Fallout 76: Best SPECIAL Loadout & Build (2024)

Reclaiming the whole Appalachia wasteland in Fallout 76 is no walk in the park. It’s full of giant co*ckroaches, bargain bin Hulks, and Mad Max rejects. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed here, which is why the game will let you skip the early grind to level 20 and pick one of the SPECIAL loadout options. Even then, the choices can be intimidating for newbies. So, I’ve prepared a recommendation here for the best SPECIAL loadout in Fallout 76 along with a starting build.

Which SPECIAL Loadout to Choose

As soon as you’re done with the character creator, the game will present you with the following options. I’ll be listing them down along with a quick summary of why you should pick them.

• Battle Ready Dweller (starts at level 20)
• Fresh Dweller (starts at level 2)

Now, if you’re new to the Fallout games as a whole (and have never played Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, or Fallout 4), then I recommend learning the ropes and picking the Fresh Dweller.

The Battle Ready Dweller won’t let you experiment too much since it picks your perks for you. Moreover, you’re going to be limited to a certain playstyle and you might find yourself unfamiliar with the level 20 equipment.

It also doesn’t matter much what loadout you pick for the Fresh Dweller as you’re presented with only one perk and you can tweak your SPECIAL (Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, Luck) stats granularly.

However, the other argument in Battle Ready Dweller’s favor is that it lets you jump right into the action. You’ll be ready for some of the tougher events. So you can’t go wrong with either, but if you’re picking the Battle Ready Dweller as a newbie, I also have a few further recommendations.

Best Battle Ready Dweller Setup

If you do pick the Battle Ready Dweller loadout, there are also five sub-loadouts to choose from. These have more rigid SPECIAL allocations.

The five Battle Ready Dweller SPECIAL loadout options for Fallout 76 are:

• Commando (automatic rifles, ranged playstyle)
• Slugger (melee playstyle)
• Gunslinger (high-damage pistol playstyle, medium range)
• Shotgunner (high-damage close-range playstyle)
• Specialist (specialist, a jack-of-all-trades)

Since non-automatic weapon gunplay in Fallout 76 is somewhat clunky due to the animations, you might feel slow and sluggish in Gunslinger or Shotgunner. Slugger is melee, which isn’t that friendly for newbies due to all the radioactive enemies. The Specialist, meanwhile, is quite advanced. That leaves us with Commando as the one with the most potential.

You get a good starting weapon and a well-balanced stat spread with Endurance being the only one lagging. You don’t need much endurance, thankfully. Healing items are way too easy to find in this game.

More importantly, you get a Tactical Automatic Combat Rifle, which feels great to use and boasts good range. The only downside is the somewhat limited magazine capacity, but it does a good job regardless.

Best Commando Build in Fallout 76

Now, I wasn’t exaggerating when I said that the Commando has the best potential among the starting Battle Ready Dwellers or SPECIAL Loadout options. One of the best builds in the game right now is the straightforward Crit Commando.

It’s most equipped with automatic energy weapons that both have a good range and can deal with multiple targets and bosses. You’ll need to be level 50 to complete the build, but in any case, here’s what you want to work towards.

Commando Build Perks

I recommend sticking with the default perks of the Commando Loadout until you can fully follow this build template.

As for Legendary Perks (which are too late-game, by the way), try to get these ones:

• Taking one for the Team
• Legendary Strength
• Legendary Luck
• Legendary Agility
• Legendary Intelligence
• Sizzling Style

Commando Build Gear

For weapons, the Railway Rifle is one of the best and is ideal for dealing with bosses and anything with too much HP.

As a backup, you’ll want to use the Tesla Rifle, which is also automatic if you’re getting swarmed with large groups of enemies. You can get ammunition for both from Daily Ops since automatic weapons are ammo-hungry.

As for armor, you can use just about anything. That means no fussing about substance over style. However, if you want an easier leveling process, pick an Unyielding Armor Set. You can buy them from vendors.

Commando Build Playstyle

Just run and gun. Use the Railway Rifle for bosses and single targets and switch to the Tesla Rifle for multiple enemies. The automatic fire means you’ll be seeing a lot of critical hits, especially when paired with VATS.

If any enemies get close, that’s when I recommend switching over to VATS as manual gun targeting can become clunky in melee range. This build won’t handle stealth playstyles well, however, because the guns are noisy.

If you prefer a more boastful power armor playstyle, you’re better off with something else that’s more complicated in the Fallout 76 SPECIAL loadout picks.