Areas[edit | edit source]
- Entrance
- Merchant Center
- Old Town
- Heights
- Water Merchants
- The Underground
Characters[edit | edit source]
- Police guards (dressed in metal armor and combat armor)
- Guards for the Far Go Traders, Deckker, Hightower, and Jain
- Caravan Drivers/Guards
- Skags (only in Old Town)
- Decker, the criminal leader
- Kane, Decker's assistant
- Beth, gun shop owner, likes to gossip around
- Butch, owns Far Go Traders
- Rutger, Butch's assistant
- Demetre, owns Crimson Caravan
- Keri, Demetre's assistant, has sex with you if you're male
- Sheriff Justin Greene, keeps the law; he'll be on your side when you kill Decker
- Deputy Fry, police officer in the entrance of the Hub
- Loxley, leader of the Thieves' Circle
- Jasmine, Loxley's assistant
- Jake, heavy weapons merchant
- Vance, drug dealer at old town
- Hightower, owns water merchants, quite rich
- Jain, Children of the Cathedral priestess
- Harold, the old mutant at Old Town, has seen Deathclaw
- Slappy, crazed uncle of Beth, knows where Deathclaw is
- Irwin, his house has been taken over by raiders
- Mitch, owns the General Store (or All-In-One store)
- Mrs. Stapleton, Librarian
- Lorenzo, loan shark, owns Friendly Lending Company
Loot[edit | edit source]
- Cathedral Robes (probably the most important item)
- Chemicals in Cathedral Armory, super stim, other stimpacks, RadX's, RadAway's, and any Psychos you get plus the Hunting Rifle
- Hightower's Necklace
- Any stimpacks or guns found off of Hightower's and Jain's guards
- Spiked Knuckles (later - see Hub Revisited)
- .223 Pistol (ditto)
To Purchase[edit | edit source]
- Combat Shotgun
- Sniper Rifle
- Combat Armor
- Books if your small guns, science, outdoorsman, and repair skills are below 75%. Beware that they can get very expensive.
- 10 Stimpacks
- Ammunition (be sure that you have something like 200 rounds for the shotgun, 50 for the sniper, and loads of 10mm JHP for the SMG if you like spraying bullets)
To Sell[edit | edit source]
- Your leather jacket and your 10mm Pistols for the books
- Your leather armor, metal armor, and shotgun for combat shotgun and/or sniper rifle
- Your Desert Eagles for stimpacks, extra books, extra ammo
- Your SMG and maybe a Desert Eagle for the 14 mm Pistol
- Your .44 JHP / FMJ ammo, extra armor, first-aid kit and doctors bag for either very large weapons and / or an extra two pairs of dynamite if you can't get the robes (lockpick the door). Also useful for buying books.
- Your SMG and its 10mm ammo after the brawl with Decker
Notes[edit | edit source]
- Enter unarmed, and do not enter combat.
- Gossip around and buy items from the General Store, books from the librarian, small arms from Beth, heavy weapons from Jake, and drugs from Vance, the drug dealer.
- Solve the caravan problem and kill both the deathclaw and the mutant for XP.
- Kill Darren Hightower, the eccentric rich person and steal his wife's necklace.
- Kill Priestess Jain and her minions.
- Turn Decker into the cops. (Post-Brotherhood).
- Go to the Thieves' Circle in Old Town, and get the lockpicks and electronic lockpicks.
- Help Irwin by killing the raiders that have invaded his home.
- Rescue the lost Brotherhood initiate (Post-Brotherhood).
- Optionally work the caravan routes. Details below.
Information for the caravans is below the walkthrough.
Walkthrough[edit | edit source]
When you enter the Hub, you'll see 4 caravans. Further down south, there are a couple of buildings, and several armed policemen. Head south to the merchant market (or downtown, as it is called on the town map).
First off, it is time to help Irwin, who can be found in a dilapidated shack at the southern end of the merchant market. Talk to him and offer to kill the raiders in his home. Go to the location, wipe the raiders out and loot their corpses for things to sell. Head back to the merchant market and tell Irwin the raiders are dead. He'll give you a .223 Pistol.
- Note'
- You'll need high karma to complete the quest. To be on the safe side, it is a good idea to have a karma of 18 or higher.
Next, pacify the FLC. Their building is on the south-western end of the merchant market. Go into the building and talk to the loan shark, Lorenzo. Ask to borrow some money, and you get $200. return it, borrow $400 and so on, until you have $1000 from him. Then, kill him and his guards. Afterward, lockpick his safe and get all the loot.
Go to the eastern end towards the Far Go Traders. Talk to the man in leather armor and accept the job to find the missing caravans. Afterwards, talk to Butch. Accept the job from him, and then head towards the gun store in the central quadrant of the merchant market. Talk to Beth and ask her about the Deathclaw. Keep on asking about it until she tells you that Harold has seen it and that her uncle Slappy mumbles about it sometimes.
Now it's time to go to Old Town, the entrance of which can be found on the eastern side of the merchant market. Upon arrival, head eastward and go to the guarded building to the northern side. Talk to Jake, ask him about radiation, then trade all of your excess armors and all Desert Eagles (keep one for Ian) for combat armour, some stimpacks, a sniper rifle (and some .223 FMJ ammo) for Tycho, the combat shotgun and some .44 FMJ ammo. Don't buy the gieger counter, there's one in the Cathedra's locked door (see below). Equip the combat armour for yourself.
Next, head eastward until you get to a warehouse that has guards and a man wearing a leather jacket standing in the center. Talk to him and buy two RadX's, one RadAway, and some more stimpacks using any excess inventory that you might have. Head back to the merchant market.
It's time to pay a visit to The Thieves' Circle. Head to the central building occupied by some skags (the building has two rooms, one huge one and a little one with a stairwell leading to the basement). Go down the stairwell to find the Thieves' Circle hideout.
Make Dogmeat wait at the stairs to keep him alive, then use your lockpicks on all the doors, making sure to avoid the pressure plates. After you get in, talk to the man in the leather jacket (he's to the south). Accept the job to find Hightower's necklace. On your way out, talk to Jasmine, the woman in the leather armor standing beside the doorway. She'll give you another set of lockpicks as well as some flares and a Nuka-Cola.
Go to the south of Old Town and find the man in the green shirt walking around and muttering to himself. The description says he's Slappy, meaning he's who to ask about the Deathclaw. He'll send you to Harold, the mutant inside the building. Give Harold $5 and ask him about the Deathclaw. Go back and talk to Slappy and ask him to direct you to the Deathclaw caverns.
When you go into the cavern, you'll automatically get 800 XP. Head to the east, and then south until you reach the Deathclaw. Kill the Deathclaw by using targeted shots to his eyes using the .223 Pistol. After the deathclaw has been killed, kill the dying super mutant at the end of the cavern to get XP (if you talk to him, he dies anyway, but you get no XP). Get his radio (if you don't have one) and his holodisc. Be sure to read the holodisc. Afterward, head back to the merchant market. Enter the Far Go Traders building and tell Rutger and Butch that the mutants were causing the caravan disappearances. If they don't buy it, tell them that you killed the Deathclaw and that you have evidence that it was the mutants.
Now, with your money, you can stop at the General Store to buy some books, a tool, RadX and RadAway.
There is also a library in the merchant center that has an unlimited supply of books. Unfortunately, her prices are very high. It's much cheaper to buy the books from the General Store, but he doesn't have an unlimited supply. The books can raise science, outdoorsman, first aid, and repair skills up to 91%. It's a very good idea to raise Science to about 80%, while Repair at 45% is okay.
You can also go to the Crimson Caravan (it’s on the northwest side of the merchant center). Loot the desk and get lots of powerful drugs. If you're male with at least 7 Charisma, you have the option to have sex with his assistant Keri. To do so, talk to Demetre. Accept the job offer, and he'll send you to Keri, who is in the left room of the Crimson Caravan building. Talk to her and tell her that you're interested in her. She'll give you three Buffout.
Afterward, go back to the merchant center. There is a bar called the Maltese Falcon on the west side. When you enter, you'll see a man whose name is Kane (he is guarding the southern door). Talk to him, and ask to be taken to Decker for jobs.
When you are taken to Decker, he'll give you the quest to kill Darren Hightower. He will offer what is standard Hub pay: $500 up front for accepting it, $2000 for finishing the job.
- Note
- Doing Decker's jobs result in karma loss, but turning him in afterwards will boost your karma... thus, this guide has you do the jobs for the cash and XP, before turning him in.
Darren Hightower is a rich guy who is head of the water merchants. He has his own guards and mansion. The Heights, the area in which he lives in, is located to the west of the merchant center. Go through there, and kill all inhabitants there. They won't give you too much trouble, since you have at least the metal armor and the shotgun that you have gotten from Junktown. After killing everyone, disarm the traps and then use a lockpick on the footlocker in the building that Hightower is in. Steal the expensive necklace in the locker, and do not sell or trade it at all costs! You'll need the necklace to get the electronic lockpicks, which in turn are needed to get the powered armor quickly. If you don't have any lockpicks, then visit the Thieves' Guild and accept their quest to get some (see above).
Go back to the Maltese Falcon and talk to Kane. You'll be taken back to Decker, and he'll give you the $2000. Next, he wants Jain, a COC (Children of the Cathedral) priest dead. This may seem a bit odd, but it is imperative that you do this.
Go down south in the merchant center, and go to the water merchant's area. You'll see a building with radiation signs on a red flag. Enter it. There is a child there; annoy her a bit about the flower (don't buy it from her). Ask her about the holy flame, Lasher, etc. until she decides you're mean and leaves the building.
- Note
- A good idea is leaving Ian and Tycho in the merchant center (tell them that they can leave, but then talk to them again to get them back). Some people have had Ian kill the kid by mistake, some others could get away with simply ending combat once everyone inside the building is dead (assuming the game lets you).
After you get the child to leave, there is a woman in purple robes (Jain). Save before talking with her (fairly interesting conversation paths). You can also say what you want to her since the objective is to kill her. Afterward, just kill Jain and her guards. Two of them have Desert Eagles and are a bit on the hard side, but don't have much armor. You should easily win with at least metal armor.
- Note
- If you kill the Master, Jain is free from the Master's control.
More importantly, there is a locked door to the northwest corner of the building. Hone your lockpicking skill here; try about three or four times to get the door unlocked. If your lockpicking skills aren't good, come here after you go to the Thieves' Circle (see above).
The room contains many things; including armor, stimpacks, drugs, a rifle, a gieger counter and some purple COC robes. The robes are important, not for armour, but for a reason you'll find out later in the game. In other words, keep them.
Go back to the merchant center, and go to the police department. Talk to the cop in metal armor, and tell him that Decker told you to kill Jain or the Hightowers. The cop will get mad, and he'll ask you to help lead the assassination of Decker. He'll offer you again what is standard Hub pay: $300 up front, $1000 for completing the job. The details of the fight are below. You'll also get a boost to Karma and a lot of XP.
When you are ready, prepare yourself for a good fight. Decker has got Kane and a few other cronies with him. They all have some strong melee weapon and are all clothed in some type of armor. Luckily, you've got two cops and Ian and Tycho on your side. But be ready, both of your NPCs can die. If you are not equipped in combat armor, then you'll have to do a lot of savescumming to survive. To be on the safe side, have at least a shotgun ready, the SMG and ammo (which you can sell after this fight) and at least 10 stimpacks. After you've killed Decker, talk to Justin Greene to get your salary.
Now it's time to go to the Thieves' Circle to return Hightower's necklace to Loxley. Go there, speak with Loxley again and give him the necklace. He'll direct you to Jasmine, who will then give you the electronic lock picks. You also get money and XP.
Leave Old Town, and go to the Brotherhood. If you do not know the location, you have some options:
- Take the Crimson Caravan there (more information below).
- Get directions from Mat at the entrance to The Hub by asking about the carts.
- Find it by trial and error. It's on the left of the Hub, past the mountains. You'll need to savescum, find the location, reload and then go to the location (which will appear on the world map as an unknown location). Enter it, and you should find yourself there.
Caravan Notes[edit | edit source]
The Hub is a big merchant trading center. It is only natural to find caravan companies there who want to hire extra guards. It is a good idea to take a caravan to Necropolis, Brotherhood of Steel, or the Boneyards if you don't know where the cities are located. Here is a list of the two caravans:
- Crimson Caravan
- Their pay is $600, and they leave on the 3rd and the 17th of every month. They go to the Brotherhood of Steel, Junktown, Necropolis, and the Boneyards. The company travels on dangerous routes, so it is a good idea to have something like a combat shotgun and metal armor ready. If you return to the Hub with them, you get an extra $600. To get the job, talk to Demetre, accept the job, and then to Keri.
- Far Go Traders
- Their pay is $400, and they leave on 8th, 18th, and 28th of every month. They go to the Brotherhood of Steel, Junktown, and the Boneyards. The company travels on safe routes, so you don't really need much combat gear - probably metal armor and a shotgun max. If you return to the Hub with them, you'll get an extra $400. To get the job, talk to Rutger, accept the job, and then talk to the caravan driver in the left side of the Far Go Traders building.
- Water Merchants
- Their pay is $200, and they leave on the 1st, 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, and 25th of every month. They go to the Boneyards and Junktown. The company travels on extremely safe routes, so having combat gear isn't always necessary. Like the other caravans, you can go to the Hub with the company for an extra $200. To get the job, talk to the caravan leader in the Water Merchants building, accept the job, and then talk to the caravan driver who is standing outside of the building with the brahmin.
The Water Chip[edit | edit source]
If you're pressed for time (i.e., you don't have the water chip and time is about to run out), you can buy one hundred days' worth of water sent to Vault 13 for $2000 from the water merchants. Even though this move gives you experience, the mutants will be able to locate Vault 13 faster. You'll only have 400 days to destroy the mutant threats, opposed to 500 if you don't get the chip. I think the 1.1 patch removes both of the dates, but the 500 day limit will be removed with the patch.
If you want to find the water chip, go to Necropolis (with your combat armor) and get the water chip after you accept the quest to get a special item from the Glow. Instead of going to the Glow, go to Necropolis first and get the water chip (optionally return it to Vault 13), and then go to the Glow and back to the Brotherhood.