Bethesda has released the Fallout 76 Steel Dawn update ahead of schedule. Originally planned to hit PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on December 1st, the update went live through an error for Xbox users and the developers decided to share it with everyone, rather than roll it back and keep everyone waiting for another week.

As suggested by its title, the Fallout 76 Steel Dawn update (which weighs roughly 15-16GB on consoles and PC through Microsoft Store, or a little over 8GB on PC through Bethesda.net and Steam) adds the Brotherhood of the Steel with a brand new questline as detailed below.

The Brotherhood of Steel has returned to Appalachia on a mission to reclaim the region for humanity, to preserve any tech they can find, and to find out what befell Paladin Taggerdy and her crew. Starting today, you can begin your journey with the Brotherhood of Steel and work toward a brighter future for Appalachia in the all-new Steel Dawn questline.

• Complete New Quests: Meet the new Brotherhood arrivals and begin your journey through the Steel Dawn questline by heading to Fort Atlas (formerly ATLAS Observatory) in the Savage Divide region of Appalachia.
  • Your level 20+ characters can begin the Steel Dawn quests immediately, even if you haven’t completed any prior Fallout 76 quest content.
  • When you log in with an eligible character, a quest called “Welcome to the Neighborhood” will prompt you to visit Fort Atlas.
  • Please note: You can now Fast Travel to Fort Atlas for free. However, if you had already discovered ATLAS Observatory before to today’s update, its icon will no longer be visible on your Map. You will need to revisit the area to discover Fort Atlas, which will cause its Map marker to appear.
• Meet New Faces: Get acquainted with new characters, like Paladin Rahmani, Knight Shin, Scribe Valdez, and many others who have arrived in Appalachia with the Steel Dawn Update.
• Explore New locations: We’ve added several new locations and updated a number of existing ones that you’ll delve into during your journey with the Brotherhood.
• Gear Up with New Rewards: Progress through the Steel Dawn questline and complete Daily Ops to earn a host of cosmetic, C.A.M.P., and item rewards, including the following new weapons and armor straight from the Brotherhood arsenal:
  • Crusader Pistol
  • Plasma Cutter
  • Hellstorm Missile Launcher
  • Brotherhood Recon Armor
  • You can purchase a variety of mods for these new items from Regs in Vault 79 using Gold Bullion, including mods that can alter each weapon to deal various types of elemental damage.
• Main Menu Updates: The Brotherhood has taken over the game’s Main Menu with an all-new background video and music.

Other noteworthy additions with the Fallout 76 Steel Dawn update include the ability to build instanced interiors called C.A.M.P. shelters and major changes to the hunger and thirst systems, which won’t penalize characters with debuffs but rather focus on giving them stronger buffs when well fed and hydrated. You may check out the full changelog here.