Wastelanders

Wastelanders is the third major update for Fallout 76. The expansion fundamentally changes the wasteland with living humans returning to Appalachia. It was followed by The Legendary Run.

Plot
Set in 2103, one year after the opening of Vault 76, new survivors begin flocking to Appalachia in search of a rumored treasure. As Settlers and Raiders alike scramble to find it, the Vault Dwellers of Vault 76 must choose sides in the brewing conflict.

Players can embark on a new main quest of choice and consequence, interact with characters and their unique stories, discover the faction settlements of the Crater and Foundation, and collect powerful new weapons and armor.

Development
The origin of Wastelanders and the addition of human NPCs to the game is somewhat unclear. According to Marc Tardif in June 2019, content containing living human characters was initially "not even on [the] radar" for Bethesda, and community feedback was the driving force behind the development of the update. However, lead designer Ferret Baudoin stated in August 2020 that, from the beginning of development, some developers disagreed with the idea of excluding human NPCs in the base game. Despite this, there were a number of logistical issues that prevented human NPCs from appearing at launch, as it would have further complicated an already difficult technical process. Baudoin said that adding back human characters was actually on the radar "from a very early point."

Wastelanders had a private test server session for community members invited or opting into the event to test an early version of the update. This feature was announced by Bethesda on January 10, 2020, with an initial test date of January 17 before being delayed on that day. The invites were eventually sent on January 20 and access was given the same day.

An official trailer, released on February 4, announced Wastelanders' release date of April 7. Amid the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, Bethesda's offices began working at home, and the update was delayed until April 14.

Features

 * Instancing on various locations, new and old.
 * Reworked quest system.
 * Full dialogue system, including additions of player character dialogue to preexisting NPC conversations, such as those with Rose and MODUS.
 * Faction reputation systems.
 * New random encounters.
 * Allies
 * Backpack appearance modslot.
 * Gold bullion as a new currency.

Cut characters

 * Alex Wood
 * Beggar
 * Chompkins
 * Devin Hardway
 * Doctor Legitimate
 * Hank
 * Hunter
 * Mechanic
 * Percy
 * Rebecca Brant
 * Reggie B.
 * The Naturalist
 * Wade

Robots and computers

 * Assaultron
 * Blood Eagle Assaultron
 * Campus Security Assaultron
 * Eyebot
 * Blood Eagle eyebot
 * Campus Security eyebot
 * Liberator
 * Recalibrated Liberator
 * Mister Gutsy
 * Blood Eagle Gutsy
 * Campus Security Gutsy
 * Mister Handy
 * Blood Eagle Mister Handy
 * Campus Security Handy
 * Protectron
 * Blood Eagle protectron
 * Campus Security protectron

Ammunition

 * Arrow

Recipes

 * Recipe: Pepperoni roll
 * Recipe: Sunny's settler stew

World objects

 * Gold press machines

Settlement objects

 * Beckett's bar
 * Crane Treasure Hunting sign
 * Forager's chair
 * Punk's radio
 * U.S.S.A. console
 * Wanderer's guitar
 * ArmCo ammunition construction appliance
 * Farmable tiles
 * Turbo-Fert fertilizer collector
 * Water well

Perks

 * Archer
 * Bow Before Me
 * Expert Archer
 * Master Archer

Behind the scenes
A promotional lithograph was sold in the Bethesda store to advertise Wastelanders. The artwork was created by Thomas Busque Stefanka for Reservoir Creative Studio, produced by Development Plus, Inc.