Ways to Maximize XP Gain
In Fallout 76, a lot of players struggle with XP gain, and mostly because they don’t know they can DRASTICALLY improve the amount of XP they get from literally everything. This is simply a guide to help you find all the ways to get the most XP you can, instead of killing 5 enemies when you can kill 1 to get the same amount.
Sleep
Lets start off with the most basic, yet simplest, XP boost you should grab before doing anything. Like any online game, a lot of mechanics are actually hidden within doing simple activities. In this case, Sleeping actually boosts your XP gain by +5% for 2 hours. This is a incredibly easy thing to do, and you know you’ve gotten the boost when a little “Sleepy Vault Boy” icon pops up (it makes a noise) or just check your Pip-Boy in Stats to check if you got it.
Consumables
There are SO many consumables in this game, far too many that don’t give nearly any real advantage. BUT, there are actually XP boost foods that you can craft or acquire, most being quite easy to obtain!
There are 2 basic XP boosts and 1 “advanced” boost with gives slightly more Experience, and one . Each of them lasts for 30 minutes, but is beyond worth stocking up on.
- Canned Meat Stew:
- Acquired through the completion of the event “Feed the People” which happens at Mama’s Dolce’s Food Processing, outside Morgantown
- Bonus to this consumable is that is DOES NOT expire
- +5% XP Bonus for 1 Hour.
- Cranberry Cobbler:
- Easiest craftable XP boost in the game, only requires Cranberries (Good ones, not the diseased ones) and Boiled Water.
- +5% XP Bonus for 30 Minutes
- Cranberry Relish
- The most complicated to craft, but most beneficial XP boost in the game (that’s craftable).
- Requires:
- Boiled Water (2)
- Gourd (2)
- Cranberries (2)
- Sugar (2)
- Wood (1)
- +10% XP Bonus for 1 Hour
- Broiled Scorchbeast Brain
- Gives a significant boost to health as well as +1 Int
- Requires:
- Scorchbeast Brain (1)
- Wood (1)
- Bran Bombs
- A little more hefty to craft BUT gives a solid +3 Intelligence
- Requires:
- Brain Fungus (3)
- Mothman Eggs (2)
- Purified Water (2)
- Sugar Bombs (3)
- Wood (1)
- Brain Fungus Soup
- Very easy to craft and gives +2 Int
- Requires:
- Boiled Water (1)
- Brain Fungus (1)
- Wood (1)
Magazines and Bobble Heads
Just like consumables, Magazines and Bobble Heads are a great way to just quickly pop either some extra intelligence OR just a straight up XP Boost! Although only a few of them seem to regularly spawn, you can always go around the world and just buy them from either vendors or your fellow players. Caps will begin to come naturally, especially with a store, so think of it like buying Experience, it’s a “business investment” for you character.
The Bobble Heads you want to look out for are:
- Leader – +5% More Experience for 1 Hour (2 Hours with Curator)
- Intelligence – +2 Intelligence for 1 Hour (2 Hours with Curator)
The Magazine you want to look out for is:
- Live & Love #8 – +5% more XP when in a team
Intelligence
This one is probably the biggest mystery to most when they hear it for the first time, but it makes sense. Just like Strength gives you more Carry Weight and Melee Damage, Endurance gives you health, did you know that Intelligence gives you more XP the higher it is?
Honestly, to work out the numbers ALL over again with the recent addition of One Wasteland (and XP changes entirely), it wouldn’t be worth it to know how much exactly each enemy gives BUT let me tell you that it’s absolutely worth it.
For every point you put into intelligence, for every piece of armor or weaponry you use with +1 Intelligence, food or drink with bonus Intelligence, ANYTHING to boost Intelligence is the key. With every bit, you will gain slightly more XP, and can easily gain 2 or 3 times as much XP than usual with just a couple boosts to INT.
So, when you find gear with Intelligence boosts, don’t always toss it away, most players have full sets dedicated to grinding with those builds!
Lunch Boxes
A recent addition, but a welcome one: Lunch Boxes. These handy dandy little consumable kits are gained through a variety of different ways, typically at events, in the Atom Shop occasionally, or purchased with Gold Bullion.
These always give “Party Favors,” which are typically just little items to break down or consumables to use, but they also give you a HUGE boost of XP.
Now, the trick to this is to have a couple players open them while you’re in a group. As a solo player, you’ll just get the standard +25% XP boost, which isn’t bad at all. Now, if you add a couple more players open their OWN lunch boxes, you can actually stack that XP boost up to +100%!
Before any XP farming session, always check if you have these bad boys, cause they drastically boost your XP.
CASUAL GROUP
Why is THIS particular section in all caps? Well because it’s THAT important. I get that a lot of you refuse to group up, and to each their own, but let me tell ya, if you want an insane XP bonus, you WILL join a Casual public group.
They added this system into the game to give players an easy way to find others to play with WHILE giving them a specific bonus for which specific type of group player join. For example, Daily Ops group gives more XP during Ops, Events group more XP during Events, and ladies and gentlemen, Casual Groups give STRAIGHT UP more Intelligence. If you have a maximum of 4 group members, your bonus is multiplied by 4.
So, if you’re ever grinding for XP, Casual groups will ALWAYS be available, as folks join them just to boost their XP, so why shouldn’t you?
Inspirational
This is probably one of the best things you apply to your grinding build. The Inspirational perk card, found under Charisma, is just a straight up boost to XP while you’re in a group. This is just an easy 15% XP boost, and if you’re already joining a Casual Public group for that bonus, now you can stack ALL your XP boosts for a lot more experience.
Egg Head
The Egg Head mutation is one of the most, I believe useful AND non-useful Mutations. Most of the other mutations give a very noticeable boost to your characters performance, but with Egg Head, this is PURELY for Intelligence. Egg Head gives the players +6 Intelligence, but at the cost of -3 Strength and Endurance, so make sure to use Class Freak under luck to throttle back some of those negative effects.
Fallout 76 XP Farming Locations
So now that you’ve got all the tricks to boosting your XP to the max (minus the double XP weekend, of course), it’s time for you to find some of the BEST XP Farming Locations in Fallout 76.
If you want to look through my most highly recommended areas to grind for XP:
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