Fallout 2 – Walkthrough (Part II)

This is a main-path walkthrough for Fallout 2. It contains spoilers, so read with caution! Nothing sucks worse than a wasted surprise. Also, this path is based on a character who prizes unarmed combat and is generally a nice person. Many opportunities require you to be evil in Fallout 2, but their pursuit would require a completely different walkthrough.

CONTENTS


1. Arroyo
2. Klamath & The Den
3. Modoc
4. Vault City
5. Gecko
6. Broken Hills & New Reno
7. Army Depot, Raiders, Redding
8. New California
9. Vault 15 and 13
10. Navarro
11. San Francisco
12. Enclave

Completed Map of Fallout 2
map

Arroyo


Arroyo has an abandoned temple full of radioactive insects. Your first task will be to prove yourself by ridding one of these edifices of every last ant. Time your entrance to any room – make sure there aren’t a cluster of scorpions or ants in one area.

If you fight one at a time, you’ll have a much better chance of survival. Use your fledgling First Aid skill several times to restore health and gain experience points (exp). The first door can be opened merely by clicking, the second must be lockpicked, and the third should be blown apart by the plastic explosive you will find in a nearby pot. Check all chests and vessels for extra goodies, and make sure you have plenty of health before you talk to the guy in the last room. Try your targeted attacks on him – the battle goes quicker that way. Don’t forget to retrieve your stuff from the chest before you leave!

Talk to the town elder to obtain a holy relic, a pocketful of cash, and some good information. Try using your repair skill on the well for a few extra exp. Talk to your aunt Morlis (what a witch!), then enter her tent and loot the pot for a bit of cash. Chat with your cousin Nagor, then head northwest to a wooded screen. Run past the geckos – they’re basically harmless – and click on the dog, Smoke, when you see him. Pick any flowers or roots you might find on the way. Lead Smoke back to Nagor for more exp. Have a chat with the bruiser next to the big stone head. If you’re lucky, he may teach you a few tricks.

Go chat with Hakunin in the medicine tent and agree to weed his garden (be prepared – Dark-Souled Plants are much worse than kudzu). Talk to him again and ask to be healed, then walk over to his garden and attack the plants. If you take too much damage, you can always run back to the medicine tent and beg for more healing. Once the plants are disposed of, return to Hakunin and get your reward. Finally, head south to the bridge. Talk to Mynoc, and compliment him on his spear. Run back to Morlis and trade her some healing powders for a piece of flint. Return this to Mynoc, and he’ll sharpen your weapon. Exit to the Wastes, and get ready for a serious adventure!

Klamath & The Den


If the Den is a hive of scum and villainy, Klamath is just a hive of scum. Go into Klamath for now. Talk to Torr and accept the brahmin-guarding mission. Kill all the scorpions and loot the shack for salables. Next, go to Vic’s house and grab all trade goods and a radio. Do not sell the radio. Chat with the folks in town, but don’t accept the still mission yet. Talk to Sullivan to boost your unarmed combat skill (playing dumb helps). Go west to Trapper Town and chat with the locals. Slim may be able to help with your Outdoorsman skill, and provide a necessary key. Let yourself in to the northern area and start whacking rats, all the way down into the caves. Save often, and try not to let them surround you. Once you’ve killed the Rat God, find the second set of ladders leading up. An explosive hidden nearby will get you through the locked door. Check the car for parts, then go back through the caves to Trapper Town. Grab the rubber boots in the abandoned Gun Store.

Leave the city and head up to the Toxic Caves. The best way to kill geckos is to use a targeted attack and aim for the eyes. Open the locker on the first level for some goodies, then head downstairs for a major fight. Once you’ve made it past the geckos (don’t pursue if you’ve blinded them – your rad count is getting higher), grab Smiley and run for the exit. Return to Klamath and talk to Ardin for your reward. Choose to cancel Sulik’s debt, and you’ve got your very first companion. Talk to Smiley to learn the art of skinning geckoes, then accept Bob’s still quest. Kill every gecko in the vicinity, and skin them. Take the pelts to the Golden Gecko for sale. Visit the canyon to the northwest and run past the robot to search the bodies. Once you’ve managed to accumulate enough trade goods, purchase some leather armor before you head off to the Den….

Anyone who believes that children are cute, innocent angels has obviously never visited the Den. Save your game whenever you need to walk past one, and restore if you lose something expensive. (Keeping your tradable items on Sulik will prevent most thefts.) Chat with Smitty and get a gander at the car you’ll own someday. Talk to Joshua outside the Brotherhood of Steel for a creepy, conspiracy-theory sort of conversation, then wander next door for a spooky experience of the more paranormal sort. Talk to Ananius about the hauntings and his mummy. Enter the adjoining room, rest until midnight, then chat with Anna the ghost. Run over to Mom’s on the east side of town and talk to her about the haunted house. Talk to Stacy and buy her a drink for 200 exp. Ask Karl the drunk for his story about being a farmer, and don’t give up until you hear it. Talk to Mom again, and agree to take Smitty his meal.

On the way back to Smitty’s, talk to Joey and get the locket, then take it to Anna in the haunted house. Get her bones and the shovel from the bookcase. Give Smitty his dinner for a nice reward. Go to the graveyard, open Anna’s grave, put the bones in, and re-bury her. Return to Mom’s and talk to her. Go to the Slaver’s Guild and talk to Metzger. Talk to Vic, and give him the radio from his house. Talk to Metzger again and agree to buy Vic. Grab Vic, ask him about Vault 13, and get the heck out of there. Return to the east side of town and chat with Becky. Agree to get Fred’s money for her. Talk to Lara, and agree to find out what’s in the church. Go to the church and tell Tyler that Metzger sent you. Go inside and look at the crates, then return to Lara to tell her about it. Agree to talk to Metzger for her. Look near Lara’s house for an addict named Fred. Talk to him, and agree to take only $100 of the money he owes Becky. Return it to her, along with $100 of your own. Accept the book-finding mission.

Head east. Don’t even bother finding Derek – Becky’s book will be lying around somewhere near Mom’s, usually in the graveyard. Talk to Metzger, and return to the west side. Go to Becky and return the book, then talk to Lara. Agree to find a weakness in Tyler’s gang. Go to the church, talk to Tyler, then return to the east side. Tell your companions to wait for you, then talk to Lara and agree to be present at the fight. Sit back and watch, or help out if things get too hairy, loot the bodies, and collect your pay. Before you leave town, make sure you have some Jet, 10 bottles of beer, and 10 bottles of booze. Then grab your companions and head back to the Wastes!

Modoc


This unimportant town in the radioactive void just goes to show you – the only two things which would survive a nuclear holocaust are rats and rednecks. There is absolutely nothing which needs to be done in Modoc, but if you’re feeling generous, you can stop in to forge a peace treaty. Just make sure that you talked with Karl (remember, back in the Den?) before you chat with the subterranean Slags. In addition, farmer Farrel can provide an experience-enhancing extermination mission and a darned weird fight with a giant mole rat in a disused outhouse.

Vault City


If you were annoyed by the narrow-minded attitudes in Klamath, or offended by the prevalence of slavery in the Den, you’ll be positively apoplectic by the general state of affairs in Vault City. Brace yourselves, we’re goin’ in. If you’re in town early (or late?) enough, lockpick and loot the lockers and desk in the empty Greeting office for some choice stuff. Talk to the crying boy, then look behind the crates near the bar for his doll. Return it, and listen to him for a minute or so. Check out the rocks and get a free wrench. For some good karma, use a packet of Rad Away on Puking Charlie. For more good karma and an excellent gun, talk to the Smiths, then go to Happy Harry’s and buy a plow for them. Stop by the clinic and repair the auto-doc if you have enough skill. Talk to Amanda and agree to rescue her husband. Then drag Vic along to Ed’s brahmin yard to ask about the water flasks and Vault 13. Head north. Avoid the fake citizenship papers and acquire a day pass. Give all your booze and drugs to Sulik. Enter the gilded cage which is Vault City proper.

Stop by the Tap House and give Lydia your booze. Check in one of the smaller Amenities offices to purchase a nice pair of pliers. Then head to Maintenance for a painful reunion between Vic and his daughter, Valerie. Give Val the pliers and your wrench. Stop by the inappropriately named Servant Allocation Center and donate $500 towards Joshua’s release. Head north to the Council area. Talk to McClure to find out a painful truth about the GECK. Talk to Lynette and agree to stop Gecko’s pollution of the Vault City water supply. Once you solve the problem (see Gecko, below), McClure will provide your citizenship papers.

Enter the Vault and chat with Phyllis and Dr. Troy. Check the medical databases for possible info on combat implants (way cool). Head down to the second level. Repair the rattling vent to get a free goodie. If you have a good lockpick skill, this level is a bazaar of riches. Search every locker and footlocker, and don’t forget to grab the really esoteric pieces. In particular, don’t leave without the red memory module. Once you’ve cleaned the place out, head downstairs. Find the computer which is talking. Log on and get the location of Vault 15. Insert your Pip Boy when asked. Insert the holodisk from Gecko. Exit the Vault and rest secure in the knowledge of a job well done.

Gecko


Rads and gin and leathery skin, that’s what little ghouls are made of. If mutants give you the ooks, this is not the place to visit. Unfortunately, though, you’ll need to stock up on Rad Away and stop by this glowing burg in order to finish the Vault City citizenship quest. Talk to Harold in the manager’s office. If you don’t mind keeping a ghoul around, ask Lenny to join your party. Don’t forget to raid the back-room bookcase for a Big Book o’ Science. Once Harold has explained the problem, head back to Vault City. Leave your companions outside the front gates. Stop by Val’s to get a free toolkit and to convince her to give Vic another chance. Go to the Council area and talk to McClure. Tell him that you need a part to fix the Gecko plant, and confess that you’re worried about Lynette and your Citizenship. Go to Randal in the big Amenities building and get the part. Grab your friend collection at the gate and return to Gecko.

Tell your companions to wait near Harold’s place, and enter the reactor facility alone. Search the unattended lockers for a yellow passkey, and bookcases for a blue one. Proceed to the control area on the south end of the building, and let yourself in with the yellow key. Raid the nearby bookcase for a red passkey, then go chat with Festus in the southeast corner. You may be able to convince him to install it. If not, you can just do it yourself. Use the red key on the red door to enter Hank’s domain. Chat with Hank. Although you could mess with the computer and get the robot running, the best way to fix the reactor is just to get your stimpacks in one hand, the replacement part in the other, and make a mad run for the gadget with the valve on it. As soon as the reactor is fixed, run back out to Hank’s room and use a Rad Away on yourself. Success! Talk to Festus on the way out to get a holodisk. Then gather your gang and head back to Vault City.

If you return later with the holodisk data, bring it to Festus, then use it on the terminal in Hank’s room. You’ll be even more popular among the ghouls! Before you depart Gecko for new adventures, though, visit Skeeter in the junkyard area, and trade him Val’s tool kit for the fuel cell controller you need to obtain that Chrysalis Highwayman. While you’re at it, stop by Percy’s and agree to look for Woody. You’ll go to the Den when you want to get your car anyway, and Woody is the poor guy in the mummy coffin. For now, though, let’s move on.

Broken Hills & New Reno


Broken Hill is another non-essential flyspeck on the map, the uranium mines of Broken Hills offer nothing vital to aid your mission, but can provide a warm fuzzy feeling. In particular, a chat with Marcus the super mutant will provide a quest to fix the mine’s broken air purification unit with a part found only in New Reno. Which, not so coincidentally, could be your next destination.

In New Reno, not only does crime pay, it sets up an IRA and takes out a mortgage. Dirty dealing is the first order of business here, and you’ll have a tough time getting by without making unwanted enemies… or friends. Amazingly enough, this glittering vipers’ nest is not vital in any way to your quest for the Holy GECK, but many helpful advances and items are hidden within its myriad rooms. Try to avoid becoming beholden to any of the four major families in town. Better yet, come back when you’ve put on some serious muscle and kill them all.

The only must-do item on your list is to stop by New Reno Arms and buy a voice recognition unit – it’ll come in handy later. If you’ve got excellent pugilistic skills, you might also try challenging the champ to some boxing action. Save before you fight Mike the Masticator, and hope he bites your ear off in the ring. You’ll get a big boost to your charisma!

Army Depot, Raiders, Redding


None of these three locations (the Sierra Army Depot, Raider Base and Redding) are of particular importance. Yet Sierra is a lucrative and well-defended place. If you’ve ever wanted your very own robot pal, this is a one-stop shopping mart! For added coolness, download Skynet into an artificial brain and implant that into your new cyber-buddy. Or pluck out ol’ Vic’s brain if you’re feeling really evil. Just make sure you’re heavily armored and well-stocked with stimpacks before venturing into this facility.

Although there is no particular reason to visit the hidden raider base, it sure feels good to wipe up the floor with those troublemakers. As an added bonus, Lynette in Vault City would be thrilled to learn that the raiders were hired by New Reno, and they just so happen to have incriminating paperwork to that effect. Kill all you want, the world will thank you.

Redding is an interesting place to visit. This is definitely the place to indulge that fantasy of cleaning up the bad elements in a one-horse Western town. Help out the sheriff, pick up the deed to the Wanamingo mine, and remember the first law of the West – “bastards have brothers”. Redding is also a good place to cement your impending support of the New California Republic. Then head off to New California.

New California


Finally, you’re back on track! The NCR offers three possible ways to discover the location of Vault 13, plus a shiny badge for the well-intentioned player. The only caveat is that the information you seek will cost you plenty, so make sure you’ve collected $10,000 before entering the NCR. (Robbers and raiders make profitable Wasteland prey, and the stuff you looted from Vault City should be worth a pretty penny.) For the easiest route to Vault 13, just go see Salt-Beef Bob at Westin’s ranch and have a little chat. Then visit Doc Jubilee and shell out the 10k for his Velvis painting. On the back, lucky you, is scrawled a map to the Holy 13. But as tempting as it may be to run off and follow the fuzzy map, a few good deeds need doing in the NCR, and some important introductions should be made before you dash.

Be sure to visit the Brotherhood of Steel, to find out about the chapterhouse in San Francisco. This will be terribly handy later on. You can also become a member of the New California Rangers, if you’re feeling particularly knightly. Talk to Vortis the slaver, then head to the Rangers’ gun shop/secret base. Approach Elise and express a dislike of slavers. She’ll tell you to go back and kill Vortis, which, let’s be honest, is a service to humanity. Waste him and return to accept your spiffy new title. Funny how these things work out.

Oh, and if you drove the Highwayman to the NCR, make sure that you pay that enterprising bum $5 to watch it – this is one investment you won’t regret!

Vault 15 and 13


Although this near-Holy stronghold might be one way of obtaining the location of Vault 13, it certainly isn’t the easiest. If, however, the notion of rescuing a kidnapped girl and freeing a group of squatters from the unwelcome patronage of a bandit gang appeals to you, a pit stop might be in order. It’s entirely possible to talk your way past Phil the guard and recover Chrissy without bloodshed.

You are now at Vault 13, which is an important stop. Either the current residents of the Holy Vault are new arrivals, or you’ve got weirder genes than you thought. Chat with the Gruthar the deathclaw, in the first room of the vault, and offer the voice recognition chip from New Reno in exchange for permission to search for a GECK. Stop at level two and visit the shrine to your ancestor. Don’t release Dave or Matt, they’re locked up for a good reason! Proceed down to level three and chat with Jimmy. Open the malfunctioning computer in the far east room. Use the voice recognition unit, and close the machine back up. Finally, enter the storage room and loot the lockers. Take the NavCom parts, but don’t grab the GECK – that’ll spoil the moment when Gruthar presents it to you as a reward for fixing the computer. Before you head upstairs, you may want to stop off in the maze of terminals to the west and talk to Goris. He’s willing to join your party, and will make an excellent addition when there’s fighting to be done!

Take your hard-won Holy GECK and return to Arroyo. It would be nice, of course, to say here that the game ends triumphantly and you all live happily ever after, but unfortunately life is rarely that simple. Talk to Hakunin and set off once again, this time on an even more desperate quest. Since the final three locations will be extremely tough and dangerous, you’d do well to try out some of the optional quests and locations you passed up along the way. The meaner you are when you hit San Francisco, the better chance you’ll have of surviving the Enclave.

Navarro


This is the part where the hero rides off into the sunset… alone. Attempting to bring companions into Navarro is suicide, so just leave your buddies behind and solo this one. You can return and grab them after you’re done. Assuming you survive. (Play it cool, and you’ll probably come out all right.) Try to talk to Chris, outside of town. If you can’t convince him that you’re a new recruit, kill him before he can alert the base. Then just wander up to the main gate and talk to the guards. If Chris gave you the password, all the better. Otherwise, endure your chewing-out like the good little recruit that you’re pretending to be. Talk to the drill sergeant and proceed to the Armory to obtain your “replacement” uniform. Report back to the sergeant and stand guard as ordered. Once your shift is over, you’re free to clandestinely rob these boneheads blind.

Chat with Cookie about everything he can possibly say. Then talk with the base’s technicians. If you have an excellent Sneak skill, you can plunder the Maintenance area with impunity, but good timing will get even the clumsiest of characters through the necessary looting without fear of discovery. Chat with Quincy, and get the plans for the Vertibird flying machine. Next, go west to Raul’s hangar and pass along Quincy’s unfriendly comments. The instant Raul heads off to settle the score, scam the portable contents of the hangar, then dash to the Maintenance building and loot that as well.

Head downstairs. Tap into the mainframe for a bit of helpful info. Go to the commander’s office to get the fob. If you’ve been practicing those Speech skills and have a decent intelligence level, you might be able to bluff your way into the room on a mission of safeguarding the fob. Otherwise, you’ll have to pretend to be a simple cleaner, and you’d better have plenty of Stealth on your character sheet if you plan to loot the filing cabinet while the commander is watching! Once the fob is safely in your pocket, leave the office and pay a little visit to Doc Schreber. As it happens, he has soundproofed his lab to prevent his nasty experiments from inconveniencing the rest of the base. Kill him, take his key, and use the K-9 parts from the hangar to repair his robot dog, if you happen to want one. Then release Xorn the deathclaw, and escape to the surface via the secret exit in the southwest corner. Return to wherever you left your friends, pack them into the car, and head for sunny San Francisco.

San Francisco


The Shi and the Hubologists are diametrically opposed factions vying for control of San Francisco. To make matters worse, the Shi are internally divided between followers of two separate masters. And did we mention the Brotherhood of Steel? All three groups would like to purchase the Vertibird plans you picked up in Navarro, and all three hold the keys to refueling the ship which will take you to your final destination.

If you’re on the side of Right and Good, the folks to support in San Francisco are the Brotherhood of Steel and the Shi master known as the Dragon. If you’ve been working on your hand-to-hand skills, and possibly have the Hand to Hand Evade and/or Dodger perks, you may be able to help the Shi-towners and rid the city of Lo Pan in one fell swoop. Talk to Lo Pan and the Dragon in the arena, then offer to fight in the Dragon’s stead. Battle his five students (the last of which seems to have plenty more action points than you, so don’t shy away from using a blinding or crippling attack), and agree to fight Lo Pan. Be prepared for treachery, and target his eyes whenever possible. Once he’s dead, have another talk with the Dragon. Chat with Lao Chou for local info, then head west to the Brotherhood of Steel’s San Francisco base.

Chat with everyone. Agree to give the Brotherhood the Vertibird plans (unlike the other two factions in town, these nice folks will only make a copy, and leave you with the original to sell to another buyer). Downstairs, fiddle with the mainframe to enable a set of stat-improving automatic operations. You’ll need to provide the chips for these procedures, though, and they’re scattered around the world, so it may not be worth your effort. Next, go to the Hubologists’ headquarters and have a good gawk at the shuttle. No matter what, do not agree to join them! Near the would-be spacecraft is a young technician named Dave Handy, who has a personal problem and access to a whole lot of fuel. Chat with him to find out about Vikki, then enter the Hubologist base and go to the Celebrity Spokesmodels’ room. Talk to ex-porn-star Vikki and let her know how Dave feels. Talk to Crocket if you have some spare cash, and ask him to upgrade your power armor. Take Vikki’s response to Dave, then kill some time and return to Crocket for your upgraded armor. If you’re feeling well-inclined towards the Shi-towners, you can chat with Ken Lee first and finish off this Hubologist visit by killing AHS-9 and every Hubbie in the place for loads o’ karma.

Now it’s time to get yourself a boat. Head down to the dock and chat with the Captain. In order to get his assistance, you’ll need to help one of his friends. Of the two, Chip is by far the easier. Seems this poor sap got a bit too exuberant at the gambling tables one night, and lost his spleen on a bet. Chat with him to find out what happened. As the spleen was sold to Lao Chou, have a little talk with him, and follow the bouncing organ to Dr. Wong. Explain that the spleen is in fact human, pony up the $1000 in re-installation charges to the also-helpful Dr. Fung, and you’ve got a happy chunk of karma and an amiable captain. (For additional exp, agree to help the other friend, Badger, by clearing out the assorted monsters from a lower deck and rescuing his flighty girlfriend – you’ll need to go down there to fix the NavCom anyway.)

Check out the computer in the control cabin. Head down to the cargo hold, use the fob from Navarro to open the locked door, and make your way up to the NavCom area. Use the NavCom parts to fix the machinery, and you’re ready to go! Stock up on Stimpacks and ammo, make sure that everyone’s wearing the best possible armor, and set sail for bloody destiny.

If you are already in the area, you cuold visit the Military Base. This fine establishment is another location which is completely unnecessary to the completion of the game. If you fancy the idea of fighting off a buttload of super mutants, however, you can score a lovely set of power armor and a Gauss weapon. To get inside, check the shed for some dynamite and attach it to the mine cart with a pole.

Enclave


The Evnclave is the big finale. Salvage is not a priority. As soon as you disembark, check the nearby computer. Download and read all the files, but don’t mess with any other options (yet). Now, you can scout out some of your surroundings by wandering around alone in your power armor, but in order to clear a good escape route for the future, you’ll want to bring in every friend you have. Try to talk to everyone you see. Kill those who don’t indulge in detailed conversations.

Make your way down to the detention level and chat with the Elder and Martin. Leave your comrades here until you can clear a path through the high-security maze downstairs. The safest way through the maze is to activate the terminal in the northmost room, then northeast, northwest, west, center, northeast, southwest, south, and southeast. Alternately, you could just deactivate the traps and pick the locks if you have the skill for it. To the east and west of the maze are guardrooms. Once you’ve killed the guards, check the lockers for a spiffy set of power armor and a GECK.

Down yet another flight of stairs is the headquarters of organized freakdom. Talk to Curling and try to convert him to rationality. Rid the world of the would-be President and take his passkey. Fight your way to the last set of stairs. Chat with Tom and try to convince him to shut down the computer. Failing that, kill him and frag the computer. Run like heck, you’ve only got ten minutes to escape! Take alternate stairs wherever possible. In the turreted room before the dock, make a mad dash for the turret control terminal and use the President’s key to override the turrets and turn them against Horrigan. Help them to finish him off, then hop on your boat and head for home.