Highlights
- Hunger and thirst meters in Fallout 76 must be constantly managed to prevent penalties like depleted health and limited fast travel.
- Consumables can refill hunger and thirst meters, providing buffs and benefits like increased XP, resistance, and damage bonuses.
- Special meals like Scorchbeast Mixed Meat Stew and Cranberry Relish offer additional benefits and can replenish both hunger and thirst.
Fallout 76 has many of the staple mechanics one would expect from a modern survival game combined with the Bethesda-style RPG traits that serve as its core. The primary survival features in Fallout 76 are the meters for hunger and thirst. Players must consistently locate and consume food and drink lest they be penalized, sometimes pretty severely. If hunger drops, then overall health is depleted, thus preventing fast traveling. If a player's thirst drops, the game puts a cap on AP. These meters must be constantly managed in addition to other systems such as item weight and diseases.
Contrarily, using consumables to refill hunger and thirst meters can sometimes provide buffs and benefits beyond regular skills and perks. These can even include buffs to traits like Charisma, which can open up exclusive dialogue options. Players can find many kinds of consumables in Fallout 76, but there are also a number of recipes that players can use to craft special meals. Players must carefully manage food ingredients, as they expire over time, which could lead to disease or mutations if the consumed item is rotten or irradiated. The best consumable items to keep on hand may depend on a player's particular build, play style, and preferences, but among the many in the game, some are more notable than others.
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Fallout 76 - Essential Consumables To Survive And Thrive
Lunchboxes
Lunchboxes are one of the most versatile and useful consumable items in Fallout 76. They contain a plethora of buffs, but the most prominent being:
- +25% XP
- "Very Well Rested" Status
- Random "Party Favor" social effect
The Party Favor affects a 75m radius and will last up to sixty minutes. The best part about lunchboxes is that they can be stacked up to four times, totaling a +100% XP boost. The randomized temporary perks can include:
- +10% Radiation Resistance
- +3.2 jump height
- Enemies explode into confetti when defeated
- +5% damage to ghouls and super mutants
- +15 carry weight
- +5% damage to robots
- +5% damage to animals
- 50% slower hunger rate
- 50% slower thirst rate
Scorchbeast Mixed Meat Stew
One of the most useful consumables in the game comes from a combination of scorchbeast meat and organs. As scorchbeasts typically give many food items per kill, they are an excellent source of ingredients. Each piece of meat is very good when cooked on its own, but by utilizing Fallout 76's cooking system, the benefits can be multiplied. Scorchbeast Mixed Meat Stew gives:
- 10 HP for 25s
- 34.72% hunger
- 41. 67% thirst
- +1 AGI for 60 min
- +2 END for 60 min
- +1 INT for 60 min
- +1 LCK for 60 min
This is one of the consumables that replenishes both hunger and thirst and also offers double the effect for those with the carnivore mutation. To craft this consumable, players need:
- Boiled Water x2
- Pepper x1
- Scorchbeast brain x1
- Scorchbeast heart x1
- Scorchbeast liver x1
- Scorchbeast lung x1
- Scorchbeast meat x1
- Wood x1
Perfect Bubblegum
Perfect Bubblegum is one of the best consumable items introduced in Fallout 76's Steel Dawn update. This useful little food item is a perfectly preserved Big Pops branded gum. Not only is it incredibly lightweight at only 0.25, but it fully negates hunger and thirst for 60 minutes. The benefits are as follows:
- 100% hunger
- 100% thirst
Survival Syringe
These handy little needles were added in the One Wasteland For All update in Fallout 76. They essentially combine the functions of a stimpak, disease cure, food, and drink into an all-in-one recovery solution. Survival Syringes are a great lightweight option to keep on hand when weight is a concern. The convenience they provide is also second to none. The benefits include:
- +10% HP for 2s
- +2% HP for 20s
- Cures disease
- Heals crippled limbs
Cranberry Relish
This little condiment is one of the more useful consumable items in the game. In the world of Fallout 76, gourmet food items can be hard to come by and any boost in flavor is a boost in morale -- not to mention the many gameplay benefits these little items provide. Using a fairly simple recipe, Cranberry Relish can be crafted after purchasing the recipe from Antoine at Whitespring Resort or as a random event reward. Cranberry Relish provides:
- +10% XP for 60 min
- 2.40 HP for 25s
- 8 AP for 25s
- +20% hunger
- +2 rads
To craft Cranberry Relish, players need:
- Boiled water x2
- Cranberries x2
- Gourd x2
- Sugar x2
- Wood x1
