Out of the Fire¶

From The Slog head south until you find a big, messy factory: Saugus Ironworks. It’s crawling with fire-loving freaks, who call themselves “Forged”. As fun as it may be to shoot them in the face, though, stay clear of this place and continue south to find Finch Farm, where you’ll find Abraham, the patriarch of a small family that dwells here. Talk to him and he’ll whine about his degenerate son Jack, who stole a family heirloom and ran up to Saugus Ironworks to join the Raiders there. Naturally, Abraham doesn’t have a high opinion of his son, but he does want the family sword back, and if you agree to help out the quest “Out of the Fire” will start.

Saugus Ironworks¶

With this quest in hand (or in journal, rather) head back north to Saugus Ironworks and dust off the Forged gathered around outside and on the roof. They’re not too much tougher than normal Raiders, although they do favor wearing Cage Armor and Spiked Armor, and a few of them may have Flamers. Once they’re dead, search the south-western side of the factory to find a small shack with a Tension Trigger on the door. Disarm it, and the flame trap behind, then loot the shack to find an Ammo Box. Once done, head inside Saugus Ironworks.

This ancient foundry, now glowing with new, nefarious life, is crawling with Forged. By now these Raiders should be little more than pests, so exterminate them as you head south along the ground floor. At the southern end of the factory you’ll find a metal ramp, which you should ascend, then head up two flights of stairs. You’ll pass by two bathrooms as you go, one of which has another Tension Trigger wired to a rigged gun. At the top of the second flight of stairs you’ll find an elevated metal structure which houses a Terminal [Advanced], which will open the nearby doors leading to the second half of the factory. First, however, kill any Forged up here and head north through the metal structure, looting as you go. In the northern-most room you’ll find a Terminal [Novice], which you can use to activate a nearby Protectron, if you need some help with these Raiders. Once you’re done in here you can head north through some doors to find a ramp leading up - and around - the upper reaches of the factory. Be cautious, though, as there’s a Tripwire attached to a trio of Frag Grenades suspened from the roof. Not the kind of bouquet you want falling down on your head… not that you want any bouquets falling on your head.

Return to the room with the Terminal [Advanced] to the south-east, hack the terminal, open the doors, then head to the eastern side of the factory. Kill whatever Forged dare stand against you then make your way down to the factory floor and head to the northern end of the factory to find some stairs, which will lead you to a table with two Ammo Boxes and a First Aid Box. After pillaging those head back south and ascend a ruined walkway, which now serves as a ramp leading to the metal walkway along the eastern side of the factory. Venture north and you’ll enter a small room with a First Aid Box on a metal Cabinet, along with a Weapon Workbench and an Armor Workbench. You can also find a Terminal which details the Forged failures and the draconic punishments imposed on them.

Continue north and immediately outside of the shelter you’ll find some stairs leading to the roof of said shelter. From here you can follow the walkway south, then west, down a ramp and to a concrete landing between the eastern and western ends of the factory, where you can find several doses of Jet, if you fancy some chems. Return back east, then north, and descend the stairs to return back outside of the metal shelter. Head west, go up a ramp and pass by a Power Armor Station to find a door to the east leading to the Saugus Blast Furnace.

Saugus Blast Furnace¶

Enter the Saugus Blast Furnace to find the leader of the Forged, a brute in Power Armor named Slag, inducting Jake (Abraham’s son) into the Forged. Given the harsh requirements of the Forged, Jake’s squeamishness about the task given him doesn’t seem to bode well for his future. After some banter you’ll be given a chance to make one of two (moderate) speech checks; convince Jake to do what Slag wants, after which he - and the rest of the Forged - will turn on you, or convince Jake keep his murder cherry intact, after which the Forged will turn on you. Either way you’ll need to kill Slag and several Forged, one of whom possesses a Flamer. Slag occupies high ground, and despite his Power Armor, isn’t all that dangerous. Put the Forged down and Jake, if need be, then loot Slag for the Shishkebab and the Sagus Roof Key. More interesting, however, is the issue of Picket Fences on the floor next to a Steamer Trunk, under which is an Ammo Box. The real prize, however, can be found on a console nearby - the Explosives Bobblehead . Grab all that, then talk to Jake if he’s still alive and he’ll ask you to take him home and help explain things to his father. Well… you have to head back to Finch Farm anyways…

Head up a ramp to the north of where Slag was to find “Slag’s Terminal” [Novice], which discusses his dealings with the Gunners and some new gang which apparently outfought them. Hmm… It also mentions Dunwich Borers, which you’ll be exploring in a bit. Now head south down a ramp from where Slag was and turn east down another ramp to find a Dampening Rod Sleeve, from which you can extract the Dampening Rod. You remember, Captain Zao, the Chinese Ghoul in the Yangtze wanted you to recover this for him? Yeah, it was a while ago, and it’ll soon be time to resume that quest.

First, however, let’s finish off this bit of business. Leave the Saugus Blast Furnace and go upstairs to the roof. The roof is mostly uninteresting, being populated by a handful of Forged. There is a structure on the western end of the building with a Laser Tripwire rigged to another flame trap, but all in all, little of value is being guarded. Pick your way down off the roof (it’s safe enough to do along the southern end of the building) then go meet Jake, if he’s still alive and accompany him back to Finch Farm. If Jake survived, Abraham will threaten him, only to have mama Abigail show up and lay down the law. It’s not a patriarchy, folks, it’s a matriarchy. If Jake is dead, just talk to Abraham for your reward. Either way, you’ll get Finch Farm as a settlement you can develop.

Here There Be Monsters (Continued)¶

After you’re done playing with your new settlement, it’s finally time to turn your attention back to Captain Zao and his poor submarine. It’s been a while, but… well, that’s just how things go. Fast-travel back to the Yangtze and give Zao the Dampening Coil and he’ll start talking about your next task: get some fuel. In the crazy world of Fallout, this can be done by removing the warhead from a missile on the Yangtze that failed to detonate. Unfortunately you’ll have to fight through the Ghoulish remnants of the crew to get it. Why can’t Zao do it, even though they won’t attack him? Because reasons. That’s why.

Head down some stairs to the north, activate a “Bulkhead Terminal” and use it to open the nearby door. In the room beyond you’ll find two ghoulified Crewmen on the floor below you, although they’re on the weaker end of the ghoul stratum. If you can hack a [Master] terminal you can head downstairs to find a Bulkhead Terminal [Master], which will open the nearby door and allow you to reach the warhead you need. Assuming you can’t however, the long way will be covered as well.

On the upper floor head north through a door to reach a small room where you can find another Bulkhead Terminal [Expert]. If you can hack it an open the nearby door, go down the stairs and go through another door to the north to reach your destination. Assuming you can’t even manage that, however, let’s keep exploring the rest of the sub. Around the corner from the [Expert] terminal you’ll find an lab to the east and a cafeteria to the north. Loot the lab for its components, then enter the cafeteria, which, aside from some ghoul Crewmen lurking around, isn’t very interesting. Continue into the crew quarters to the north and exterminate some more ghouls, then scrounge around for some minor loot, including some random ammo in Footlockers, an open footlocker with a Fusion Core in it, and a Nuka Cherry and a Nuka-Cola Quantum near a bunk. Once done, head into an infirmary to the east and hack a Terminal [Advanced] and open a nearby security door, behind which are plenty of chems.

Return to the barracks and head down some stairs to the north to reach the lower deck. In the first room you reach (at the bottom of the stairs) you’ll find two doors, one to the east and one to the west, neither of which have much of interest beyond them. Press on to the south to enter a smaller room, then turn east to reach the armory, where you’ll find a Terminal [Master]. If you can hack this terminal… well, then you would have gone the short way, right? Anyways, if you can manage it, open the door to the armory to find two Frag Mines, two 10mm Pistols, a Stealth Boy, a Laser Rifle, three Frag Greandes, two Ammo Boxes and a Duffle Bag.

Head back west and go through two doors to the south to find the First Mate, which is now a Glowing One. Predictably there’s massive radiation in here as well, so you may want to pop some Rad-X before you head on in here. Kill the First Mate and loot its remains to find the First Mate Password, then search the western end of the room to find the ICBM you’re looking for. Obtain the Warhead then continue south to find a terminal, which will open the nearby door… the same door that could have been opened from the other side by hacking the [Master] terminal earlier.

Make your way back to Captain Zao and tell him the good news and he’ll instruct you to install the Dampening Coil first, then insert the Warhead. Head back north through the door and interact with the Reactor Core (getting a light dose of RADS for your trouble) and install the Dampening Coil, then the Warhead, just as you were told. After the reactor starts back up, head back to Captain Zao, who will reward you with whatever he promised you, as well as with three Homing Beacons, which you can use to call down the Yangtze’s remaining ordinance.

Reeb Marina¶

Time to get back to exploring the north-east. Fast-travel back to Finch Farms and from there head south to find Reeb Marina, which is just east of the Revere Satellite Array. When you reach the marina grounds, kill any Bloodbugs infesting the place and loot the peripheral buildings for various tools and junk. Once done, head into the large central building, where you’ll be pestered by a Mr. Handy, who mistakes you for somebody named Eugene. Apparently your brother, Malcolm, has a surprise for you. Follow the robot into a room to the east and you’ll be given a gift meant for Eugene… unless the corpse on the floor was Eugene. Strange. There’s also a “Happy Birthday Sweet Roll” that somehow survived the ravages of time. Must be all the nails.

After putting the bots down, pick up a copy of Tesla Science off the table, then loot a Steamer Trunk. Make your way back west and check out “Eugene’s Terminal” to find out that the two brothers apparently decided to go the Cain and Abel route after the bombs fell. Loot an Ammo Box, then head back to the birthday surprise room, then east into another room with some boats and a fork lift in it. Hack “Malcolm’s Terminal” [Novice] to find out that fratricidal maniacs think alike.

Gibson Point Pier¶

Next stop is the Gibson Point Pier, to the north-east. By looking at your map it might look like a safe, dry crossing to the island to the north-east, but alas, the bridge isn’t passable. Still, there’s a bit to see and do here. First, kill the Mirelurks burrowed around, then explore a diner where you’ll find a Laser Tripwire rigged to a gun, a First Aid Box and a floor Safe [Advanced].

Revere Beach Station¶

Follow the road back south-west until you find a road to the south, at which point follow this second road through a ruined town, around a curve in the road, continuing south until you find a bus in the middle of the road. From this bus turn west around the edge of a factory, then run north along the building’s western side to find a collapsed tree, which you can take to reach the roof. On the roof you’ll find a Caps Stash and an Ammo Box, after those are yours, drop through a hole in the roof and make your way south to find some blue double doors and a chained door. Through the double doors you’ll find a garage where, near a Protectron Model Kit on a table near a Power Armor Station and, up some stairs, you’ll find an Explosives Box [Novice].

Loot the place, then exit out the chained door and make your way back around the building, then head across the street to the east, passing through a building or down an alley to reach the river side. Make your way north, over some sandbags, and kill any Raiders in your way (including a brute in Power Armor!)… Raiders who just happen to carry Book Return Tokens on them. Well educated Raiders? Well, this bears investigating further. Between two sandbag walls you’ll find some stairs to the west, which lead to the Revere Beach Station. First, however, head north of this metro station and enter a white brick building, where you’ll find a Book Return Machine, which has prizes far superior to most. No wonder these Raiders carry around those tokens! For even more substantial loot, however, ascend to the third floor to find a Steamer Trunk [Master]. If that’s too difficult for you, never fear, as a copy of Live & Love sits on the cinderblock of a Cooking Station nearby. Grab these goodies, then leave the building and enter the metro to the south.

From the station entrance head south past some turnstiles, beyond which the path splits. First head east to find a red chained door with a Frag Mine in front of it. You know level design, this is clearly where you’ll surface after clearing the metro, so you might as well get rid of that pesky mine now and avoid sore feet later. Backtrack to the west and go south through a blue door to reach an office, where a few Radroaches lurk. Smash the bugs, then head west to find a Terminal [Novice] you can hack to bring a dormant Protectron back online, if you wish. Once that’s all done, leave the office and continue down a hallway to the west, killing some more Radroaches on the wall as you go. Further west you’ll find some bathrooms past some stairs, where an Explosives Box [Novice] awaits… just be wary of the Tension Trigger attached to a Makeshift Explosive on the side of the box. On the stalls to the north you can find another Tension Trigger rigged to a gun. When you’re done making boom-booms in the bathroom, return east to the stairs and explore a maintenance room to the north, which is also infested with Radroaches. Kill them, loot a Tool Box [Novice], then finally head down the neglected stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs you’ll find yourself in a large metro hub area. South of the stairs you can find two Raiders lounging in a diner, while alongside the tracks are two doors (one north, one south) near which are two Terminals ([Novice] and [Advanced], respectively). If you hack the northern one you can recruit another Protectron, while hacking the southern one will give you access to the nearby door, beyond which you’ll find some Jet and a Duffle Bag.

Hack whatever you wish, then head down the tracks to the south, fighting off any Raiders who may spot you through the ruined wall to the east. More Raiders await down the tracks near some barricades in front of a cylindrical train car. Gun them down and continue through the car to reach the tunnel beyond, where significant Raider resistances awaits. Significant in numbers, anyways, as half a dozen Raiders await their demise here, including their leader, Cinder. Give the Raiders a taste of some death (moderately seasoned with pain), then make your way south along their wooden constructs to find a Steamer Trunk. Make its contents yours, then back track to the north and enter a second train car, through which you must travel, killing the Raiders within.

Once you make it through the train car you’ll find yourself on the eastern end of the metro station, where the last of the Raiders may lurk. Kill them, then continue north along the tracks until you find some stairs leading into a small room, where some Radroaches will try to ambush you. Exterminate them, then loot the bodies of two Raiders who somehow ended up lower on the food chain that Radroaches did. Return to the larger metro station and note two chained doors to the east, one of which (the northern one) has a Grenade Bouquet in front of it. Both lead to a small room with three leveled Ghouls, which the Raiders wisely sealed off. Kill them, and a fourth will drop from the ceiling, which must also be disposed of. After that, loot a Chem Cooler [Novice], then head back into the larger metro area and go up soem stairs to the north to reach the other end of the red, chained door that leads back to the beginning of the metro.

Easy City Downs¶

Leave the metro and sneak your way south to find Easy City Downs, where some robots (an Eyebot, four Mr. Handy robots and an Assaultron) are running a race, being called by an announcer and eagerly watched by some Raiders and Triggermen. If you make a commotion, you’ll have to fight a mess of foes, and the robots will be turned on you, as well. On the other hand, if you sneak your way down south along the western buildings you’ll find a white wooden building, where the announcer, Eager Ernie, dwells. He’s also got a compliment of Triggermen nearby, and if spotted, he may sic the robots on you as well. If you can enter the building undetected, however, you can access the Clubhouse Terminal [Expert], which will give you several options to choose from regarding the racing robots. You can stop the race, change their route, change the targeting parameters (make them fight the Raiders and Triggermen), disable combat inhibitors, activate reserve robots (adds another Assaultron, a Mr. Handy and a Protectron to the race) and finally you can just set the robots to blow up.

Deal with the robots and Raiders however you wish, including Eager Ernies, who has Eager Ernie’s Key and Eager Ernie’s Password on him. Once done, loot the bottom floor of the house the Triggermen were in, then clear the Raider shacks in the middle of the race track. Most of them are fairly uninteresting - there are plenty of tools and other junk to stock up on, should you have need of such items. In a large shed that houses the robots you can find a “Robot Control Terminal” with which you can also access the typical robot options you could have accessed elsewhere, while in a more humble shack to the north is a “Repair Shop Terminal”, where you can manipulate both the bots and the turrets. Use the Raider structures to cross above the race track and to the upper floor of the house formerly occupied by Triggermen. Up on the damaged second story you can find a Steamer Trunk full of goodies, a “Master Control Terminal” (yet another way to access to the robot controls) and, best of all, a copy of Tumblers Today on a square table next to a Couch. Claim your loot, then leave the race track behind.

Nordhagen Beach¶

If you make your way south-east you’ll find Nordhagen Beach, one of the last remaining settlements not yet claimed in the wasteland. Anyways, you know the drill - talk to one of the Settlers here and you’ll get one of two radiant quests: “Nordhagen Beach: Greenskins” or “Ghoul Problem at Nordhagen Beach”. The former will take you to Breakheart Banks, Faneuil Hall, Gwinnett Brewery, Medford Memorial Hospital, Scrap Palace or Wilson Atomatoys Factory, while the later will take you to either Bedford Station, Fiddler’s Green Trailer Estates, Mass Pike Tunnel East, National Guard Training Yard, Poseidon Reservoir, Super-Duper Mart, Wicked Shipping Fleet Lockup or Suffolk County Charter School. Most of these locations have already been explored, in which case you just need to report your success. On the off-chance you get assigned a location you haven’t been to yet, you can either go out of your way to complete it, or reload and postpone Nordhagen Beach until the walkthrough takes you there. Radiant quests suck anyways.

East Boston Police Station¶

Return back up to Easy City Downs (ignore the road leading further south-east, you’ll explore down there later as part of the Brotherhood of Steel questline) and from Easy City Downs head west into the ruins of East Boston, which is fighting a losing battle with the Atlantic. Here you should find the East Boston Preparatory School, where Zeller - the raider who crossed the mayor of Bunker Hill - resides. Before you go messing with all that rubbish, however, continue east to find the East Boston Police Station. The building is in bad shape, but if you climb onto the ruins of the second floor and search a desk you’ll find Eddie Winter Holotape #6 .

East Boston Preparatory School¶

Now make your way back to the East Boston Preparatory School. There are two entrances to this building, some double doors on the front of the building (south) or a single door at the back of the building (north). You’re going to have to end up going to the same place either way, so it doesn’t make much difference which you choose. When you enter some Raiders will hear you and head off too their combat stations, which requires you to ascend up the building a bit. For now, you can explore the first floor, which contains little besides some junk and perhaps an odd Radraoch.

Surrounding the double doors on the southern side of the buidling you’ll find some stairs, which you’ll have to ascend if you want to reach anything fun in this place. Ascend two flights of stairs and go through some doorways to the west (disarming some Can Chimes as you do!) to find the first Raider strongpoint. Pick off any Raiders dumb enough to breath in your line of sight (they’ll wander around in waves, so if you stay out of sight you can easily pick off around half a dozen of them here.)

Once the Raiders have been smote, you have several rooms you can turn your attention to… but first, loot their bodies to find that they carry “Blood Contracts”. Seems “Judge Keller” has figured out one way to organize his goons. Through a doorway to the north, before the barricades, you’ll find a bathroom. Aside from an Overdue Book on a toilet and a sneaky Raider who may be waiting in ambush, there’s not much of interest in here. If you then go through a hole in the wall to the east you’ll find a theater, where another Raider lurks below you. Take him out, drop down and search the ground floor for a pair of Ammo Boxes. You can then exit out a chained door to the south to return to near the southern entrance to the building.

Well, that was redundant. Return upstairs to the barricades and enter any of the doors to the south to reach some interconnected classrooms that share two things in common; Raiders and Frag Mines. Make your way west into a chemistry lab, where you can find a Mini Nuke perched atop a Beaker Stand. Loot, then return back to the hallway and continue west to reach a T-intersection. Head south first and enter a classroom to the west, where you’ll likely find several Raiders. Dispose of them, then search a tiny recording studio to the south to find an Ammo Box, after which continue north through the classroom, looting a Overdue Book of a desk, and another from a smaller desk on an elevated platform. After that, make your way north into another classroom, where you’ll find a small closet with two more Ammo Boxes inside of it.

Make your way through a doorway to the east to return to the hallway again, then continue north to find some stairs. Ascend them and dispatch any Raiders guarding the stairs before you meet another wave of opposition in the hallway to the south. Exterminate them, then head west into some rooms, where make-shift prisons have been erected. Here wait the caravan survivors you were sent to rescue, and each cell door can be easily picked, as they have paltry [Novice] locks. If that’s too much bother for you, though, you can find some “Cell Keys” on a desk to the south, near a Terminal. Speaking of which, the two Terminals in this room talk about several potential recruits that Keller got his hands on. Anywho, free the prisoners, then leave the prisons.

Make your way east, then south into an office, where you’ll find Keller lurking. Gun him down (he’s surprisingly mundane, despite how ruthless he’s otherwise been made to seem) and kill any supporters he may have, then search behind a makeshift wall to the east to find a Steamer Trunk full of goodies and a First Aid Box. Once done, there’s one last bit of loot to score. Exit out via a doorway to the north and turn east, maneuvering around a hole in the floor and into another room to the south. Search the table with the two computers in the south-eastern corner of the room to find Astoundingly Awesome Tales #11 . Nice.

Leave East Boston Preparatory School and fast-travel back to Bunker Hill. South of the school you could find Boston Airport, but you’ll come here later as part of the Brotherhood of Steel questline, so it can wait until later. Talk to Kessler at Bunker Hill and the game will give you options to absorb Bunker Hill under the Minutemen banner, but she ultimately declines. Seems like you’ll have to do more work to convince her. Oh well.