Sandy Coves Convalescent Home¶

Back to the task of exploring the north-east! Fast-travel to the Museum of Witchcraft and travel north-east to find the Sandy Coves Convalescent Home. Before you head inside you can head south-east to find some shacks with various containers in them, including a Safe [Expert] in the one nearer the water. A third shack can be found on the shore west of Sandy Coves, where a random encounter may occur. Once those have been explored, head inside the Convalescent Home.

Inside, approach the front desk to be questioned by the Mr. Handy that’s still busy working as if the world never ended. Say what you will (you can pass a Speech check to get Gladys’s Room Key) then search the nearby Terminal [Novice] and read the “Lost Safe Key Reminders” entry to find out where all the old folks hid their safe keys. Sure enough, to the west you’ll find six locked safes that all require keys, although the only contain a few chems each. Select the entry [ > Security Door Control] to open the door to the west, beyond which you’ll find two First Aid Boxes, a Syringer Rifle and a Massachusetts Surgical Journal . That’s really the best loot you’ll find in this place, but if you don’t mind a scavenger hunt, you can still score some more mundane goodies. Check out the junk in the Book Return Machine back to the east, then turn north and pick the locked door [Novice] to a bathroom, beyond which you’ll find two Stimpaks, some Jet and a First Aid Box. Once done, head down a hallway to the north.

Head into the first room to the east and loot a Footlocker near the bed, then grab Mortimer’s Key on a shelf along the eastern wall. In the second room to the east you’ll find a hole in the wall to the north, which leads to another room, which you can exit to return to the hallway to get around some rubble blocking the way. Continue north a short distance and the hallway will fork. Turn east and go into the room to the north and search under some fertilizer to find Margaret’s Safe Key. In the bathroom of this room you can also find an Overdue Book and a First Aid Box.

Make your way back into the hallway again and continue west to find more rooms to the north. The first room you’ll come across has collapsed, but the rubble forms a ramp to a room upstairs. Ascend the ramp and turn west to find three cat bowls on the ground, under the middle one you’ll find Catherine’s Key. Return down the ramp and continue down the hallway to the west and enter the next room to the north to find Edward’s Key on a desk near a Typewriter. There’s also an Overdue Book on the Dresser nearby, while a second one can be found on the floor near the bed.

Return to the hallway yet again, then venture further west and ascend some stairs to the north. Once upstairs head down a hallway to the east (watch the hole in the floor!) and enter Gladys’s Room [Novice]. Gladys must have been… some kind of a patriot judging by the decorations in her room. She was also a nut, given the Frag Grenades on the floor near the bed. There’s also a Tunk full of goodies worth plundering. Leave the room and head down the hallway to the east, but ignore the rooms to the north and south and instead head down a hallway to the south. Maneuver around the hole in the floor and enter a room to the east, where you can find Ethel’s Safe Key on a Surgical Trail on the ground, under a Paintbrush. Next make your way through two holes in the wall to the south to reach another room and search the bed to find Randall’s Safe Key behind a pillow.

When you return to the hallway again, continue down the hallway and you’ll hear some more visitors arrive. Unfortunately the new guests happen to be Synths, and they don’t play well with the existing robots. They won’t be very fond of you if they find you, either. Kill them and return back down to the lobby, now that you have all the keys, and open the safes behind the counter.

Rook Family House¶

Leave the Convalescent Home and continue following the coast north-east. Nearby is the map marker for Salem, but you’ll get a fine excuse to explore it shortly. Instead, kill any Mirelurks you happen to come across until you see an unassuming house on a hill. As you approach, a man named Barney Rook will yell at you about some Mirelurks before opening a gate. Head through the gate, into the hatch and use a metal trapdoor under some stairs to reach the Basement, where Barney will be waiting. He’ll school you on Mirelurks, introduce his gun, Reba, and talk about the many hats he wears as the only apparent survivor of the Salem Volunteer Militia. After this he’ll whine about Mirelurks, who you’ve apparently roused, and will instruct you to reactivate some turrets. Haggle for a reward and he’ll promise to give you Reba’s younger sister, and who can turn down a unique weapon? For a more immediate reward, search a desk to the south to find a copy of Guns and Bullets , just waiting to pass on its murderous knowledge to you. Yum.

At the very least, this provides you with a better excuse to explore Salem, around which the turrets have been erected. Anywho, time for a scavenger hunt! From the Rook Family House head south to find a brick building with some wooden ramps leading to the roof. Climb up to the roof and kill any Mirelurks up here, then jump over the ruined wall of a white brick building. From here head up some stairs to the south-west to find a Terminal with a Bottlecap Mine nearby. Grab the mine, then interact with the Terminal, enter the password and power up the turret. One down, four to go. Head back downstairs and go through a hole in the wall to the south-east, then turn south-west to find the second Terminal and turret.

After the second terminal is up and running, jump off the roof near the turret and behold a church to the south-west. Circle around the church to the entrance, then head across the street to find turret and Terminal number three. Once done, head into the church, head up to the podium, and go up some stairs at the back of the church to reach the church tower, upon which you’ll find the fourth terminal. Leave the church and head north around the church to find some stalls, wherein you can find a bit of unimpressive loot. Cross the street to find the green front of an otherwise white brick building, whereupon you can find the final turret. Climb some stairs along the side of the building to reach the Terminal, stopping only to loot a Fat Man on a shelf nearby. You can also find a Safe [Master] behind the counter downstairs.

Once you’ve activated the fifth turret, return to Barney, who is almost a little too happy… but it’s hard to fault a man for enjoying the comfort of extra defenses when giant crabs are trying to kill you. He’ll give you Barney’s Key as a reward, with which you can open the blue door nearby and obtain Reba II , the gun he promised you. Be sure to grab the issue of Guns and Bullets before you leave, thoroughly loot the place, then murder Barney if you’re a sociopath and claim the original Reba . There’s not much of a point, however, as Reba doesn’t have a legendary property, like Reba II does.

Crater House¶

Well, Salem is secure, it’s time to move on. Follow the coast south from Salem and eventually you’ll come across the Crater House map marker. The house part is debatable, but the crater is apparent enough, this radioactive crater is occupied by Children of Atom, who will further irradiate you with their Gamma Guns. A Hazmat suit will make this fight trivial, but as long as you’re careful or willing to pop some RadAway you’ll be fine. Murder the cultists, then search their shacks for some scanty loot. In a shack to the south-east you can find a Trunk full of goodies and a Terminal [Novice] that talks about some tower nearby, which the crazy cultists seems a little too interested in. Probably should check that out, especially the bit about “heretics shall be made to participate in the Great Division”. In the south-western shack you can find an Ammo Box and a Safe [Expert]. To get the best loot in this place you’ll need to head to the ground level and enter a shack on the north-western edge of the crater, just outside of the water. In this shack you’ll find a table, with a copy of the Wasteland Survival Guide on top. Score.

Kingsport Lighthouse¶

Leave the crater and continue following the coast south and you should shortly see the tower in the distance the cultists talked about on their terminal. Approach to discover the Kingsport Lighthouse map marker, an area which consists of a house on a hill near the lighthouse. The house is occupied by some more Atom cultists who will do their best to introduce you to Atom using their Gamma Gun. Exterminate them, then head into the tower, where more Children of Atom can be found. Ascend the tower and exterminate every humanoid you find until you reach the top, where a Glowing One feasts on the corpse of one of the cult’s unfortunate victims. Undo the latch and extinguish the Glowing One, then loot a Steamer Trunk and pick a Mini-Nuke off the ground before heading down to the bottom of the tower and activating a Workshop. If you’ve been following the guide, there’s only one more settlement left to claim. Fortunately, Kingsport Lighthouse is a fairly generous location, aside from the useless cliffs and the house, there’s still enough room to build and plenty of settlement size to play around with.

Longneck Lukowskis Cannery¶

Develop your new settlement as you wish, then get back on the trail. The trail of what, you might ask? Of completionism, that’s what! Follow the coast west until you find Longneck Lukowski’s Cannery, which may have been marked for you during a random encounter with a poor settler whose tummy was suffering after purchasing some grub from this place. Maybe he just had a weak stomach? In any event, it’s worth exploring, if for no better reason than because… well, it’s there.

Before you head inside, circle around to the eastern end of the building to find some stairs up to the roof, then head up another flight of stairs to reach a locked room [Novice] atop the roof. Pick the lock to find some crafting components and Nuka-Cola beyond, as well as a Safe [Expert]. Once this place is looted, simply walk off the roof to the west and head inside via some blue double-doors.

Inside the factory you’ll find a lady in a Vault suit named Trader Rylee arguing with Theodore Collins. After they’re done, talk to Theodore first, as Rylee will storm out of the factory. Ask him about “People getting sick?” and he’ll try to talk down the grossness of his meat. Keep pressing him on the issue and he’ll admit that some Mole Rats are the cause of the problem, a problem you can help solve. Offer to do so and he’ll give you 50 Caps up front and the quest “Mystery Meat” will start.

Before you wander off in search of filthy Mole Rats, leave the factory and talk to Trader Rylee, who will tell you how Theodore got this factory running a while back, and has been distributing the stuff to various traders. Unfortunately, the crap has been making people sick, and she’ll complain about Theodore some more before pushing her wares on you. Ask her about her Vault suit and she’ll mark Vault 81 on your map (who comes all the way out here before going to Diamond City, though?). At this point you can ask her to work for you, which she’ll do if you merely ask her. It’s worth doing if you have a Trading Emporium built at a settlement, as she’s a top-notch trader.

After you’re done dealing with Rylee head back inside the factory and get to exploring the factory floor. There’s a good bit of junk you can pocket, but for the good stuff head up some stairs south of the conveyor belts, then turn west, then north up another two flights of stairs until you find some double doors. Enter the elevated shelter beyond to find a Terminal [Novice] which unlocks a nearby Security Door, beyond which you’ll find… a random gun. More interesting loot can be found if you continue west, then south until the structure terminates near a desk. On the desk you’ll find an copy of Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor and the Barter Bobblehead atop a ruined terminal. There’s also a Steamer Trunk nearby, as if the loot within can compare. This should be - if you’re following this guide - the final Bobblehead in the game.

Leave this elevated structure and make your way to the southern end of the building (go up some stairs or walk across the conveyor belt) to find an elevator leading down into the bowels of the structure, from whence the Mole Rat infestation emanates. Ride the elevator down and you’ll hear an announcement over the loudspeaker: Theodore screwed you. What a jerk! Oh well, now you have no choice but to fight your way through all the Mole Rats to get back to Theodore. Get off the elevator and continue west to find a Terminal, where Theodore has kept some logs. Seems Mole Rats were more of a boon than a burden to him, and the real problem he’s been facing (aside from unreliable pre-war tech) was… Ghouls. Eww… Use the terminal to open some nearby doors, beyond which is a yellow gate, and beyond that are some Ghouls playing dead.

Clear out the Ghouls in this first room, then head through a hole in the wall to the west, where more Ghouls lurk. Exterminate them, then cross some pipes to the south and continue west. Follow the linear tunnel until you reach another watery chamber, whereupon you should do yourself a favor and use V.A.T.S. to clear out any Ghouls hiding in the water. Once done, proceed to the north, into a hallway and shortly thereafter into a small chamber with some stairs leading down into water. Ghoul-filled water. Kill the shufflers, pop some Rad-X, and enter the water, turning north into a large pipe that’ll shortly fork. Kill the Ghouls in the dead-end to the north and further down the pipe to the east, then head down a passage to the south to reach another flooded chamber where more Ghouls lurk. Kill them, but be weary, as a Glowing One lurks on the ledge above and will work its way downstairs to reach you. Once they’re all dead ascend the stairs out of the water and breath a sigh of relief. Glowing Ones are always the bosses of Ghoul packs, so that should mean you’re done, right?

Not so much. Make your way east and loot a Duffle Bag, then turn south down a winding passage that deposits you at the top of some stairs leading down to another watery chamber where more Ghouls are soaking. Teach the Ghouls - which includes another Glowing One - a lesson about skinny-dipping in other people’s water, then wade through the foul water to the south to find… more tunnels! Go up some stairs and you’ll reach an elevated makeshift walkway connecting to a metal walkway. The north-western path leads to a turret busily guarding a dead-end, while the eastern path leads to a small room with some machinery containing a Fusion Core, just be wary of the Frag Mine nearby.

Navigate your way through a room full of machinery, then onto a large walkway leading sound. You can disarm a Laser Tripwire connected to a Makeshift Explosive to the east, but it just leads to an earlier part of the basement, which you don’t need to re-explore. Continue south and disable another Laser Tripwire, beyond which are two more explosives to navigate. After these obstacles you’ll reach some stairs, loot an Ammo Box to the east, then head up the stairs to reach a chamber where you can score a First Aid Box [Novice] and a Duffle Bag on a metal shelf. Loot, then head upstairs and deactivate a turret to reach a room where you’ll find the disgusting - but not unexpected - proof of what meat has really been going into Theodore’s product. Loot an Ammo Box on a cabinet, then go through a chained door to the north.

Theodore will speak to you when you reach the factory again and will decide that you must die for learning his secret. To facilitate this, he’s hiding out where the Bobblehead was earlier, you just need to ascend the factory steps and kill him. Unfortunately, the coward has collapsed the stairs that lead up there, so you’ll have to climb up the conveyor belt, then run north along another conveyor belt on the western side of the factory. Drop down onto the intact part of the walkway below and proceed to where Theodore is hiding. Kill him, and any of his robots that get in the way to end the quest. Be sure to grab the Longneck Lukowski Key off of him, then leave the factory.

Lynn Pier Parking¶

From the factory head south-west to find Lynn Pier Parking, which is not a terribly interesting location. You can often find some bug or another crawling around outside, but otherwise, it’s not very interesting. It does, however, serve as a good launching point for the next - and final - bout of exploration in the north-east.