During the Xbox Games Showcase, it was announced that the Ghoul will become a playable class in Fallout 76 and will be introduced through a dedicated update in early 2025.
This new feature will allow players to transform into a Ghoul after reaching level 50, unlocking a mission that will begin the transformation. However, details relating to the mission will be shared in the future.
Ghouls obviously have unique characteristics which will transform some elements of the gameplay of Fallout 76. Given their peculiar condition, the eternal wanderers of the Wastelands react in a totally different way to radiation, exploiting the contamination to their advantage.
This involves more than just that new sets of Perk Cards specific to the new class, but also unique interactions with the game world, where the Ghoul condition inevitably creates new scenarios and influences on characters and factions. And even if these mutated humans have lost some typical elements of their aesthetic along the way, such as hair, nose and skin, the character still remains customizable.
Ghoul Retcon?
The most interesting part however concerns the possibility of regaining human form: This is a very important piece of lore for the Fallout series, because the Ghoul’s condition has always been narrated as involuntary and collateral, while in Fallout 76 it seems the player will be given the choice to accept the transformation or not.
But there has never been any talk, except in theoretical terms, of a cure from the Ghoul condition. In the Fallout TV series we saw Walton Goggins’ character Cooper Howard keep the feral symptoms of his condition at bay with an inhaler, but we don’t know if this detail will make it into a gameplay mechanic.
We’ll discover new details in the coming months and transform our Fallout 76 characters into Ghouls in early 2025.
