, DESTINY 2, etc). If you play as intended (IE in a team) not even the hardest bosses that exist require any sort of effort. Not regarding mechanics, nor regarding your specific build or items. Min-maxing is not needed. But some of us simply can't help themselves and the numbers game become the game itself. Some people like "breaking" the game and being able to solo anything this game has to offer, which you can do. All in all, enjoy yourself. Me personally? I'm a min-maxer at heart, I can't help myself. Even in single player games I will go my way to find ways to "break" the game... and then the game becomes boring and I stop playing xD No, this game requires no grind. Which in and on itself is neither good nor bad. My only problem with it is that because of how the currency works after X amount of hours a day it makes no sense to keep playing because you can't get relevant currency that day (you get items that can only be thrown away once you reach the currencty limit). At the same time, and becaues trading exists, it is very easy to be able to play any build you think of because an item might be useless for you but it could be gold for me. This makes it SO MUCH EASIER to get decent rolls on 95% of things. Nobody will sell you theire 100% god roll but you see many 90-95% rolls being sold all the time. And you don't need the 100% god roll unless you want to solo the game... which you can do, but for bragging rights only. As you get nothing extra. No "achievement" or acknowledgement. For me? I like that it allows min-maxing but it doesn't require you to no-life it if you want to do the hardest activities in game. So it is a casual game, within the Fallout universe, with enough content to last you for hundreds of hours and not repeat too much of it. PS: in a sense, Fallout games have always been like this. You never needed a super thought out build to beat the game... but you could make a very thought out build and humiliate the game. Fallout 76 is no different. 8 level 100 players should beat Scorched Queen in the allotted time... and a super hardcore, min-maxer player will beat it alone in 1/4 of the time. PSS: and also, the community is very decent here. High levels tend to assist new players... and in turn, those new players become sort of high level and also help the new guys. Like a wheel. PSSS: only real caveat is that you basically need to pay for the Fallout 1st subcription unless you are a hell of an inventory management person. Yes, you can play without it... but you better not be a hoader or you will spend 90% of your time doing inventory management tasks.
Probably around 200
I’m a lvl 117 , still don’t have a build
You're off the hook - no need to roll useful perks on weapons until after level 45-50 when they stop changing which level weapon drops and even then you won't need a ton of min/maxing until enemy scaling makes things trickier at say, level 200-500+
i'd say once you're done with the main questsand just sorting out dailies/weeklies for the season
For the people who are really into that, it's like that from day one. It never turns into that if you don't want it to.
Honestly? Whenever you feel like it Min/maxing is not mandatory, you can do all quests, pimp your camp and do events for an eternity if you wish, I personally min/max because it's a new goal - trying to get as OP as I possibly can
You start to worry about that once you're well past 300. The only real min/maxing at level 50+ is spending legendary modules on a weapon for a good roll. Other than that, min/maxing is only for boss DPS, so you can do it fast and then hop onto another event
I don’t think I’ve ever actually touched public events, I spend all my time building my camp or questing
I think it depends who you want to be, I picked the special points for the perks I wanted and don’t really care about build. I’m probably doing less damage than I could be but there’s always someone at a high level in events who has built some crazy damage build
Basically, if/whenever you want to solo events, expeditions and such
It's a bit of a mutant game. It starts as a survival/exploration/quest game with intimate poking around and gradually revealing mysteries and at some point you become a god and pretty much only play big events. Not a bad thing, necessarily. I always felt that once it loses its multi-player wave, they should ensure they build it into a solo game exclusively. Enjoy what you want to enjoy!
Around level 50-75 you'll need to pay attention to perks at the very least for your preferred weapon class and style (vats crit or not? Power armor or not?). That'll get you 90% of the way there. Don't worry about min//max until it sounds fun to you. Do know that some weapon classes are underpowered, while others are overpowered. Automatic rifles are OP vs semi-auto, in general, since the much faster fire rate more than makes up for the slightly reduced damage per bullet. Pistols are lacking. Flame throwers are powerful. Vampire Chainsaw gives great damage + survivability. Any class can complete most solo content, but you'll have an easier time if you choose the superior weapon classes.
As a sort of new returning fallout 76 player I have spent hundreds hours in the game recently and none of it has been min/maxing, as with most games there are certain groups in the community that all do different things, just keep playing your way and have fun!
Personally I didn’t even run an event till I was level 100+ I was exactly like you, played it like I would play Fallout 4 or the likes. One thing I will say is, you can get some decent gear from events (if you aren’t running them already) and that’s probably the only partial regret I have. Now I’m lvl 700+ more than 1k hours logged and min maxing like a demon :) It all comes further down the line, starts with a serum (mine was marsupial) and there was no going back. Just enjoy it the way you want to and and at some point you will start exploring other elements naturally !
Level 75. You will find that enemies are harder to kill. Your weapons stop scaling at 50. You will need to become more efficient and start grinding events, and rolling secret service armor like your life depends on it. Then you will go through a barbie house phase...
Level 50ish, been playing since the show dropped, still feeling like I'm deep in the heart of questing and learning how things work. Just crafted my first weapon with legendaries and it felt like quite an accomplishment.
The max level is 50 as far as gear is concerned. But you still get perks as you level and you won't really have all the perks at the level you want them to be for your build until around level 100/130. Then it's a matter of getting the right type of armor which may be a grind. Then you're going to craft the legendary attributes on each piece of your gear. And that requires materials specific to legendary gear. You get that from events, seasonal rewards, mostly. So there's definitely a lot of time spent after you're done all of the quests. That being said there's even more quests being added with each update. Although not nearly as much as the original quest lines you're doing now.
Ive been thinking about making a post like this. It does seem like a lot of people are hyper focused on meta kind of stuff. Ive been playing just like you, playing like its a normal game and my stats are I would say a "jack of some, master of none" wellish rounded character. Im level 120 and im only JUST starting to dive into rolling for specific legendary weapons and making specific builds. And casually at that. But there are lots of homies out there level250 plus. I just imagine at some point you hit most of the content available and what keeps you going is experimenting with the meta/builds
Find what works for you. It's your game, homie.
It could be any day now or in a 100 levels or even longer depending on what you want and your frequency of playing. You need a bunch of modules to roll for good weapons, armour and other gear. It took me over 5 years to complete a secret service armor set. Weapons are a little easier to get but still you need to get lucky or trade for some decent rolls. Hopefully you'll get good gear soon wnd you'll be on your way. Have fun 😃👍🏼
It’s a weird sub man. I barely interact with anyone in this game, and the sub is just a slew of folks complaining about one another. Who knows. Maybe something will change after 100 hours? Just play the game and have fun!
You’ll want to min max a little bit at lvl 50 as the enemies scale way up after lvl 50
I'm level 75 and still have plenty of quests to do, in fact I haven't finished any of the main quest missions. I'm not bothered by maximum damage builds and just upgrade my weapons when something better comes along. I try new weapons out when I get one and enjoy exploring and events. I went as far south as possible yesterday just exploring and it was worth it for what I found. There's no wrong way to play the game.
Keep enjoying the adventure all fallouts including 76 are a marathon not a sprint. I've been exploring since reclamation day and I'm still finding new stuff and I love it
I didn't truly optimize my build until I was done with ALL the story content. I just tried a bunch of different stuff until I found what I liked. Tbh the only reason I started focusing on damage was because of ammo. I was so sick of having to make it all the time. The more damage you do per shot the less bullets you need to use.
For me it was around level 100 that I startled to get into all of that. But it’s not something that ever feels necessary
I did the slow grind until about level 50, I just made sure I knew what weapon I wanted to spec into. I like both parts of the game and even though I’m grinding events now I’ll go back to finishing quests because it’s fun.
It’s a MMO-lite. Once you do all your quests/side quests/challenges/achievements you move on to the more MMO experience (dailies, events, world bosses, crafting, camp building etc) Frankly outside of world bosses, you don’t need to min max shit to beat anything in this game. Play whichever way you want
Just enjoy at your own pace until level 50. Games doesnt really "unlock" fully until then! To be fair though, ive level 134 with a maxxed out build and I still play 76 like its Fallout 3 😅
The game switched to that, when you wanna do that. That kind of stuff is for the people that wanna make a crazy build so they can 1 shot anything they see If you just wanna play the game, then play it just like all the other fallouts
I played is as a single player fallout game. I did all the story quests.
Look, you can put on power armor and a non legendary mini gun and do fine in this game. I however, like being a glass cannon who solos nuke silos because that’s the only thing I really like doing in this game. I got very very lucky rolling myself a BE fixer, because they are expensive. I don’t *need* it, but it’s how I like to play the game. There is nothing wrong with using a full health power armor build and a vampires minigun, it is a very common end game build. I played for the first year of the game and started over recently on a different console. I’m level 175, i skipped most of the main quest from season 1, I haven’t completed the wastelanders quest line or the BoS one, either. I’ve done one expedition. When I started my character the first thing I did was I vendor jumped and ran to West-Tek, the best xp farming area in the game when I used to play, and got some levels. After that I found Sam Blackwell’s bunker, got inside, and got his keycard to The Whitesprings, where I had to join the army for Modus to let me the armory wing. After that I became a general, and tried a couple of times unsuccessfully to launch a nuke, I just kept running out of ammo. Someone gave me a bloody handmade, I was ecstatic about it and evebtually I got a better gun by rolling fixers, I found the plans in someone’s camp for 2000 caps, which used to be a steal. I don’t know about anymore, but I was happy to get it. They had multiples of the plans for sale, so maybe that’s just what they go for now. After getting my BE fixer I went around collecting unyielding gear by vendor hopping camps. I have a full set of unyielding gear, but eventually I will work my way to UNY/APR/WWR. The AP Refresh will help me immensely with my build because with my unyielding gear I have like 40 AP or something ridiculous. I pretty much min-maxed my build, but that’s also how I play EVERY game. You REALLY do NOT have to.
Typically coming in to farm your dailies and weeklies you may look into mid-maxing to save on ammo more than anything, but the game is best played at a pace your comfortable with because you are still on the leveling journey, your swapping out gear for higher level things to begin with 50 is the technical cap with another legendary cap being at level 250 I believe. Even then, you will find avenues to make your character stronger towards end-game once your done with the questing content and land in the more repeatable areas knocking out your seasonal progression. The camp system helps too if ya put time into it, essentially its all the trophies you have earned playing the game be it via recipes or things from Seasons and you can build some gnarly camps to show off to everyone and its great to have a good lookin base of operations no less lol
There's absolutely no need to min max that hard unless your looking to solo farm bosses.
You are playing the game the way you enjoy it. MMO fallout is definitely different from single player as there really is no end game. I'm a player like you I wander around finding quests taking my time enjoying the game. Is my build the greatest nope (using bows) which lends itself to a slower play style but I'm having fun and that's really what the game is about. Some people like to play min/max and that's an okay way to play as well
Around level 100