war. War never changes. But the variety of activities available in Fallout 76 certainly does. And with the new Infestation update, you can take on familiar enemies with a whole new approach. To participate in the event, you must first find the enemy. Once you or your team members find the source of the infection, you can immediately join the fight to fight off a massive attack orchestrated by hostile forces that make Appalachia their home base.
I caught up with Fallout 76 developers Jon Rush and Bill LaCoste at Summer Game Fest to discuss Infestation, new pet features, and whether we can expect more classic songs from previous games in future updates.
Infection Problem Solving FOMO
Since Infestations was released on June 2, one thing has become clear. The boss died too quickly. In fact, when Jon Rush and Bill LaCoste sat down to give a preview of Infection via PTS ahead of release date, Rush had trouble getting to the location before the boss fell and the event ended prematurely.
When asked if he had any data to back up bosses that are easy for some high-level players to defeat, Rush replied nonchalantly, “I don't even need data. Just watching people play is enough.” [was enough].”
But this observation surprised both Rush and LaCoste because their experiences during internal testing were completely different. “We were struggling with these issues when we were playtesting,” Rush said. “We could see the mole miner boss holding on to the back of the bus with a rocket launcher, while we were being bombarded by other mole miners. It was tough.”
Early player experiences may not have reflected Rush and LaCoste's Mole Miner thinking, but the team felt Infestations were in a good spot. But that didn't stop them from acknowledging that the infected boss needed some HP tweaking. This adjustment is already well underway behind the scenes.
The team's goal is to slow down the pace of the event so that more people can participate and enjoy it, rather than rushing around to experience FOMO from not being able to reach the boss in time to collect the dropped loot. “The goal of the experience should be to relax while drinking a nice, cold Nuka Cola, but now people are drinking Americanos and running in circles,” Rush adds.
Luckily, you can put down your coffee and energy drinks soon, as the team is planning HP adjustments and additional changes in Update 69, scheduled for late July, about 6-7 weeks after Infestation's debut.
New horizons in pets, weapons, and radio
A new Deathclaw pet bundle is coming to Fallout 76 with the Infestations update, bringing news of a bright future for the pet. For now, pets are restricted to the camp, but Rush teased that borders could be broken by the end of the year. “Imagine having your pet follow you around Appalachia wherever you go. You can tell it to sit, tell it to stay. You can name it, tell it to guard, tell it to attack. You can level it up.”
If you've been wanting to have more adventures with pets like Dogmeat or Rex in previous Fallout games, that moment is finally here. “This is what me and the community have been doing. hound Jon,” LaCoste adds, glancing over at Rush with a sly grin, “Dog, Bill,” Rush replies wittily, like a well-rehearsed comedy duo.
We'll have to wait for more details on the upcoming roaming pet feature, but LaCoste and Rush have provided another small update to the uniquely named legendary weapon. If you have a collection of unique weapons still taking up storage space, don't give up just yet.
“The value of the named names that are collecting dust will soon be very high,” Rush says. While the team can't go into detail yet, patient wastelanders and collectors can expect the weapon to be a huge help later this year.
Before I conclude, I have one final question to address. Does the team plan to add new Fallout music to the in-game radio? “Yes, I am. [We’ve] People are watching that right now,” Rush replies. Despite still being mum on the details, longtime players may be starting to cautiously get excited about a wider variety of songs they can enjoy while taking down Mirelurks and smashing Super Mutants.
Whether you've been playing since launch or are looking for a reason to jump in, there's a healthy pipeline of content being added to Appalachia this year. If you're still not satisfied, LaCoste and Rush hope you'll continue to make your voice heard on Discord and Reddit. Because Fallout 76 is always changing.
Fallout 76: Where to Find Honey Beasts
Honey Beasts are well worth seeking out in Fallout 76. You can find it here.
