The quest “The Changing Tide” has now begun, tasking you with helping Cassie Dalton more, Mitch (the bartender and owner of The Last Plank), Small Bertha, and The Mariner. Lots of busy work, it seems. Head into the The Last Plank and talk to Mitch, who will praise your accomplishments before letting you speak. Ask about Avery to find out she’s a fickle islander at best, then take Mitch’s offered drink to get Mitch - and more specifically Debby - to talk about their troubles. Apparently ol’ Uncle Ken is in trouble, and Mitch will reluctantly ask you to help him. Pass a hard speech check to get him to offer up some supplies if you can (he’ll give you two RadAway and three Stimpaks), and the quest “The Hold Out” starts.

Exit out the north-eastern door to reach the docks at the end of Far Harbor, where Small Bertha stands guard near her brother, Tony. Talk to her and she’ll cut to the chase and offer you a job (offer to do it for free and you’ll make Longfellow happy). Long story short, you’ll need to clear out Echo Lake Lumber, an area you were near earlier, which shouldn’t be much trouble to return to and deal with in quick order. This starts the quest “Turn Back the Fog” .

You’ve already started Cassie Dalton’s questline “Blood Tide” , if you’ve been following this guide, anyways, so you don’t need to bother with her again (although you’ll need to complete the third part of her quest to finish “The Changing Tide” ). All in good time. Before you run off to save Far Harbor, however, return to The Mariner and if you gave her the tools and didn’t kill Machete Mike, she’ll give you a new quest; secure the MS Azalea, an area far to the south… and a fine first step towards Brooke’s Head Lighthouse. This starts the quest “Hull Breach 2” . Creative.

The Hold Out¶

Make your way back to the National Park Visitor’s Center - a place purposefully neglected earlier so you could return later for the quest - and return to the visitor’s center building. Inside you’ll find Uncle Ken, who is… a bit deranged and unfriendly. Name-drop Mitch and he’ll calm down a bit before he detects more baddies coming, at which point he’ll grant you access to the area’s Workbench (hence becoming a settlement, which should earn you the “Push Back the Fog” trophy/achievement if you have Longfellow’s Cabin and the Dalton Farm settlements).

Go check out the Workshop to find that it has a bunch of junk in it, which can be used to build some defenses or walls before the hostiles arrive. The enemies will attack from the collapsed gate to the south-west and the pavilion to the north-east, but it’s fairly easy to block the former off and focus on the later. Do what you will, and shortly Trappers will arrive. Fend them off and talk to Uncle Ken afterwards and he’ll try to shoo you off. Pass a moderate speech check “convince him to come” and two more speech checks will open up (although Longfellow dislikes this); the moderate speech option “I’m taking you back” and the hard option “Consider it a vacation”, either of which will get him to abandon his homestead. Convince him to leave or not, Mitch rewards you the same either way. The only difference is whether Uncle Ken will reside in The Last Plank, or if he’ll stay at the National Park Visitor’s Center settlement.

As for the settlement, it’s got a large building (the Visitor’s Center), but it may not be able to fit in quite everything you want. Fortunately if you break down trees and the junk walls you’ll have plenty of room to build pretty much whatever you want. It’s also the first Far Harbor settlement that doesn’t have standing water you can build high-end water pumps in. Just be sure to break down (not store!) the junk lying around, as it often gets rid of nearby debris piles, which are otherwise eyesores at best, and impediments to building at worst. Play with your new settlement if you wish, then when you’re ready to claim another, make your way back to Briney’s Bait and Tackle.

Echo Lake Lumber¶

Kill any foes that may have spawned in your absence (the giant Hermit Crab will not respawn, unfortunately), then head south, south-east across the highway to reach Echo Lake Lumber. This sprawling area consists of game stalls to the north-east, some bleachers to the south-east, while the actual lumber yard is to the south-west. One of the stalls is locked [Novice] and it and another stall has a Cash Register [Novice] inside, but it and the rest are otherwise uninteresting.

Your task here isn’t to wonder at the pre-war relics, however, but to exterminate all the Feral Ghouls lurking around. You’ll find some near the bleachers, and picking a fight with one will likely lure out others. After that, the main point of interest is the store to the south-west of the bleachers. This store houses the majority of the Ghouls here, and consists of multiple floors. The first two levels are decorated with numerous shelves, many still holding valuable pre-war junk (that’s not an contradiction!). Loot and shoot your way up to the fourth floor to find a locked blue door [Advanced], beyond which lurk more Ghouls, including a Glowing One.

Snuff the Glowing One and its minions and a man named Malcolm will show up and graciously offer to let you leave his land peacefully for your good deed of killing the Ghouls. Umm… how about no? Chat him up and remain diplomatic and he’ll make you an offer - after revealing that he’s got rather abhorrent dietary practices and too much of a relationship with the fog - you send him Far Harbor settlers, and he’ll do his thing.

Agreeing will net you 615 Caps (and earn Longfellow’s disapproval) after which you can return to Far Harbor, talk to Small Bertha and send the settlers over to their new home unaware of the threat… but this sill not unlock the settlement for you. Or you can accept Malcolm’s bribe, tell Small Bertha about Malcolm, learn that his claim is legitimate, and either argue on his behalf or in favor of getting rid of him (Longfellow approves of this). This route will actually unlock the settlement and get you a payday from both Malcolm and Teddy. So much for siding with Malcolm, if you have any sense and aren’t willing to trade your principles for Caps, refuse to play a part in his cannibalistic, fog-addled scheme, after which he’ll turn hostile and attack.

Deal with Malcolm however you wish, then mess with the nearby Terminal, from which you can eject (and listen to!) “Levi’s Holotape” . Loot a First Aid Box on the wall near the door, then head upstairs to find a Steamer Trunk and a Duffle Bag, the former of which contains “The Harvester” , a Ripper weapon that has a “Chance to stagger on hit.” Neat.

Return to Far Harbor and talk to Small Bertha. Again, if you took the bribe from Malcolm you can send the settlers to their doom (this won’t unlock the settlement!) or you can convince Small Bertha to let Malcolm have his land, which is also a less than ideal way to complete the quest. If you tell Small Bertha to kill or drive off Malcolm, Longfellow will approve, and everything proceeds as normal. If you didn’t take Malcolm’s bribe you’ll just tell Small Bertha the news and she’ll run off to see the Captain.

As long as you didn’t dissuade Small Bertha by telling her to respect Malcolm’s claim, she’ll run off to tell Captain Avery the news… after stubbornly giving you the 14 Caps reward she offered you. Follow her to the building housing Brook’s general store and Teddy’s infirmary to find Captain Avery meeting with Teddy. Small Bertha will chat with them, get the two adults to see things her way, and invest in an inland settlement. More importantly, you’ll now have control over Echo Lake Lumber.

Before running off anywhere, talk to Captain Avery again and she’ll sing your praises before giving you a reward; the “Rescue Diver Suit” , which allows you to breath underwater (not a big deal if you have “Aquaboy/Aquagirl” and has some hefty radiation resistance (+250). This will complete “Changing the Tide” , but never fear; you can continue with “Hull Breach 2” and “Blood Tide” , which gives you a fine excuse to continue exploring south down the eastern end of the island.

MS Azalea¶

Time to head south! Fortunately for the next area there’s a road that leads almost right to the objective. Make your way back to Beaver Creek Lanes and follow the road running east of it to the south. The road will vanish under some dirt for a while, but keep heading south-east and the road will appear again and continue to follow the eastern coast south. The road will later be interrupted by an avalanche. Navigate these nuisances and loot any houses you find along the way; you won’t find anything exceptional, but if you want to grab a bit of junk… well, there you go. A ways after that the road will apparently collapse entirely, at which point turn east, head over a fallen tree and continue following the road - if you continue south down the slope you’ll hit some Angler-occupied water, if that’s of any interest to you.

Follow the road east, then south-east until it splits again, with the eastern-most path leading along side a house with a tree leaning on the ruined roof. The bottom floors of this house are occupied by Feral Ghouls (including a Glowing One!) while if you run up the collapsed tree you can reach the otherwise inaccessible third floor, where a Ghoul guards a Steamer Trunk. To the south-east of the house you’ll find a cemetery with a gruesome idol on it. Weird. Seems like the Trappers at the MS Azalea are artistic sorts. Head east from the house to reach the shore and, if you go north you can find some Trappers to kill near some docks. On the other hand if you head south you’ll cross paths with a Mirelurk. The roads above won’t get you to your destination, so from here on out just follow the shore south, then south-west to spot the beached ship.

Cross the shallows to reach some wooden walkways, to the west of which is the MS Azalea and to the east of which is a barge covered with shipping crates… both of which are crawling with Trappers. If you clear out the barge and the shipping crates you can gain some meager loot (a few Footlockers and a First Aid Box) as well as protect your flank. Once done, continue following the walkway to the south-west to find a Trapper-infested wooden tower. Fight your way up said tower, then press a button to summon an elevator, which you should ride up to finally reach the deck of the MS Azalea.

Here you’ll find the rest of the Trappers in this area, including their leader, Bilge, a Power Armor wearing brute. Once Bilge has bee smote, you’ll be able to return to The Mariner, but you might as well clear the ship and loot it. Start out by searching some shipping crates to the south-west to find a Footlocker and an Ammo Box to loot. Enter the central structure of the ship and loot your way down some stairs, then loot an Explosives Crate at the bottom of the boat. From there head south-west to reach some wooden walkways spanning over some oily water. Make your way south-west and enter the first shack to the right to find a Duffle Bag, then return to the walkway and head south into another structure, this on on a barge. In this structure you can find a Toolbox, a Large Toolbox, and a Safe [Advanced].

When your greed has been sated, return to Far Harbor and tell The Mariner the news for a tidy reward. Talk to The Mariner again (you may have to wait a bit for her to be willing to give you this next quest - three days or so should do it) and she’ll tell you about another crazy idea, in case the island attacks with overwhelming force; in this case, a Mirelurk Queen. What’s immune to Mirelurk Queen acid? Mirelurks. So what does she want to use to reinforce the hull with? Mirelurks. Agree to help (starting the quest “The Hull 3” ) and ask where you can find some and she’ll point you towards Haddock Cove, which just so happens to be en-route to another over-due quest…

Speaking of which, you still have Cassie Dalton’s last act of vengeance to carry out, but her quest is rather far out, but you can kill two birds with one stone by knocking out “The Hull 3” along the way. These are both non-essential side-quests, and if it’s not something you care to deal with just yet, consider returning to the main story (skip to the section “Where you Belong” ). If you don’t mind making the run now, though, continue with “Hull Breach 3/Blood Tide (Part 2)” .