Fallout - part 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Fallout is a non-linear game so you can solve this game in a different order than I have shown here. I have attempted to supply you with the optimum order so that you don't attempt difficult areas before your characters have acquired the skills to tackle those areas. I am assuming that you are familiar with the user interface. ------------------------------------------------------------------ General Hints Save, save, save! Save after every successful combat sequence and after successfully completing a quest. Do not save during combat. I found files saved during combat could not be restored. It is very easy to accidentally target your companions during combat. If you do this they will fight you and you will have to kill them. You do not want this to happen so save and target carefully to prevent this. After combat search the dead bodies for equipment. If you return later to pick up the equipment some of it will still be there lying in pools of blood but it is much more difficult to see. You will also find supplies in lockers, some of which will be locked. Use your lock-picking skill to open them. You keep everything you need in your inventory as you have a maximum capacity. You will need to establish at least one base where you store everything you find. I recommend some temporary sites and one central site in the walkthrough. Make sure you have water with you before long journeys across the map. Always carry basic combat (gun and melee weapon) and survival (stim-packs) equipment. You usually need lock-picks as well. Download all holotapes into your PIPBoy 2000 to access the information on them. Be cooperative and pleasant with all characters that you meet unless I direct otherwise. Permanent companions who will join in all your battles can be very useful. To begin with they will have combat skills superior to yours. But you will be outstripping them eventually, such that you will take on monsters that your companions can not hope to survive. When this happens, have your human companions leave you. They will stay wherever you leave them, so you can pick them up again later. If you use the drugs that have the side effect of reducing your intelligence you can become uncommunicative. This can be very problematic if you need to talk to your companions or other NPCs. You must equip your human companions with suitable weapons. Do this by bartering with them. Until you can be generous, try to make sure you get a fair exchange for what you give them, otherwise you will deplete your funds faster than necessary. As you progress you will get extra points to add to a long list of skills. I always assigned these points to combat skills. Most other skills you can keep attempting until they work, e.g. stealing, so it does not matter as much if they have low values earlier in the game. However, it is helpful to have the lock- picking and repair skills at 100% for the final two quests. When trying to increase your experience as fast as possible, seek out the monsters in every nook and cranny to maximize experience points. Check the auto-map to make sure there are no unexplored areas. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Maps I have provided some of the maps (annotated with places and names of people) which are more difficult to navigate. @~These are in the Screenshots section . Sue ------------------------------------------------------------------ Vault 13 Cave Entrance Start a new game. After the opening sequence you find yourself outside the vault entrance in a cave. Search the dead body and take the saber and bullets. Load the gun with the bullets. Arm yourself with a saber and the gun. Search out the twenty cave rats and kill them. Use the doctor and first aid skills to recover some hit points as this will also boost your badly needed experience points. Reload the gun as needed. Leave the cave via the exit to the west. You enter the outside world for the first time in your life . . . Leave the cave and you will see a very incomplete map. Head for vault 15. You may be stopped by encounters with other characters or monsters, usually combat encounters, on the way. As you travel east, you should stop at the first green circle you come too. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Shady Sands Talk to Seth, to find out what you can but do not have him take you to the Radscorpion cave yet. Talk to Katrina to get some general knowledge and experience points. Go into the first house you see and talk to the guy in blue pants. This is your first companion: Ian. Chat him up so he will join you. If you don't succeed at first, try again. Now go into the building immediately to the south and talk to Aradesh. He will advise you to speak to Razlo. Go to the building to the east and slightly south and talk to Razlo about the Radscorpion problem. So this is your first quest: Eradicate the Radscorpions and bring back a sample of poison to Razlo. You have Ian to help you. In fact you will find Ian does most of the work! Return to Seth and have him show you the Radscorpion cave. Arm yourself with the saber and gun. Enter the cave and kill all the Radscorpions. Collect as many tails as you can carry. There is also some ammo lying around to pick up. You will get a bonus for killing all the Radscorpions so then you can leave. Return to the entrance of the cave and return to Shady Sands. Put away your weapon. Barter with Seth. Buy the rope with two Radscorpions tails and get the balance owed in cash from Seth. Visit Razlo. Offer him the Radscorpion poison sample and you will receive the antidote and experience. Leave Shady Sands and resume your trip to Vault 15. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Vault 15 Go inside the shack and down the ladder. Kill all the vermin in the cave and on the first level of the vault. Open any lockers to collect more supplies. Find the elevator shaft and use the rope to climb down to level two. Explore thoroughly as before. When you find some armor use it to increase your armor class and hence damage resistance. You should also find a rope. Use this on the other elevator shaft to climb down to level three. In the south-east area of level three you will determine that there is no water chip here. Ask Ian about Junktown and Hub. These places will now be available on your map. Leave Vault 15 the way you entered and go to Junktown. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Junktown Put your weapons away before entering the town. Talk to the guard at the gates. Then talk to the guard sergeant. Offer to help him out. Visit the hospital. Talk to Flash, Cougar and Doctor Morbid. Don't ask for Doctor Morbid's help. Then go down to the basement. Talk to Gretch and pretend you are picking up the shipment. You will find out human body parts are being marketed as iguana meat. Yuck! The locker here is locked and trapped. I was never able to open it. As much as you hate to, take an iguana-on-a stick. Return to the surface and kill Flash and Cougar, then Dr. Morbid. Leave the hospital and exit to the north to the Crash Hotel area. Go into Darkwater's store. Make sure neither you nor Ian are in the line of fire between the storekeeper and the door. Talk to Killian Darkwater, mayor and storekeeper in Junktown. While you are in the store, there will be an assassination attempt on Killian. Kill the assassin. Resume the conversation with Killian and he will propose you talk to Gizmo, the chief baddie in Junktown and tape Gizmo admitting to the plot to kill Killian. Agree to this and you will be given a wire tap and tape recorder. Put both of these in the "in use" slots where you normally put your in-use weapons. Leave the store and exit to the north. Visit Gizmo's. Make your way to the back of the casino and talk to Gizmo. Make him think you are offering your services as assassin and agree to kill Killian for him. Leave the nightclub. While you are in this area, you should come across Phil and his canine problem. Offer the dog an iguana-on-a-stick and he will become your second companion. Dogmeat is a vicious fighter and extremely useful in combat. Return to Darkwater's and report on Gizmo's confession to Killian. Agree to take part in the confrontation with Gizmo's. Get prepared for a fight then go to Lars, the guard sergeant, and tell him you are ready to take on Gizmo. Kill Gizmo and Izo. After the fight you will end up back at the guard station. Return to the casino and ransack the place for supplies and equipment. You have a lot more to do in Junktown! Visit the guard sergeant near the entrance and agree to help bust the Skulz gang if you have not done so already. Visit the Scumm Pitt in the evening (when it is open), and ask Neal, the bar tender, about the trophy on the bar. It is an urn containing ashes. This triggers an incident in the bar, and Neal kills one of the Skulz gang members. Save and attempt to steal the urn. This may take several attempts, restoring and attempting to steal the urn until you succeed without being caught. You must be completely successful. If you are not absolutely certain you have succeeded keep trying until you get a successful response in the display monitor. Once you have the urn and are sure you weren't seen stealing it, take it to the back entrance in the Crash Hotel. This is where the Skulz gang hang out. Talk to Vinnie, the Skulz leader (he looks like Ian) and tell him you have stolen the urn. Agree to take part in Neal's murder but say you have something to do first. Leave and go to the guard sergeant at the entrance. Save. Tell him the Skulz Gang's plot and you will be part of a big fight at the Scumm Pitt. Make sure you target only Skulz gang members. Do not target the good guys. Also make sure Neal isn't killed. Protect him and/or use Stimpacks on him. When the fight is over return the urn to Neal. That's it for Junktown. Check in with the Lars on the way out. @~More next issue - o -