When Fallout 76 first launched back in 2018, it was quite a controversy that there were no human NPCs in the game. By now, there are a great many new NPCs in the game, both humans and mutants alike. Even entirely new factions have been added to Fallout 76 over the past few years, massively expanding the Appalachian wasteland.
Between unmarked quests and rare world encounters, Fallout 76 has its share of secret NPCs for players to discover. Luckily, none of these NPCs are permanently missable, so players who haven’t met them can still hunt them down.
Rare Fallout 76 NPCs - Smiling Man
Among all the random encounters players can discover, this one seems to be one of the rarest, either by coincidence or design. This strange character from West Virginian urban legend is believed to be a Cryptid in Fallout 76 with ties to the Mothman. However, the Smiling Man, a.k.a. Indrid Cold often speaks in rhymes and riddles, making it difficult to understand his true origins. There’s not much to this encounter besides a short conversation waiting to be had, but its rarity still makes it a spectacle worth experiencing.
Random encounters in Fallout 76 typically happen at unmarked locations, so players who want to experience these encounters may want to explore on foot and avoid fast traveling.
Rare Fallout 76 NPCs - Wendigo Colossuses
While many players have likely met the Wendigo Colossus known as Earle Williams, encountering a Wendigo Colossus out in the wild is quite rare. This is because Earle Williams is guaranteed to spawn after players launch a nuke in Fallout 76 and target Monongah Mine to trigger A Colossal Problem Public Event, whereas a natural Wendigo Colossus only has a rare chance to spawn when players nuke the location of combat-type random encounters, such as the Overgrown Sundew Grove or near the Monorail Elevator.
Ultimately, Wendigo Colossuses are incredibly hard to kill, and the rewards of defeating them are no different from encountering any ordinary legendary enemy. So, considering how much effort it takes and how lackluster the rewards are, on top of how they aren’t guaranteed to spawn, encountering a Wendigo Colossus that isn’t Earle Williams is something that most players likely haven’t done.
Rare Fallout 76 NPCs - The Mistresses of Mystery
Upon finding one of the bodies of the Mistresses of Mystery at Tygart Water Treatment or other locations, players will kick off a series of secret, unmarked questlines in Fallout 76. While there are numerous places where players can find one of the dead bodies to start this series of quests, what makes these NPCs so rare is that none of the bodies have a quest marker until after players interact with them, so many players have likely overlooked them and missed out on the questline as a consequence.
The Order of the Mistresses of Mystery is a group of women who took inspiration from the Fallout franchise’s Unstoppables superhero, the Mistress of Mystery. What started as an orphanage to protect women turned into a group of vigilantes who would protect all those in need throughout Appalachia. Throughout the questlines, players can join the ranks of this secret society and uncover the events of the former members' tragic demise.
Rare Fallout 76 NPCs - The Emissary
The Emissary can be found as another random encounter in Fallout 76, but only during the Invaders from Beyond Seasonal Public Event. The Public Event itself doesn’t need to be active, but it still needs to be during this Seasonal Event’s window for the Emissary to spawn. This strange character will question players about alien sightings before promptly leaving, but killing him or encountering his already dead body will let players loot the Mysterious Key, which is part of an unmarked quest that opens one of the TNT Domes in Fallout 76 at Black Mountain Ordnance Works.
Fallout 76
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 54 /100 Critics Rec: 9%
