A few months back, after following the game’s new but underwhelming path to becoming a ghoul, I had a thought. What if I played through the game’s main story (and subsequent expansions) as a ghoul from the start? Though shotgunner Karla’s story ended with her turning back into a human again (because, at that point, there was no more “story” left for me to complete), I saw a little potential in building a ghoul from the ground up. The fact that once feral, ghouls received a huge boost to melee was also intriguing. It brought to mind the prospects of creating a character with a fully unarmed build, something I’d never tried to tackle before. Since I like progression and perk-collecting in Fallout 76 anyway, I figured that I’d spent the final months of my sub getting as far as I could as an unarmed feral ghoul!

As the title of this post already gave away…I didn’t get very far.

In terms of beginning my “project,” I mentioned the irradiated elephant in the room in my previous post – one cannot become a ghoul in Fallout 76 until one has attained level 50. I also mentioned my solution to this problem: buy a level 50 character. Which I did, for the sake of science. And because I had accumulated a decent wallet of atoms (shop currency that can be earned or bought) with little on which to spend. There was still plenty of progression to be made, and I won’t argue that it was a little nifty to obtain level 40-50 gear from the get-go. Of course, there’s no way up from there, unless you count legendaries, but I digress.

One sad casualty of this whole affair was that I needed space to even make another character, as my given five slots were filled. I ended up bidding goodbye to my one-handed melee wildcard Bianca. Taking her place would be alternate universe Bianca who, instead of befriended Appalachia while carving Blood Eagles in two with her favorite plasma cutter, would become a fierce feral ghoul who was unafraid of even the biggest mutant hermit crab!

I set a brand-new game into motion with a newly recreated Bianca. She roamed the outskirts of Vault 76, learned of a spot call The Wayward, along with a treasure hunt that was bringing folks back into the region. Vault 76’s overseer was also out there, somewhere, waiting to regroup with her dwellers. In and among all the initial quests that popped up, it wasn’t too long before she received the one that would lead to her becoming a ghoul. While this quest kicks off innocuously enough, one thing I hadn’t accounted for was that Bianaca needed to make a few treks across the map. This isn’t the easiest of tasks with a fresh, unmarked map. I ended up working through a few early story quests just to open up some locations to help make traveling a little easier. Eventually, however, Bianca completed the path to becoming a ghoul, and she was ready for more than a little action.

I’ve abandoned certain runs through Fallout 76 in the past, but never so quickly as happened this time around. For, you see, being a ghoul in the game really does nothing to affect the story. Really. Further, in order to progress with any expansion quests outside of the game’s original main story – the one where Appalachia’s human population is essentially gone – your ghoul HAS to be disguised. And you can’t just put on any ol’ disguise, oh no…your “costume” HAS to come from a specific ghoul in a specific location. All of this experienced when I played as Karla, so I can’t say I was completely shocked. But I was still dismayed because Bethesda had made promises, in writing, that being a ghoul…

“…isn’t all fun and games. Some characters won’t interact with you and entire factions will refuse to speak with you and even attack on sight. Other characters will comment on and react to your new look, changing your narrative experience.” — The Fallout 76 Guide to Playing a Ghoul (bethesda.net)

The emphasis is mine, and honestly, maybe I read too much into the statement. In playing through the original main story, not a single character commented on Bianca’s “new look.” When trying to play anything else, Bianca had to be disguised, and no one “comment[ed] on” or “react[ed]” in any way. There was no suspicion; no side-eyed glancing; zip, zilch, nada from anyone.

Well, okay…fine. So what about the new ghoul “Glow” mechanics and perks? I’ll admit that I thought the Glow system was neat, especially since I usually play as a high health, fully fed and hydrated character. Taking a 180 from that and having to seek out radiation provided a chance of pace, if nothing else. It also affected looting and hoarding, as I don’t know that I realized just how heavy some food/drink was until I didn’t have to carry it anymore. As for the “gherks” (ghoul perks), once I had attained a few and played around with what they offered, I managed to create an enjoyable unarmed build with the benefits of Glow and being feral. I used this build as a guide, though I stopped playing before fully completing it.

In the end, even with new perks and a new in-game system in place, being a ghoul in looks only wasn’t a strong enough pull to keep me engaged. Between being faced with just another replay of the game and new games vying for my attention, Fallout 76 fell by the waist side well before my sub ended. I’m sure that there are many players out there who have made the most of their ghoulish times in the game, and maybe I’ll be one of them, too…someday.

All images, including lede, were captured by author during PS5 gameplay of Fallout 76 © Bethesda Game Studios, Bethesda Game Studios Austin (2018-2025).