How to level up fast in Fallout 76?
Leveling up is an important part of the Fallout 76 experience. Higher levels let you wear more powerful power armour & weapons. You also unlock more SPECIAL slots and improve your character in all the ways imaginable.
Okay, it's clear that leveling is vital but the question arises: how to level up fast in Fallout 76? There are several essential things that everyone trying to power level (that is, to level up fast) should bear in bind. We've collected them in this blog post in a convenient way for you! Read on to learn all you need to know about effective leveling!
1. Play with a group
Playing with other players is essential for power leveling. And it's not just about having more fun when playing with friends – although you'll likely have that too. The benefits of having a company go beyond. We'll give you 3 reasons for that.
And if you prefer videos, here's a good one by Fargassier who covers most of our points:
Reason 1: Inspirational
Ah, the Inspirational perk that we all know and love! If you're focused on raising your adventurer's level fast, having it in your layout is of utmost importance. What it does is give you better XP accumulation: you get 5% more of it.
What, it doesn't strike you as a lot? Well, if you level up the Inspirational perk card you can get a 10% increase bonus (rank 2) or a 15% one (rank 3). That might not be impressive either but it's important to use all the tools you have to achieve the results you want. This must be the easiest one to reach – and that's exactly why you should start with it.
Reason 2: Casual group bonus
You get a passive intelligence bonus when you join a Casual group. Casual group in Fallout 76 is a variety of a Public team – there are several of them. This one, however, must be the best overall for experience grinding.
For a fully filled Casual Group (3 players + you) you get 4 Intelligence points. That roughly translates as +8% XP earned. So add that to 15% you can get with the Inspirational perk and it's already 23% which is a couple of points short of being a quarter more experience collected by you than usual.
As for other Public team types, you might also consider Events or Daily Operations if those are the activities you're planning to do. Public Event teams can be a good pick if you currently have a good choice of them, while Daily Operations... They are "meh" at best since they don't usually provide you with a decent amount of EXP.
Reason 3: Strength in numbers
The key to leveling up fast is lawn-mowing as many enemies as possible fast. It's common sense that to kill harder enemies en masse you need to assemble with other players. It'll save you lots of time & effort as compared to trying to do it all on your own.
When fighting alongside a team just make sure to tag as many hostiles as possible before they go down – otherwise, you won't get any XP for them. Tagging is easier when you're wielding an explosive weapon or a Tesla rifle (which is the optimal choice).
There are even more bonuses that teaming up provides you with – mutations, certain perk synergies, and whatnot – but we believe that it's already clear that you really need it if you want to level up fast. To put it plainly, you're an easy super mutants' meal by yourself – go and group up!
Playing with a group isn't your thing?
Maybe you should consider getting a level boost then? Groups are essential for leveling up fast and going solo might make your experience less enjoyable. Let our pros take over and boost your character! Take a look at out Fallout 76 Leveling service!
2. Focus on the best events
Events can become your best friends on your journey to high levels in Fallout 76. But as with real friends, you have to pick them carefully.
As we've mentioned, the key to farm XP quickly is decimating lots of enemies fast. If enemies come in waves, it's even better. And certain events feature just that: hordes of hostile monsters attacking you. Here's a list of the best events of that sort:
- One Violent Night [the best event overall]
- Radiation Rumble [second best]
- A Colossal Problem
- Eviction Notice
- Guided Meditation (at the Palace of the Winding Path)
- Line in the Sand
- Scorched Earth
One Violent Night is particularly great as it lets you grind enemy waves for as long as you want. So come prepared with all the experience buffing consumables you can get and the right build – and have an XP fest!
While it's more of a general advice for defeating waves of monsters, consider getting your hands on a Tesla Rifle. It'll make tagging foes easier and it deals real deal damage to multiple targets. If you manage to get it with the Quad prefix for faster reloading... You'll wield magic in your hands then, for real.
Also note that events spring up on your map completely randomly. So you can't just run Radiation Rumble from dawn to dusk. If you don't see any of the mentioned events among the available ones, don't do others. Most of them are not worth it: they will just waste your consumables since they can't deliver enough experience within a short time to compensate for them.
Here's a video covering mostly the same points but with several more details (credit goes to MrWestTek):
3. Pick the right perks, consumables, & mutations
Getting experience the right way is not only about doing the right activities. It's also about having the right settings. That includes perks, consumables, and mutations. Let's see what your best option is with each of them in Fallout 76.
If you enjoy watching videos more than reading texts, here's a video by Termx that deals with the same topic:
Perks
While we've already wrote an ode to the Inspirational perk card above, it's not the only perk you should care about. Here are 7 more cards that you're going to need:
| PERK | EFFECT | COMMENT |
|---|---|---|
| Night Person | Intelligence rises at night | It's not going to work all the time – but it's great to have that bonus half the time still. |
| Chem Fiend | Chem effects last longer | The chem you'll use often is Berry Mentat (+5 Intelligence). Make its effect last longer. |
| Strange in Numbers | Positive mutation effects are stronger if teammates are mutated too | It makes these mutations stronger: Egg Head (up to +8 Int) & Herd Mentality (up to +2.5 Int) |
| Starched Genes | Your mutations won't alter or disappear | It keeps your mutations stable with all their experience perks |
| Class Freak | Reduces negative effects of your mutations | You'll only need it if you don't use / have Marsupial Serum or if you have a lot of hindering negative effects |
| Curator | Buffs provided by leader bobbleheads & magazines last longer | Bobbleheads & magainzes are a great source of extra XP so you'll likely want their effect to last longer |
| Legendary Intelligence | Increases your intelligence | Get up to 5 extra Intelligence points. That will give you about 10% more experience. |
This list is not exhaustive. You can always find a smart way to use any other perk to your advantage. But the aforementioned cards are really good and you should at least try them.
Consumables
There are lots of useful items that disappear upon consumption. Here we'll focus on the ones that boost your experience gains. You should always have them in your inventory and their effects should be active whenever you're ready to grind.
| ITEM | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| Lunch Box | +25% XP gain; the effect stacks up to 4 times – so you get +100% XP gain for 4 lunch boxes |
| Cranberry Relish | A veggie that gives +10% XP. It can be increased to 25% with the Herbivore mutation & the Strange in Numbers perk |
| Brain Bomb | A veggie that gives +10 Intelligence (which is about +20% XP) |
| Berry Mentats | A chem that gives +5 Intelligence (which is about +10% XP) |
| Bobblehead Leader | Gives you +5% XP |
| Magazine: Live & Love 3 | Strengthens effects of Cranberry Relish, Brain Bombs, and Cherry Mentats. They all are great to farm XP with |
All those consumable items are essential for power leveling, so make sure to stock up on as many of them as possible. The best part is that most of their effects don't replace one another but remain active simultaneously.
Get all sorts of consumables fast
You don't have to think about how and where you can get all those loads of consumables that you're going to need for leveling! We've got your covered! Just choose any items you need and you'll get them fast! View our Fallout 76 Consumables boost to learn more!
Mutations
These are passive effects that you can activate. They are a bit tricky since they provide you with not only positive effects. Each mutation is like a coin: it has 2 sides. An upside and a downside, to be precise. The former makes you stronger in some way, the latter makes you weaker in some other. You need to learn to balance your mutations to get the advantages suitable for your goals. Also you can supress the negative effects of them with a special serum.
Here are the 3 experience-enhancing mutations that you should consider when looking to increase XP inflow:
| MUTATION | POSITIVE EFFECT | NEGATIVE EFFECT |
|---|---|---|
| Egg Head | +6 Intelligence | -3 Strength, -3 Endurance |
| Herd Mentality | +2 to all SPECIAL stats when grouped | -2 to all SPECIAL stats when solo |
| Herbivore | The positive effects of fruits, herbs, and veggies are twice as strong. Also you don't get diseases from them. | Meat gives you no positive effects |
Egghead is pretty simple: you just get extra intelligence which gives you more XP increase. Herd Mentality makes it even more important to play in a group during power leveling. And Herbivore makes the effects of all fruit stronger which means that Cranberry Relishes & Brain Bombs give you more experience & intelligence, respectively.
There are several other mutations that are often used alongside the already mentioned ones. They don't give direct increase of experience but they make it easier to deal with large groups of enemies and grinding longer.
| MUTATION | POSITIVE EFFECT | NEGATIVE EFFECT |
|---|---|---|
| Eagle Eyes | +50% critical damage & +4 Perception | -4 Strength |
| Speed Demon | +20% movement speed & +30% reload speed | 50% faster accumulation of Hunger & Thirst while moving |
| Marsupial | +20 Carry Weight & increased jump height | -4 Intelligence |
Wow, how can people use Marsupial for power leveling when it lowers intelligence? Isn't it the same as shooting at one's own leg? If you don't use a serum, of course it is. But if you do, the intelligence reduction doesn't happen (for a while) and you just get the benefits. And the carry weight increase makes it possible for you to stay grinding in the wild for longer. Both Eagle Eyes & Speed Demon help you with all that too, as well as increase your chances against multiple enemies.
So as you've guessed by now, there are lots of things to keep track of when you aspire to reach high levels fast. But it becomes easier as you get used to it. For example, perks & mutations should make the grinding process a bit more fun for you. If something feels off, you can always think of changing one or two cards. As for consumables, collecting those of them that you need most might be a challenge on its own so make sure to find the optimal way to collect them first.
4. Claim & defend Workshops
Workshops can become a great source of experience but they are definitely not for everyone. While there's nothing special about claiming and defending them, what is special is that they are PvP zones. That means that if you've claimed a Workshop, you should be prepared to fight for it to remain yours. And that risk is shared among your group so they should know that as well. Hence, if PvP is not your thing, you might choose to stay away from Workshops.
But if you're game enough to get dangerous, you can get a lot of experience as a reward. To claim a workshop you have to fight your way through several groups of monsters – that's already some XP. After you've claimed the Workshop, sporadic attacks of waves of enemies will happen every now and then. The waves are quite large and so is the amount of experience you get for defeating them.
One of the smartest ideas about defending workshops is placing turrets near them. They will make the defence process a piece of cake as you won't have to do much yourself. Another thing to remember is that you should focus on claiming & defending such areas in high-level zones only as that's where you can get the most EXP. Low-level zones are not very lucrative in that regard as monsters there are expectedly rather weak.
If you haven't tried Workshops yet, here's a lovely guide by Angry Turtle:
5. Just grind monsters in certain areas
If you don't mind just grinding mobs for several hours straight, you should definitely do that. There are particular zones that have a lot of high-level powerful enemies awarding you with a handsome amount of experience for defeating them. Here's one of the most lucrative routes you can use for grinding – simply walk from one point to the next:
- Harper's Ferry
- Burrows
- Abandoned Bog Town
- National Isolated Radio Array
- West Tek Research Center
- Huntersville
- Whitesprings
- New Gad
- Charleston Capitol Building
- Grafton Dam
- Grafton Steel Yard
So you just travel from 1 through 11 leaving no survivors in your wake. Upon finishing the route just join a new server and start the route anew. If you feel like it, of course. You'll certainly end one go of it with a luggageful of XP, but not all members of your group would find the prospect of running such a long grind route over again.
But if you and your teammates are determined to get tons of EXP, you certainly should carry on. If you don't mind running just one of those spots several times, you should consider spending more time in West Tek Research Center (#5). The facility teems with hostile creatures of high level and with a great experience yield. Clear the facility than go to the basement and back to reset it and start the slaughter from the start.
There's a bug however that might not let you repeat the West Tek culling, so you can stick to a safer way to reset it. Place a tent close to West Tek, clear the facility, go down to the basement, fast travel back to the tent, and go back to West Tek to find the super mutants and other abominations respawned.
Here's a video guide to give you a better idea of how to pull this West Tek trick (credit to Shr1m):
Minor tips
There are tons of things we could tell you but it would make our blog post ungodly huge so we'll just mention several other methods & other tips here:
Sleep in the bed inside your CAMP with an ally or a partner nearby. That will give you a 5% XP bonus for 3 hours after just half a minute of sleep;
Quests are not the best source of experience. If you want to grind lots of experience fast, avoid quests. While the main quest offers some exciting experience, leave it and all other missions for the time when you won't be focused on raising levels quickly;
Lure high-level enemies to NPCs. NPCs will take care of most dangers that you might not be yet capable of taking down. It's especially useful when you play alone. Which shouldn't happen often as you should always be in a team for effective power leveling;
The Bloodied gear build is a priority for everyone performing power leveling. Apart from that, collect all the Intelligence-bearing items you can find and equip the best of them. Even your underwear can give you intelligence (casual shielding lining, for example);
Daily Operations are only good when there's a Double Mutation weekend. And even then it might not be worth it if you're lucky to have good Public Events available;
While expeditions are not perfect for power leveling, several of them can be played to get some XP fast. A good example of that is The Most Sensational Game which gives you a decent experience points yield under 15 minutes;
Avoid PvP. It doesn't give you any experience at all. It can be fun, yes, but if you really want to raise your level very fast, stay focused on that.
Success
Data
updated