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The ultimate and ONLY XP farming guide that you will ever need in Fallout 76

Updated: Sep 16



In collaboration with Blobby from The Fallout Network Discord.

 

Foreword by Blobby


Why do you run West Tek so much?

From the very start, I always just wanted a high level to set myself apart from other players in some form. I wanted some way to “express” my knowledge and experience of the game to others in-game and I thought level was a good way to do that. By the time West Tek became instanced in July 2021, I was already around level 2500. West Tek becoming instanced just opened the door to all kinds of new strategies to experiment with, which I enjoy a lot. Different weapon types, routes, discovering a way to not have to deal with waiting for instance resets, etc. It just became this long-term game of improving upon my previous achievements, being able to set new goals, etc. All of this culminated with my level skyrocketing and me becoming the first player to reach the game’s level cap.


Table of number of days vs levels achieved.

 

This guide is broken into the following sections


Blobby's XP setup and farming recommendations


Food Buffs

Serum, and Mutation Buffs

Chem Buffs

Magazine Buffs

Bobblehead Buffs

Camp Item Buffs

Camp Ally Buffs

Underarmour Buffs

Armour Buffs

Perk Cards and Specials

Seasonal Event Buffs

Other Buffs

Alternative XP farming route


You can use one buff from each category listed above, as buffs from different categories will stack. Buffs from the same category will not stack unless stated otherwise.


Some buffs can be lost upon death or server hopping.


Downloadable copy here.

 

Blobby's XP setup and farming recommendations


It is useful to have a Mentats addiction (assuming you have no other addiction). When your Berry Mentats run out, the red addiction status symbol will appear in the bottom right. This is a great indicator to notify you of when to take another Berry Mentats.


Food Buffs

I run Herbivore and use Brain Bombs and Cranberry Relish to boost my Intelligence and XP.


Perk Card load out and Gear

Please scroll down to the bottom of each link to see all the gear and mods.


The 2 builds in question are largely the same, with some small differences in the PER tree. The Enclave plasma has enough damage that it can add in Ground Pounder 3 and Grenadier 2 at the cost of a few Commando cards. Enclave plasmas themselves also have their fair share of negatives, though. Those will be covered below


Perk Card notes:


The Fixer build notes

You can choose to remove 2 points worth of Commando perks and add Ground Pounder 2 for a faster reload.

I choose to run it without Ground Pounder because:

  • Fixers have a fast enough reload speed by default, especially compared to the previous laser rifle setup.

  • When not quite all the damage registers due to server lag/latency issues, mutants will occasionally have 1% health left instead of dying to the 2 bullets like usual. I bumped up my damage a bit higher than the 2-shot threshold, which seems to have reduced the odds of this 1% health issue from occurring.


Enclave Plasma build notes

You may have to add 5 points worth of Science cards to the INT tree depending on how you run the setup in question, but that will be clarified below. It's recommended that you run a setup without Science cards, however. Enclave plasma guns already break insanely fast with Gunsmith 5 (2-3 repairs an hour w/ Improved Repair Kits), so I would not get rid of this card.


General Perk Card notes

I run a second account and use that to share rank 3 Serendipity with myself. If you don't have a second account or are unable to share rank 3 Serendipity, then you can try one of the following alternatives:

  • Reduce Grim Reaper's Sprint to rank 2 and equip rank 2 Serendipity. You will need to consume Company Tea for this alternative to work. The Company Tea Kettle that was the scoreboard reward for Season 15 is perfect for this.

  • Drop Class Freak perk card and equip rank 3 Serendipity. You will need to consume a Marsupial serum every hour if you want to try this alternative, to combat the -4 Intelligence debuff.


Weapons


The Fixer

There is a small amount of leeway with the weapon in question as well, mainly in terms of legendary effects. You can run a Bloodied/50% VATS crit Fixer and still perform largely the same. The third star offers a more minor quality of life improvement and isn't the most important. On paper, you can also run a 1-star Bloodied Fixer as well (or something like B/25), as covered below.


For the first star, Bloodied is a must. No exceptions.


For the second star, I consider 50% VATS crit damage essential because it enables you to 2-shot super mutants without damage-increasing consumables. You can opt for a setup without this second star, but you will need Blight Soup for it. I personally run it with 50% VATS crit damage because XP farming already involves enough buff micromanagement on its own, and I try to limit that—not add more buffs to keep track of—to the mix.

For the third star, I would prioritize effects in the following order: Faster reload > Less VATS cost > Breaks slower.


In terms of attachments, the only one you can reasonably deviate from is the muzzle slot. I would not change the rest. The suppressor isn't necessary, and you can choose to run any other muzzle.


My preferred weapon is a Bloodied, 50% VATS crit damage, 15% faster reload Fixer.


Weapon Mods

  • Prime Automatic Receiver

  • Aligned Long Barrel

  • Forceful Stock

  • Reflex Sight

  • Suppressor

  • Perforating Magazine


Enclave Plasma

You can make this setup work with even a 1 star Bloodied Enclave plasma gun, although it won't be as optimal as other setups.


The first star has to be Bloodied, no exceptions there.


My preferred rolls for the second star are 25% faster fire rate > 50% crit damage > 50% VATS hit chance. The fire rate will allow for a higher kill speed, and the crit damage helps you reach the 2 tap threshold with more capacitors.


The worthwhile third star effects are 25% less VATS AP cost > breaks 50% slower > faster reload. The AP cost will help with the rather high AP cost on Enclave plasma guns. Breaks slower helps with the insanely low condition on the weapons. Faster reload offers some nice quality of life.


Weapon Mods

  • Calibrated capacitor > 50% crit damage or prime capacitor

  • Aligned automatic barrel

  • Forceful stock > precise stock > any other stock

  • Reflex sight


On the below image, you'll see different configurations of capacitors, legendary effects, and whether or not Science cards are needed for those setups.

I recommend the calibrated capacitor the most because it allows you to run 25% faster fire rate without the need for Science cards.

If not the calibrated + fire rate setup, I'd recommend a B/50c/X Enclave plasma to avoid the need for Science cards. 50% crit damage receivers and prime are roughly the same in practice. The rest is all up to preference.


The Fixer VS Enclave Plasma

Fixers and Enclave plasma guns both have their pros and cons. I personally prefer the Enclave plasma because it's faster overall, but that does not mean it doesn't have its downsides or that Fixers are a bad option by any means.


Pros of Enclave plasma guns:

  • Faster fire rate

  • Higher mag size

  • Build allows for Ground Pounder, which means less time spent reloading


Cons of Enclave plasma guns:

  • Heavier ammo

  • Needs more repairs (2-3 per an hour using Improved Repair kits)

  • Specific mods are difficult to obtain


Pros of Fixers:

  • Lighter ammo

  • Does not need as many repairs (0-1 an hour)

  • Easy to mod


Cons of Fixers:

  • Slower fire rate

  • Smaller mag size

  • The build does not allow for Ground Pounder, which, combined with the smaller mag size leads to more time spent reloading.


Armour

What type of armour you run can be flexible. What matters most is having a healthy combination of Damage Resistance and Energy Resistance.


The BioCommMesh Torso Mod extends the duration of the Berry Mentats.


The third stat and roll on your armour can be personal preference.


Armour comparison spreadsheet can be found here.


The route in West Tek

I've established my camp on the eastern side of West Tek, featuring the Mechanical Derby Machine, a bed, a stash box, and a Camp Ally. This setup enables me to swiftly replenish my buffs and replenish essential supplies as needed.


When you go up to use the terminal to enter the research wing, you want to be in 3rd person without holding out a weapon. This is the quickest way to unlock the terminal.



Map of West Tek route and Super Mutant spawns


How to refresh the spawns in West Tek


All open West Tek quests must be completed for West Tek to respawn for you. This includes the Secrets of West Tek misc quest and The Catalyst quest from Steel Reigh.


You will need two accounts for this to work or a dedicated friend.


Account # 1 - The account that you are not farming XP on

Account # 2 - The account that you ARE farming XP on


  1. Create a team and make account # 1 Team Leader

  2. Leave account # 1 outside West Tek, at your camp

  3. Enter West Tek on account # 2

  4. Clear West Tek using account # 2

  5. Exit West Tek on account # 2

  6. Walk account # 1 over to West Tek, enter the building, and leave them to afk just inside the door.

  7. Walk account # 2 over to West Tek and "Join Team Leader". This will load account # 2 into account # 1 instance.

  8. Use account # 2 to clear West Tek

  9. Exit West Tek on both accounts

  10. Now repeat


Following these steps in this order avoids being caught in the 1-minute cooldown instances reset.


If you don't have a second account or a dedicated friend, then go down the elevator, clear the basement of Super Mutants, and then Fast Travel back to your camp or West Tek itself.


It is very important that you do not go back up the elevator. This causes the cell to bug out which in turn affects the game's performance.

 

Food Buffs


Herbivore Food Buffs


Carnivore Food Buffs


Drink Buffs

Note: Nuka Cola Cranberry now counts as a food buff. If you consume Cranberry Relish or Tasty Squirrel Stew, you can not consume a Nuka Cola Cranberry, as it will wipe out the XP food buffs you have just eaten.


Brain Fungus Farming Guide

Gut Shroom Farming Guide

Owlet Farming Guide

Aster Farming Guide

Carrot Flower Farming Guide

Firecracker Berry Farming Guide

Nuka Cola Cranberry Farming Guide


Recipes

  • Can drop as event and pip-boy daily rewards

  • 2 recipes can drop from the pip-boy daily "Thrill of the Grill" if all optional objectives are completed

  • Can be purchased from Antoine at Le Grand Gourment (Whitesprings Mall)

  • Can be purchased from Camp Allys, Yasmin, and Grandma Junko

  • Can be purchased from Player Vendor Machines

  • Can be found in the wild. A map of spawn locations can be found here.

 

Serum and Mutation Buffs


Most mutations have a debuff to balance out the buff. Equip the perk card Class Freak under Luck to offset the debuff, or consume a serum to remove the negative effects for an hour.


RECOMMENDED


Egghead Mutation

Buff: +6 Intelligence

Debuff: -3 Strength & -3 Endurance


Herd Mentality Mutation

Buff: +2 to all SPECIALs when in a team

Debuff: -2 to all SPECIALs when not on a team


You can run solo on a public team and Herd Mentality will still proc.


Herbivore Mutation

Buff: Doubles the benefits and buffs when eating plant-based foods and teas.

Debuff: Eating meat-based dishes will not apply a buff or restore hunger.


ALTERNATIVE


Carnivore Mutation

Buff: Doubles the benefits and buffs when eating meat-based foods.

Debuff: Eating plant-based dishes will not apply a buff or restore hunger.



Marsupial Serum without Class Freak gives -4 Intelligence. Either run Class Freak perk card (under Luck) to reduce that figure or pop a Marsupial Serum to remove the negative side effects of the mutation for an hour.


Serums can be obtained via

  • MODUS

  • Player Vendors

  • Purchase the plans to craft serums from MODUS

 

Chem Buffs


RECOMMENDED

Item

Buff

Berry Mentats

+5 Intelligence

Lunchboxes (optional)

+25% XP per lunchbox (caps at 100% XP)

ALTERNATIVE

Item

Buff

X-Cell

+2 to all SPECIALs for 2 minutes


Berry Mentats Recipe can be obtained from:


Brain Fungus Farming Guide


Luchboxes can be obtained from the Atom Shop or rewarded from the current Scoreboard.


X-Cell can not be crafted. X-Cell can be obtained from:

  • Camp Ally: Joey Bello

  • Crater - Molly

  • Whitesprings Mall - Doc Stanley

  • Treasure Maps

  • Enclave Event - Dropped Connections

  • Nuke Card crate

  • Chem First Aid kits

  • Footlockers

  • Drug Mule Ghouls

 

Magazine Buffs


RECOMMENDED

Item

Buff

Live & Love 3

+50% Healing from veggies and fruits

Backwoodsman 6

+50% Health from cooked food


ALTERNATIVE

Item

Buff

Live & Love 8

+5% XP for 30 mins when on a team

Zeta Invaders Magazine

+1 Intelligence for 30 mins

Atomic Command Magazine

+1 Intelligence for 30 mins

Equip the perk card Curator under luck to make all magazines last for 60 minutes.


Holotape Magazine buffs will stack on top of magazine buffs. For example, you can run Live & Love 3 AND Zeta Invaders.


Magazines can be obtained via:

 

Bobblehead Buffs


RECOMMENDED

Item

Buff

Leader Bobblehead

+5% XP for 30 minutes

ALTERNATIVE

Item

Buff

Intelligence

+2 Intelligence for 30 minutes

Equip the perk card Curator under luck to make all bobbleheads last for 60 minutes.


Bobbleheads can be obtained via:

  • Found in world

  • Purchased from player vendors or via trades

  • Scoreboard Reward

 

Camp Item Buffs

Item

Buff

Mechanical Derby Game

+2 Intelligence for 30 minutes

Sacred Mothman Tome

+5% XP for 60 minutes


The Sacred Mothman Tome plan is only available from the Mothman Equinox Seasonal Event.

  • Does not stack with other Mothman XP buffs (Path to Enlightenment, Steven Scarberry, Mothman Equinox).

  • Can be stacked with Leo Petrov's Nuka-Inspiration: Cranberry Buff

 

Camp Ally Buffs


Camp Ally buffs can be stacked

Camp Ally

Buff

Steven Scarberry

+5% XP for 60 minutes

Leo Petrov

+5% XP for 60 minutes

Camp Ally's can be obtained via:

 

Underarmour Buffs


RECOMMENDED

Item

Buff

Shielded Casual Underarmour

+3 Intelligence


ALTERNATIVE

Item

Buff

Shielded Vault Suit Underarmour

+2 Intelligence


Shielded Casual Lining Plan: Has a 5% chance to be awarded from Queen of the Hunt if the player character has already learned:

Plan: Treated lining casual underarmour,

Plan: Resistant lining casual underarmour and

Plan: Protective lining casual underarmour.


Shielded Vault Suit Lining Plan is unlocked upon completion of the main quest line.


List of Casual Underarmour:

*Atom Shop

  • Brotherhood of Steel infantry uniform*

  • Bowling team outfit*

  • Tactical ops outfit*

  • Conspiracy suit*

  • Country girl outfit*

  • Flannel shirt and jeans

  • Grafton High tracksuit*

  • Hootenanny overalls outfit*

  • Military fatigues

  • Nuclear Winter tracksuit*

  • Raider waster outfit*

  • Responders fire chief outfit*

  • Undershirt & jeans

  • Vintage football outfit*

  • VTU tracksuit*

  • Manta Man Sidekick Underarmour*

  • Inspector Sidekick Underarmour*

  • Silver Shroud Sidekick Underarmour*

  • Mistress Sidekick Underarmour*

  • Grognak Sidekick Underarmour*

 

Armour, Power Armour, and Mod Buffs


RECOMMENDED

Item

Buff

Unyielding Legendary Body Armour

+15 Intelligence for a full set

+1 Intelligence as the second star

+5 Intelligence for a full set

BioCommMesh Torso Mod

+50% longer duration of chems


ALTERNATIVE

Item

Buff

PA - Internal Database Helmet Mod

+2 Intelligence

BioCommMesh Torso Mod Plan: Can be purchased from Robot Vendors in Grafton


Internal Database Power Armour mod plans can be purchased from Robot Vendors in Whitesprings


Ultracite Internal Database Power Armour mod plans can be found on the Scorched Beast Queen or Common Scorch Beasts

 

Perk Cards and SPECIALs


RECOMMENDED

Item

Buff

Intelligence Special Stat

Rank: Max


Under: Intelligence


Buff: +15 Intelligence

Legendary Intelligence

Rank: 5


Under: Legendary Perk Cards


Buff: +5 Intelligence

Inspirational Perk Card

Rank: 3


Under: Charisma


Buff: +15% XP when you are on a team

Night Person Perk Card

Rank: 3


Under: Perception


Buff: +3 Intelligence & +3 Perception between 6pm and 6am (In-game time)

Curator Perk Card

Rank: 1


Under: Luck


Buff: The benefits of Bobbleheads & Magazines last twice as long.

Class Freak Perk Card

Rank: 3


Under: Luck


Buff: The negative effects of your mutations are reduced by 75%.

Chem Fiend Perk Card

Rank: 3


Under: Endurance


Buff: Any chems you take will last twice as long

Strange in Numbers

Rank: 1


Under: Charisma


Buff: Positive mutation effects are 25% (0.25x) stronger if your teammates are mutated too.

Rank 1 versions of the above-mentioned cards work fine but rank 3 or max rank yields better results and buffs.

 

Public and Seasonal Event Buffs

Item

Buff

The Path to Enlightenment

+5% XP for 60 minutes

The True Wisdom of the Mothman

+15% XP for 60 minutes

Grahm's Meat Cook - Strong Meat Sweats

+5% XP for 5 minutes

Seasonal Event - Mothman Equinox

Seasonal Event - Meat Week

 

Other Buffs

Item

Buff

Join a Casual Public Team

+1 Intelligence per bonded teammate

 

Alternative XP Farming Route

Co-written by: Atticus Atigun Fench


Main Route

Location

For

West Tek

Super Mutants, Mutant Hounds and Floaters

Huntersville

Super Mutants, Mutant Hounds and Floaters

Solomon’s Pond

Floaters and Behemoth (follow pond south-ish)

National Isolated Radio Array

​Super Mutants, Mutant Hounds, Ghouls, and the stray Super Mutant in the small building by the Satellite Dish.

Mac’s Farm

Mirelurk Queen, Mirelurk Kings and Mirelurks

Quarry X3

Mirelurk Queen, Mirelurk Kings and Mirelurks

Sunrise Field

Mirelurk Queen, Mirelurk Kings, Mirelurks, and Blood Eagles

Lucky Hole Mine

Cultists outside and inside

Pylon V-13

Fog Crawlers or Snallygasters or Anglers

Abandoned Bog Town Workshop and Town

Super Mutants. Mutant Hounds, Behemoth, and Mongrel Dogs

Robco Research Center

Sentry Bot and Assorted Robots. Check the monorail for robots

General Steakhouse

Super Mutants, Mutant Hounds, Floaters, and whatever is in the garden

Harper's Ferry

Anything that moves

The Burrows

Ghouls

Crevasse Dam

Super Mutants, Mutant Hounds and Insects at the back.


Check the random spawn location on your right from the spawn in point


Dolly Sods Wilderness and Workshop

2x Yao Guai and whatever spawns inside the buildings.


Workshop can spawn: Fog Crawlers or Anglers or Gulpers


Highland Marsh

Mirelurk Queen, Mirelurk King and Mirelurks

Freddy Fears House of Scares

Ghouls, Rad Rats, and sometimes a Wendigo

Sunnytop Ski Lands Base Lodge

Super Mutants and Mutant Hounds

Sunnytop Ski Lands

Super Mutants and Mutant Hounds

If any of the above locations haven’t respawned or have already been cleaned out then side-track and jump over to some of the following locations:

Location

For

Whitesprings Golf Course

Ghouls

New Gad

Super Mutants and Mutant Hounds

Charleston Capitol Building

Jump on the terminals to activate the 2 DMV modes for extra Ghoul spawns

Grafton Dam

Super Mutants and Mutant Hounds

Grafton Steel

Super Mutants and Mutant Hounds

Monongah

Mole Miners

Lewisburg

Ghouls

Welsh

Mole Miners

Glass Caverns

Only if Scorched has spawned. Outside and Inside

Firebase LT

Scorched and Scorched beasts

Firebase Major

Scorched and Scorched beasts

Forward Station Alpha

Scorched and Scorched beasts

The Thorn

Scorched and Scorched beasts

Firebase Hancock

Scorched and Scorched beasts

Survey Camp Alpha

Scorched and Scorched beasts

Forward Station Delta

Scorched and Scorched beasts

Fissure Sites

Scorched and Scorched beasts

Fort Defiance

Scorched outside and Ghouls inside.


Check Asylum dress spawn


Overgrown Sundew Grove

Anything that moves

High XP Events:

  • AWOL Armaments

  • Line in the Sand

  • Scorched Earth

  • Enclave: Dropped Connection

  • Enclave: A Real Blast

  • Horde Events

  • Guided Meditation

  • Radiation Rumble

  • Uranium Fever

  • Manhunt

  • Monster Mash

  • Heart of the Swamp

  • Surface to Air

  • A Colossal Problem

  • Eviction notice

  • Moonshine Jamboree

 

Love food buffs?


Join us at Buffs n Brew, a group dedicated to food buffs and food buff farming.

Discord - All Platforms

Facebook - PC

Facebook - XBOX

Facebook - PlayStation (Coming soon)

 

Hi, I'm Kat or Duchess

I'm an Australian data miner who writes farming, event, and food buff guides for Fallout 76.

I believe that all knowledge and information should be free, which is why my guides will never be locked behind a paywall. However, running a website and photo and video editing software does not come cheaply.

​​

So, If you found my guides helpful, please consider buying me a ko-fi (coffee) using the link below.

​​

All monies go towards the tools for writing my guides and maybe for an actual cup of coffee or 3 ;)

Alternatively, share my guides with your fellow vault dwellers and help them to survive the wasteland.


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