Fallout 76 introduces the Pioneer Scouts, backpacks, and closes out Wild Appalachia with a Legendary weapon vendor

Fallout 76 closes out the first chapter of its 2019 roadmap Wild Appalachia with today's update. A general overview of the patch contents was provided last month, but with today's update comes the full set of patch notes, available on Bethesda's site. The update, titled Patch 9, introduces a nice spread of new quests, equipment, and quality of life improvements.

A new series of events following the adventures of the Pioneer Scouts is now available, where players will be able to progress through the ranks in order to earn crafting recipes and gear. The scouting related events are described as ranging from activities to minor quests to spooky campfire stories. The most important update, however, is the ability to earn backpacks through this series of quests and activities.

Upon reaching the rank of Possum (you start as a Tadpole), players will be able to craft their first backpacks, which increased how much gear they can carry. Backpacks will also serve as cosmetic items which can be modded to change their appearance. Some mods are also more functional, such as increased damage reduction or food refrigeration. All in all, it seems like a neat way to expand gear and build selection options outside of the Perk system that's in place.

The notes also detail updates to player trading and some quality of life improvements regarding Legendary items. Players will be able to sell excess items and materials at their C.A.M.Ps via player vending machines. New legendary exchange machines will also be placed at train stations to swap out unwanted Legendary gear drops for a material called Scrip, which will be used to trade with a new vendor arriving in the game next week.

Altogether, the progression mechanics and questlines outlined in the notes seems like the most robust so far for Fallout 76, but other events in Wild Appalachia have been relatively limited in scope, and have arguably been a bit disappointing. Some of the mechanics in this update such as ranking up through the Scout ranks, backpack acquisition, and Legendary gear vendors seem well suited to begin leaning into endgame sort of progression outside of taking over missile silos. The next chapter of updates, Nuclear Winter, is supposed to bring prestige systems and Vault raids, and maybe we'll see a more detailed roadmap for that soon.