Fallout 76 has a hellish new area and Bethesda want you to nuke it

Timed perfectly off the back of the Fallout TV show's success, Fallout 76 players can start testing out Skyline Valley, a new woodland area in the game's upcoming major update. There's a new public event to try, as well as combat readjustments that'll be drip fed over the course of the test period. Anyone who owns the game on Steam can give these things a go, which is a bonus, too. I think I own it? I genuinely can't remember. Anyway, yes, maybe I'll hop in and see how things have changed since, errr, launch.

The new area, Skyline Valley, is available to test right away on the game's public test server. Going off the art in Bethesda's Steam announcement, it looks like a lovely green space plagued by red lightning. And with that in mind, there's a new public event called Dangerous Pastimes, where you'll help "thrill-seeking storm chasers get the best picture of the storm by protecting them from the elements, the Lost, and nearby Charged creatures."

On April 27th, Dangerous Pastimes will be replaced by Fasnacht, although there's no info on what it entails. Then a couple of days later on the 29th, Fasnacht will swap back over to Dangerous Pastimes. What's interesting is that the devs want people to nuke the region, suggesting that 'something' might happen. "Along with testing the public events, we want to specifically request that you all nuke the region while playing. Maybe something will happen, maybe nothing. Probably nothing... right?"

Over the course of the Skyline Valley test period, combat readjustments will "take effect in a variety of places (Weapons, Creatures, etc.) across multiple patches." To kick things off, a number of creatures are being rebalanced: Anglers, Cave Crickets, Floaters, Gulpers, Mutant Hounds, and Protectrons.

Weapon damage falloff at range is being tweaked, too. Which means that most ranged guns should perform a bit better, but it'll affect shotguns and pipe guns the most.

The Fallout TV show has done gangbusters for player numbers across Fallout's portfolio, including Fallout 4, New Vegas, and of course, Fallout 76. A new update for Fallout 4 has coincided with the TV show as well, so this Skyline update is clearly a clever tactical move to capitalise on the series' revitalisation while it lasts.

To try out Skyline's new goodies on the PTS, you'll find "Fallout 76 Public Test Server" in your Steam library if you own a copy of Fallout 76. Get that installed and you're good to go.