Guide 101: Building Your Safe Network

Getting Even Tougher!

• When you reached level 6, you qualified for some perks that increase your Carry Weight. Let's get 'em.
• Bring a sledgehammer, some fibers, a hatchet, a shotgun and 500 ammo with you to Necropolis.
• (Always carry a backup gun that uses different ammo. Sometimes guns explode or become ineffective with use. Watch deterioration.)
• Go cautiously to Necropolis to pick up a quest that pays 3000 xp. Be careful. Dangerous zones ahead.
• Enter Necropolis via Watershed and run up toward the main building, but enter the sewer on the way.
• Kill all the rats in the sewer for 885 xp. Exit the same ladder and enter the main building.
• Speak with Elmer to get his quest to Gecko. He gives you a holotape. Upload it, check your Pip-Boy Archives, and read his message.
• Next, find the ghoul in that building who gives you the Dead Man Walking perk.

Fun with Holotapes!

Go to the world map and use Science on your tape. This allows you to edit the tape. Put the cursor at the beginning of the text and hold down the Delete key until the entire tape is erased. Enter 3 dots and click the WRITE button to save it. I know this takes a minute, but you can re-use the tape. Erase the title too and replace it with "blank". Now you can open a new txt file on your computer and write something up to 1995 characters long (and 53 characters wide max), copy it and paste it into your tape. Then upload that tape to your Pip-Boy and you'll have that info handy at a glance in-game. You could do this, for example, to save your character's build so you can see which perks you planned to get as you level up, and all the support perks you qualify for as well. Note: There is no way, as of now, to edit or delete records once a tape has been uploaded.

• Now go back to Boneyard Train Station. Buy 2 train tickets and board the train going to NCR (Shady Sands).
• In the NCR Train Station, talk to 4 people about the man with black hair.
• Head to Shady Sands (NCR) and enter the Guns tent inside the main gate. 150 xp. Talk with Buster about some work.
• Run past the Holding Center fence and go into the Rawhide Saloon. Talk to Mira the bartender twice to get another job and Buster's smokes.
• Now run into the main street past the security gate and read the billboard. Take a note about a job for Westin.
• Keep running straight down the main street and go into Dusty's Cantina. Talk with Hoss in the corner to get Cautious Nature!
• Talk with the bartender to return Mira's debt for her. Hand him the money and head out.
• Run back up the street and turn left to find the entrance to the Westin Ranch, protected by an energy fence.
• Talk to the guard to get in, using the job offer as a legitimate reason.
• Go inside the main building and speak with Mr Westin. He's at his desk, under a cross on the wall.
• Talk with Felix, the guy just outside the door there, to go to the brahmin pasture. Wait there near the rocks to the south east.
• When the kids arrive, tell them they are making the animals nervous and get them to stop. 150 xp
• Go back in to NCR and give the smokes to Buster. 800 xp. Put on that black leather jacket. Cool!
• Run back to the Rawhide Saloon and confirm with Mira that you paid her debt back. 750 xp
• There's more to do at Shady Sands but later. For now, go back to the Train Station and board the next train going to Vault City.

Welcome to level 8! Distribute Skill Points: Small Guns 130, Doctor 60, Outdoorsman 150.

• You now have high enough Outdoorsman skill to get both Pathfinder and Explorer!
• When you arrive at the VC train station (150 xp) ask four people about the man with black hair.
• Exit the train station and go into Vault City. Talk with Doctor Andrew about his Medical Investigation.
• (Just in case you ever need it, find the workbench in VC. It's in a small shack near the brahmin pen.)
• Go back to the VC train Station and talk to four people about their health. Go tell Doc Andrew. 500 xp.
• Before you run in to Gecko and risk losing your gear, let's build a tent nearby. The Gecko mine is a great place.
• Hunt the zones near VC for brahmin and collect hides. Try zones 30:8, 31:8, and 32:8.
• If you have no wood with you now, chop some trees in the city ruins to the east of VC.
• When you have 8 hides, craft a Folded Tent.
• Now go right up next to Gecko mine, a few zones east of Gecko, and build that tent. Upgrade the fire and rename it "Gecko Mine".
• Now you can drop all your items and run naked blue into Gecko to further some quests. Bring 400 caps to pay Keith.
• Gecko is a dangerous place. If any players see you there, they will likely shoot you.
• Use the "town preview" feature before you enter Gecko. If you see other players, do not go in yet.
• When it looks clear, enter Gecko and run up into The Harp bar. Talk to Keith, the ghoul Mick wants in the band. 400 xp.
• When you're done paying Keith to join the band, run north all the way to the Scrapyard area of Gecko.
• Find Skeeter to deliver Elmer's message. Skeeter gives you another holotape message to take back to Elmer.
• Make sure you use the tape to upload it to your Pip-Boy Archives. Check Archives to make sure it loaded.
• Exit Gecko by running north through a hole in the fence and out via the north exit grid. *Whew!*
• Now let's move to Modoc, a better place to hunt brahmin, get hides and thus get more houses set up.
• Craft at least 1 rope before you head to Modoc. You can craft the other items without a workbench.
• While gathering hides, avoid all other encounters unless you're sure you can win. Craft a tent as soon as you get 8 hides.
• Set up that tent near Modoc and make this your tent-crafting station, where you hunt tons more brahmin for their Hides.
• You'll likely need more Ropes and Wood. Gather resources, including Junk, in the city ruins above Modoc on the far north edge of the map.
• Hunt brahmin, gather hides and craft 8 more tents. If you have no hatchet here, gather some flint and chop wood with a Primitive Tool.
• While you're hunting brahmin, notice Ghost Farm on the map. You can mine here if you run out of ammo.
• By the time you craft 8 more tents, you hit levels 9 and 10. If not, do some hunting so you do.

Welcome to level 9 and the Even Tougher perk! Distribute Skill Points: Small Guns 140, Doctor 64.

Welcome to level 10! Distribute Skill Points: Small Guns 144, Doctor 75, Traps 28.

Building Houses

• We were on our way to get those Carry Weight perks. Let's get back to that. We'll build some Houses along the way.
• If you have not done it already, arrange your 8 new Folded Tents in a row with 3 wood on each one.
• Chop wood in the area if you have to. You need 3 wood per tent to upgrade the fire pit to a Campfire.
• Upgrade the fire pit at your Modoc tent if you have not already done it. Rename the tent to Modoc.
• (No need to get maps to tents yet. We'll do that later when we have a base, which should be soon.)
• Now pick up 3 tents and 12 wood and let's go get them set up. Head straight west to Den and Klamath.
• Find a place by Klamath and/or the quarry to use the tent. Rename it to "Klamath".
• Drop everything you are carrying at this new Klamath house, and run to Klamath. You will get the Gecko Skinning perk next.
• Klamath is a dangerous place. Players will shoot you so you want to carry nothing as you get this perk.
• Use town preview, and enter Klamath via the Trapper Town entrance. Run up past the fence through the bottom door in the main building.
• Run up through this building and out, up to the bonfire to talk to the trapper there and get Gecko Skinning.
• Run back down the same way you came in, through the building but stop inside and talk to Meloy.
• Ask Meloy about the Toxic Caves and he'll show you the location. Exit the conversation and avoid the next topic for now.
• (The next topic is a fun quest you cannot do yet, so you'll be back here later to get it.)
• Exit Klamath, go back to your tent, grab all your gear and tents and wood and head to Redding (straight past Den).
• Use a tent next to Redding, upgrade the fire pit, rename it to "Redding".
• Drop all gear and go naked bluesuit over to Redding. Use town preview and enter the Mine entrance when ready.
• Run straight west to the building to the left of the Last Gasp Saloon. Talk with Dangerous Dan McGrew inside to get Pack Rat.
• Look at that 110 Carry Weight! Nice, and it gets even better at Broken Hills.
• Go back to your Redding house, grab all your gear including the tents and wood and head southeast to New Reno.
• New Reno is the most brutal place on the map, so only go close enough to see it, then proceed east to Broken Hills.
• At Broken Hills, use a tent, upgrade the fire, rename it, then drop everything and go naked blue over to the town.
• Broken Hills is another dangerous place. Most of these northern towns are part of the Town Control system so they can be PvP intense.
• Use town preview and enter via the main entrance. Run all the way down the main street to the open well.
• Francis is a mutant arm wrestler in the building just below the well. He will give you the Strong Back perk. Return to house and get gear.
• Check out your Carry Weight now! 140 woohoo! Now you can mine more materials per run into a mine.
• You're not far from Shady Sands (NCR) so let's go there to get some perks that will help you travel faster.
• In Shady Sands, run into town and go back inside Dusty's Cantina. Talk to Hoss to get Pathfinder.
• Then exit Shady Sands and run over to the Train Station. Talk with four people about their health.
• Talk to Mantis, the ghoul inside the train station, to get the Explorer perk. 250 xp.
• Remember your deal with Hammilton? You've tracked the man with black hair back to here. Do you see him?
• (Choosing the right dialogue options, he points you to where your target is camping.)
• Find the hideout and talk to the man. Are you a white knight?
• Head back to your Modoc house to get four more tents. Now that you can skin geckos, hunt Goldens when it's not too much trouble.
• Whenever you carry valuables like tents or maps, you are taking a big risk. The more you carry at a time, the more can be lost at once.
• If you are carrying precious goods like tents, it is critical that you exit forced encounters quickly and avoid them if possible.
• When you are carrying such valuable items, do not go for xp. Avoid all encounters! Get to your destination first.
• Head to San Francisco mine. It's another good place to have a safe spot. Do not hunt on this trip; its too risky.
• You'll be crossing the desert on foot. If your character fails, you'll have to go back to Modoc and craft new tents.
• (As careful as I am, I was killed here by NPCs throwing Plasma Grenades, so i had to go back to Modoc to hunt more brahmin.)

Losing a Fight Near San Fran
When you lose a fight near San Fran, you get a unique opportunity to go on a quest from within the regeneration location. Do the Radscorpion Subway quest.

• Stop in the San Fran train station and talk to four people about their health.
• Run in to San Francisco and talk with the doctor to get Faster Healing. He is in one of the first buildings.
• Back on the map, note the location of Mariposa Military Base in 15:27. It has an advanced workbench.
• Use your last 3 tents at Waterworks, Boneyard train station, and back at Shady Sands. Upgrade fires and rename them as you go.
• Stop in Hub along the way to complete The Wasteland Band quest. 1500 xp!
• Remember you're much tougher now with those perks and you should gather Golden Gecko pelts whenever you can safely do so.
• Head over to Necropolis to deliver the reply message to Skeeter. 3000 xp!
• Put your shotgun on single shot, and kill the rats in the sewer again. They are too easy now. 965 xp.

Welcome to level 11! Distribute Skill Points: Small Guns 150, Traps 38.

High Quality Mining

• Head back north to set up your last house near Shady Sands quarry. Upgrade the fire and rename it.
• Continue north back to Vault City so we can complete the Medical Investigation and get paid.
• Talk to Doc Andrew about the other stations and get 1500 xp more, plus 1750 xp for completing the quest.
• With your higher Carry Weight, let's do some HQ mining! Drop off your gear at your Gecko mining house.
• Bring only a shotgun, some ammo, your jacket, and a sledgehammer into the mine.
• Kill the geckos in the tunnels as you mine all the materials inside. Make runs back to your house when needed.
• (You won't get any gecko pelts from the geckos in the mine, but you will get xp while you work.)
• Use your workbench to make Good Metal Parts, Advanced Gunpowder, regular Metal Parts and gunpowder too.

Welcome to level 12! Distribute Skill Points: Lockpick 64, Traps 50. Your next perk is your decision to make. Getting both Action Boy perks will make you faster, which works nicely with your Fast Shot trait. It also makes you a faster miner which means more efficient use of your time. Getting Lifegiver for more Hit Points is tempting too, but then again, you're doing pretty well as it is, right? You decide. In my run-throughs i went with Action Boy to work faster and got Lifegivers later.

More Professions

• By now you may be behind this guide or ahead of it. Hunt golden geckos, mine, and craft your way to level 13.
• Good Metal Parts are an ingredient when crafting containers like lockers, which you'll want to add to certain houses soon.
• Sell goods to merchants. Use caps to buy more skill books. Use Science books to boost Science skill to 50. Get professional training:
  • Jacob in Hub: Big Guns
  • Simon in Salvagers, Boneyard: Armor
  • Dangerous Dan back in Redding: Demolitions
  • Hank inside the reactor at Gecko: Energy Weapons

• (more soon)

Links

• Guide 101: Title Page
• Guide 101: Crawling Out of the Sandstorm
• Guide 101: Building Your Safe Network