During character creation, set your IN to 3, and the other options as you like.
You start just outside your home of Vault 13. You can try to use the computer next to the door, but they won't let you in right now. Loot the bones next to you and equip the Knife. Ammo is hard to find this early in the game, so use the knife, and wander the cave killing rats. When you're done, exit to the World Map. Wander the desert for a day, then come back and enter the Vault by using the computer next to it.
Loot the locker on the wall in the foyer for some Flares. The medic will heal you for free if you're hurt. You can't really talk, so most people will just dismiss you. There is really only one thing to do inside.
Down on Level 3, talk to the Water Guard (if he's there). Loot the lockers in the water room, but leave the water flasks. Now you can leave and head towards Vault 15.
In the small house in the southwest is Razlo, his wife, and a sick man. Razlo will only talk or trade with you during daylight hours.
In the Garden area to the east, all you can do is loot and trade. You should find two Ropes here, though you only need one.
Now leave town and head to Vault 15, but make sure you have at least one Rope. There's one in the building north of the farm, one in the shed south of the farm, and you can barter for one from Seth.
Every Vault you come across in the Fallout games has a different kind of entrance, but the same lower-levels. This one happens to be a manhole in a shack. Go down. The biggest thing here is a Lesser Mole Rat. Try not to waste your ammo on the normal Rats. Loot the wall locker in the foyer, and the one in the medical center. Use the Rope on the broken floor of the elevator, then click the rope to go down to the Living Quarters.
Loot the locker for a Leather Jacket, which you should equip. There is also a Rope, in case you don't already have another one. Use that rope on the other elevator and then go down. Kill and loot on the Command Center level. Go towards where the overseer would be, and you'll find it's blocked by rocks. You'll get some XP for finding that out. In one of the standing lockers is some Dynamite that you should pick up. There is also an easy to miss wall-locker in the wall of the western room.
Exit to the World Map and go to the Caves just outside of Shady Sands. Kill at least one Radscorpion and loot its Scorpion Tail. You can either kill all the radscorpions or seal the entrance with Dynamite, or both. Just inside the entrance, past the skeleton of the two-headed brahmin, there is a bit of wall that juts out. Inpsect it with the cursor in binocular mode to learn that it looks weak. Stand as close as you can to the weak wall, then open your inventory and Use the Dynamite. I recommend setting the timer to 30 seconds. Then drop the the Dynamite there and walk over just shy of the exit grid until the explosion occurs. However you deal with the situation, go back to Razlo, who will make as many Antidotes as you have Scorpion Tails. Just keep asking him during the daytime. Use the Antidote on the sick guy in the back and he'll thank you with some XP.
Leave town for a day or two and return. Aradesh should tell you that Tandi (his daughter) was kidnapped by Raiders. Agree to get her back. Talk to Razlo and he'll give you a couple of free Stimpaks. Leave and head south to the Raider Camp.
When you're done, loot their corpses and containers, then free Tandi and the other prisoner. If you're having trouble with the locks, there are some Lockpicks in one of the containers in the building.
Tandi sort-of joins your party, but she's weak and not very useful. You can't even talk to her to change her combat options or ask her to stay put or even leave. Also, if you ever return to Shady Sands, she'll leave.
I suggest you return Tandi and claim your reward from Aradesh. Remember to sell all the phat lootz you picked up. Keep one Rope.
Enter the General Store and talk to Killian. He's the only person in this whole game who doesn't treat you differently. Either he doesn't care or he's just very nice. After the conversation, a guy named Kenji comes in and tries to kill Killian. Help stop the assassin, being sure to not accidentally hit Killian or any of the guards. If this happens, I hope you saved recently. After the assassin is dead, talk to Killian again. He'll ask for your help proving the local crime boss, Gizmo, is behind the attempt.
Exit the area to the north and enter the Casino. You'll find Gizmo in the back room. You are too stupid for the boss to talk to you, so you'll have to Sneak, then use the Steal skill to put the Bug on the man himself.
Return to Killian and agree to help take out Gizmo. Note that after you do, all of the roulette hosts and slot machines will dissapear, so if you want to gamble, do so before you talk to Lars. When you're ready, return to the town entrance and tell Lars you're ready. You'll be teleported to a fight in Gizmo's office. After the fight, you'll be teleported back to Lars for your reward.
Note: Killian doesn't seem to have much to trade for on his person, even though he is running a huge store. Search the tables to find more stuff to barter for. You can also rob Killian's store at night. Be sure he's gone home, and pick the lock on his safe in the side room.
Head back to the middle map and take a room at the Crash House for the night. In the morning, one of the employees, Sinthia, will be held hostage. If you just enter the room, the bad guy will realize he can't talk to you, and will just kill the poor woman, then open fire on you. Instead, Sneak before going through the door, then get around behind him and enter combat before he kills his hostage. Sinthia will be upset, but you'll be rewarded by the innkeeper with a free night's stay.
Go back to the Casino and loot it and the corpses. To the east of the Casino is Phil and a dog that's causing him some trouble. You can get the dog to join you in one of two ways.
Next stop, The Hub, which is a few squares due south.
Head south to Downtown. Lots of stuff here. Like Junktown, the police here don't like vigilantes. You can Steal from all the guards in green combat armor. They don't seem to mind, and they have some good loot.
In the center part of Downtown are four stores. The northeast one is a bookstore with an a large supply of very expensive books. The northwest and southeast stores sell weapons and stuff. Lorenzo in the FLC building will trade a bit with you, but you're too dumb to take out a loan. Just south of all the stores is Iguana Bob, who will sell you his meats.
Go east into Old Town. If you're in the mood for a very tough fight, just south of the entrance is a building with a bunch of Raiders who will attack you on sight. Kill them all, then free the guy in the back room.
The merchant in the north central building is happy to trade with you.
In the northwest corner of the large middle building are some stairs leading down. This is the Thieves' Circle. Work your way past all the Traps on the floors and doors, Lockpick the doors. The folks at the end of the hall are polite, and you can trade with them.
Go back to Downtown, then south to the Merchants area. In the northwest is a branch of the Children of the Cathedral. Feel free to talk to everyone. (If you want to kill them, be sure to talk to the lone child in the area until she leaves, otherwise you'll have to kill her, and you'll be labeled as a Child Killer). Use Sneak, then Lockpick the door in the back, and loot all the cool stuff there.
In the first area, labeled Hotel on your map, approach the groups of ghouls outside and they'll attack you. Feel free to kill them for XP. There are two factions in Necropolis, so if you approach a ghoul who doesn't attack you, don't fight back. Also, avoid looting the shelves and whatnot inside the buildings.
When you're ready, go down one of the manholes. Kill the resident molerats and loot the corpses. Exit north.
On the next map, after the ghoul asks you not to shoot, rest until night, then take the ladder in the south to the Hall. Again, don't kill the indoor ghouls or loot their stuff, but feel free to kill the outdoor mobs. Go north into the church and talk to their leader, Set. Agree to kill some mutants. Go back down the manhole you came up through, then follow the sewers north to kill some rats and molerats in the northeast, then exit northwest. Go up the ladder on the following screen to the Watershed.
Again, don't kill the indoor ghouls or loot their stuff. Next to the mutant standing outside is a manhole. Go down, kill all the rats, and find the water pump parts in a far corner. They're labeled "Junk." Go back up the ladder you came down, and enter the building to the north. An intelligent super mutant will talk to you. He'll eventually realize you're not a ghoul and he'll try to kill you, so defend yourself and kill all the other super mutants, as well. In the northeast corner of this building is some broken machinery. Use the "Junk" you picked up to repair it, then go free the ghoul in a cell to the south. Go down a manhole in the cell to the right.
Clear the Caves, and you'll find yourself in Vault 12. On Level 2, the only loot is a wall locker in the northwest room. Kill and loot your way down to Level 3. Don't kill anyone you don't have to. The only computer that's currently working is the one with the Water Chip. Take it.
Return to the ghoul Rebel Leader on Sewers 2, and he'll know that you fixed the water pump. Then visit Set in the Hall to collect your reward for killing the mutants.
Now talk to the Overseer. Once everything's working again, he'll ask you to take care of the mutant problem. Leave and go to the Brotherhood of Steel.
All you really need here is on the Level 1. Make your way around to the north side, and loot the Brotherhood Tape holodisk from a body in power armor up there. That's all you need, but if you feel you have enough Rad-X and Rad-Away, feel free to delve into the lower levels. Otherwise, return to the Brotherhood now.
If you use any computer, it'll tell you that power is offline, and the problem is on Level 6. To get down there, you need high Lockpicking and Traps skills, or you need colored keycards. The Yellow Pass Key is found on Level 1 in the northern area, on one of the bodies near where you picked up the Brotherhood Tape holodisk. Use it on the elevator in the southwest corner, and go down. If you want a bit of extra XP, se your Traps skill on each elevator doos before using a keycard.
You can kill sleeping robots for the same XP as when they're alive later on, so take advantage now. The Red Pass Key is in the northeast corner of Level 2. Use the Yellow Pass Key on this level again to get to Level 3. Don't forget to loot everything.
Use the Red Pass Key in the northeast corner and go to Level 4. Search the body in the southwest corner for the Blue Pass Key.
Take the red elevator down to Level 6. Use your Repair Skill on the generator in the southeast room. Use the computer right next to it (or any other computer, for that matter) to restore power to the base. Note that all the defense robots are now active. Loot Level 5, then return to the surface.
As you leave, stop a few squares away and use your RadAway. If you become Addicted to it, you'll just have to sweat it out over the course of several days of wandering the desert and adventuring. Any residual radiation will also eventually leave your body. You may want to stop by The Hub to sell your loot. (Killian in Junktown doesn't refresh his inventory, so it's not worth revisting.)
Return to the Brotherhood, but you're too stupid to be admitted.
If you have a Radio, you can use it to lure three of the four outside guards away. The remaining guard will attack you even if you wear the Robes. Kill the defenders and loot the corpses. Be sure to download the Tape that the last mutant near the door wearing leather has. This has the code for the front door.
Inside, sneaking is over. You'll eventually set off the alarm anyway, and then have a very limited time to get out, so you might as well clear your escape route now. Kill all of the super mutants on Level 1. Yellow force fields will go up, but you can't do anything about them in combat. Out of combat, use your Repair Skill to deactivate them for a few seconds. The orange force fields can't be deactivated, and you'll take a few HP loss every time you step through one.
Level 2 is filled with super mutants and lootable lockers, and is probably more than you can handle. Try it anyway for the extra XP if you like.
On Level 3, kill the super mutants in the room just south of the elevator, then continue east then south of that room to kill two more mutants. The human woman Sarah will be upset if she survives. Take the Elevator down to Level 4, also known as Vats Level 2.
Again kill the super mutants in the room to the south, then the robots in the room to the northeast, then the rest of the enemies in the room to the southeast. Be sure you get the Key from the locker in that last room, as you might choose to use it later. Also loot the Tape from the Lieutenant. Once everything is dead, loot some type of explosives from this level.
Go to the northwest room and kill the robed figures. Stand in front of the right-most computer facing the window to the Vats. Use an explosive in your inventory to set the timer, then drop it in front of the computer. Run down to the elevator and wait for the bomb to explode. You'll then have 120 seconds to exit to the World Map.
After the cinematic, I recommend clicking the green triangle to get back on a local map where you can save. Travelling immediately is likely to land you in a random encounter involving combat.
The guards in Adytum will ask you to put your weapons away if they aren't already. Just west of the entrance is a small shack with a manhole. Downstairs is a shopkeeper named Tine. As with Killian's store, you'll find he has more stuff to trade if you search his tables. The only other person who will trade with you here is to the south, a guy in a white smock in front of a tent.
Exit north to Downtown and talk to the guy in front of the Blades hangout. He will trade with you.
Exit east to the Warehouse. Kill the three Deathclaws wandering around. This is also a great place to gain tons of XP. If you leave this area, rest for an hour, then come back, the Deathclaws will have respawned. Repeat as many times as you like. When you're done leveling up off Deathclaws, take the stairs down in the northeast corner of the big building in the middle. You'll find the Mother Deathclaw and a bunch of eggs in the southeast corner. Be sure to kill all the eggs, then head back up to the surface.
Exit west back to Downtown, then go north to exit to the World Map.
Sneaking is not an option for you. You may want to leave Dogmeat outside. You'll have to kill everyone. Start outside and work your way in. It may be easier to initiate combat in one of the small side room and let the enemies come to you one at a time. When the dust settles, loot a COC Badge (red) from one of the corpses (one of the dudes in leather armor has one), and use it on the door in the northeast corner of the big room with the two large screens.
Try to Lockpick the door behind the screens. If your skill isn't high enough, go upstairs and kill the mutants and robed people. Loot the COC Badge (black) from the purple-robed guy on the top floor, then return to the ground floor and Use it on the door behind the screens, where you'll have to kill a super mutant before going down the stairs.
Lair Level 1 looks like a dead end, but there is a secret door in the southeast corner. You can arm and drop some explosives in front of it to blow it open, or you can wait for a purple-robed figure to come through. Inside, kill some creatures and mutants, then take the elevator down to Level 2.
Be sure to pick up the Psychic Nullifier from Gideon in the northwest room. You can either Steal it or kill him for it. Optionally free the prisoners by using the small red control panel on the wall just before their cells, then kill everyone else down here. Take the elevator down to Level 3.
last modified 26 February 2026