Fallout 76: List of all mutations and what they do

Each mutation in Fallout 76 comes with positive and negative effect. You can lessen negative effect with “Class Freak” perk card and with Level 2 “Starched Genes” perk card you can make mutations to immune effects that remove mutations (radaways and that shower)

You can get random mutation via radiations or if you want to get specific, you can buy serums (200-700 caps ea) from players.

Almost all chems that give you rad resistant, suppress your mutations. As far I remember, rad-x diluted, is only one that doesn’t suppress mutations. There might be few more, but I am not sure.

List of all mutations

Adrenal Reaction: weapons do more damage at low HP.
Bird Bones: +4 agility, -4 strength, and less fall damage.
Carnivore: meat items give 2x benefits and no disease, but no vegetables
Chameleon: Invisible in combat if unarmored and stationary
Eagle Eyes: +25% critical damage, +4 perception, -4 strength
EggHead: +6 intelligence, -3 strength, -3 endurance
Electrically Charged: Chance to shock enemies upon being melee attacked
Empath: teammates take -25% damage, player takes +25%
Grounded: gain 100 energy resistance, but also -20% energy damage
Healing factor: health regen +300%, chem effects -55%
Herbivore: Vegetables provide double benefits and no diseases, but cannot eat meat
Herd mentality: +2 to all SPECIAL when in a group, -2 when not in a group
Marsupial: +20 carry weight and improved jump height, -4 intelligence
Plague Walker: poison aura scaling with own diseases
Scaly Skin: +50 damage and energy resistance, -25 AP
Speed Demon: +20 movement speed, faster reload speed, increase thirst and hunger.
Talons: unarmed does +25% damage and bleed damage, but -50% gun accuracy
Twisted Muscles: -50% to weapon accuracy and +25% to melee and limb damage
Unstable Isotope: chance to radiate enemy melee attackers

My experience and some thoughts about mutations

I play without vats and use guns, so my focus has always been on damage and somewhat survivability.

One of most used mutation is probably Marsupial. For me, -4 int from this mutation has no effect on my character, because int has no effect in combat.

Chameleon sounds like a cool mutations, but actually it is worthless. To make this mutation work, you either have to be naked or have full set of Weightless armor. Instead of using 5 pieces of Weightless and Chameleon mutations, take 4 pieces of with effect that increases your defense and 1 piece with Chameleon legendary effect and outcome will be basically same.

I do have “Electrically Charged” mutation, but I got it randomly and as it has no negative effect I didn’t remove it.

Speed Demon I have also. It’s only negative effect is that I have to eat more often, but that is not something that is affecting my combat negatively, so all I get from this mutation is positive effects.

As I write this guide, I see that I should also add “Grounded” mutation to my character. As I don’t use energy based weapons, I will only get positive effect from this mutation.