Fallout 76's new legendary crafting system is still extremely grindy

Fallout 76's new legendary crafting system is live, but it's a completely randomized and grindy loop of resource gathering.

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Fallout 76's new legendary crafting system is now live, but it hasn't changed all that much from the unpopular PTS build.

Fallout 76 players can now craft the perfect legendary item, but the odds of that happening are extremely small. The new legendary crafting system lets players re-roll powerful weapons and armor for the chance of unlocking the best of the best gear. There's just one issue: The odds are very much against you.

Gamers have a few issues with the system. It requires a hefty investment in materials gathering with no guaranteed payoff. The argument is that it shouldn't be easy to get perfect gear, but players still want more control in the items they do get.

The real core issue is that there's very little chance the payoff will be worth the grind. Players have to grind two currencies to craft legendary items; legendary cores and legendary modules. Cores are earned from game events and modules can be bought with scrip, a third currency you get from breaking down legendary items you don't want.

This gameplay loop fuels the mid- to end-game as players chase good gear.

The costs are somewhat high:

Fallout 76 Legendary Crafting costs

  • 1-star - 1 core, 2 modules
  • 2-star - 3 cores, 3 modules
  • 3-star - 5 cores, 4 modules

Legendary modules cost 50 scrip a piece, and gamers can now earn 300 scrip a day, so users can theoretically earn up to 6 modules a day. That's enough for a single 3-star re-roll per day.

Even after players grind cores and modules, there's no guarantee they'll get anything good--or anything better than they already have. Legendary crafting is equivalent to spinning a slot machine. It's all randomized and you never know what you'll get.

Items have multiple mods--rolling a 2-star gives you a 1-star and a 2-star effect, and rolling a 3-star legendary gives you a 1-star, 2-star, and 3-star mod.

Even if you get a good 3-star mod, you can't re-roll 2-star or 1-star mods. You can only re-roll the entire item.

Fallout 76's new legendary crafting system is still extremely grindy 532

You can craft 1-, 2-, and 3-star Legendary Upgrades for your gear, and the materials required to craft them increase based on the Legendary Upgrade tier you choose.

Applying a Legendary Upgrade to a normal item will turn it into a legendary version of that item, with 1, 2, or 3 randomly assigned legendary attributes, depending on the tier of Legendary Upgrade you applied.

Applying a Legendary Upgrade to an existing Legendary Item can increase or decrease the number of legendary attributes that item has, again depending on the tier of Legendary Upgrade you apply. Here are examples of each option:

  • Upgrade: Modding a 1-star item with a 3-star Legendary Upgrade will turn it into a 3-star version of that item with 3 random attributes.
  • Downgrade: Modding a 3-star item with a 2-star Legendary Upgrade will result in a 2-star version of that item with 2 random attributes.
  • Re-roll: Modding a 3-star item with a 3-star Legendary Upgrade replace all 3 of the existing item's attributes and apply 3 news ones at random.

So it's possible to get the perfect high-tier mod but junk mods in the other slots. It's extremely variable. One Fallout 76 user put together an algorithm that shows just how astronomical the odds are of getting perfect gear.

Bethesda has actually increased the RNG by adding new legendary effects, and has sweetened the pot by significantly buffing armor/weapon effects.

One thing that has changed is resource caps. Bethesda now allows players to hold 40,000 caps, up to 10,000 gold bullion, and store up to 5,000 scrip while earning up to 300 scrip per day. This boost is incredibly important to incentivize the new legendary system grind.

Here's some examples of the new legendary effects:

Alongside the arrival of Legendary Crafting, we've also revisited our lineup of Legendary Attributes to add some new ones, and give a tune-up to a few that already existed. Give some of the new and updated Legendary Attributes a test run using your existing items, or by making them using the Legendary Crafting system.

NEW LEGENDARY WEAPON ATTRIBUTES

1-Star

  • Aristocrat's: Damage increases as Caps increase. Maximum of +50% damage at 29,000 Caps.
  • Juggernaut's: Damage increases as Health increases. Maximum of +25% damage at 95% health or above.
  • Gourmand's: Damage increases as you fill your hunger and thirst meters. Maximum of +24% damage.

2-Star

  • Last Shot: The final round in a magazine has a 25% chance to deal twice as much damage.
  • Single shot weapons, like Black Powder Rifles, cannot spawn with Last Shot.
  • Steady: +25% damage while standing still
  • Inertial: Replenish 15 Action Points with each kill.

3-Star

  • Ghost's: Attacks that hit enemies each have a 10% chance to generate a Stealth Field.

NEW LEGENDARY ARMOR AND POWER ARMOR ATTRIBUTES

1-Star

  • Aristocrat's: Energy and Damage Resistances increase as Caps increase. Maximum of +20 for each resistance at 29,000 Caps.
  • Overeater's: Increases Damage Reduction up to +6% as you fill your hunger and thirst meters.

2-Star

  • Glutton's: Hunger and Thirst grow 10% slower. This effect stacks up to a maximum of +50%.
  • Fireproof: +25 Fire Resistance
  • Warming: +25 Cryo Resistance
  • Hardy: Receive 10% less damage from explosions

3-Star

  • Doctor's: Stimpaks, RadAway, and Rad-X are 5% more effective.
  • Burning: 5% chance to deal 100 Fire damage to melee attackers
  • Electrified: 5% chance to deal 100 Energy damage to melee attackers
  • Frozen: 5% chance to deal 100 Cryo damage to melee attackers
  • Toxic: 5% chance to deal 100 Poison damage to melee attackers
  • Dissipating: Slowly regenerate Radiation damage when out of combat.

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Derek joined the TweakTown team in 2015 and has since reviewed and played 1000s of hours of new games. Derek is absorbed with the intersection of technology and gaming, and is always looking forward to new advancements. With over six years in games journalism under his belt, Derek aims to further engage the gaming sector while taking a peek under the tech that powers it. He hopes to one day explore the stars in No Man's Sky with the magic of VR.

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