So far,Fallout 76’s Gleaming Depths update is shaping up to be a game-changer. This update will be released in December 2024, and plenty of what’s to come has already been officially revealed, some of which has been available for players to test firsthand onFallout 76’s Public Test Server, as well as a recent preview event hosted by Bethesda.
Fallout 76’s Gleaming Depths updatewill notably introduce a new endgame raid and kick off Season 19 with a new Scoreboard full of rewards, although there will also be some massive balancing changes coming in this update, especially for perk cards. These perk card changes are quite extensive, and they will likely affect every player’s builds, so players would be wise to stay up to date on all the upcoming changes to be best prepared for how their builds will change once this update is released.
Fallout 76’s Gleaming Depths Update Will Make Underutilized Perks Viable for Endgame Builds
While thefull list ofFallout 76’s Perk Card changescan be quite overwhelming, there are essentially four major changes coming in the Gleaming Depths update. Some perk cards will receive more than one type of these changes mentioned:
These changes are said to target underutilized perks to make them more appealing for endgame builds, which couldn’t come at a better time given thatendgame raids will be returning toFallout 76after being cut from the game in 2020. However, some of the meta perks will be targeted by these upcoming changes as well. Whether players are planning on jumping into the new raid on day one or sticking to their regular routine of wandering into sidequests, these perk card changes will generally affect every player’s build inFallout 76regardless, so it’s recommended for players to inspect their perk cards once these changes are introduced in the upcoming Gleaming Depths update.
Players may want to consider changing their legendary gear as well as their perks, because replacing certainlegendary armor and weapon effectswith an identical perk might be more efficient, or vice versa.
How Fallout 76’s Gleaming Depths Perk Changes Will Affect the Current Meta
A lot of the changes to perk cards coming inFallout 76’s Gleaming Depths update will reduce the maximum available rank of certain perks. Meanwhile, the lower ranks of these perks will retain the same benefits that were previously provided by their highest ranks. This change will generally make perk cards cost fewer points to equip without taking away from their maximum benefits. Once these changes go live, many players will likely find that they have unused skill points to spend despite still having a lot of the same perk cards equipped. These unassigned skill points are essentially free perks players can use to make their existingendgame builds inFallout 76even stronger.
Another major change coming inFallout 76’s Gleaming Depths update is that several perks that used to provide flat bonuses will soon provide benefits that scale with players’ related SPECIAL skill. While most of the upcoming perk cost changes and reworked effects can be considered buffs, this change can potentially nerf players' existing builds, especially for players with diverse builds that utilize perks for multiple weapon types across different SPECIAL skill trees. Consequently, players who use a wide variety of weaponry may want to consider making separate builds that specialize in only one or two weapon types and SPECIAL skills, instead of using one jack-of-all-trades build.
By default, players will have two perk loadouts inFallout 76and additional loadouts can be purchased from the Atomic Shop.
Fallout 76
WHERE TO PLAY
Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of Skyrim and Fallout 4, welcome you to Fallout 76. Twenty-five years after the bombs fell, you and your fellow Vault Dwellers—chosen from the nation’s best and brightest – emerge into post-nuclear America on Reclamation Day, 2102. Play solo or join together as you explore, quest, build, and triumph against the wasteland’s greatest threats. Explore a vast wasteland, devastated by nuclear war, in this open-world multiplayer addition to the Fallout story. Experience the largest, most dynamic world ever created in the legendary Fallout universe. Expand southward to Skyline Valley – a brand-new region of Appalachia. Investigate the cause of the electric storm circling overhead and unveil the mystery around Vault 63 and its dwellers, including a shocking new Ghoul type – The Lost.
