Don’t be afraid. Step into the radiation and emerge as a Ghoul!
Today’s Ghoul Within update gives all Wastelanders an opportunity to turn themselves into a Ghoul. Unlocking a whole new way to experience Appalachia. With new gameplay mechanics, and Ghoul-exclusive Perk cards.
We hope you’re all ready to unleash your inner ghoul!
Update Highlights
- Ghoulification– Take a “Leap of Faith” in a new section of the Savage Divide and emerge a full-fledged Ghoul!
- Ghoul Exclusive Perk Cards – Find Ghoultastic build opportunities with 30 new Perk cards (28 regular and 2 legendary).
- Season 20: Glow of the Ghoul – Mutation. Radiation. GLOW. It’s time to ghoulify Appalachia!
Update Version 1.7.18.22 & Sizes
- PC (Steam)**: 18.9 GB
Ghoulification
To begin your path to the Ghoul life, you’ll have to pick up the questline “Leap of Faith.” which will take you into a new section of the Savage Divide. There, you will meet characters who will aid in your transformation.
Completing this questline will complete your transformation, unlocking new Ghoul-exclusive abilities Glow and Feral, as well as giving you access to 30 new Ghoul-exclusive Perks.
Ghoulities (Abilities)
Feral
Becoming a Ghoul sheds the need to sate your hunger and thirst. Instead, you battle against a gnawing desire to slip back into your base nature, abandoning all sanity you might have had.
The new Feral meter drains over time and can only be filled back up by consuming Chems. You may not want to keep that meter 100% filled though. Your Feral status provides different bonuses and penalties depending on how full the meter is.
- Above 80%: you gain +3 Strength, +3 Endurance, +30 Max HP
- Above 60%: you gain +15 Max HP
- Above 40%: you lose -1 Endurance and -5 Max HP
- Above 20%: you lose -3 Endurance, -15 Max HP, -10 Max AP
- At 0%: you gain +150% Melee Damage, and lose -5 Endurance, -99 Charisma, -30 Max HP, -20 Max AP, -300% Hip-fire Gun Accuracy & V.A.T.S. Accuracy.
Glow
As you might expect when living life as a Ghoul, radiation doesn’t have the same effect on you as it does on the smooth-skinned. You’re immune to diseases and cannot be mutated by nearby radiation. As a Ghoul, radiation makes you Glow!
This new Glow system increases your maximum health (and heals damage you’ve taken) based on the amount of radiation that you’ve accumulated. Your Glow can be tracked by the green-striped pattern on your HP bar.
Consuming tainted foods, drinks and exploring irradiated environments all contribute to your Glow. If you hear that Pip-Boy ticking, the radiation is hitting. While you’re in Power Armor, your radiation intake can be seen on the “Rads” dial next to your health.
Outside of the max health increase Glow provides, it also contributes to Perks like the Science Monster and Jaguar Speed Perks mentioned below!
Gherks (Perks)
One of the immediate benefits of living life as a Ghoul is that you’ll have access to a new suite of Perk cards,which you can use in addition to the normal human cards. There are 28 Perks to choose from and 2 new Legendary perks for Ghouls.
The new Perk cards can be attained through Perk card packs or by selecting your level-up Perk. These cards will open new build opportunities and enhance the way you play.
Do note that Perk cards that revolve around Hunger, Thirst and the Chem Resistant perk will be locked as Ghouls don’t require the benefits that those cards provide.
Let’s look at one Perk from each S.P.E.C.I.A.L. category (all Perk descriptions are at their max value):
- Strength: Bone Shatterer – Your melee weapon attacks have a 45% chance to cripple a limb.
- Perception: Eye of The Hunter – Your vision grants you +30% accuracy in V.A.T.S. from a very long distance.
- Endurance: Glowing Gut - Irradiated food and drink grant 300% more rads.
- Charisma: Moral Support – When on a team, you become feral 50% slower.
- Intelligence: Science Monster – While you have Glow, gain 15% bonus damage for 10 seconds upon getting hit.
- Agility: Jaguar Speed – You now sprint 20% faster when your Glow is high.
- Luck: Wild West Hands – 36% chance to instantly reload your entire magazine when empty.
A Ghoul’s Day Out
With all these new benefits that help you explore the wasteland, we would forgive you for thinking that life as a Ghoul was easy. No matter how well dressed you are, there are still some factions (like the Brotherhood of Steel) who won’t want to interact with you.
Playing as a Ghoul will make some factions hostile to you which will lock you out of some quest lines. Luckily wearing disguises made by Jaye, a new NPC you’ll meet along the new questline, will allow you to interact with any blocked content that you may find when living life as a Ghoul. Jaye will also allow you remove the disguise if you so wish.
Back to Humanity
If after a short while you realize that being a Ghoul isn’t for you, you can become human again through your Character Screen.
Please note: this is a one-way ticket back. You won’t be able to complete the quest-line to become a Ghoul again.
If you want a character that has already completed the “Leap of Faith” questline to become a Ghoul again, you can purchase a Ghoul Retransformation which will be available on the character screen for 1000 Atoms.
Season 20 – Glow of the Ghoul
Bask in the “Glow of the Ghoul” and earn new Ghoulish rewards throughout your journey.
For a complete look at what awaits you this season, check out our Season 20 article here!
The Big Bloom – Starting April 29
Spring is on the way which means the new themed event begins on April 29!
We hope you look forward to helping Black-eyed Susan save her favorite meadow from the Overgrown.
Level 50 Character Boost
For new and veteran Wastelanders alike, the new Level 50 Character Boost is a great way to get a new character ready to participate in Daily Ops, Public Events, and explore Appalachia!
Check out our article for more information.
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Release Notes
Accessibility
- Fixed an issue where the Text to Speech window could persist through various menus.
- Fixed an issue where a chosen Screen Narration Voice Type could reset after relaunching the game.
- Fixed an issue where menus would not scroll properly while using Text to Speech or Speech to Text options.
Ammo
- Plasma and Ultracite Cores now display their charge value.
- Fully charged Fusion, Plasma and Ultracite Cores can now be placed in the Ammo Box.
- Fusion Cores count as in use while in Power Armor when storing unused ammo in the Ammo Box.
- Fusion Cores assigned to Power Armor cannot be stored in the Ammo Box.
Armor
- Fixed an issue where the V63 Jetpack Paint could not be applied to the Vulcan Jetpack.
- Enclave Technician Headwear now provides correct "Damage & Disease resistance against airborne hazards".
- Hazmat and Chinese Stealth Suit now count as wearing a full matching set of armor.
- Hazmat Suit is now in the Armor category in the Pip-Boy.
C.A.M.P.
- Expanded the area of passive power for the Winter Retreat workshop structure.
- Fixed an issue where workshop items would not place correctly while using Free Cam in the Summer Camp Shelter.
- Stored C.A.M.P. Pet furniture now properly refers to them as a Dweller.
- The last Turbo-fert grenade in a stack will function as expected.
- Fixed an issue where two doors could be attached to the same doorframe.
- Fixed an issue with the Flower Cart Vending Machine not having proper transparency on the flowers.
Combat
- Reduced the health and damage output of Super Mutants.
- Fixed an issue with the Cavalier's mod where the player took increased damage while blocking.
- Manhunt: corrected grammatical mistakes in Mad Dog Malone's lines.
Combat Balancing
Most pistols have been modified to incorporate the damage that they would deal via Perks into their base damage since those perks no-longer offer a pistol-specific increase to damage. In addition to this, a few pistols have received a further increase to their base damage.
The following weapons can be converted to Rifles via mods and thus will have their base damage further increased in the future:
- Pipe Gun
- Pipe Revolver
- Pipe Bolt-Action
- Laser Gun
- Ultracite Laser Gun
- Plasma Gun
- Enclave Plasma Gun
Weapon Damage Changes
The base damage values listed here represent the weapon at its max level (45 or 50). Lower levels have been adjusted proportionally.
- 10mm: 29 -> 45
- 44 [Revolver]: 72 -> 132
- Alien Blaster: 37 -> 59
- Black Powder Pistol: 216 -> 347
- Crusader Pistol: 35 -> 56
- Circuit Breaker: 40 -> 64
- Salvaged Assaultron Head: 62 -> 95
- Western Revolver: 84 -> 157
- Gamma Gun: 60 -> 85
- Gauss Pistol: 115 -> 195
- Single Action Revolver: 82 -> 184
- Pipe Revolver: 70 -> 85
Weapon AP Cost Changes
- Pipe Gun: 21 -> 13 / Note: This weapon no longer has reduced AP cost from automatic receivers.
- 10mm: 20 -> 15 / Note: This weapon no longer has reduced AP cost from automatic receivers.
- Circuit Breaker: 20 -> 16
- 44 [Revolver]: 35 -> 20
- Alien Blaster: 20 -> 17
- Crusader Pistol: 20 -> 16
- Combat Shotgun: 35 -> 18
- Western Revolver: 35 -> 22
- Double-Barrel Shotgun: 30 -> 26
- Cold Shoulder: 30 -> 28
- Gauss Pistol: 35 -> 18
- Plasma Gun: 25 -> 16
- Enclave Plasma Gun: 25 -> 18
- Gamma Gun: 30 -> 18
- Pipe Revolver: 25 -> 16
- Gunther’s Big Iron: 35 -> 30
- Gauss Shotgun: 35 -> 24
- Laser Gun: 25 -> 16
- Pump-Action Shotgun: 35 -> 20
- Single-Action Revolver: 35 -> 24
- Ultracite Laser Gun: 25 -> 14
Weapon VATS Critical Damage Multiplier Changes
These are the base VATS critical damage multipliers for each weapon. Mods, perks, and other buffs can further increase these values.
- 10mm: 2.0 -> 2.5 / Note: Only while semi-automatic.
- Circuit Breaker: 2.0 -> 2.75
- 44 [Revolver]: 2.0 -> 2.75
- Alien Blaster: 2.0 -> 2.25
- Black Powder Pistol: 2.0 -> 2.75
- Crusader Pistol: 2.0 -> 2.5
- Single-Action Revolver: 2.0 -> 2.75
- Salvaged Assaultron Head: 2.0 -> 3.0
- Western Revolver: 2.0 -> 2.75
- Gamma Gun: 2.0 -> 2.75
- Gauss Pistol: 2.0 -> 2.75
- Pipe Bolt-Action: 2.0 -> 2.75
- Pipe Gun: 2.0 -> 2.5 / Note: Only while semi-automatic.
- Pipe Revolver: 2.0 -> 2.75
Weapon Sneak Damage Multiplier Changes
These are the base VATS critical damage multipliers for each weapon. Mods and perks can further increase these values.
- 10mm: 2.0 -> 2.5
- Alien Blaster: 2.0 -> 2.25
- Crusader Pistol: 2.0 -> 2.5
- Pipe Bolt-Action: 2.0 -> 2.75
- Pipe Gun: 2.0 -> 2.5
Events
- Dangerous Pastimes: Increased the countdown timer of the first stage to allow for more time before interacting with the intercom.
Legendary Mods
- Fixed a bug causing Legendary Mod Boxes to drop on death.
- Fixed an issue which caused the “Pounder’s” mod to do more damage than intended.
- “Battle-Loader’s” no longer activates when bashing players or teammates.
- Fixed an issue with the “Defender's” mod where players took increased damage while blocking.
- “Conductor's” now correctly grants 5% health & AP on successful critical hits.
Legendary Mod Boxes can now be scrapped for Legendary Modules.
- - 1-Star: 3 Module
- - 2-Star: 6 Module
- - 3-Star: 12 Module
- - 4-Star: 24 Module
- - You now have a chance to learn the plans by scrapping the mod boxes at the same rate as scrapping an item with the mod attached.
Arms Keeper's
- No longer applies to grenades
Cavalier's
- (Weapon) Fixed a bug causing this mod to increase damage taken instead of reducing it.
- (Armor) Now grants -5% Damage Taken while sprinting.
Sentinel's
- Now grants -5% Damage Taken while standing still.
Furious
- This effect is now considered Onslaught (+5% damage per stack, +9 max stacks) and stacks with the new Gunslinger and Guerrilla Perks.
- Onslaught description: Each consecutive hit grants a stack of Onslaught. Stacks expire once per second. Players have an initial limit of 0 and can increase this through Perks and Items. The effects granted per stack can also be modified by Perks and Items.
Pounder’s
- Reworded for Onslaught and fixed an issue with the stack limit.
- +10% Damage per Onslaught stack, +10 max stacks.
Safecracker’s
- New Effect: +1 Lockpick and +1 Hacking skill.
Magazines
- Updated Guns and Bullets 3 description to state that it gives a 100% increase to Ballistic Crit damage.
Power Armor
- Now grants +10 STR regardless of your current STR.
- Inspecting and previewing Power Armor now correctly shows the parts attached to it. In addition, the inspect menu now displays the contents of the chassis.
Perks
- Adjusted some Perk names for better alphabetical sorting.
- Onslaught now has a HUD indicator.
- A help entry has been added for Onslaught.
- Added a help entry for Small Guns.
- Updated the help entry for V.A.T.S. to include information about Limb Targeting and Weakness/Resistance being tied to the PER stat.
- Added an option to disable the unopened Perk Card Pack prompt.
- Starting loadouts have been adjusted to accommodate Perk Card changes.
- Fixed an issue where upgraded Perk Cards only showed Rank 1 values when unequipped.
Perk Balancing
Arms Keeper
- Ranks reduced from 3 to 2
- Rank 1 increased to 50%.
- Rank 2 increased to 75%
- Now applies to all weapons, except grenades
Awareness
- New Effect: Gain more V.A.T.S. accuracy based on PER
- The effect of seeing weaknesses in V.A.T.S. is now tied to having at least 10 PER
Barbarian
- Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
- New Effect: Gain Damage Resistance based on your STR. Doubled when not wearing armor.
Bodyguards
- Ranks reduced from 4 to 1
- New Effect: Gain Damage & Energy Resistance based on your CHA per teammate.
Demolition Expert
- Ranks reduced from 5 to 3.
- Rank 2 increased from 20% to 40% Explosive Damage.
- Rank 3 increased from 30% to 60% Explosive Damage.
- Fixed an issue where Demolition Expert was increasing Turret damage instead of Home Defense.
- Demolition Expert is no longer required to craft explosives.
Cap Collector
- Reduced chance of extra caps from 100% to a chance based on your LCK that ranges from 20% to 85%.
Can Do!
- Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
- New Effect: Find more packaged food based on LCK
- Added an additional chance to occur based on your LCK that ranges from 20% to 85%.
- Can now apply to NPC loot.
Concentrated Fire
- No longer grants limb targeting. This is now acquired by having at least 5 PER
- Fixed the damage bonus not increasing per shot
- The per shot effects are now limited to 20 stacks
Crackshot
- Now works with all small guns.
Field Surgeon
- Moved to INT
Farma Pharma
- Added an additional chance to occur based on your LCK that ranges from 20% to 85%.
- Can now apply to NPC loot.
Gun Fu
- Fixed an issue where Gun Fu was doing much more damage than intended
- Increased the damage buff from 10%, 30%, 60% to 30%, 60%, 90%
Good With Salt
- Ranks reduced from 3 to 2
- Rank 1 now reduces spoilage by 45%
- Rank 2 now reduces spoilage by 90%
Guerrilla
- New Effect: Each rank adds ranged damage to close enemies
Guerrilla Expert
- Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
- Rank 1 now costs 2 Perk Points
- New Effect: Gain +1% reload speed per Onslaught stack with ranged weapons, +3 max stacks
Guerrilla Master
- Ranks reduced from 3 t o1
- Rank 1 now costs 3 Perk Points
- New Effect: Gain +5% damage to close enemies per Onslaught stack with ranged weapons, +5 max stacks.
Gunslinger
- New Effect: Each rank adds ranged damage to weak spots (6/9/12 damage per rank)
Gunslinger Expert
- Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
- Rank 1 now costs 2 Perk Points
- New Effect: Changed effect to +1% ranged weak spot damage per **Onslaught** stack, +3 max stacks.
Gunslinger Master
- Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
- Rank 1 now costs 3 Perk Points
- New Effect: Gain Onslaught stacks over time and spend them on attacks, +10 max stacks.
Gun Runner
- Now works with any ranged weapon.
Home Defense
- Now correctly increases Turret damage.
- Damage bonus is +50/75/100%.
Inspirational
- Ranks reduced from 3 to 1.
- Increased XP gain per CHA.
- New Effect: You and team members gain more XP. This effect scales with CHA.
Ironclad
- Ranks reduced from 5 to 3.
- New Effect: Armor provides 5% more protection per rank. Double if wearing a matching set.
Lead Belly
- Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
- New Effect: Less Rads from food & drink based on END
Modern Renegade
- Now works with all small guns.
- Chance to cripple has been replaced with increased limb damage.
Mr. Sandman
- Removed the “at night” requirement
Pack Rat
- Ranks reduced from 3 to 2
- Rank 1 increased to 50%.
- Rank 2 increased to 75%
Packin’ Light
- Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
- New Effect: Your Action Points regenerate faster when not encumbered.
Pharma Farma
- Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
- New Effect: Find more healing chems based on LCK
Portable Power
- Ranks reduced from 3 to 2
- Moved from INT to STR
- Rank 1 increased to 50%.
- Rank 2 increased to 75%
Rad Resistant
- Ranks reduced from 4 to 1
- Rank 1 now costs 2 points
- New Effect: Gain Radiation Resistance based on your END.
Rejuvenated
- Increased bonus at Rank 1
- Rank 2 now has an additional bonus while not heavily irradiated
Scrounger
- Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
- No longer increases the quantity of explosives found.
- New Effect: Find more ammo based on LCK
- Dev Note: All 3 “searching” Perks have a chance based on LCK to grant a bonus item in certain contexts, such as a medical box or ammo box. In addition, these Perks increase the quantity found from all regular loot sources based on LCK.
Spiritual Healer
- Ranks reduced from 3 to 1.
- New Effect: You and teammates regenerate health. This effect scales with CHA.
Strong Back
- Ranks reduced from 4 to 1
- Rank 1 now costs 2 Perk Points
- New Effect: Gain more carry weight based on your STR
Tank Killer
- Now works with all small guns.
Tenderizer
- Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
- Rank 1 now costs 2 points
- New Effect: Each attack makes your target take 0.1% increased damage
- Dev Note: Each player using Tenderizer contributes to a stacking effect that does not expire and caps out at 100% increased damage. This does not work in PvP.
Traveling Pharmacy
- Ranks reduced from 3 to 2
- Rank 1 increased to 45%
- Rank 2 increased to 90%
Wrecking Ball
- Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
- Moved from INT to STR
- **New Effect**: You deal +100% damage to objects and can damage your own C.A.M.P. objects
Quests
- A Bump in the Road: Fixed a bug causing Joanna to re-appear when relogging.
- A Bump in the Road: "Retrieve Cargo from the brahmin" objective no longer reappears after relogging.
- A Bump in the Road: Fixed an issue causing players to get duplicate "Blue Ridge Cargo" items when relogging.
- A Bump in the Road: Fixed an issue where the quest would not activate if a player reached level 20 while in the area.
- Oldest Trick in the Book: Fixed an issue that could cause some Cultists to not be hostile when they should be.
- Oldest Trick in the Book: Fixed an issue that could cause the player to become softlocked while interacting with Hugo.
- Cop a Squatter: The "Speak with Chief" objective should now complete properly, and the Chief Robot will no longer skip the explanation dialogue.
- Powerhouse of the Cell: Moved the objective marker for "Enter the Organics Sector" to be aligned with the door.
- Duty Calls: Fixed an issue where the quest would not progress if players log out with a brain in their inventory and resume the quest later on.
- Most Sensational Game: Speculative fixes for NPC pathing issues that could prevent progress.
- A Satisfied Conscience: Fixed an issue where Paladin Rahmani would not be present at the start of the quest.
- Addressed several dialogue mismatches in Milepost Zero.
- Fixed an issue where players could enter the Ranger Station Bunker prematurely during the Skyline Valley questline.
- Ramirez, Hewson, and generic Brotherhood Initiates in Fort Atlas should no longer talk about Knight Shin if Rahmani was chosen as the leader of the Brotherhood of Steel.
- The potential weapons earnable from completing the Elusive Crane quest can now be scrapped.
UI
- Fixed issues where Player Titles could overlap a player's level when seen on the map.
- Rad-X now properly states it will suppress active mutations.
- Fixed an issue with Battle Ready Dweller loadouts having an extra unused point of Endurance.
- Fixed an issue with the pip boy not displaying correct information for Guns and Bullets 3 magazine effect.
- Legendary Scrip is now able to be found in the Collections tab of the Pip-Boy.
- Fixed an issue with the Scorchbeast Photomode Frame not displaying correctly when used.
Weapons
- V63 Laser Carbine is now craftable for all players regardless of the acquisition method.
- The V63 Laser Carbine weapon plan and mod plans along with its mod plans, can no longer be dropped, traded, or sold.
- Fixed an issue where the V63 Laser Carbine could appear multiple times in the crafting menu.
- Fixed an issue where melee weapons appeared incorrectly when using a Scout's Banner.
- Fixed an issue where the Reaper Gatling Laser paint did not apply correctly.
- Fixed incorrect display of Ultracite Laser Gun and Ultracite Gatling Laser when viewed in inventory/workshop views.
- Fixed an issue where the Cryptid Jawbone Knife, V63-HELGA, and V63-OLGA could not be changed back to their unique skin if another paint was applied.
- Fixed an issue where players who unlocked The Cremator through gold bullion were not able to apply the Enclave Sigma Squad paint.
- Fixed an issue where Fire damage type appeared above the Primary damage type on certain weapons.
- Fixed an issue where the Dual Bar mod was not properly being granted when scrapping The Cauterizer.
Miscellaneous Fixes
- Fixed an issue preventing SCORE Boosts from working correctly in Private Worlds.
- Fixed issue with Silver Collectron not collecting the items specified in its terminal.
- Fixed an issue where Overgrown Moonflower assassins could be pacified with the Wasteland Whisperer perk.
- Fixed an issue in the Gleaming Depths where the mole miners wouldn't attack the drill if left alone.
- All goo piles and cultists can now be looted directly inside the Old Crimora Mines.
- Players can now trade/drop the Thrasher Plushie Backpack plans.
- Increased the range at which other players can hear each other while using Area Chat.
- Added Group Generation to the condition of the rewards for mutated Public Events.
- Mutated Party Packs should now properly grant Recipes & Outfits once players have learned everything.
- Pleasant Valley Claim Tokens no longer have any weight.
Known Issues
Bulk Scrapping Legendary Mods
When attempting to scrap a stack of Legendary mods the check to see if the mod was “learned” will only trigger once. The team is currently investigating a fix and we’ll let you know as soon as we have more information to share.
For now, please scrap your Legendary mods one at a time and not in bulk.
Inconsistent Legendary Perk Behavior
After transforming into a Ghoul, players may notice inconsistent behavior with the "What Rads", "Action Diet", and "Feral Rage" perks. Namely the Human Legendary Perk "What Rads" won't appear as locked away for the transformed character and the Ghoul Exclusive Perks "Action Diet" and "Feral Rage" may still appear locked and enequippable.
Logging out or relaunching the game should address the inconsistent behavior of the Perk cards.