Once in a Blue Moon

Once in a Blue Moon is the sixteenth major update for Fallout 76. It was released on June 20, 2023.^[1] It was preceded by Mutation Invasion and was followed by Boardwalk Paradise as part of Expeditions: Atlantic City. The update was released alongside season 13, Shoot for the Stars.^[2][3]

This update is themed around the Blue Ridge Caravan Company, meant to expand the faction and improve their storytelling and characterization.

After the initial release of this update and its supporting patch, another update, patch 46, was released in August 2023. This patch was not considered a major update and had no promotional name, and is thus considered to be part of the Once in a Blue Moon release cycle.

Features[]

Initial release[]

• Season 13: Shoot for the Stars^[2]
• Two new public events:
  • Beasts of Burden:
    • "After a trade deal goes wrong, Luca Costa finds himself in need of some help. A group of local Cultists has stolen his Brahmin and cargo of makeshift explosives. His Uncle Vinny will not be happy if he catches wind of it. Be extra careful not to disturb the local wildlife, however, as Cultists have recently noticed strange rumblings in the woods nearby."^[3]
  • Safe and Sound:
    • "Blue Ridge has renovated the Middle Mountain Cabins to be their latest and greatest Brahmin pitstop, but they just can't seem to keep the local critters at bay. The Repeller Speaker system they use to repel the creatures and keep their Brahmin safe has been damaged. To retake the pitstop and create a safe haven for their Brahmin to rest, they will need your help! Clear out the creatures, defend the Repeller, and the Blue Ridge Caravan will reward you handsomely for your assistance!"^[3]
• Costa Business quest line:
  • Costa Business is a series of seven new quests focused on Vinny Costa and the Blue Ridge Caravan Company. Although described as "one-off daily quests," they are not repeatable and cannot be completed more than once per character. They function similarly to side quests but with a delay between the quests, as only one of the seven can be done per day before completing the quest line.^[3]
  • Each of the seven quests has a unique Blue Ridge themed reward, ranging from CAMP items to outfits. They feature short stories focusing on various members of the Blue Ridge Caravan Company.^[3]
  • After completing the Costa Business quest line, another side quest, Protocol Adonais, will unlock for characters who have completed two quests relating to Aries (Calvin van Lowe): Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (from Wild Appalachia) and Out of the Blue (from Steel Reign). Protocol Adonais is essentially the secret eighth Costa Business quest, focusing on Aries.^[3]
• Two new cryptids:
  • The Blue Devil and the Ogua come to Appalachia with this update.^[3]
  • The Blue Devil appears as the event boss for Safe and Sound, while the Ogua fills that role for Beasts of Burden. Both also appear in assault-type random encounters.
• Changes to Expeditions:^[4]
  • Ultracell is no longer given by the Refuge daily quests and is no longer required for Expeditions, which can be run infinitely.
  • Only one Refuge daily now activates per day.
  • Various Stamp prices at Giuseppe Della Ripa's store have been reduced.
• New Daily Ops mutation: Danger Cloud, harmful spores radiate from enemies, damaging nearby players.
• Quality of life changes: new settings and UI changes for legendary item pickups.
• New music plays at Big Bend Tunnel East, Big Bend Tunnel West and Middle Mountain Pitstop. New music also plays inside the Whitespring Refuge when it was previously silent.
• There are new loading screen images.
• The game now runs at 60 FPS on PlayStation 5 and is said to have better performance on Xbox Series.
• Changes were made to fire and energy damage, making some enemies more difficult. These changes are currently being scaled back in the Public Test Server for Expeditions: Atlantic City.

Later patches[]

• Patch 45:
  • New Meat Week rewards were implemented for its August 2023 run, as well as several other new C.A.M.P. plans sold by Grahm.
  • Various bug fixes and quality of life changes.
• Patch 46:
  • Season 14: Fight for Freedom
  • Two new perk cards, Arms Keeper and Stable Tools.
  • A new holotape series recorded by Jack Hunter, two of which preview Atlantic City.
  • Donation box for new players added outside of Vault 76 (Welcome to the Wasteland).
  • Various bug fixes and quality of life changes.

Characters[]

• Luca Costa
• Clyde (new caps vendor)
• Vera Thornberg (new caps vendor)
• Brahmin: Boil & Foil, Hocus & Pocus, Shock & Awe, Vikki & Vance, Moona Lisa
• Joey Bello
• Grandma Junko
• Jack Hunter
• New dialogue for Vinny Costa, Aries, Kieran Kennedy, Eugenie, Libby Wen, Rudy Fernandez, Herschel Klein and Carver Timmerman
  • Libby Wen has been re-voiced by the same actor
  • Aries, Kieran, Eugenie, Libby, Rudy and Carver have new fixed spawn points and all of them can be found any time, instead of them appearing occasionally by random chance
  • Before this update, when starting Riding Shotgun, Vinny would call two members over and they would jog to the tunnel. Due to this update, this no longer happens.

Enemies[]

• Blue Devil
• Ogua
• Cultist
  • Cultist sanctifier

Locations[]

• Middle Mountain Pitstop (redecorated and renamed version of Middle Mountain Cabins)
• Sacramental Glade (redecorated and renamed version of Cranberry Glade)
• Aries now lives in a redecorated train car near Big Bend Tunnel East

Items[]

Apparel[]

Costa Business	Beasts of Burden	Safe and Sound	Daily Ops	Spooky Scorched
Blue Ridge scout helmet Trucker uniform Vera's outfit	Blue Ridge scout outfit Cryptid hunter boonie hat Ogua hunter outfit Ogua hunter hood	Blue Devil outfit Blue Devil pelt hood Milkman outfit Milkman hat	Cowboy chaps Cowboy duster Cowboy hat Umbrella hat	Rad skull rider helmet Executioner mask Bear gas mask Gazelle gas mask Rooster gas mask

Consumables[]

• Rudy's Canned Pozole

Notes[]

Name	Quest	Editor ID	Form ID
A blessed gift		Moon_Ambush_Cultist_Note2	006CACA2
A worthy sacrifice		Moon_Ambush_Cultist_Note	006AC411
Eugenie's letter	Costa Business: Eugenie	MOON_SQ02_Eugenie_Note	006A9838
G. Timmerman, last words	Costa Business: Carver	MOON_SQ07_Carver_Note_02	006A9962
Get RICH quick!		S13_JoeyBello_Note01	006CA794
Investigation report		MOON_Herd_Lore_Note_01	006D7987
Letter to Vera		MOON_Herd_VeraLetter	0069067C
Note from Greg	Costa Business: Carver	MOON_SQ07_Carver_Note_01	006A9961
Pitstop note		MOON_Herd_ClydeNote	006BEE38
Rudy's shopping list	Costa Business: Rudy	MOON_SQ04_Rudy_ShoppingList	006ACE99
They got me good	Protocol Adonais	MOON_SQ08_Aries_Lore_RaiderNote	006CAC83
Weird note	Protocol Adonais	MOON_SQ08_Aries_Lore_6Y22YE	006D1C33
Welcome to the Wasteland		NPE_DonationBox_V76_Note	006EFF1D
Writings of Jacque	Costa Business: Herschel	Moon_SQ05_Page1 Moon_SQ05_Page2 Moon_SQ05_Page3 Moon_SQ05_Page4 Moon_SQ05_Page5	006A4255 006A4256 006A4257 006A4258 006A4259

Holotapes[]

Name	Related quest	Editor ID	Form ID
A Night at the Neapolitan		JackHunter_Neapolitan01_Holotape JackHunter_Neapolitan02_Holotape	006DC8F1 006DC8F2
The Decadent Metal Dome		JackHunter_MetalDome_Holotape	006DC8F3
Nukashine: What a trip!		JackHunter_Nukashine_Holotape	006DC8F4
Protocol Adonais #1	Protocol Adonais	MOON_SQ08_Aries_Holotape_Scene05_Tape01	006AA61F
Protocol Adonais #2	Protocol Adonais	MOON_SQ08_Aries_Holotape_Scene04_Tape02	006AA620
Protocol Adonais #3	Protocol Adonais	MOON_SQ08_Aries_Holotape_Scene03_Tape03	006AA624
Protocol Adonais #4	Protocol Adonais	MOON_SQ08_Aries_Holotape_Scene02_Tape04	006AA621
Protocol Adonais #5	Protocol Adonais	MOON_SQ08_Aries_Holotape_Scene01_Tape05	006AA623
Protocol Adonais #6	Protocol Adonais	MOON_SQ08_Aries_Holotape_Scene06_Tape06	006AA622

Miscellaneous items[]

Trading cards[]

• Beast of Beckley card
• Blue Devil card
• Flatwoods monster card
• Grafton Monster card
• Jersey Devil card
• Mothman card
• Ogua card
• Sheepsquatch card

Quest items[]

• Cargo
• Luca's explosives
• Graveyard shovel
• Heirloom lighter
• Nuka-World toy truck
• Unique repair parts

Plans[]

Note: All of the following plans are tradable unless otherwise noted.

Beasts of Burden[]

Safe and Sound[]

Costa Business[]

Daily Ops[]

Gold bullion and Stamps[]

Note: None of the following plans are tradable.

• Plan: Steven Scarberry (Samuel)
• Plan: Radstag field dressing station (Mortimer)
• Plan: Firewood pile (Mortimer)
• Plan: Cold Shoulder (Giuseppe Della Ripa)

Grahm[]

Grahm's Meat Cook[]

Spooky Scorched[]

Note: The following plans were not included in the original release of Once in a Blue Moon (patch 44), only being implemented with patch 47.

Weapons[]

Cut content[]

• Plan: Blue Ridge shipping container
• Cultist Executioner

Perks[]

Note: Both of these perks were added with patch 46 in August 2023.

• Arms Keeper
• Stable Tools

Quests[]

Daily[]

Icon	Name	Location(s)	Given by	Reward	Editor ID	Form ID
	Costa Business: Kieran	Big Bend Tunnel East	Vinny Costa	XP Plan: Blue Ridge toy truck	Moon_SQ01_Kieran	0068FD4A
	Costa Business: Eugenie	Big Bend Tunnel East	Vinny Costa	XP Plan: Blue Ridge themed stash box	Moon_SQ02_Eugenie	006A173A
	Costa Business: Rudy	Big Bend Tunnel East	Vinny Costa	XP Plan: Clean Blue Ridge sleeping bag Rudy's Canned Pozole (optional)	Moon_SQ04_Rudy	006A0F94
	Costa Business: Libby	Big Bend Tunnel East	Vinny Costa	XP Plan: Blue Ridge guardsman paint	Moon_SQ03_Libby	006A1030
	Costa Business: Herschel	Big Bend Tunnel East	Vinny Costa	XP Plan: Blue Ridge scout helmet	Moon_SQ05_Herschel	006A17A9
	Costa Business: Vera	Big Bend Tunnel East	Vinny Costa	XP Plan: Vera's outfit	Moon_SQ06_Vera	0069F2C7
	Costa Business: Carver	Big Bend Tunnel East	Vinny Costa	XP Plan: Trucker uniform	MOON_SQ07_Carver	006A21E3
	Protocol Adonais	Big Bend Tunnel East (requires completion of Costa Business, Wolf in Sheep's Clothing and Out of the Blue)	Aries	XP Plan: Sheepsquatch poster	MOON_SQ08_Aries	006A21E4

Public events[]

Icon	Name	Location(s)	Given by	Reward	Editor ID	Form ID
	Beasts of Burden	Sacramental Glade	Luca Costa		MOON_Ambush	0068F383
	Safe and Sound	Middle Mountain Pitstop	Vera Thornberg		MOON_MSignals	00690659

Random encounters[]

Assault-type

Scene-type

• Random Ogua
• Random Blue Devil
• Ogua vs Blue Devil

Behind the scenes[]

• The update was released on June 20, 2023. June 20 is West Virginia Day, which celebrates the day that West Virginia was admitted to the Union as a U.S. state in 1863, fitting for the game's setting of Appalachia.
• The first Inside the Vault article promoting this update featured a banner teasing the two new cryptids, the Blue Devil and the Ogua. With the heading "Who's That Cryptid?", it is a parody of the "Who's That Pokémon?" segment from the Pokémon anime series.

Gallery[]

Videos[]

External links[]

• Fallout 76 - Once in a Blue Moon Update Notes - June 20, 2023 (Archived)
• Fallout 76 - Once in a Blue Moon Update Arrives June 20 (Archived)
• Fallout 76 Once in a Blue Moon PTS Highlights and Update Log (Archived)
• Fallout 76: Inside the Vault - Experience Once in a Blue Moon Early and Celebrate The Mothman Equinox! (Archived)
• Fallout 76: Inside the Vault - Meet the Newest Cryptids (Archived)

References[]

v · d · e Fallout 76 updates, patches and seasons Patches List of patches and hotfixes Updates Wild Appalachia · Nuclear Winter · Wastelanders · The Legendary Run · One Wasteland For All · Steel Dawn · Locked & Loaded · Steel Reign · Fallout Worlds · Night of the Moth · Invaders from Beyond · Test Your Metal · Expeditions: The Pitt · Nuka-World on Tour · Mutation Invasion · Once in a Blue Moon · Expeditions: Atlantic City (Boardwalk Paradise · America's Playground) · Skyline Valley Seasons The Legendary Run · Armor Ace and the Power Patrol · The Scribe of Avalon · Armor Ace and the Power Patro in Cold Steel · Escape from the 42nd Century · The Unstoppables! vs the Diabolicals · Zorbo's Revenge · A Better Life Underground · Heart of Steel: A Dread Island Tale · Red Rocket 'Across America' Presents: The City of Steel · Nuka-World · Rip Daring and the Cryptid Hunt · Shoot for the Stars · Fight for Freedom · The Big Score · Duel with the Devil · Pioneer Scouts: Skyline Valley

v · d · e Once in a Blue Moon Quests and events Costa Business Costa Business: Kieran · Costa Business: Eugenie · Costa Business: Libby · Costa Business: Rudy · Costa Business: Herschel · Costa Business: Vera · Costa Business: Carver · Protocol Adonais Events Beasts of Burden · Safe and Sound Locations Middle Mountain Pitstop · Sacramental Glade Items Apparel Blue Devil outfit · Blue Ridge scout helmet · Cowboy chaps · Cowboy duster · Cowboy hat · Cryptid hunter boonie hat · Milkman outfit · Ogua hunter outfit · Trucker uniform · Vera's outfit Weapons Blue Ridge branding iron · Cryptid jawbone knife · Cultist Piercer · Elder's Mark · Holy Fire · Luca's switchblade · Ogua gauntlet · The Kabloom Other See list of plans · See holotapes and notes Characters New Luca Costa · Clyde · Grandma Junko · Joey Bello · Vera Thornberg · Jack Hunter Expanded Aries · Carver Timmerman · Eugenie · Herschel Klein · Kieran Kennedy · Libby Wen · Rudy Fernandez · Vinny Costa Creatures Cryptids Blue Devil · Ogua Brahmin Boil & Foil · Hocus & Pocus · Shock & Awe · Vikki & Vance · Moona Lisa Shoot for the Stars (Season 13) Fight for Freedom (Season 14)