Fallout: New Vegas Main Quest Guide

Here’s the main quest guide for Fallout: New Vegas. I’d have to say props to wikicheats for providing us gamers the needed help in this latest Fallout game, (seems that we really need it too lol).

To make things easire here’s the rundown of the quests:

• Ain’t that a kick in the head
• Back in the saddle
• By a Campfire on the trail
• They went That-A-Way
• My kind of town
• Come fly away with me
• To Boulder City
• Ring-a-ding-ding
• The next move

There are many different ways to go through the main quest in Fallout: New Vegas. You won’t necessarily get these missions in the order they are presented here, depending on what actions you take during the game. You can align yourself with different factions, which will open up different quests. There are also multiple ways to achieve a quest, and some of those decisions will open or close quest lines.

Ain’t That a Kick in the Head

Your first real action of the game is to create a character. Your first choice will be your character’s name. The default name is “Courier” (that’s the name this guide will use), but you can select anything you like. You can then change your character’s gender and appearance. The Vit-o-matic Vigor tester will allow you to select your attributes. You have 40 points to spread among Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck. Each attribute is set at 5, and you can adjust it up or down. You can have as little as one point in an attribute, or as many as 10.

You can improve these attributes as the game goes on, but now is a good time to think about the play style you want to use. If you’re undecided, spread the points out among all the attributes, and you can improve them later.

Next, you’ll sit down on the couch and answer some questions. This is a basic personality test. There are no wrong answers, the results are used to suggest what skills you should choose. You will then be shown a list, and you can pick your skills. You can improve skills over the course of the game. You can then select your traits. Trait selections are permanent.

You’ll then get some basic inventory items, including a Pip-Boy. You will also be asked if you want to enter Hardcore mode. Hardcore mode is recommend only for experienced Fallout players. Exit the Doc’s house to complete this level.

Back in the Saddle

Now head down what’s left of the main street of Goodsprings. Enter the Prospector Saloon and speak to Sunny Smiles. She will tell you to meet her outside. She will hand you an old Varmint Rifle and ask you to shoot some bottles on the fence. This gun isn’t all that accurate, and hitting targets requires not only careful aiming, but also a high Guns skill. If you have trouble hitting the bottles, try moving closer to them.

Once you shoot three bottles, Sunny will ask you to go with her to hunt some Geckos. This mission is entirely optional. Follow Sunny and she will take you to the well. She will tell you crouch down and sneak up on the Geckos. When you see them, you can enter VATS, the game’s targeting system. To use it enter VATS (R2 on the PS3, RB on the Xbox 360), then select the body part you want to hit with the fire button, then exit VATS to fire. Remember that VATS requires action points, so you may run out after a few shots. When that happens you can aim and fire without VATS. As soon as you fire or are spotted, the Geckos will charge. It only takes a few shots to put them down. Walk over to the bodies and you can loot some Gecko meat and maybe a Gecko hide.

Speak to Sunny again and she will ask you to go with her as she hunts more of them. Be sure to keep up with her, because she will attack on her own, and if she is killed you will fail the mission. If you do kill all the Geckos, she will give you 50 caps. She will then give you another quest: By a Campfire on the Trail

By a Campfire on the Trail

You must collect BrocFlower and a Xander Root. On the way you may encounter a Powder Gang member. He will shoot at you, and it may take a moment for you to figure out where the shots are coming from.

The Xander Root is closest, and it’s to your northwest. It is in front of a house, and near the house are some Giant Mantises. Shoot the insects, and gather the root, which is next to the tree stump.

The BrocFlower is north of Goodsprings, on the hill with the water tower. On the side of the hill is a giant scorpion. Shoot it at long range, because it has a poison sting. On the top of the hill are some boat flies, which make great target practice. The BrocFlower is next to the Joshua Tree. While you are up here, look for an empty grave, and pick up the cigarette butts next to it. Hold on to these, because you’ll want them for a quest later on.

As you pass back through Goodsprings, you may want to stop by the store and sell some of the random items you have collected. You can also stop by Doc Mitchell’s house and get healed.

Head back to Sunny and she will tell you to use the campfire. Under the “chems” menu select “Healing Powder.” Once you make the powder, Sunny will head back to town.

Sidetrack: Barton Thorn Just to the east of the campfire you can see a person walking around. This is Barton Thorn, and if you speak to him he will ask you to rescue his girlfriend. If you head up the ridge, toward the broken tower, you will encounter some Geckos. Kill them all, and head up the path. You will find Barton again, and he will admit that he doesn’t have a girlfriend; he just wanted you to clear out the Geckos. He pulls a gun and starts firing at you. Take him out, and investigate the nearby stash. There is a camera, some food, and some ammo. Watch out for the bear traps, which will injure you if you step on them.

Go over to Goodsprings and enter the saloon. Talk to Trudy. She will tell you all about the local area, the factions, and Victor the robot. Ask all the questions you can. You will also get an opportunity to repair her radio, if you ask her about it. The radio is behind the bar, and it requires a repair skill of 20 or higher.

They Went That-a-Way

The objective of this quest is simple: find the guys who tried to kill you, and get even with them. Really you’re just after their leader Benny. He’s the guy in the checkered suit who shot you.

Shortcut You could head straight to New Vegas and confront Benny in the Tops Casino. It’s not recommend because you won’t be prepared to defeat him.

The first optional part of this quest is to speak to Victor. He’s usually on the south side of Goodsprings (head south from Doc Mitchell’s house). After talking to him, gear up for a journey. Heal at the doctor’s house, and grab some food and ammo from the store. Use the workbench and the reloading bench on the side of the saloon.

Before you leave, you may want to start the Ghost Town Gunfight by speaking to Ringo in the gas station.

Head south on the road. When you get to the intersection go south, just off the road. This is Jean Skydiving. There’s nothing here for you yet, but by discovering this area you can fast travel here anytime you need to (using your Pip-Boy map). Just south of here is a Powder Ganger camp. You may come under fire from a Powder Ganger. If you choose to investigate the camp, watch out for land mines.

Head toward Prim. On the outskirts of the town, you’ll hear about Prim’s condition. It’s been taken over by Powder Gangers. You have the option of speaking to the NCR lieutenant in charge, but he doesn’t have much information for you. Head toward the town, but when you get to the bridge (overpass) watch out for mines on the bridge. In fact, walking in the front door isn’t the best idea anyway. There are Gangers on both sides of the main street, so if you try to shoot your way in, you’ll end up outgunned and in a crossfire.

Prim is surrounded by a wall, and you’re better off going to the southwest, around the wall. From here you have several options. You could sneak into town. You could use your rifle to take out the Gangers one at a time. Once you take one out, back up a bit and circle around in case that guy had friends. On the main street there are three buildings of interest. The Mojave Express building is on the south side of the street, on the corner. In front of the door to the building is a body, and it has an Express Delivery Order. Inside, on the counter is an old robot. Check it out, but you probably can’t do anything with it yet.

Now go to the Vikki and Vance Casino. It is the building across the street, and the door is on the east side. When you get in, you’ll speak to Nash who will give you the next stage of the quest. He will also give you the ED-E My Love quest (fixing the robot in the Mojave Express building).

My Kind of Town

For more details about this quest see My Kind of Town.

This quest is to rescue Deputy Beagle from the Bison Steve Hotel. It’s the big building with the roller coaster around it. Instead of charging in the front door, go behind the building and walk up the roller coaster. On the lower floor along with the random Gangers patrolling the halls, you’ll find a large room with the Gang Leader. He carries an Incinerator, so don’t let him get close enough to use it.

In the nearby kitchen is Deputy Beagle. You can speak to him if you holster you weapon. Speak to him, and if you have a high enough speech skill you can get him to follow you. If you get him to talk there, great. If not, you will have to meet him back in the Vikki and Vance Casino. You must now go to the town of Novak.

First head to Nipton. You can either follow the road, or cut cross country. There are few wild animals if you go cross country, and there is a radioactive area you must go around. In Nipton go to the general store, where you can talk to Boxcar. If you give him some Med-X you’ll get good karma. He will also give you the Booted side quest.

Just east of Nipton you will come to a ruined tractor-trailer in the road. Watch out, because there are mines here. There’s also a Viper Gunslinger on the road waiting to ambush you. The good news is that in the trailer are some weapons (including a cowboy repeater rifle) and some food.

Just outside Range Station Charlie, you may hear gunshots. Look behind the billboard to the right of the road, and you might find some Viper Gunslinger corpses you can loot.

Once in Novac, head over to the Dino Dee-lite Motel. Be sure to speak to Victor, standing near the font door. Here you can rent (really, buy) a room for 100 caps. This makes a great place to store extra stuff like weapons, healing items and clothes. While you are at the front desk, speak to Jeannie May. She will direct you to Manny, the sniper in the dinosaur’s mouth. Also inside the dinosaur is Cliff, the town vendor. Mention Jeannie before you buy or sell anything with him, because he will give you a discount.

Manny is only there during the day. Speak to him and you will get the quest “Come Fly with Me.” He promises that if you do this quest, he will give you more information.

Come Fly With Me

Shortcut If you don’t want to do the “Come Fly With Me” quest, you can break into Manny’s room at the motel. Check out his terminal and it will tell you where you need to go in the main quest.

Take the road west, out of Novac. The front entrance to the facility has some Ghouls. There are two kinds here, Feral Ghouls and Glowing Ghouls. The glowing ones are far harder that the normal ones, so those should be the ones you target first.

Remember that if you get hurt you can always run back to the Novac to get healed by the doctor there.

Head inside the facility. When you enter a voice will tell you to go to the east side of the building. On the third floor is an administrator’s office. There is a wall safe (requires lockpicking skill of 50 or more) and the computer will tell you the pass code of the storage room (R3PCON). This code is used in conjunction with a high science skill to access some robots and terminals in the game.

On the east side is a large room with catwalks. Near the top of the room is a door, and inside is the headquarters of the Bright Brotherhood. Speak to Jason Bright. He will give you the basement key, and ask you to clear it out.

The Nightkin are really hard enemies. Not only are they tough melee attackers (and they are in a close-quarters environment) but they are also “invisible”. Your best bet is to sneak in, if you can. If you need to, you can usually get rid of an attacking Nightkin by leaving the basement.

If you really want to fight the Nightkin… If you’re itching to fight the Nightkin, they are not too hard to take out if you have a 10mm SMG or other quick-firing weapon. It helps to have a couple StealthBoys on hand. Look for the shimmer that tells you there’s a cloaked Nightkin around, and stalk him. VATS won’t help unless you have ED_E as a companion, and even then not much, so just put the aiming reticle center-mass on the shimmer when the big guy gets close and blaze away. Most of the Nightkin will go down in less than 20 rounds. Make sure you are reloaded! If you have any companions, it REALLY helps to tell them to wait back in the first room of the basement. If they come with you, they are almost 100% certain to get in the way somehow.

Once in the basement, enter the first room (which is empty), exit and go left. Take the first right down the stairs, then go through the door. Put away your weapons, and speak to the Nightkin (named Davidson) behind the desk. He will ask you to find a shipment invoice. To do that, you’ll need to take out a very tough ghoul (or complete another mission).

Go out the room, make a right and go down the stairs. Use the key on the door and you can enter. Speak to Harland. He will ask you to find his ghoul girlfriend. You can sneak into the lowest level of the basement, but there you will have to deal with the Nightkin Jailer. He’s just as hard as the other Nightkin, but he’s armed with an Incinerator. If you can, try to sneak past him. You can hear his footsteps, so you can tell where he is along his patrol of the room. If you can’t sneak past him, try using mines, if you have them.

Oops… Harland is standing above you in the room he calls his “killzone”. The way up there is through a door in front of you and to the right. If you open that door and head upstairs before you find his “ghoulfriend”, he will freak out and become an implacable enemy. He’s just a ghoul, so he dies pretty easy, but so ends the chance for XP for finding his “ghoulfriend.

There are three doors in this room. The one on the south side has a jail key, in the desk in the back. The Jailer also has a key, so you don’t need that one if you’re going to take him out.

Inside the jail room there are several rooms. Inside one of them is a dead ghoul. Inspect it and you will learn that this is Harland’s girlfriend. Return to Harland. When you speak to him, he will leave. Go up the stairs and check out his old sniping position to find some .308 ammo and some Jet. Go to the computer in the back of the room and read the emails to discover the Stealth Boys you were looking for were sent back.

Before you leave this room there are three shotgun traps you can dissemble if you have a skill of 45 or more.

Go back to Davidson and tell him about the Stealth Boys. He and the Nightkin will leave. On your way out keep an eye out for bodies; Harland may get in a fight with a Nightkin on his way out and get killed. If he does, be sure to grab his .308 Hunting Rifle. Before you leave the basement, be sure to stop by the kitchen. There is a Food Sanitizer on the table. There is a second one in the supply closet nearby, along with some other valuable items.

Head back to Jason Bright and tell him you cleared out the demons. Now go back to the basement, where you spoke to Davidson. In the room behind where you spoke to him you will find some stairs. Follow the tunnel all the way to end. Speak to Bright one more time. He will unlock some side quests with Chris. Speak to Chris before you leave. Accept the quest to find the rocket fuel and components. There is also a space suit in this room that not only looks cool, but is also worth over 800 caps.

Just outside this room is a ladder that will take you back outside the facility. Head back to Novac. Talk to Cliff and ask about the toy rockets. Buy the key to the storeroom from him, and go inside (it is behind the counter). Pick up five rockets. Also in this room is a special weapon called “That Gun” but you must steal it if you want it. [not necessarily, sometimes Cliff has this for sale in the shop for ~1500 caps — just win the money back from him playing Caravan]

Next you’ll need a control thruster. Go to Gibson Scrapyard, just north of Novac. Old Lady Gibson will sell you the thrusters for 500 caps (less if you have good barter or negotiate skills). She can also repair weapons, but this service is pricey.

Head back to the launch site. You can go back down the hatch you came in. Give both items to Chris. Now you must go to the viewing platform, which is inside the Bright Brotherhood headquarters. If you have a science skill of 55 or higher you can use the guidance module. If not, just launch the rockets. This will complete the quest. Head back to Novac. Talk to Manny and he will direct you to the next step of your quest: go to Boulder City.

To Boulder City

You can take the highway north to Boulder City. Watch for a group of bandits that may or may not be hiding behind the first billboard you come across (near El Dorado Gas & Serve). Be sure to enter the gas station to grab some ammo and other items. From the gas station, you can cut cross country to the north directly to the town. If you go this way, you will have to deal with some Cazadors. These flying bugs are melee attackers that can do some damage if you sneak up on you. If you want to play it safe, you can take the road. On the way you’ll see a drifter sitting next to a campfire in front of a billboard. He won’t attack, he’s a musician looking for a job.

When you get to the town, go the northeast corner of town there is a ruined building, and on the second floor you will find a service rifle. Next find Lieutenant Monroe. He will tell you where the Khans are, and give you the quest Boulder City Showdown. The ruins Monore is talking about are right behind him, it’s the ruined building. There is a door directly behind Monore.

There are several ways to complete this quest. You can negotiate a truce, if you have a high enough speech skill. You can sneak in and rescue the hostages, or you can go in guns blazing and kill the Khans.

Enter the ruins and you will see some (friendly) NCR troops. They are all facing the building where the hostages are being held. If you sneak around to the south side of the building there is a door you can unlock and enter. The hostages are right behind this door. So are the Khans.

This is one situation where you may want to go in the front door. If you attack the Khans, and they come out the front door, the NCR troops will help you gun them down.

Once you free the hostages you still have to enter the building next to where they were being held; the hideout. There are three guys in here, and one of them is carrying a note called “Chairman Job Offer.” Be sure to pick up and hold on to the cigarette lighter you find. Now you’ll need to go to the Topps Casino, in New Vegas.

Ring-A-Ding-Ding

Make the trek to New Vegas. From Boulder, on the road into New Vegas there are several places you will want to stop by. At 188, a trading post along the road, speak to Veronica and she will join your group. Farther down the road is Grub n’ Gulp rest stop. From there leave the road and travel north to Gun Runners. At this gun shop you can buy a wide variety of quality guns and ammo. Next to Gun Runners is the east gate into East Freeside. You will need to pass through here. In the center of the area is an old fort, and just to the west of it is a door to the other half of Freeside. This door is in a barricade in the street: it’s the door to an old blue train car. From here go to the gate to the Strip.

At the gate there is a security checkpoint. There are several ways to enter the strip:

• The security bot wants a 2000-credit “credit check” to enter. You don’t have to part with this money, you just have to have 2000 credits in your inventory.
• You can get in if you have a science skill of 80 or higher. Just talk to the bot and use the science options.
• You can complete the quest G.I. Blues, the reward for which is a passport into the Strip.
• Head back to East Freeside, near the gate you used to enter East Freeside. There is a store called Mick & Ralphs. Talk to Ralph about special services. If you have a speech skill of 50 or higher he will sell you a passport for 500 caps.
• Get Boone to join you as a follower, or get an NCR uniform. Go to Camp McCarran and take the Monorail to the strip.

When you enter the strip, you’ll get a new quest called “The House Always Wins, I”. You may as well start this quest, because it introduces you to one of the factions and unlocks a new apartment. It begins when you speak to the security guard in front of the Lucky 38 Casino. He will direct you into the casino, to speak with Mr. House. On the ground floor of the casino, look in the cashier’s area and you’ll find piles of pre-war money (it weighs nothing and isn’t stealing). Talk to Victor next to the elevator to go to the penthouse. Mr. House wants you to bring him the Platinum Chip. Ask him all the questions you can, and you’ll get some advice on how to get to Benny, and how to get the chip. You’ll also get access to the presidential suite, a home in New Vegas.

Now head over to the south strip, and the Tops casino. There are three basic ways to go about this mission:

Option 1

Benny is heavily guarded when he’s on the casino floor. Your best bet is to get him when he is unguarded in his penthouse on the 13th floor of the Tops Casino. At the front desk of the Tops Casino is a man named Swank. If you have Distinctive Cigarette Butts (found in the graveyard near Goodsprings), Engraved Cigarette Lighter (from Jessup in the Boulder City Shootout quest) and the Chairmen Job Offer (also from Jessup) then you show them to Swank. These items will convince him to let you into Benny’s suite. (Note: sometimes you don’t get an option to show Swank the Chairmen Offer, even when you have it. It may be a bug in the game.) The elevator to the suite is on the ground floor, in the southwest corner. You can also convince him if you have a speech skill of 45 or more. Once there you can kill Benny and get the Platinum Chip.

Option 2

The other way to do it is to go to the Tops Casino and talk to Benny. He will give you a key to the presidential suite. When you go to the suite he will set up an ambush you (you can avoid the ambush by talking to him on the intercom if you have a speech skill of 75 or more). Four guards will show up. Fight through the ambush. If you showed two of the three pieces of evidence you have to Swank he will have let you keep your weapons, which is a great help. If not, you’ll have a hard time fighting them. The bad news is that even if you do beat them all, Benny will escape with the chip. When you leave the casino you will get the “Render Unto Caesar” mission. Do that mission next, because it will lead you to Benny.

Option 3

The third way is to go into the Tops Casino, find Benny, and attack him. This is only a good idea if you managed to get some weapons into the Casino (speak to Swank at the front desk and he’ll let you bring weapons into the casino if you give him some evidence that Benny is corrupt). Still, it’s not an easy fight because Benny is well protected by guards.

The Next Move

Once you have the Platinum Chip, you may as well speak to Mr. House. Giving him the chip will complete the quest “The House Always Wins.” In fact, you can start off on any of the faction’s quests. Now is also a good time to find and complete side quests.

But know that you have a big decision coming up. There’s a war brewing between the three major factions in New Vegas: Mr. House, the NCR, and Caesar’s Legion. You will need to either side with one of these factions, or work toward an independent New Vegas. None of the factions are truly good or evil, and your faction choice does not effect your character’s Karma.

• Wild Card Quest – Instead of working for one of the factions, you’re on your own. In many ways, this quest line is similar to the House Always Wins quests.
• The House Always Wins Quest – Mr. House is the mysterious owner of the Lucky 38 casino. He wants an independent New Vegas, controlled by him.
• NCR Quest – The NCR is the New California Republic. Although they bring law, order, and civilization to the areas they control, they also have problems with corruption and their president is more like a king.
• Caesar’s Legion Quest – Caesar’s Legion is an army patterned after Ancient Rome. They want to seize New Vegas and conquer the NCR. Caesar believes his strict nationalistic rule is the only way to keep civilization in Vegas and the NCR territory from once again crumbling.

You don’t have to decide now. You can do quests for each of the factions and wait until later to make your move. But know that the further into the main quest you are, the more likely you are to be forced into a decision.

Know that there is a lot of overlap among the four quest lines. Each will ask you to visit factions and recruit them, each will lead you to some of the same places, and each will end up at the same final battle.