I'm convinced being a ghoul in Fallout 76 is the best way to vibe in West Virginia, thanks to these powerful perk cards and my new true love: Radiation

One running joke that has always alarmed my friends is how nice I think a Fallout apocalypse would be. Not on ground zero, mind, I'm talking about getting to sleep for 100 years (which I could really use right about now) in a cryovat, to then wake up and get to explore a new untamed world completing fun little quests and hunting for trinkets and scrap which I can store in a clunky yet functional base. Pretty much my only hope of becoming a homeowner, at this point.

But as that's likely not in the cards for me, like I could ever get access to a working cryovat, I've always settled for just immersing myself in Fallout games, especially Fallout 76. Being a live service game has meant that there's always a new reason to wander the Wasteland, even if my dedication has wildly fluctuated over the years, it's always nice popping back in and collecting even more junk for my base.

But as time went on, I found myself returning to Fallout 76 less and less; there's only so many hours in the day. That's not to say there's nothing going on in West Virginia. Recent updates like Skyline Valley added some exciting escort missions, and there's a new dungeon raid coming up, which looks like a hell of a lot of fun. But, for me, the flame was fading nevertheless. That was until I turned into a ghoul.

I created a fresh character to ghoulify, partly because I wanted to see what it would be like to play through most of the missions as a ghoul, but mostly because I wanted to create a creepy persona that would really embody what it would be like to wrinkle up like a raisin and lose your nose. Enter Gunner the Ghoul.

I usually like to fight from the sidelines with rifles, so picking up a fireaxe or a bone club has felt a bit foreign, but due to a ghoul's predisposition for close combat, it seemed like a bit of a waste not to lean towards a melee build. For this reason, I prioritised strength and endurance as well as gathering loads of strong melee weapons.

You see, radiation doesn't just heal ghouls, you can also get a glow shield, which acts like armour depending on how much radiation you eat. For example, if you have 240 health and stand in a river long enough until your glow bar is at 75%, then you get an extra 180 HP, which can really come in handy when you're fighting a strong opponent and don't have time to reach for a stimpack.

There's also a Hulk-like ability available to ghouls with the help of the Radioactive Strength perk. With this, you enter an enraged berserker phase, which at its weakest rank lets you deal 50% more damage with power attacks and bashing, and the strongest gives you a whopping 150% boost.

Other ghoul-specific perk cards which I've made use of to make me a bit more dangerous include Bone Shatterer, Thick Skin, and Jaguar Speed. These increase melee weapon attacks, let me take less damage from ballistics, and increase my sprint speed when my glow is high. All of which can come really handy mid-fight, especially if I need to make a quick getaway. There's also the Arms of Steel perk, which I still keep in my back pocket despite trying to give up long-ranged weapons. Reducing ranged weapon recoil by 15% is just too enticing.

Other than getting into too many fights, it's been great fun experiencing the Wasteland in a different way. Places that I used to avoid or approach with great caution now welcome me with open arms. It means that nowhere is inaccessible for me anymore, and I can take my sweet time exploring the radioactive fields near Vault 63 or fixing up the nuclear power plants scattered around the map.

I've also taken to swimming from one location to another since becoming a ghoul. The rivers and lakes in Appalachia are radioactive enough to keep my glow high, giving me extra strength and speed. I feel like a superhuman. It also means if anyone causes me any trouble, all I have to do is lure them to a body of water or a radioactive site or ingest an ungodly amount of raw meat in order to activate my rad powers.

Turning into a ghoul doesn't completely change Fallout 76, nor does it fix some of its rougher edges. I still get disconnected more times than I care to talk about, but it does give long-time players a new avenue to explore, and newer prospects a cool reason to jump in and start from scratch. Despite being able to change back to being a normal human pretty easily, I don't think I'll be abandoning my ghoul life any time soon, not while there are so many rivers to swim in and radioactive ore to sleep next to.