Fallout 76 Burning Springs Release Notes—Public Test Server Update Details

NFD NEWS
Oct 3
6 min read

Fallout 76 has a new supersized update inbound dubbed Burning Springs, and it’s the largest update to hit the game in more than five years. It drops this December, but for now, users on the Public Test Server can access the update and try out everything it has to offer. That means Ohio, Bounty Hunter missions, and Walton Goggins as The Ghoul!

Below, I’ve broken down the full Fallout 76 Burning Springs release notes, which apply only to those playing on the Public Test Server. For everyone else, you’ll need to wait until December 2025.

Fallout 76: Burning Springs is Here and Heating Up (in the PTS)

If you’re lucky enough to be part of the Public Test Server for Fallout 76, then you should rejoice, as you can explore Burning Springs right now. The Burning Springs update has been added to the PTS as of October 2nd, which means you can explore everything Ohio has to offer, and boy, is there a lot.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Burning Springs release notes.

Burning Springs is the new region set in southeastern Ohio, and it’s accessible by crossing the Point Pleasant bridge to the left-hand side of the base map. Players venturing into this area will come face-to-face with the Rust King, a fearsome and intelligent Super Mutant who rules the Burning Springs and offers an intense questline.

If the Rust King’s settlement isn’t your cup of tea, head to Highway Town, where you’ll find Walton Goggins playing The Ghoul and offering bounties in The Last Resort saloon.

Note: To enter Ohio, you need to trigger a quest by tuning to the Ohio Distress Signal, which will pop up once you’re beyond level 30.

Bounty Hunting is the new major activity in the Burning Springs update, facilitated by The Ghoul and starting at The Last Resort in Highway Town. You’ll collect bounty posters and set to hunt them down, and the best news is, you can repeat these bounties as many times as you want.

As you complete ‘Grunt Hunts’, you might acquire a special bounty called a ‘Head Hunt’, which is an extra challenge that yields more rewards and triggers a public event!

The Content Pipeline is Flowing

Bethesda Game Studios has added a stack of new mods to Fallout 76 with the Burning Springs update, giving you new ways to explore the weapons you unlock for taking down bounty targets:

New 1* Mods

Feral (Melee Weapon) – Kills make you more feral.
Sniper’s (Ranged Weapon) – Gain bonus damage to weak-points while aiming down sights.
Adrenal (Weapon) – +Damage per kill while on a kill streak. (Up to n%)
Adrenal (Armor) – +Damage resistance while on a kill streak. (Up to n%)
Lucid (Weapon) – Increase damage based on how full your feral sanity meter is.
Lucid (Armor ) – Increase damage resistance based on how full your feral sanity meter is.

New 2* Mods

Pick Pocketer’s (Melee Weapon) – Kills have a chance to award a small amount of caps.
Pain Killer (Armor) – Gain HP Regen based on your kill streak (up to n HP per second)
Rushing (Armor) – Gain AP Regen based on your kill streak (up to n AP per second)
Elementalist’s (Armor) – +x All Resistances (up to +y)
Fierce (Armor only, not Power Armor) – Fortify limb resistance while on a skill streak (up to n%)

New 3* Mods

Glowing (Weapon) – Kills grant a small amount of Rads.
Healthy (Armor) – Max HP increased by x (up to y)
Reflex (Armor) – x% Evade (up to y)
Active (Armor) – Max AP is increased by +x (up to y)
Barbarian (Melee) – +n STR per kill while on a kill streak.

Two new public events have been introduced with this update: Gearin’ Up and Sinkhole Solutions. The former will see you securing a tamed Deathclaw from a perilous junkyard, while the latter has you decimating Radscorpions and Stingwings guarding a highly radioactive and explosive sinkhole.

Talking of mutated creatures, you can tame and unlock a gnarly Rad Hog as a C.A.M.P. pet, if you’re that way inclined. When the update is released in December, you’ll be able to buy this pet in the Atomic Shop.

Elsewhere, more fish have been added, courtesy of the new fishing holes in Ohio, and a fresh side quest dubbed ‘Dirty Laundry’ has been loaded with the new update.

The Gleaming Depths raid has been updated with a fresh challenge, the emote wheel has been amended with new categories, and a new seasonal weapon – a powerful hand cannon – has been added.

But that’s not all.

Changes and Bug Fixes in Burning Springs Update

Here are all the changes and fixes coming as part of Burning Springs, with more to be added by December:

Daily Ops

The Freezing Touch mutation now deals Cryo damage.
Decryption
Removed the armor penetration and increased damage effects.
Enemies are now higher levels than you would normally encounter.

Gameplay

Becoming immune to fall damage now always prevents the stagger animation from playing.
All Cryo damage now has a unified effect that slows the target and drains Action Points. This effect scales up the more Cryo damage the target takes and recovers over time when the target isn’t taking Cryo damage. Cryo resistance also plays a role in how quickly the status effect is built up and recovers. Weapons and effects that caused a slowing effect now deal Cryo damage instead.
Fixed a bug where applying slow effects to a target could make them move very fast.
RAD damage is no longer recovered to a minimum value when loading into the world. RAD damage is still recovered to a minimum value when respawning. This also applies to Glow for Ghouls.
Fixed an issue where damaging auras would not deal any damage in certain cases.
Fixed an issue where players could be stuck in a state where their AP constantly drains.

Legendary Mods

The Stalker’s mod can now be attached to melee weapons.
The Miasma mod has been reworked to always deal poison damage to nearby targets, similar to the Plague Walker mutation.

Mutations

Bird Bones now displays its Fall Damage reduction in the Pipboy.
Fixed a bug where Herbivore and Carnivore mutations could be acquired at the same time.
If you currently have both mutations, they will be removed from your character.

Perks

Bullet Shield
Removed Rank 4
Four Leaf Clover
Now grants the correct amount of crit meter for multiple projectile weapons.
Fast Fighter
Now grants 50% of your movement speed above 100% (your bonus movement speed) as reload speed. Previously, it granted 30% of your total movement speed as reload speed.
Lifegiver
Fixed an issue where players could die when unequipping this Perk Card.
Fixed an issue where the players HP could be incorrect and overlapping the RADS portion of the HP bar when this Perk Card was equipped.
Night Eyes
Reduced cost to 1 point.
Number Cruncher
Now applies to weapon DoT effects.
Deal Sealer
Cryo slow now counts as an impairment for this Perk.
Poison aura effects now correctly inflict poison impairment.
United Ordeal
Now shows in the Pipboy Effects tab when active.
Rad Sponge
Fixed an issue where Thirst and Hunger restored at different rates.
Increased the rate at which Thirst and Hunger are restored.
Good With Salt
Moved from LCK to INT.
Curator
Moved from LCK to INT.
Tightly Wound
Fixed an issue where the animation speed would reset when entering or exiting Power Armor.
Bloody Mess
Fixed an issue that would allow this to proc on bleed immune targets.

Power Armor

Fixed an issue that caused players to not be able to enter their Power Armor

Weapons

Weapons will no longer experience a delay in firing after being reloaded when using effects that increase reload speed.
The Light Machine Gun full stock mod no longer adds the Rifle tag to the weapon.

Perks are now sorted into their own group in the Status tab.
Fixed a display issue where Number Cruncher would increase the Pipboy damage values more than expected.
DoT floating numbers are now hidden when the floating numbers are disabled.
Fixed an issue where DoT floating numbers would sometimes display twice.
V.A.T.S. Accuracy is now correctly displayed with a percentage sign in mod properties.

Let me know if you’re diving into Ohio with the Burning Springs update