A new feature in Fallout world, for the 76, are mutations.
Mutations are one of the biggest boost for your journey through Appalachia, for instance, damage increase, SPECIAL increase, improved jump height, and other interesting stuff.
You get them with radiations, and, in addition, with mutation serums. Mutations obtained with radiations are random, the process to get all the mutations in this way is long, because you get one mutation everytime you get around 75% of your hp full of radiations. Gain mutations with serum is certainly faster and you can focus only on the ones you need… However, there’s only one problem: it costs A LOT of caps. In order to get serums (or their recipes), you have to unlock the science wing in the Enclave bunker, and to craft them you will need Stable Flux (the type depends on wich serum you are crafting).
Perks to know before starting
In Fallout 76, mutations are good, but with those perk cards they became amazing. Before starting to get your mutation, you will need to be at least 30, to get Starched Genes (ugraded at lvl 2). Starched Genes is important in order to keep your mutations: get mutations without the card equipped, equip it, cure from radiations, remove the card and keep get mutations. Strange in Numbers is important while in team, and you will always be part of a team. Class Freak reduce the negative effect strongly: a -4 to a SPECIAL stat, become a -1, for example.
Choosing your mutations for Fallout 76
After knowing what perks do you need, you have to know what mutations can do for you, and how you can optimize them. There are 19 mutations: for example, some are wonderful for melee characters, but are terrible for everybody else. That is because every mutation got a positive effect AND a negative effect. Another thing to know, is that, of the 19 mutations, you can only have a maximum of 18, because you “have” to choose between being herbivore or carnivore.
Will you be Herbivore or Carnivore?
| Name | Positive Effect | Negative Effect |
| Herbivore | Vegetables provide double the benefits and no diseases. | You can eat meat but you don’t get full sated and don’t get any advantage. |
| Carnivore | Meat provides double the benefits and no diseases. | You can eat vegetables but you don’t get full sated and don’t get any advantage. |
The difference is minimal, because you can find a massive amount of plants and meats, both have recipes that give important boosts. The most important ones are Cranberry Relish for Herbivore and Tasty Squirrel Stew for Carnivore. Both those foods, without mutations, give a +10% experience boost for one hour that is certainly a good one. If you have the corresponding mutation, the boost became +20%, in addition, that can became +25% with the perk card Strange in Numbers. Therefore you can easily catch the importance of those mutations for yourself. For my experience, Cranberries are easiest to find, but i’ve never investigated squirrel spawns.
Mutations only for melee fighters
| Name | Positive Effect | Negative Effect/N.E. with Class Freak |
| Talons | Punching attacks deal 25% more damage and Bleed damage for 5 seconds. | -4 Agility / -1 Agility |
| Twisted Muscles | +25% melee damage. Better chance to cripple enemy limbs. | -50% gun accuracy. / -12% gun accuracy |
As you can see, those mutations are not for ranged builds, but are both mandatory for Unarmed builds, while Twisted Muscles is only for Melee Weapon builds. However, the malus they apply are not good for anybody else.
Playing with a team
| Name | Positive Effect | Negative Effect / N.E. with Class Freak |
| Herd Mentality | +2 to all SPECIAL stats when grouped. | -2 to all SPECIAL stats when solo. |
| Empath | -25% damage taken by teammates. | +33% damage taken by player. |
After patch 20, you can team up with ease, it’s the first thing i do immediately after i log in, due to this, Herd Mentality became fundamental. For real, you have to take it as soon as you can. About Empath… it’s good for you only if at least there’s another player in the team with it, but it’s not so easy.
Mutations for everybody (almost)
| Name | Positive Effect | Negative Effect / N.E. with Class Freak |
| Marsupial | Carry weight +20 – Improved jump height. | -4 Intelligence. / -1 Intelligence |
| Scaly Skin | +50 damage and energy resistance. | -50 AP / -12 AP |
| Speed Demon | +20 movement speed. Faster reload speed. | Hunger and thirst rates increased by 50% while moving. |
| Healing Factor | Health regeneration +300% | Chem effects -55%. /Chem effects -12% |
| Bird Bones | +4 Intelligence. Falling from heights is more gradual. | -4 Strenght / -1 Strenght |
| Egg Head | +6 Intelligence. | -3 Strength. -3 Endurance. / -1 Strength. -1 Endurance. |
| Eagle Eyes | Critical damage +25%. +4 Perception. | -4 Strenght. / -1 Strenght |
| Adrenal Reaction | Increased weapon damage and quick health regeneration at low HP. | Maximum HP -50 / Maximum HP -12 |
| Grounded | 100 Energy Resistence. | -20% Energy damage / -12% Energy damage |
| Electrically Charged | Chance to shock melee attackers upon being hit. | Small amount of damage is inflicted to the player. |
| Unstable Isotope | Chance to irradiate melee attackers with a small explosion when struck. | Inflicts a small amount of damage to yourself. Some enemies are immune to radiations. |
| Plague Walker | Poison aura scaling with your diseases (up to a ceiling of 4). | Only active when diseased. |
| Chameleon | While unarmoured and standing still; gain invisibility. | N/A |
As you can see, the advantages are enormous, while the drawbacks are minimal (with the Class Freak Perk Card maxed out)
In conclusion, in Fallout 76, mutations are worthy
Easy as that. You have to work a little to get them, but all the efforts will be repaid. You can try for yourself those mutations in your journey in Fallout 76 at this page with discounted price
