Vault-Tec, the vault building company of the past, present, and apocalypse, has put together another update for Fallout Shelter survivors on both iOS and Android. Available to download today, players will soon see a handful of quality-of-life changes and bug fixes made to the free-to-play shelter simulation game. On top of that comes the all new Survival Mode, a step up in difficulty for those who have already dominated Normal Mode.
Plus, Bethesda has an extra surprise included with today's update. In a trailer introducing all of the new Fallout Shelter features, we're introduced to a new Legendary shelter dweller by the name of Piper. Piper will be acquirable through the Vault-Tec shop in-game, but that's not what's exciting about Piper. See, Piper is one of the many Fallout 4 NPCs that players will get to meet when the game is launched on November 10. Later in the trailer Piper is shown off in full Fallout 4 3D. Preston Garvey was introduced in a similar manner earlier this year.
As anticipation builds day by day for Fallout 4, any breadcrumb Bethesda is willing to toss to the drooling masses must be considered precious. Much like the live-action Fallout 4 trailer released earlier today, Piper's brief introduction will be gone over with a fine-toothed comb by the greater online community and carefully cataloged for future reference.
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As for the specific details regarding the patch, Bethesda has the full 1.2 patch notes listed in their community forums. Here are some of the highlights:
- New Vault-Tec network protocols are finally in place. Now you can save your Vault to the “cloud,” (no moisture condenser necessary!) and continue any Vault experiment on all of your devices.
- Some Dwellers are reporting sightings of a mysterious individual in Vaults around the Wasteland. Vault-Tec is offering a bottle cap reward for any positive identification!
- Faced all the challenges the “normal” Vault simulation can provide? Introducing Survival Mode! More danger, More glory. Make Vault-Tec proud!
- New Vault-Tec directive – Dwellers have been given authorization to scavenge equipment from dead Raiders. Gear up!
Note that Piper wasn't included in those highlights. That's because Piper is a microtransaction rather than any sort of significant gameplay update, and Piper is iOS exclusive. Let's just agree that Piper will be much more interesting in her Fallout 4 role and leave it at that.
Fallout Shelter stormed into the mobile scene and capitalized heavily on the E3 excitement for Fallout 4. However, its success since then has shown that it stands on its own as an interesting and fun experience. Will the 1.2 patch revitalize activity in the game? Perhaps those who feel like they've had a go at the full Fallout Shelter experience will go back for the Survival Mode, but otherwise this patch seems more focused on the casual players still playing daily. The Mysterious Stranger and Raider scavenging will provide a boost to bottle cap income, while cloud saves will allow players to take their vault with them across devices and locations more readily. Those who have had no interest in Fallout Shelter up to this point likely won't be persuaded now either.
Fallout Shelter is now available to download for free on iOS and Android devices. The 1.2 Update is also now available to download. Fallout 4 will be coming to PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One starting November 10.