Which will be available for all players, with the new mode focused on PvP combat and offering a more balanced and dangerous world to explore. From limiting aid item usage, weapon balance, dropping more items when you die, to no restrictions on initiating combat - weekly rewards and a permanent 20% XP bonus will incentivise players to jump in.

Which will be accessible from the main menu with players given the option to play Fallout 76 in 'Adventure Mode' (the current or vanilla way to play) or the new 'Survival Mode' - which is listed as being in Beta. A smart move to allow for improvements and changes in the weeks ahead.

As per the details, progress will carry over between Adventure and Survival and you can jump back and forth between each as often as you like - with quests and activities and so forth being there in Survival mode too. Except for the new limitations and focus on PvP combat. Leaderboards will track performance in terms of how long you last and other stats too.

Here's an overview of Survival as per the patch notes.

PVP COMBAT AND BALANCE

Players in Survival Mode are hostile toward one another by default and may be attacked without restriction.

• Additionally, there is no slap damage in Survival Mode, and players will immediately take full damage from each other’s attacks.

Players can holster their weapons when approaching others to appear neutral or friendly, causing a light-yellow nameplate to appear overhead.

• Those who approach others with weapons drawn will appear hostile and display a red marker overhead, rather than a nameplate.

Only the healing effects of one Stimpak of each type can be active at any given time.

• For example, a Diluted Stimpak and a regular Stimpak can both be active at once, but multiple regular Stimpaks effects cannot.

We've made overarching weapon damage adjustments in the Survival Mode Beta to help a wide variety of weapons feel more deadly versus other players.

• Additionally, the PVP combat damage change to limit one-shot kills that was mentioned in the Adventure Mode section above also applies to Survival.

BONUS XP WHEN PLAYING SURVIVAL MODE

All players gain a +20% bonus on any experience points they earn while playing in Survival Mode.

COMPLETE NEW WEEKLY CHALLENGES, EARN LEGENDARY REWARDS

New Weekly Challenges have been added which offer legendary rewards on completion.

• A new Weekly Challenge will be added every week during and beyond the Survival Mode Beta, each featuring a different reward.
  
• The first six Survival Mode Beta Weekly Challenges award legendary weapons. Learn more about them in our recent Survival Beta Overview article on Fallout.com

HIGH-STAKES DEATH MECHANICS

On death, players will drop a random amount of the Aid items that were in their inventory in addition to all their Junk.

Cap rewards for player kills, and Cap deductions on death, have been doubled in Survival Mode.

The Seek Revenge respawn option has been disabled and will not appear when attempting to respawn.

When killed during PVP combat, players can choose to spend a portion of their Caps to place a Bounty on their killer.

• This will mark that player as Wanted and display the Bounty amount on all other players’ Maps.
  
• Half of the Caps spent by the slain player will appear as the Bounty reward, and the minimum cost to place a Bounty is 200 Caps.

LIMITED FAST TRAVEL AND RESPAWN LOCATIONS

Fast Travel is limited to Vault 76, the player’s C.A.M.P., Train Stations, and any Workshops that player owns.

Respawn is limited to Vault 76, the player’s C.A.M.P., and Train Stations.

The brief period of invulnerability applied to characters after Fast Traveling or Respawning in Adventure Mode also applies to characters in Survival Mode, and is also removed if the player fires a weapon before the time expires.

PLAYER POSITIONS ARE HIDDEN ON THE MAP

The Map will not display players’ locations unless they are currently Wanted or among the top three on the Longest Life Scoreboard.

CLIMB THE SCOREBOARDS

Scoreboards have been implemented, which rank players in the current world across a variety of stat categories based on their performance during the current life, as well as their best life for the week.

• These stats include: Longest Life, Player Kills, XP Gained, Events Completed, Enemies Killed, Bounty Collected, Time Wanted, and Workshops Claimed
  
• Players’ stats travel with them upon switching to new Survival worlds.

View the Scoreboards by opening the Map and pressing D-Pad Left on Consoles, or on PC by clicking the new compact Scoreboard widget on the Map.

The top three players on the Longest Life Scoreboard will display a Gold, Silver, or Bronze medal next to their player icons.

• These medals also appear on the Map to highlight the top three players’ current positions for all other players in that world.

A new recap screen will display on death, allowing players to view their stats from that life and compare them to their best life of the week.

SOCIAL MENU SURVIVAL ICON

Friends who are currently in Survival Mode worlds now display a campfire icon next to their names in the Social Menu.

It sounds pretty good, and a definite step up for those looking for a more robust Fallout 76 PvP experience. The weekly rewards look good too, with Week 1 set to get a fancy new grenade launcher.

Called 'Crushing Blow' its stats include "Double damage if target is full health" and "+50% Limb Damage". For more on the new Survival mode - head here. And for the full Fallout 76 7.5 patch notes, which includes other fixes and improvements, head here.