Fallout 76’s December update will be a big one, in addition to introducing camp pets and the ability to earn descriptive player titles for your Vault dwellers, Bethesda’s online Fallout game will also get a game called “The ” a challenging new end-game raid. Gleaming Depths will see co-op teams of up to four players take on a series of challenges that lead producer Bill LaCoste told me is a “new challenge” for 76.
Set in the Ashheap region of Appalachia, The Shining Abyss was described as a “traditional MMO-style dungeon” during tonight’s Fallout Days broadcast, and Lacoste told me it’s the end-game they already have. A “huge improvement” in activity.
“One of the things we’ve been trying to do is give the game more of a challenge, especially for an online game where people team up with each other and actually do something competitive,” he said. “We have a lot of events, we have owners, we have things like that. But for something to be specifically for your team guys to be involved in, that requires teamwork and a lot of equipment and communication between teams, that’s a completely new thing for 76 “.
In The Shining Abyss, players must fight their way through an abandoned Enclave research laboratory, where scientists are studying a phenomenon known as “paragenesis,” the story boss of Fallout Generally speaking, this phenomenon is entirely related to the spread of super meteorites on the earth. Creative director Jonathan Rush said during today’s Fallout Days broadcast that there will be “several extremely difficult encounters” within the game, including the game’s largest boss ever, the Ultracite Terror, and that players will also Caught in the painful end of a raid. , once started, becomes a life-or-death challenge.
Lacoste told me the idea came from a week-long internal gaming gathering in Bethesda in January. The development team has hinted that it could be “game-changing for Fallout 76,” but only “when people see it and actually play it, they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is something that the game absolutely needs. ,” I think everyone was shocked at how well it executed. “
The Jam build then moved into pre-production to further test its ideas – with the help of Rush’s collection of hand puppets, to try and standardize what each encounter might look like in practice. “We do this a lot in all the encounters we build,” Lacoste said. “We try to do these things ahead of time on paper and other props because we can figure out a lot of timing even in these situations, and Jon does a great job with that.”
Playtesting followed, and it only confirmed what Bethesda already knew: yes, this is “exactly” what Fallout 76 needs, especially when it’s receiving so many other big changes at the same time.
“Historically, we’ve had four big beats a year where a lot of content is spread,” Lacoste said. “But with this, it’s a different feel because we just released legendary crafting in the previous update, and now we have something that integrates better with raids.”
Conveniently, then, December’s update will also introduce four-star Legendary rewards, giving end-game players more powerful tools, weapons, armor, and potentially gear to take on the Shining Abyss’ tough bosses. Sadly, surviving the Glittering Abyss doesn’t guarantee you the four-star reward, so you’ll need to play through the game multiple times to get the best out of it.
But four-star items are just one of several elements that Bethesda hopes to “build upon,” as new legendary characters bring new mod combinations of gear, weapons, and armor, as well as There will be new items and there are benefits to going with them, Lacoste said. “We’re integrating a lot of these systems in this update, and I think players will spend a lot of time on their work boards, trying out new loadouts, and experiencing the game in different ways, which is great! ”
This is also doubled for the playable ghoul character launching early next year, which will give players over level 50 the chance to transform themselves into Fallout’s Fallout-loving corpse for additional special perks and ability. The debut was back in June, and at the time I wondered if there would be any new events that would really put the ghoul characters through their paces, and while Lacoste said The Shining Abyss isn’t specifically designed for ghouls, “I would say because we know ghouls are coming, (…and) the positive and negative consequences of being a ghoul, some of that has been taken into account.”
But ultimately, “it’s its own raid,” and Lacoste is looking forward to seeing what kind of impact the Ghouls will have on the way players approach the Shimmering Abyss when they arrive sometime next year.