The Gleaming Depths raid is the most demanding content Bethesda has released for Fallout 76, and with The Slasher update (September 15, 2026) making Legendary Modules essential for crafting unique items, running the raid has never been more relevant. If you want to farm Legendary Modules efficiently — up to 10 per full clear — or hunt the exclusive Vulcan Power Armor, you need a build that can survive all five encounters without carrying the team.
This guide covers the complete raid, the encounters you will face, and the best builds for 2026 including the dominant Heavy Gunner PA setup and a melee alternative for players who prefer to get up close. Whether you are running with a coordinated four-person team or pushing for a solo attempt, the builds and mechanics explained here apply.
What Is the Gleaming Depths Raid?
Gleaming Depths is Fallout 76's first raid, introduced in Update 21 on December 3, 2024. It sends you underground into the Ash Heap, into the Vulcan Research Laboratory — a former Enclave facility where scientists spent years experimenting on Ultracite as part of the classified Project Vulcan. The lab has been sealed since the Great War, and what emerged from decades of isolation and Ultracite mutation is far from anything normal.
The raid consists of five separate encounters that must be completed in order. Each encounter has its own mechanics, its own boss, and its own reward pool including Legendary Modules, Legendary Scrip, and chances at exclusive weapons. The Gleaming Depths is designed for four players, but solo completion is possible with an optimized build.
Completing the full raid each run is one of the fastest ways to earn Legendary Modules, which since The Slasher are required in large quantities: 30 modules for a 3-star unique weapon and 65 modules for a 4-star unique weapon. Each full clear of the Gleaming Depths can yield up to 10 Legendary Modules across all five stages.
How to Access the Raid
Fast-travel directly to the Gleaming Depths location in the Ash Heap. The raid is instanced, meaning your group enters a private copy of the facility. You can start with fewer than four players if needed, but the encounter difficulty is tuned for a full team. There are no weekly lockouts on the Legendary Module rewards, making it repeatable for dedicated farmers.
The Five Encounters
Each completed encounter rewards 2 Legendary Modules, 10 Treasury Notes, 25 Legendary Scrip, and 1 Legendary Mod Box, plus a chance at Vulcan Power Armor plans, exclusive weapon drops, repair kits, serums, flux, and ammo. XP and caps also scale upward with each stage.
Encounter 1: EN06 Guardian
The EN06 Guardian is a heavy security robot installed by the Enclave at the laboratory's main entrance. What makes it more dangerous than a standard sentry bot is the Ultragenetic Shield — a product of Project Vulcan research — that surrounds it. You must deplete this shield before your damage reaches the robot's actual health pool.
Because the Guardian is a robot, equipping a weapon with the Troubleshooter's legendary effect grants significant bonus damage for this encounter. Gatling Plasma and heavy laser weapons are strong choices. Once the shield is down, switch your full attention to the robot's core.
Encounter 2: The Drill and Ultragenetic Mole Miners
This encounter is objective-based rather than a straight boss fight. You need to fuel a drill while waves of Ultragenetic Mole Miners attack. The Mole Miners are mutated far beyond their normal counterparts and hit significantly harder. Splitting your team is the efficient approach — one or two players fuel the drill while the others hold off the miner waves.
Area-of-effect weapons excel here. A heavy gunner with a Gatling Gun or Minigun can handle the miner swarms effectively while a second player completes the objective. Completing this encounter drops the Drill Fist melee weapon.
Encounter 3: Enclave Squad Epsilon
Enclave Squad Epsilon is an elite Enclave task force that was stationed at the Vulcan Research Laboratory before the Great War. They wear custom Equalizer Power Armor and were outfitted with Ultragenetic Shields — the same technology as the EN06 Guardian — before the facility went dark. Decades of isolation and Ultracite exposure have left them twisted but still dangerous.
Each Epsilon squad member must be cleared before the encounter ends. As with the Guardian, their Ultragenetic Shields must be depleted first. Anti-Armor legendary weapons work well here for cutting through the shield and their armored frames. High single-target DPS is more useful than AOE for this encounter since the squad members must each be focused down individually.
Encounter 4: The Ultragenetic Stalker
The Ultragenetic Stalker is a fast, aggressive creature that Ultracite mutation has made unpredictable. Unlike the earlier encounters, the Stalker emphasizes movement and positioning. Standing still is a liability. Use your Power Armor's mobility bonuses — or equip the Action Girl/Action Boy perk chain to maintain AP for dodging — and avoid clustering with your team, which enables area attacks.
The Stalker's encounter rewards include chances at both the Cauterizer melee weapon and the Lickety-Split ranged weapon alongside the standard module and scrip pool.
Encounter 5: The Ultracite Terror
The Ultracite Terror is the final boss and the most iconic enemy in the raid. Originally a pet snake named Butch owned by Dr. Robert Gaines at the Vulcan Research Laboratory, it was exposed to the Ultracite experiments over the decades and mutated into an enormous cobra-like creature with black scales, multiple green eyes, and devastating attacks.
The Ultracite Terror is the hardest DPS check in the raid. Bring your best weapons and consumables — Nuka-Cola Quantum for AP, Stimpaks, Berry Mentats for accuracy, and damage-boosting chems. The Ultracite Terror Sword (melee) and Boiling Point (ranged) are exclusive drops from this encounter.
Best Raid Build: Heavy Gunner Power Armor
The Heavy Gunner PA build is the community consensus for the Gleaming Depths and handles all five encounters effectively. It combines high sustained damage output with the survivability of Power Armor, which is critical for absorbing hits during the Ultragenetic Shield phases in Encounters 1 and 3.
SPECIAL Priorities
- Strength 15: Needed to max out the Heavy Gunner perk chain
- Endurance 3+: For Fireproof, which reduces energy and fire damage from multiple raid enemies
- Intelligence 6+: For Batteries Included (energy ammo weight reduction) and Power Smith
- Luck 15: For Serendipity, Starched Genes, and Class Freak if running mutations
Core Perks
- Heavy Gunner (max): The foundation of the build. Maximizing Heavy Gunner cards provides the bulk of your damage output with heavy weapons.
- Bear Arms (max): Heavy weapons can cripple your carry weight. Bear Arms cuts that weight substantially.
- One Gun Army (max): Stagger chance on heavy weapons keeps enemies from attacking freely and is particularly useful during the Ultracite Terror fight.
- Fireproof (max): Multiple Gleaming Depths enemies deal energy damage. Fireproof is not optional on harder runs.
- Batteries Included (max): Energy ammo is heavy. This perk makes carrying Plasma cartridges viable for extended runs.
- Tenderizer (max): Your team benefits from enemies being debuffed for incoming damage. Stack this in the team loadout.
- Power Smith (max): Reduces Power Armor repair costs, important during a full five-stage run.
Weapons
Primary — Gatling Plasma (Troubleshooter's for Encounter 1): The Gatling Plasma is the best all-round weapon for the raid. Its sustained DPS is high, and energy damage performs well across all encounter types. For Encounter 1 (EN06 Guardian), swap to a Troubleshooter's-prefixed variant for maximum robot damage. Keep a backup weapon with a different legendary prefix — Anti-Armor is reliable for Encounters 3 through 5.
Secondary — Gatling Gun or Minigun: Useful during the Mole Miner wave in Encounter 2. Their large ammo pools let you handle prolonged swarms without worrying about energy ammo reserves.
Power Armor
- Vulcan Power Armor (best in slot): If you have it, Vulcan PA gives +25% AP Regen Rate and +25% Fusion Core Duration as unique set bonuses. Both are directly useful: more AP means more mobility and VATS use, and longer Fusion Cores means less downtime.
- Ultracite Power Armor: Strong radiation resistance and high DR. Excellent for learning the raid before you earn Vulcan.
- Excavator Power Armor: Carry weight bonus helps with heavy weapons and ammo. A solid budget alternative.
Ensure your PA is repaired to full before entering. The Gleaming Depths encounters deal heavy sustained damage and partial armor significantly reduces your effective HP.
Mutations
- Marsupial: Extra carry weight and a jump boost for dodging attacks.
- Speed Demon: Movement speed boost helps during the Stalker encounter.
- Talons: Adds bonus melee damage if you get grabbed.
Use Starched Genes and Class Freak to lock in mutations and reduce their negative effects respectively.
Consumables
Stock up before entering: Nuka-Cola Quantum (AP regen), Berry Mentats (perception and accuracy), Stimpaks (always), Rad-X and RadAway (the facility has radiation zones), and damage-boosting chems like Psycho Jet. Team members with the Chem Fiend perk can double their duration.
Alternative: Melee PA Build
Melee PA works especially well for Encounter 2 (Mole Miner waves) and Encounter 4 (Ultragenetic Stalker close-range phases). The Auto Axe is the primary weapon for this playstyle in 2026 — its fast attack speed and high sustained melee DPS synergize with PA mobility.
Key perks: Martial Artist (attack speed), Incisor (armor penetration), Slugger (two-handed damage), and Expert Slugger. Run the same PA choices as the heavy gunner build. Vampire's legendary effect on your Auto Axe provides constant healing during combat, which makes the melee build surprisingly durable even in the harder encounters.
For Encounters 1 and 3, where Ultragenetic Shields must be depleted first, having a backup ranged weapon with strong DPS is important even on a melee build — dedicated melee perk loadouts often lack enough ranged output for the shield-deplete phases.
Team Composition
A balanced four-player team has:
- Two Heavy Gunner DPS focused on burst damage during boss phases
- One melee PA player handling waves in Encounter 2
- One support player running Medic and team buff perks, keeping Stimpaks and food buffs active
The Ping system in Fallout 76 lets teams coordinate without voice chat. Use it to signal shield breaks, focus targets, and objective priorities during the drill encounter. Communication during Encounters 3 and 5 — where the fight can quickly become chaotic — is what separates clean clears from wipes.
Raid Rewards Summary
Completing all five encounters in a single run yields:
- 10 Legendary Modules total (2 per encounter)
- 50 Treasury Notes
- 125 Legendary Scrip
- 5 Legendary Mod Boxes
- Up to 5 exclusive weapon drops (Valkyrie, Drill Fist, Resolve Breaker, Cauterizer, Ultracite Terror Sword, and others)
- Chances at 4-Star Legendary Power Armor pieces throughout
- Vulcan Power Armor plan chances at every stage
The raid is the most efficient source of Legendary Modules in the game, making it the priority farming activity for players working toward the Unique Item Crafting thresholds introduced in The Slasher.
Vulcan Power Armor — Gleaming Depths Exclusive
Vulcan Power Armor is the only Power Armor set exclusive to the Gleaming Depths raid and the best-in-slot choice for any PA build in 2026.
Set bonuses:
- +25% AP Regen Rate (entire set, unique)
- +25% Fusion Core Duration (entire set, unique)
- Increased Strength (up to 11)
The AP Regen bonus benefits every PA build — more AP means more frequent VATS use, better dodge windows, and sustained sprinting during the Stalker encounter. The Fusion Core Duration bonus cuts down on how often you need to swap cores during a full five-stage run, which is a real quality-of-life win.
Drop rates: There is a 5% chance per stage for a Vulcan PA plan piece to drop, and a 22% chance per full raid completion. Plans cannot be traded. Once all armor piece plans are learned, drops pause until all mod plans are also acquired — at which point the plans begin dropping again.
Expect to run the raid roughly 8 to 15 times before completing the full set if you are clearing all five stages each run.
FAQ
Is Fallout 76's Gleaming Depths raid soloable? Yes, though it is designed for four players and the encounters scale accordingly. A max-level Heavy Gunner PA build with optimized perks and consumables can clear the raid solo. Encounters 2 and 4 are the hardest solo due to the objective-based Mole Miner waves and the Stalker's aggressive movement. Expect longer runs and bring plenty of Stimpaks.
What is the best weapon for the Gleaming Depths raid? A Troubleshooter's Gatling Plasma covers Encounter 1 best (EN06 Guardian is a robot), while Anti-Armor variants are strong for Encounters 3 and 5. Carry both if your build allows. The Gatling Plasma is the single best choice if you can only optimize one weapon.
How many Legendary Modules do you get per raid? Two per encounter, for a total of 10 per full raid clear. Each stage must be completed — partial clears still grant modules for completed stages, so even a two or three-stage run is worth doing if you are short on time.
What is the Vulcan Power Armor drop rate? There is a 5% chance per individual stage and a 22% chance per full raid for a Vulcan PA plan to drop. Plans are not tradeable. The drop pool covers both armor piece plans and mod plans, so collecting the full set takes multiple runs.
When does the Gleaming Depths raid reset? The raid itself has no lockout timer — you can run it as many times per day as you want. Legendary Module rewards are awarded each time you complete an encounter, with no daily or weekly caps.
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