The Big Bloom, Fallout 76’s spring limited-time event, is underway, which means there are new monsters for you to take on and rewards to win. The seasonal event will be happening until May 20, so there’ll be plenty of time to frolic through the meadows, killing the most heinous mutated insects I’ve ever seen.
“Spring has sprung in Appalachia and that means verdant, rolling hills, warm sunshine and, best of all, flowers,” a Bethesda blog post says. “Spring also means pollen, allergies, and pollinators.”
The event revolves around Black-Eyed Susan, a woman who lives in Skyline Valley, picking flowers for her lovely arrangements and decorations: everyone needs a hobby, even in the apocalypse. Most of the year, her hobby is relatively chill, until spring rolls around and brings a bunch of so-called “plant monsters”.
These are actually the Overgrown, a monster inspired by the tales of Swamp Thing that was introduced to Fallout 76 back in the Atlantic City: Boardwalk Paradise update. I’ve killed plenty of these annoying creatures while taking part in The Most Sensational Game, and for the most part, they’re pretty simple to take down.
You can take out a good chunk of them by just setting a bunch on fire, and because they’re essentially one big pile of grass, they’ll go up in flames in an instant. The difficulty comes with the variants.
Alongside the Overgrown, there’s the Thorn and the Pollinator. The Thorn are pesky little buggers who can run really fast and just start swinging at a moments notice. Then the Pollinators are like big bloated balloons, which can shield the Overgrown and Thorn, so you need to take these out first before attacking the rest.
Luckily, these variants don’t make an appearance in The Big Bloom, so for funsies, there is a big honey beast, basically giant mutated honey bees, covered in bee hives and flowers, instead.
It’s all worth it just for the flower crowns.
After speaking with Susan, your job is basically pest control. The first step is collecting 30 flowers of crystalcups, radlilies, and carnal weepers each and giving them to Susan. Bear in mind that the fields of flowers are also full of mines, which Susan helpfully placed around at random.
Then, after you’ve collected the flowers, you need to get rid of all the Overgrown. You have to set them alight either with your own weapons or by using the Molotov cocktails Susan left out for you. Once you’ve killed 25 of them, the Beezlebub, Giant Bee of Yore, will emerge from a nearby cave and fight you.
It’s a lot of effort to go to for a random lady’s hobby, but there are a couple of nice rewards waiting for those who complete the event. As usual, there’s XP, caps, legendary modules, and some rare and common rewards available. But there’s also some event-specific loot like base flowers, gamma green tea, three kinds of flower crowns, the Gardener player title, and a plan for Susan’s floral secrets. Honestly, it’s all worth it just for the flower crowns.
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