Launching nukes is just one of those rare pleasures you’ll find in Fallout 76. If you’re looking to rain down destructions, actually acquiring everything you need to launch a nuke is really, really difficult — especially if you’re running solo. Nukes are tough to acquire, and even tougher to launch due to a few factors. First, you’ll need to locate a nuke silo, which you’ll naturally do when following the Overseer missions. After that, things get complicated.
There are several nuke silos, and they’re all heavily guarded. Once you breach the area and get inside, you’ll also need eight keys. Acquire all the keys to activate the nuke sequence, and there’s still another step — you have to input a code. These codes are randomized, but they’re all part of a cypher. The codes might change every week, but the cypher remains the same.
Below, I’ll explain how to crack the cypher (using some community help) and exactly what nukes actually do in-game. You can’t just launch anywhere, and they serve a very specific purpose.
More Fallout 76 guides on Gameranx:
- Fallout 76: 10 Things You Should Do First | Power Armor Location & More | Beginner’s Guide
- Fallout 76: How To PVP Without Becoming Wanted | Bonus PVP Modes Guide
- Fallout 76: Power Armor Frames, Core Farming & Unique Set Locations Guide
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- Fallout 76: Where To Find The ‘Rose’s Syringer’ Gun | Unique Weapon Guide
- Fallout 76: Where To Find The ‘Perfect Storm’ SMG | Unique Weapon Guide
- Fallout 76: How To Find A Hazmat Suit For Perfect Radiation Protection | Location Guide
- Fallout 76: Save Ammo With These Melee Build Tips | Best Builds Guide
- Fallout 76: Nuke Everything With The CAMP Artillery Schematic | Best Weapons Guide
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How To Launch Nukes | Nuclear Silo Launch Codes Guide
Nukes are a powerful tool you can use to weaken the toughest opponents on the Fallout 76 map — the Scourgebeasts. There are four scourgebeast locations, and these are the only four locations you can nuke. Blasting a location won’t kill a Scourgebeast, but it will significantly weaken one, making it far easier to kill them in combat. Nuking a spot will also spawn new enemies at that location.
There are several different nuke bunkers. Follow the Overseer quest to track down a bunker location — once you reach the bunker, you’ll need to fight through hordes of enemies, and collect eight nuke keys found in the game world. After inserting all eight keys, the trickiest part is at the end — you must solve a cypher code.
To solve the cypher code, you can use a resource created by an enterprising Fallout 76 fan. Check out the Cypher website – NukeCrypt – here. You can input a partial code and get the full code you need to launch. Learn more about the process here.
The NukeCrypt website was made by supremely helpful Reddit User Waffle_cop. How did he manage to make this? The cypher used to decrypt the codes is actually found in a note, in-game. So it’s pretty unlikely the cypher will change, even if the codes change weekly.
