Of all of the daily quests that players can acquire in Fallout 76, hacking a terminal is the most loathed of them all. The hacking minigame isn’t as exciting as exterminating pests or hunting down creatures for their materials. Plus, perks are required to attempt to hack most of the terminals found in the game. 

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But hacking terminals doesn’t have to be so tedious. Unlike slaying creatures, players don’t have to worry about spawns or interference from others. Terminals are found in fixed locations and are always the same level, so besides the minigame itself, they can be the most straightforward daily quest to complete. 

How to hack terminals in Fallout 76 

There are four levels of terminals found across Appalachia that range from zero to three. Level zero terminals can be hacked by any player since they don’t require any perks. Terminal levels one through three require having the Hacker, Expert Hacker, and Master Hacker perk cards respectively in order to hack them. 

Different levels of terminals will provide varying rewards and any level terminal will fulfill most quest or achievement requirements (besides Tadpole challenges which mention particular levels).

Screenshot by Destructoid

While the screen filled with characters might be intimidating at first, hacking terminals is fairly simple. 

  • You begin with four attempts to guess the correct password.
    • The level of the terminal determines the number of possible passwords shown along with the number of characters.
  • When selecting a password, keep track of the “Likeness” rating given to each password you’ve chosen. Use the process of elimination to avoid any words that don’t have the same number of matching characters.
  • Try to select a word that has similar characters to other options in the terminal. This would make it easier to narrow down which characters are correct.
  • Selecting clusters of symbols that are enclosed by “()”, “{}”, “[]”, or “<>” will grant either additional attempts or will remove any false passwords from the terminal. (Example shown below)
Screenshot by Destructoid

Hacking terminals in Fallout 76 is much more forgiving than in the other Fallout games. In previous installments, failing the minigame would lock the player out of the terminal for the rest of the game. In Fallout 76, the terminal will eject the player after a failure and then allow them to try again after a few seconds. 

Level 0 terminal locations in Fallout 76

Image via Bethesda Number on MapTerminal LocationLocation Details1The Whitesprings ResortInside the general manager’s office2Morgantown AirportOne found in the basement, another in the storage room3Poseidon Energy PlantAt the receptionist’s desk and in the fuel storage room4Garrahan Mining HeadquartersTwo terminals the end of the monorail tunnel, one found in the CEO’s office

Level 1 terminal locations in Fallout 76

Image via Bethesda Number on MapTerminal LocationLocation Details1Fujiniya Intelligence BaseUnder Mama Dolce’s, through the hatch and to the right, and then another found in a locked cage after going down three flights of stairs2Dyer ChemicalThe supervisor’s terminal inside the building with two chimneys3Red Rocket Mega StopThe maintenance terminal4Sal’s GrindersOn the second floor

Level 2 terminal locations in Fallout 76

Image via Bethesda Number on MapTerminal LocationLocation Details1Watoga Emergency Services, Drumlin Diner (northeastern part of Watoga)The engineer’s terminal, cafe terminal2Appalachian AntiquesManager’s terminal 3Garrahan Mining HeadquartersAdmin office terminal4Flooded TrainyardTrain Watchtower terminal5Monongah MineMining Supervisor’s terminal

Level 3 terminal locations in Fallout 76

Image via Bethesda Number on MapTerminal LocationLocation Details1a/1b/1cAlpha/Bravo/Charlie SilosSecurity Command terminal, Security Station terminal, Monitoring Station, Foyer, Mainframe Access terminal2Garrahan EstateOn the third floor of the gun range3Grafton DamKnight Moreno’s terminal4Pleasant Valley CabinsBrody Torrance’s terminal

There are many more terminals found within Fallout 76, most of which require key items, quest completions, or reputation levels to access them. Certainly, more will be added with the upcoming Skyline Valley map expansion. If any hackable terminals are added that are more accessible than the ones on these lists, we’ll be sure to update them. 

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