Fallout 4’s Survival Mode Disables Fast Travel, Introduces Ammo Weight

Details about Fallout 4’s upcoming survival difficulty have been revealed after Reddit user ShaneD53 investigated the game’s files and extracted information about what to expect, as noted by Eurogamer.

The survival mode will disable both manual and quicksaving. Saving can only be done when you save a bed and sleep for at least an hour. Ammo now generates a small amount of encumbrance

Ammo now generates a small amount of encumbrance, with the specific amount of weight varying by caliber. Heavier items such as mini-nukes and fusion cores are said to “really drag you down.”

Combat is described as being “more lethal” all round. Your character can deal more damage to enemies and creatures but also suffers more damage. Enemies also no longer appear on your compass and the distance at which locations of interest appear on your compass is significantly shorter.

Playing on Survival difficulty will automatically grant the Adrenaline perk, significantly boosting your damage output. The only way to raise your Adrenaline perk rank is to get more kills. However, sleeping for than one-hour results in your Adrenaline rank being lowered.

Fast travel no longer works, which means you have to actually walk everywhere you want to visit. Given that the game offers no form of in-game transit, this is going to mean a lot of walking.

Survival mode introduces the “Wellness” feature, which means your character needs to stay fed, hydrated, and well rested in order to be combat-ready. Not taking care of these basic needs affects your health, can reduce your SPECIAL stats, and adds to your Fatigue. Your Fatigue rating works like Radiation sickness but affects Action Points instead of Hit Points and shows up as a red block on your AP bar. Your immunity rating will also be lowered and can eventually deal physical damage to you.

Finally, Sickness is caused by drinking unpurified water, eating uncooked meat, using Chems, and being damaged by diseased enemies such as bug and ghouls.

Bethesda recently announced the first three DLC packs that will be released for Fallout 4.