From where are the floaters of Fallout 76?
The floaters of Fallout 76 look to be bulbous-headed monsters in a range of colors, each one corresponding with a different kind of elemental harm. They seem to come out of nowhere. Rising apparently at random from the ground, they float toward the player and strike her with astonishing force and speed. Their HP bars go empty, then they burst, distributing sludge that causes damage over time to anyone who walks on it. Following Super Mutants like hunting dogs, they strike their victim on demand and without second thought. But in all of Fallout 76, it's unclear just what they are.
Players simply need to go back to the original two Fallout games to get answers. Found in Fallout and Fallout 2, Floaters served in much the same role: they would follow wandering Super Mutant gangs and support them in battle. Lead quest designer Eric "Ferret" Baudoin of Fallout 76 answered a Reddit Q&A question stressing that they are the identical Floaters throughout all three games. Though they appeared somewhat different and did not cope with elemental damage, this can be explained by regional variance - or perhaps evolution.
What Floaters Suggest Regarding the Hidden Lore in Fallout 76?
Still, there is one minor issue. Every Fallout game makes rather clear where its Super Mutants originated. In Fallout 76, West Tek, the creators of FEV, conducted an experiment whereby the virus was purposefully let to contaminate the Huntersville water source. Those who got into touch with it became the first Super Mutants in the area. West Tek produced the first Super Mutants in the original Fallout, but their number grew once The Master raised his army using another strand. It's never obvious, though, exactly from where the Floaters accompanying them originate.
The Appalachian Floaters could have been produced from the tainted Huntersville water supply given their aquatic characteristics (tentacle-like limbs, mandible-like jaws, fish-like spines). Local ponds, lakes, rivers, and sources of freshwater running off into groundwater or surrounding areas would inevitably expose the species there to FEV as well. From there, it wouldn't be too far-fetched to picture bottom feeders fast transforming into the mucky, big-eyed Floaters afflicting the post-apocalyptic wasteland, shedding their gills and acquiring the capacity to survive above the surface. The term "Floaters" would even make more sense: picture their floating heads as mutant swim bladders, enabling them to regulate their buoyancy in air much as fish do in water. Floaters would have been drawn to the similarly sick Super Mutants naturally as friends. Sensing kin in them.
The Strangest Fallout 76 Creature Could Be Hiding Unspoken Fallout Lore
The strangest Fallout 76 species might have a lot to say about uncovered series Lore. There are many of monsters in Fallout 76, most of which reflect mutant forms of actual Appalachian life. Others draw on local legends, such as the interpretation of Mothman or the Flatwoods Monster in Fallout 76. Though they may have extra limbs, a green color, or apparently superhuman abilities, often it's easy to know where the inspiration came from.
Fallout 76 isn't willing to clarify some Creatures, though, whose beginnings are not entirely obvious. Even however, there has to have been some pre-War beginning point for these strange living forms, even if they would look to be results of widespread radiation (or a developer's hyperactive imagination). As it happens, simply looking back over some of the most ancient and magical knowledge in the franchise will provide a perfectly decent justification for Fallout 76's oddest species.
Originally cut from the Final Games, hidden files suggest floaters were also due to appear with Super Mutants in Fallout 3 and New Vegas.
This comment makes it very evident that experimenting with the Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV), the same mutagen used to produce Super Mutants (albeit a different strain), produces floaters. Fallout mythology holds that FEV is readily controlled to cause the intended biological mutation in its host. Various forms of FEV explain the various colors and powers of Super Mutants spread around the wasteland. Over the Fallout series, they have been hired by different people and groups to raise troops, boost the human immune system, or even merely to see what would happen.
Many newcomers might be asking whether Fallout 76 allows crossplay given it is available on several platforms spanning generations of consoles.
But What About the West Coast Floaters?
But whatever the parallels between Floaters and their eagerness to assist Super Mutants imply, it is difficult to draw conclusions. Though Fallout 76 is always adding fresh material, a potential expansion headed toward Floater-oriented content seems quite unlikely. For now, the actual nature of Floaters will most likely remain one of Fallout 76's most riddles.
Released in 2018, Fallout 76 marks Bethesda's first venture into a massively multiplayer online universe anchored on Fallout. Players in this release find themselves in Appalachia, where they have to do what they can to survive and reconstruct the surroundings. Individuals are free to meet other gamers and start missions across the wasteland.
