The upcoming playable Ghoul character in Fallout 76 has a variety of unique and exclusive buildcrafting tools at their disposal that will provide a unique gameplay experience compared to the original human playable character. Several of these new Ghoul-exclusive buildcrafting tools are currently available on Fallout 76’s Public Test Server, and they are admittedly quite powerful, potentially paving the path for a new meta.

Despite transforming into a Ghoul in Fallout 76 coming with some negative side effects, the benefits of a fully Feral Ghoul melee build arguably outweigh the negatives so far. While some aspects of the playable Ghoul may be rebalanced before the playable Ghoul character is officially introduced in Fallout 76’s Season 20 update coming in March 2025, becoming a Ghoul and allowing the Feral status to reach its full potential will surely be the new meta for melee builds, regardless.

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Fallout 76’s New Feral Ghoul Mechanic Is a Game-Changer for Melee Builds

Immediately upon becoming a Ghoul in Fallout 76, players will have to start managing their Feral levels. The player’s Feral level starts at 100%, providing positive benefits to their health and AP. Over time, this Feral level will naturally decay and the positive benefits will eventually become negative side effects as players grow closer to becoming Feral.

The player’s Feral meter currently takes around two hours to fully decay from 100% to 0%. There’s no way to expedite this process yet, although players can replenish their Feral levels by consuming any chem other than Stimpaks.

Once the player’s Feral level fully reaches 0%, their melee damage will increase by 200%, while decreasing their ranged weapon accuracy by 300% when hip-firing or using VATS in Fallout 76. While the preparation time to become a fully Feral Ghoul is admittedly quite high, this unique Feral melee buff makes it well worth the investment for melee builds in Fallout 76, considering that the Feral status will persist as long as players avoid consuming any chems.

Should players ever decide to swap to a ranged weapon, using one or two chems will nullify the -300% accuracy debuff for a few minutes, though this will also nullify the +200% melee buff.

Even outside of the Feral status’ primary buff, the majority of the new Perk Cards in Fallout 76 that are exclusive to the playable Ghoul character are generally suited for melee builds. Consequently, becoming Feral as a Ghoul can take players’ melee builds to the next level thanks to a significant buff that notably stacks with other permanent and temporary damage buffs.

Becoming a Feral Ghoul in Fallout 76 Is a Double-Edged Sword

In addition to the reduced max health and AP, Feral or not, becoming a Ghoul in Fallout 76 will prevent players from being able to use certain Perk Cards that are exclusive to humans. Ultimately, becoming a Ghoul has both positive and negative side effects that players should consider. In the case of ranged weapon builds, whether the new Ghoul buildcrafting tools are better than the human builds is generally subjective. However, it seems like the upcoming playable Ghoul character will pave the path for a new endgame meta in Fallout 76 specifically for melee weapon builds.

The Pros and Cons of a Fully Feral Ghoul Melee Build in Fallout 76

Pros

  • Feral melee buff can be permanently sustained
  • Feral melee buff can stack with similar buffs
  • Feral accuracy debuff can be temporarily nullified
  • Ghouls have additional melee buffs via Perk Cards

Cons

  • Becoming fully Feral is a slow process
  • Using chem buffs will temporarily nullify the Feral melee buff
  • Ghouls are unable to use certain human Perk Cards