Fallout 76 Survival Mode Beta is Now Live

Bethesda’s first dedicated PvP mode for Fallout 76 is live with the beta for Survival. The game is now divided into the standard experience, called Adventure, and Survival, where all players are hostile. There’s no passive mode here, and upon attacking a player, you inflict full damage to them.

There are some benefits to playing Survival. For one, you gain 20 percent bonus XP and can obtain random items from dead players along with junk. It’s also possible to place bounties on players for up to 200 Caps, which will showcase their locations to everyone on the map. Fast-travel is restricted in this game mode, so make sure to set up workshops to teleport to.

Interestingly, Adventure Mode has seen any damage received in passive mode removed. That means a player can shoot at you all day, but you won’t take any damage. It’s a welcome change, especially since Survival is its own thing. This is just the beta though, so features like leaderboards could be changed later. Check out some of the patch notes below, or read them in full through here.

New “Play” Options

The standard Fallout 76 experience has been renamed “Adventure”, and “Survival Beta” has been added as a new game mode.

Upon selecting “Play” from the Main Menu, players can now choose whether to join an Adventure Mode world, or a Survival Mode Beta world.
New characters can enter Survival Mode Beta worlds immediately after being created.
Existing characters can freely switch back and forth between Adventure and Survival mode.
All progress—including quests, levels, perks, inventory, and so on—travels with characters when switching between Adventure and Survival. Anything that affects a character in one mode is also reflected in the other.

Adventure Mode

While the standard play experience has a new name, Adventure Mode is still largely Fallout 76 as you know it today. However, today’s patch does bring a significant change that should greatly reduce the effects of unwanted PVP on your Adventure Mode characters:

“Slap” Damage Has Been Removed from Adventure Mode
All incoming damage from players you are not hostile with (A.K.A. “slap” damage) will now be automatically reduced to zero, effectively removing slap damage from Adventure Mode.
Returning fire against another player will still mark you as hostile toward them and will cause you to take full damage from their attacks.
Contesting an owned Workshop is still considered a hostile action. If a player attempts to contest a Workshop you own, or you attempt to contest another player’s Workshop, you will be open to taking full damage from their attacks.

PVP Combat and Balance

Weapon damage during PVP combat has received overarching adjustments to limit the amount of health players can lose in a single hit during PVP combat.
This adjustment will greatly reduce the likelihood of one-shot kills and has been applied to PVP Combat in Survival Mode, as well.

Fast Travel and Respawn Invulnerability

The period of invulnerability that’s briefly applied to characters after Fast Traveling or Respawning has been increased.
Firing a weapon before this time expires will remove Invulnerability.

Survival Mode (Beta)

Survival Mode is a more competitive and dangerous new game mode for Fallout 76, and contains a number of changes from Adventure Mode that you may want to be aware of before you dive in. However, it’s also important to note that you can still complete quests and events, level-up, loot, and explore Appalachia in Survival Mode just as you can in Adventure Mode.
Read on to learn about what’s new with the Survival Mode Beta, and be sure to check out our recent overview article for even more info.

PVP Combat and Balance

Players in Survival Mode are hostile toward one another by default and may be attacked without restriction.
Additionally, there is no slap damage in Survival Mode, and players will immediately take full damage from each other’s attacks.
Players can holster their weapons when approaching others to appear neutral or friendly, causing a light-yellow nameplate to appear overhead.
Those who approach others with weapons drawn will appear hostile and display a red marker overhead, rather than a nameplate.
Only the healing effects of one Stimpak of each type can be active at any given time.
For example, a Diluted Stimpak and a regular Stimpak can both be active at once, but multiple regular Stimpaks effects cannot.
We’ve made overarching weapon damage adjustments in the Survival Mode Beta to help a wide variety of weapons feel more deadly versus other players.
Additionally, the PVP combat damage change to limit one-shot kills that was mentioned in the Adventure Mode section above also applies to Survival.

Bonus XP When Playing Survival Mode

All players gain a +20% bonus on any experience points they earn while playing in Survival Mode.

Complete New Weekly Challenges, Earn Legendary Rewards

New Weekly Challenges have been added which offer legendary rewards on completion.
A new Weekly Challenge will be added every week during and beyond the Survival Mode Beta, each featuring a different reward.
The first six Survival Mode Beta Weekly Challenges award legendary weapons.