Fallout fans surprised with massive new release that'll keep you busy for ages

Fallout 76 is about to get considerably bigger.

With such a large Fallout expansion comes the inevitability of bugs that’ll need hunting down and eradicating.

However, it also means that many new perks are about to become available.

I’m sure you’ve guessed this already, but we’re referring to the upcoming Gleaming Depths.

It feels like it should already be playable by now given how much we’ve been talking about it, yet it won’t be released until December.

You've already played Fallout 76: Milepost Zero, right? Right?

Fortunately, Bethesda isn’t going to leave us hanging while we wait.

To help us prepare for when we’re ready to delve into the challenging depths of this expansion, patch notes for the update have already been made public.

Most of the information thus far is to do with perks, in case you’re confused by what you’re reading.

The reason for this is as follows:

“Our goal was to take generally underperforming perks and make them more interesting and easier to incorporate into your builds by removing some extra ranks, lowering the cost, and changing their effect to scale with the related primary state.”

There’s a lot of details to get through, so be prepared because you’re about to be hit with a wall of information.

These details come via Reddit, courtesy of Ghostly_Rich, a Bethesda community manager.

• Adamantium Skeleton
• Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
• New effect: Limb Damage Reduction effect now scales with Endurance
• All Night Long
• Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
• Rank 1 Perk Point cost increased from 1 to 2
• New effect: The positive effects of pre-war alcohol last twice as long
• Batteries Included
• Ranks reduced from 3 to 2
• Rank 1 now offers 45% weight reduction
• Rank 2 now offers 90% weight reduction
• Bloodsucker
• Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
• Moved from Charisma to Endurance
• Rank 1 gains the effects of the former Rank 3 effect
• Healing bonus increased from 150% to 200%
• Additional effect: Benefits now also apply to Cannibal
• Bullet Shield
• Moved from Strength to Endurance
• Added a 4th rank
• New effect: 5% chance per rank to Deflect ranged attacks for 6 seconds when firing a heavy weapon
• Cannibal
• Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
• Increased the healing received and hunger restored at Rank 1
• Cap Collector
• Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
• Now applies to containers and corpses, not just Cap Stashes
• New effect: The amount of Caps found scales with Luck
• Evasive
• Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
• New effect: Now increases Evade Chance based on Agility
• First Aid
• Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
• Now affects Stimpak Diffuser
• New effect: Stimpak healing scales with Intelligence
• Four Leaf Clover
• Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
• New effect: Misses in VATS contribute to the Critical Meter based on Luck
• Hard Bargain
• Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
• Rank 1 now grants +7 Charisma while bartering with NPCs
• Iron Stomach
• Now also increases Energy Resistance
• Junk Shield
• Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
• Now works while in Power Armor
• Additional effect: Now also scales with Luck
• Lifegiver
• Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
• New effect: Improves HP gained from Endurance
• Lone Wanderer
• Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
• New effect: AP Regen and defense bonus based on Charisma
• Natural Resistance
• No longer increases Energy Resistance
• Night Eyes
• Removed requirement for the time of day
• Ordnance Express
• Ranks reduced from 3 to 2
• Rank 1 now offers 45% weight reduction
• Rank 2 now offers 90% weight reduction
• Pharmacist
• Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
• New effect: Radiation healing scales with Intelligence
• No longer required to craft Disease Cures or Water Filters
• Professional Drinker
• Ranks reduced from 3 to 2
• Ricochet
• Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
• New effect: Now increases Deflect chance based on Luck. Deflect grants a chance to reflect 100% of the damage of ranged attacks back to the attacker and reduces the damage you take from the attack by 50%. Deflect chance receives a bonus while wearing Heavy Armor or Power Armor (+50% multiplier). While in Power Armor, the amount of damage reflected is doubled (200%)
• Serendipity
• Ranks reduced from 3 to 1
• **New effect**: Now increases Evade Chance while under 30% life, based on Luck. Evade provides a chance to avoid all incoming damage from direct attacks. Evade can happen once every second and the cooldown is now increased by armour. Please note, Evade cannot happen when over encumbered or while in Power Armor
• Armour increases Evade cooldown at the following rates:
• Light Armour: +0.1 second per piece
• Medium Armor: +0.2 seconds per piece
• Heavy Armour: +0.4 seconds per piece
• Starched Genes
• Ranks reduced from 2 to 1
• Moved from Luck to Endurance
• Rank 1 now provides the benefits of the former Rank 2
• Thru-Hiker
• Ranks reduced from 3 to 2
• Moved from Agility to Endurance
• Rank 1 now offers 45% weight reduction
• Rank 2 now offers 90% weight reduction