New & returning players
A plain path from Vault 76 to endgame, and a checklist for anyone coming back after a year or more away.
Your first hours
- Follow the main quest out of Vault 76. It leads you through the Forest, the lowest-level region, and teaches crafting, cooking and your C.A.M.P.
- Place your C.A.M.P. early. Building rules are much looser since 2025, so a first camp needs little more than a bed, a stash, workbenches and a water source. You can move it later. C.A.M.P. guide.
- Join events. Small Activities rotate on the map about every 10 minutes, and Public Events give better rewards: caps, legendaries, Legendary Modules and Treasury Notes. Open the map and check the Featured Activity list.
- Pick perks for how you want to fight. Since the 2025 rework, weapon perks reward a damage style (distance, torso hits, weak spots, crippled or bleeding targets) rather than a weapon class. How perks work now.
- Scrap junk, don't hoard it. Your stash has a weight limit. Scrap junk into components at any workbench and sell spare plans and gear to vendors for caps.
- Team up when it helps. Public teams show on the social menu. Bethesda recommends an Exploration team for hunting Infestations, and the Raid team type gives a durability bonus inside the raid.
Level path, 1 to endgame
Official requirements where Bethesda gives one
| Stage | What opens up | Worth doing |
|---|---|---|
| Levels 1–20 | Main quest through the Forest and Toxic Valley. A perk card and a SPECIAL point every level. | Build a camp, run Activities, start fishing with the Casting Off quest in the Mire when you're ready. |
| Levels 20–50 | Harder regions (Ash Heap, Savage Divide, Mire, Cranberry Bog) and public events worth farming. | Settle on a damage style and a health style. Collect plans for the weapon you plan to use. |
| Level 30 | The Burning Springs questline: tune your radio to the Ohio Distress Signal, then cross the Point Pleasant bridge. | Meet The Ghoul at Highway Town and try Grunt Hunts. Bounty Hunting. |
| Level 50 | Legendary perk slots start. Your SPECIAL is complete; later levels let you swap a SPECIAL point or take a card. | Daily Ops, Expeditions and the legendary crafting loop. |
| Endgame | The Gleaming Depths raid, Infestations, Head Hunts and 4-star gear. | Pick a build that fits a team role. Endgame guide. |
Regions get tougher roughly in that order. Enemies scale within ranges, and since March 2026 event enemies scale higher for high-level players. A Level 50 Character Boost is also available if you want to skip ahead.
Back after a break: what changed
- Perks (2025)
- Rebuilt in three passes. Rifleman, Commando, Shotgunner, Heavy Gunner and the melee perks all changed names and jobs. Expect to rebuild your loadout. Details.
- Ghouls (2025)
- You can become a Ghoul through the Leap of Faith questline, with Glow, a Feral meter and 30 ghoul-only perks. Ghoul or human?
- New regions
- Skyline Valley (2024) and Burning Springs in Ohio (2025), home of Bounty Hunting.
- Legendaries
- Legendary crafting (2024) lets you move mods between items. Gear goes up to 4 stars (raid, Infestations, Bigfoot), and uniques can take a 4th mod (2026).
- Armor (2026)
- Armor rating counts first, under-armor has a style slot for SPECIAL bonuses, and all armor weighs less.
- Events (2026)
- Small events are now "Activities" on a timer; public events pay more and can end with Bigfoot or another big crasher.
- C.A.M.P. (2025)
- Relaxed build rules, free placement mode, a new Workshop menu, and pets.
- Fishing (2025)
- A full fishing system with seasonal fish, axolotls and Local Legends.
Returning checklist
- Re-pick your perk cards and legendary perks around one damage style.
- Set the style slot on your under-armor for the SPECIAL you need.
- Look through your uniques: any of them can now take a 4th mod.
- Unused Season Tickets from old seasons became Gold Bullion; spend it.
- Lock your main weapon and armor so they can't be scrapped.
- Check the Legacy Season for rewards you missed.
- Rebuild or tidy your camp with the new placement modes.
Common mistakes
Following an old build video
Anything from before mid-2025 uses perk names that no longer exist. Check a build's date and patch first.
Becoming a Ghoul on a whim
You can switch back to human from the character screen, but becoming a Ghoul again on that character costs 1,000 Atoms.
Crafting mods onto gear you might sell
Once you craft a legendary mod onto an item, that item is bound to your character. You can't trade, sell or drop it.