Fallout 76's next free update adds Bigfoot, a party-crasher that drops 4-star rewards: 'He's got a big club, and he throws exploding ticks at you, what else would you expect?'

Fallout 76's next update is nearly upon us, or upon us for those in the public test servers. Update 66, The Backwoods, brings a huge amount of tweaks and changes to events as it delves into the barren Ash Heap, bringing with it a new signature feature: the uninvited guest.

"So we see here a creature from the forest draws near," Kevin Wienecke, senior systems designer, says during a developer demonstration. "What could it be? Oh, my goodness, a four-star, legendary Bigfoot.

"This is one of the new cryptids that we've introduced in this patch, and it's the first time a four-star enemy has been seen outside of the raid. And as such, he is balanced appropriately. He's got a big club, and he throws exploding ticks at you, what else would you expect?"

There's now a chance for an extra boss to appear at the end of an event. It doesn't necessarily have to be Bigfoot, but he is the best option, as all the other uninvited guests are just three-star bosses, so they won't drop as good loot.

"He has a reduced set, so it's not the full set that you would see in Gleaming Depths," Wienecke says. "But Bigfoot does have an exclusive [four-star] drop that no one else has. That's a bit of a rare drop for him, but it's called the Thrill Seekers mod, and it's a good one as well. So hunters are going to really want to be on the lookout for when Bigfoot spawns."

But if you want the four-star drops, you'll have to make quick work of Bigfoot, because as generations of cryptid hunters will tell you, he's an elusive catch. "I'll also mention that while fighting Bigfoot, he has a limited time when you fight him," Wienecke explains. "So it's a bit of a DPS race to see if you can kill him before he disappears. You're going to want to do as much damage as you can, as quickly as you can."

"Eventually, he heeds the call of the forest, returns to his harbour palace," creative director Jon Rush adds.

You'll have five minutes to kill Bigfoot, not an impossible task, but surely a stressful one. But this isn't the case for the other uninvited guests, who are just three-star bosses. "They're significantly weaker, so you can kill them without much of a problem," Wienecke says. "They're still a problem. They're a fun little surprise. One of them is actually pretty tough, but they don't have a time limit."

Honestly, the most surprising thing about this update is that it's taken so long for Bigfoot to be added. A staple of cryptid North America, I'm sure he's been wandering around Appalachia, wondering what all the hubbub is about with all these new ghouls emerging from the Hillside Cavern and scorched beasts roaming the skies.

"We wanted it to be like a spontaneous thing," said Wienecke. "It just shows up. You're like, 'Oh, my God, what the heck is that thing?'" But not everyone will be excited to see Bigfoot. I know I'll be a little cautious if I encounter him after an event with my scrawny level 55 ghoul.

Worry not, just because Bigfoot is there doesn't mean he's keen for a fight. "The party crashers only have a chance to spawn once the event concludes," Rush says. "So if you're a lower-level player, and you finish the event, and then Bigfoot's running at you, you don't have to stick around. It's an added bonus."