Fallout 76: Does The Existence Of Fallout 1st Cause The Game To Become Pay To Win?

I often see people saying that Fallout 1st is a means of pay to win in Fallout 76. This view seems to come from people who may have played the game a long time ago but have not actually played it for a long time. So, let me answer a question that I think a lot of people may have: Do you need Fallout 1st to enjoy Fallout 76?

Fallout 1st is a premium membership that you can get benefits by paying a monthly subscription. Obviously, it does give players a better gaming experience, otherwise why would anyone buy it? But is it essential for you?

So let me break it down so you can know if it is worth it for you to do so. I think as someone who has not relied on Fallout 1st, I can tell you what the real benefits are.

What Are The Benefits Of Fallout 1st?

Assuming you subscribe to Fallout 1st, what does it get you? You get two new types of stash boxes. One of them, Scrapbox, allows you to store unlimited garbage. The other type of Ammo box allows you to store unlimited ammo.

To complement these crates, you also get Survival Tent. This is a mini-camp that you can place wherever you want, giving you access to your stash at all times.

Depending on the skin you use, you get additional benefits, such as a bed, cooking station, and some workbenches.

You can also play in private worlds. Private worlds are the same as normal worlds, but only players you invite can enter the world. There are also custom worlds, in which you can tweak the rules however you want.

Subscribing also automatically gets you Fallout 1st exclusive season items and Atomic Shop items, as well as 1,650 Atoms per month to spend. You also get some free icons, emotes, and Ranger Armor costume as a bonus.

Do You Really Need A Scrapbox & Ammo Box?

The above is just a list of benefits on paper, but let’s see how it actually affects your gameplay.

Fallout 1st is actually designed to entice kleptomaniacs to subscribe with its unlimited Scrapbox and Ammo boxes. So, in theory, you can collect and store all the scraps in every location you visit.

This synergizes well with the tent. Because it lets you clear a spot, set up a tent outside, and store all your new scrap and ammo without having to trek to your camp or somewhere else with those stash boxes.

You can also play in a private world if you’re hunting for rare items or something in high demand. Anything you do there carries over to your normal game play, so you can harvest as many Fallout 76 items as possible, knowing that no one else can take it.

Note that being able to take over all the workshops on the map can give you quite a bit of resources. I was lucky enough to get Fallout 1st Trial during Invaders from Beyond event, which gave me a ton of Circuits.

And whenever Earle showed up, I’d also try to kill him to get Screws I needed for a long time. That’s not even counting the tens of thousands of Steel and other common materials I just picked up during the trial. But is it really essential?

When you’re crafting a ton of new weapons or armor, it’s handy to have materials on hand. Once you have endgame armor and weapons, you don’t actually use the stuff in your Scrapbox. As a result, we’re not usually at risk of running out of materials quickly. But even if you do need scrap, you can loot the same place repeatedly by server hopping, so getting scrap isn’t a problem.

People who build camps frequently will undoubtedly find it convenient to have a large variety of materials on hand. But again, how often do you find yourself building a lot of camps frequently?

By default, you start with two camp slots. Of course, you can spend Atoms to get more. Let’s say you have 5 camps. Even if you build a lot of stuff at each camp, you still won’t use that many materials.

For most materials, you can collect them when you need them, with the one big exception being Stable Flux. Each Flux takes up 1 capacity of your stash, so if you collect more than one Flux, it will quickly use up all your available space. Because of this, I personally tend to use up Flux as soon as I get it.

But if you’re one of those players who often collects Flux and uses it to craft, then Scrapbox will be very useful. But except for very special cases, most of the time Scrapbox isn’t necessary. It’s undoubtedly useful and convenient, but not something you have to have to enjoy the game.

The same can be said about Ammo box. Especially now that Contextual Ammo drops more frequently, most of the time you’ll find that you have more than enough ammo for your weapons. So stockpiling extra ammo isn’t that great. Or maybe it’s hard to get ammo, in which case you don’t have ammo to stockpile. In either case, you don’t have much use for Ammo box.

Does It Make It Easier To Complete Challenges?

A lot of daily challenges and special events involve getting items or scrapping for some material. Spring Cleaning Event a while ago is a good example. Because everyone is looking for the same items, it ends up being hard to find. But if you can create a private world, then you’re guaranteed to find items without having to compete with everyone else.

The same goes for materials. A lot of challenges involve scrapping for a material, and if you have Fallout 1st, you can simply batch craft an item, disassemble it, and put it back in Scrapbox. It’s the easiest way to win a challenge, and it only costs a little Plastic.

But recently the developers seem to have realized this, so a lot of challenges are scrapping for materials that can’t be batched, so the benefit that Fallout 1st brought has been weakened again.

I have to remind you that almost all of these challenges can be completed without Fallout 1st. While having things like private worlds is very convenient, they are by no means essential.

Unlocking Exclusive Items

If you look at Atomic Shop and Season Board, you’ll notice that some items are exclusive to Fallout 1st. This means that the only way to access them is to have Fallout 1st perk.

But in the new Season format, you can spend 1500 Atoms to unlock exclusive items. And since Fallout 1st items contain Atoms, you’ll eventually get them back if you progress far enough, so it ends up being almost free.

But for Atomic Shop items, you have to subscribe. Some of them can be pretty nice, so this is definitely a benefit for players who tend to collect everything.

The fact that you also get extra Atoms each month means you can buy more stuff in the shop. And your Scrapbox means you can build more camp items. This is definitely a synergy for collectors and people who like to build unique camps.

But camp building is not essential, and a pleasant camp doesn’t make you play better. So again, being able to get a bunch of unique items is nice, but it’s not essential.

Is Fallout 1st A Must?

So let me get back to the question I originally wanted to answer. Is it essential to have Fallout 1st? Obviously, it’s not. It’s convenient, but it’s not something you have to have in order to enjoy the game.

But it has to be said that this is actually a good thing for Fallout 76. It means that the barrier to entry for new players is low, and they can enjoy the game just as much as some people who spend a lot of money. This encourages them to stay, which in turn expands the player base.

On the other hand, some of these players will in turn find the convenience of Fallout 1st worth subscribing, which in turn increases the game’s revenue. This is exactly the kind of virtuous cycle you want, and it’s what makes the game thrive.