The repeatable Mission: Countdown main quest in Fallout 76 is divided into five distinct events. You’ll complete each of these in sequence as you descend through one of the three nuclear missile silos. Each event is a very difficult encounter where you’ll face endless waves of robots while trying to complete an objective. After you complete the Residential Area event, the next step is to undertake the Fallout 76 Reactor Area event.
The Reactor Area event is unique among the five events in that you can actually skip it entirely. If you pick the lock on the door in the centre of the area and hack the Security Command Terminal, you can shut down the lockdown of the reactor. This will open the way forward and you won’t need to repair the reactor at all. You’ll only be able to do this if you have top-tier Hacker and Picklock Perk Cards.
How to Complete the Fallout 76 Reactor Area Event in Mission: Countdown
Compared to the Residential Area, the Fallout 76 Reactor Area event has a lot more hazards and obstacles. When you enter the area, you’ll find that it is totally flooded with dangerous levels of radiation. It is extremely unwise to head into the Reactor Area without a Hazmat Suit or other high-grade radiation protection. You can actually find a few Hazmat Suits in the first room of the Reactor Area, in case you didn’t bring one of your own. Unfortunately, this area is also irradiated, so you will take some radiation damage before you get to the suits.
Just like in the Residential Area, the first room contains a terminal which you can hack to disable turrets and the Supervisor. This terminal also allows you to turn on the Decontamination Arches, which you should absolutely do. These machines will remove radiation damage from you. Throughout the Reactor Area are also terminals which can be used to activate robots which will fight on your side.
The first objective is to shut down the reactor so that you can enact repairs. Prepare to face waves of enemies at this stage and for the rest of the event, as shutting down the reactor will trigger the security system. You should find all of the broken pipes before shutting the reactor down so that you don’t need to waste time searching while fighting off robots. Once the reactor is shut down, find all of the broken pipes and repair them. Once that task is complete, restart the reactor, which will end the security countermeasures. Beware that you have a time limit in which to repair the pipes!