Fallout 76: 10 Tips To Win Nuclear Winter Mode | Battle Royale Guide

Battle Royale just won’t stop — the multiplayer mode that became incredibly popular thanks to PUBG and Fortnite: Battle Royale has arrived in Fallout 76, and it’s a very different online experience.

Instead of going solo, you’ll work in teams to hunt down other players, with up to 50 players shooting it out on a single map. You’ll start with nothing. To survive, you’ll have to build your resources while dodging monsters, exploring abandoned buildings, and blasting enemy players until you’re the last survivor standing.

It’s a surprising new mode that weirdly fits perfectly into the hardcore-lite survival mechanics of Fallout 76. If you want to survive (and maybe even win!) then check out our top 10 tips. Some of these tips are obvious for long-time BR players, and some are totally unique to this weird little game.

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#1: Focus On Ranged Weapon & Armor Builds

Powerful guns and strong armor are what you’ll need to survive. Melee characters are basically screwed in Nuclear Winter — when you’re facing off against an entire team of gun-wielding maniacs, a club just isn’t going to cut it. Grab the best possible guns you can, and alway seek out improved armor. Even with heavy gear, a torrent of enemy bullets can rip you apart fast — always work together, and move from cover to cover.

#2: Managing Your Inventory Is Extremely Important

Survival is all about inventory management. By default, you’ll only have 75 carry weight — you can increase that to 100 carry weight with the starting Strength perk card. Managing your inventory is important, so you’ll want to dump useless weapons, and don’t bother to loot everything you find.

Stimpacks and ammo also weigh nothing, so you can loot as many as you need. Ditch heavy weapons like rocket launchers and miniguns when you can powerful weapons with more plentiful ammo. The Hunting Rifle is one of the best tools, and you’ll want to keep at least one melee weapon on hand. I’ll explain why below.

#3: Kill NPCs To Get Stimpacks, Ammo & More Loot

NPCs like feral ghouls and other random monsters all drop useful loot. Most importantly, they’ll have ammo, stimpacks, and other stuff like lockpicks. Stock up on healing, ammo, and whatever else you can get your hands on, but don’t use guns; use melee weapons to kill monsters! That way, you’ll save ammo and you won’t alert nearby opponents with your gunshots.

#4: Don’t Loot Everything — Leave Ammo For Your Team!

Ammo doesn’t weigh anything, so you can grab all the ammo you want, right? Wrong! Leave some ammo behind when you’re looting. If you’re taking all the ammo and all the weapons, you’re leaving your team behind. It’s best to communicate and share resources so everyone is prepared for an encounter against other players. The more appropriate ammo everyone has, the better.

One other handy tactic is to collect everything, then stop at safe areas like a CAMP and drop any ammo you don’t need. Make sure to alert your teammates to the ammo drop! You can do the same for stimpacks; if you’ve got plenty, let your team have a few.

#5: Pre-Build Blueprints For A Base On The Fly

Blueprints are special setups you can save for your CAMP. To make life easier, you can pre-build these blueprints in any mode, then take your blueprint into Nuclear Winter. You can setup your CAMP in a handy way, with all the crafting stations and turrets you need to stay safe, and then plop it down in Nuclear Winter mode. This is incredibly useful, and a tactic suggested by the Fallout 76 developers.

#6: Stick With Your Team And Take Out One Opponent At A Time

Using teamwork is incredibly important. Don’t split your team, and don’t try to take on an entire team alone. Everyone in Fallout 76 moves really, really slow, and this is hardly an action game — you can sort of jump, and movement in general is pretty sluggish. If you’re caught in the open, or just go and chase an enemy team, you’ll get shot down pretty quickly. It’s important to stay with your friends, and call out targets — try to pick them off one-by-one.

#7: Power Armor Is Rare, And It Isn’t Always Worth Getting

Power Armor randomly spawns on the map, so there’s no guarantee you’ll find it. While it is pretty tough, it isn’t all-powerful. Sniper Rifles and other weapons with high damage can still rip Power Armor to shreds, and the extra slow movement speed and giant profile make this thing a walking coffin. Power Armor isn’t a win button, so if you see it, don’t feel bad about ditching it.

Currently, Power Armor is also bugged. If you have it equipped, you’ll bug out when attempting to revive a downed player. Just a word of warning.

#8: Equip Perks For Extra Health, Extra Carry Weight, Sprint Speed And +Damage

The best early perks you’ll want at the start give you extra health, +25 carry weight, extra damage against wildlife, and a boost to sprint speed. Marathoner is actually one of the best unsung perks — it costs -40% less AP to sprint, meaning you can sprint for almost twice as long. Normally, you can only sprint for about five seconds, so this is a godsend.

#9: You’ll Want One Player With Hacking & Lockpicking On Your Team

Lockpicking is completely situational, giving you access to areas with better loot and alternate paths to ambush enemy teams. Lockpicking is a great skill to have, but only one player really needs it. Hacking is a different beast — a successful hack gives you access to several reward options.

Show All Players on the Map for 1 Minute
Request A Stimpack
Request A Weapon / Nuke Keycard

Yes, you can get nukes in Nuclear Winter. You can also reveal all the enemy players on the map, making it easier to find them before they find you. Hacking is a power that everyone can use and abuse, so I recommend adding those cards to your deck.

#10: Communication Is Key! There Is No Pinging

If I haven’t said it enough, communication and teamwork are incredibly important in Nuclear Winter. You can’t survive solo. It’s just impossible. The only way to win is to work with your team, spread out resources so everyone is ready for a fight, and then pick apart enemy teams one-by-one. You can’t ‘ping’ or mark your targets like in other Battle Royales, so if a teammates runs off on their own, they’re as good as dead.

Stick together, loot wisely, and aim well. That’s the simplest way to win in Nuclear Winter mode.

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