Quite honestly, having a suit of Power Armor and 10+ Fusion Cores is the way to go before starting this quest. The more Fusion Cores the better of course, but 10+ will get you through this quest. You are going to have an exploration section after this mission where you may need more Fusion Cores. By now, however, this shouldn’t be an issue anymore. If you’re following along with the guide you should have over one hundred Fusion Cores, which is frankly enough to play the entire game in Power Armor. Not that you’d need to, of course. Technically, it is possible to do this quest with a Hazmat Suit as well. You just need to be much more careful as you travel as your damage resistance is virtually non-existent.

Once you are prepared for the trip (Power Armor/Hazmat Suit, Rad-X, RadAway, cleared inventory space, saved game) Fast Travel to the “Mass Pike Interchange” location, where you are going to start your journey from. You will be going south-west quite a ways, but start out by going south, following the interstate above you for a while. As you head south, near the small white structure (a mausoleum) there is a Mirelurk King lurking nearby and a Mirelurk Egg oddly placed on an altar. Weird. From here, head south to reach the “Electrical Hobbyist’s Club”.

Electrical Hobbyists Club¶

This is a very fun area. Note that there is some radiation here, so take some Rad-X and head to the back where you will find a door. Head in and be careful of the Laser Trip Wires on the right. There are two of them. This place is full of traps, so be wary. Head forward to an open room and watch the floor on the right for a bathroom scale (near the table) and disarm it and the Tesla Arc on the table. There is also a Frag Mine further in you can disarm. This room leads to a hallway with Laser Tripwires. You can take each of them out one at a time for some XP and to not have the turret here shoot at you. Note that there is a lock [Master] on the east side, but it just leads out to the wastes. instead, head down into the cellar here.

Once you are in the cellar, disarm the tripwire on the stairs (it shoots a missile which is crazy!). There is an Assaultron down here as well, so take it out after disarming the wire. There is yet another bathroom scale down here that needs disarming. After clearing out this first room, check the toolbox on the north side for an Overdue Book (nice!). There is also a Bobby Pin Box on the north-west table. Continue to the back of the room now and look for another trip wire in the doorway and disarm the laser trip wire on the shelf (these trigger a bomb and a turret; you can take it out anyway). The table here is quite notable as it has a total of three Holotapes: the “Hobby Club Message MAR15”, “Hobby Club Message MAR28” and the “Hobby Club Message APR21”. You can also check out the terminal here, but you have little use for it at this point. The tapes are worth listening to… wonder if he ever did leave?

Continue following the freeway south and eventually you will find a pair of houses, where a random encounter may occur. Deal with whatever you find here, loot the houses, then continue to head south. As soon as you go south a ways you will note that your objective changes, going from south to south-west, the far southwest corner of the map, to be precise. This is the mark that you are officially approaching the “Glowing Sea”.

You are going to stop off at several locations along the way to your objective… but not everywhere. After this mission, you will finish exploring the Glowing Sea, so stick with us. This is also the point where you should put on your Hazmat Suit and/or your Power Armor. Walking around uses up Fusion Cores, but fast-traveling does not. The Glowing Sea is a bit rougher than most things you’ve been through until now, as you will often see Deathclaws out here, which as you know can be very tough. There is the chance of Legendary Deathclaws as well, which are even tougher. Other than that, you are mainly looking at Radscorpions or Feral Ghouls and other radioactive pests.

Federal Supply Cache 84NE¶

Head west/south-west quite a distance, skirting a lake and being careful of enemies along the way. Eventually you will come to the location and discover the “Federal Supply Cache 84NE”. First of all there are some inactive Machine Gun Turrets on the outside that you can kill easily so go ahead and do so. Head inside now and loot the various goodies in this small army outpost. Note that there are two Protectron Units here. You can actually activate them by using a nearby circuit breaker, but they turn hostile (easy XP as they are under-levelled). This circuit breaker also turns on the lights and turrets. Inside this outpost is also a terminal [Expert] that opens the security door nearby that leads to some goodies and a Weapon Crafting station.

Abandoned Shack¶

Continue on traveling south/southwest until you discover the “Abandoned Shack” as you continue. Head inside and check the suitcase here “Bill’s Suitcase” to find the “Installation K-21B Key” and the “Evacuation Plan”. With the key in hand, you can open the nearby hatch and enter the installation properly.

Installation K-21B¶

Head on in and you’ll see this installation is… done for. Skeleton at the first guard post. Not a good sign. Check the desk here though for the “Employee 011985TP Personal Log” for a good re-cap and head on into the big room beyond. In here there are a few Synth enemies below you, but for how big this place is there aren’t very many enemies at all.

Head down the stairs on the left to the second floor and then around to the stairs to the first floor (loot whatever you wish along the way). The good stuff is really down on the first floor. First of all there is a circuit-breaker down here that you need to use to power up the nearby elevator. Check to the left of the big terminal/computer here to find a terminal [Novice] and a safe [Advanced] down and to the right. You can use this terminal to activate the elevator and shut down the two Protectrons (a bit unnecessary, but oh well). The two big prizes down here are the U.S. Covert Operations Manual to the left of the terminal and the Power Armor in the corner. Might as well take it back home, then return for your suit of Power Armor. You can now easily take the elevator up to the world map, which drops you off just outside of the “Abandoned Shack”, which is properly re-named “Federal Surveillance Center K-21B” on the map now.

Forgotten Church¶

If you look you should see that you are on the far west boundary of the map… and yet there is a church icon to the west. This is your next destination, but be wary, as it’s highly likely you’ll encounter a Deathclaw on your way there. Head west over rough terrain and soon you will discover the location as the “Forgotten Church”. Probably was forgotten because it’s half-buried in radioactive sludge. You can, however, get inside thanks to a hole on the roof. Follow the ramp downward and as a reward for going down here you will find a Steamer Trunk. That is it… a bit disappointing, Head back (or Fast Travel) to the “Installation K-21B location after you’ve added this Forgotten Church to the map.

Cave¶

You are going a bit out of your way now for this next location on the map, but not by much. Head east (slightly south-east) and make your way to the cave icon on the map. Along the way watch out for Deathclaws and Radscorpions. This cave is next to a destroyed Red Rocket building that has a locked Safe [Master] in it by the way (unlock it if you can or come back later). The cave icon turns into the “Cave” location as soon as you find it (such a clever name!) and is thoroughly un-noteworthy. You can head through it to see for yourself if you wish, but it is a rather short underground romp.

Capsized Factory¶

Up next it’s time to head south-west (closer to your objective), aiming for the factory-looking icon on the map; the “Capsized Factory”. However as you approach it (from the north) you can hang left and head inside the broken wall. This path leads to a catwalk above the factory floor. Now, down here are a ton of Ghouls, but you can get in some kills from up here. Just be ready for them to run up the stairs enmasse once you start shooting and save your VATS for when you really need it. If you are going the “Hazmat Suit” route, this is a hard fight so be sure to quicksave at least, especially after the initial Ghoul-slaughter is over with. Head down the stairs and note the room to the south, Inside of which is a Glowing One that’ll come down from the ceiling and another Ghoul who will crawl out from the right. Take them out as they emerge to help kill them faster, then loot the two rooms down here for some rad medicine and a Safe [Advanced]. Follow the other set of stairs up to another hallway for some more goodies and an exit to this factory.

Atlantic Offices¶

Onward on your path of discovery and search for Vergil! Your next stop is nearby, just to the west. Head over there to find the “Atlantic Offices”, yet another location that has been utterly devastated by the nuclear fallout. There are Ghouls in this location as well, just so you’re prepared. Head down and kill the normal Ghouls you find and check the room on the left for a hole in the floor guarded by some Laser Tripwires. Disarm them and fall down, killing three more Ghouls and coming across an elevator.

Take the elevator and kill the levelled Ghoul when you disembark, after which you can find a door with a lock [Novice] and a Safe [Advanced] by searching around, but you will eventually make your way to the rooftop which has the big “prize” for this area; a Fusion Core. Well, that will help with the Power Armor at least. You will need to jump down from the roof to leave; just do it where there isn’t a big fall and you’ll be fine.

Decayed Reactor Site¶

From the Atlantic Offices you need to continue south-west. You are heading to the circle icon on the map, which is a bit of a trek so be ready for all sorts of monsters on the way and save before going. After a good trek, you will eventually come across this map location to discover the “Decayed Reactor Site”. Like many of your locations, there isn’t much to this area. There is a small office area that claims the reactor is about to have a meltdown (which, as you know, isn’t really a concern at this point - the surrounding environment really can’t get more irradiated…). The small office area doesn’t have much in it, but there are also the two circular reactor areas outside. The nearby one has a great chance of having a Deathclaw sleeping in it by the way, so be ready if you want to go explore it. There is actually a “Child of Atom” dead in the middle, with a Gamma Gun, but that is the best thing in either of these circle areas, which is a poor prize for fighting a Deathclaw.

Crater of Atom¶

You are getting close to the end of your journey, promise. Vergil has really gone out of his way to not be found… but not far enough to deter a devoted parent. From the Decayed Reactor Site, head south-east, towards the objective. As you get closer you’ll see the landmark is a nuclear symbol and, as you approach it (which may take some climbing to do), you will see… a settlement?! You have come across the “Crater of Atom”, where the Children of Atom worship the glow. If you’ve played Fallout 3, you may be familiar with these kooks, but here they are at the center of a detonation and apparently they aren’t affected… which is more than curious.

As you explore this small area, you will be talked to by the Mother (who is located to the south in the large wooden shack, who will greet you and ask what you are doing here. She does have a speech check by the way, so save and prepare for that if you wish. Ask her about Vergil (which you may need to do twice and there is a chance for that speech check) and she will tell you that Vergil has indeed traded with them and is located in a cave far to the south-west. Before you leave this area though, head up to the second floor of Mother’s House for the skill book Astoundingly Awesome Tales . This particular issue allows you to “Do +5% damage against Ghouls”, which is quite nice.

Decrepit Factory¶

And so, your objective gets pushed even further south, past the map bounds. Boundaries are meant to be broken though, right? There is one location between your destination and the Crater though, so go ahead and continue to the south-west and aim for the factory icon. It isn’t too far away, to be honest. Once you get there you will uncover the “Decrepit Factory”, which has little of interest aside from the map marker itself. You can search around to find some chems and some minor loot, but this factory is essentially buried underground and is just good for the XP for discovering it.

There is now nothing between you and your goal. Head south, south-west towards the cave icon, being wary of baddies along the way. The big thing to note here is that there is very likely a Deathclaw lurking outside of the cave (it may be sleeping). Take it out and keep heading to your marker and you will discover the “Rocky Cave”, which is your destination. Go ahead and enter.

Rocky Cave¶

In here you will want to put on your Charisma gear and quicksave. Head inward and disarm all the Can Chimes. Don’t hurt the turrets here, as they are friendly. Head inside and you’ll meet Virgil who is actually a Super Mutant (well, given this radiation, he’d either have to be a mutie or a zombie to survive). You will have to first convince Vergil you are not from the Institute and then convince him to help you. There are two speech checks to try here when it comes to why you want to get into the Institute, but eventually Virgil will agree to help you if you help him (which you should agree to; he really isn’t asking for much).

Virgil will quiz you on how people get into the Institute and will be surprised you know as much as you do. Virgil will then share the true missing info though: the Institute’s advanced hunter units, the Courser, has the key to entering the Institute via a special chip he has. Virgil directs you to the C.I.T. and tells you how your Pip-Boy can be used to locate one, although he severely doubts you can take one out. He doesn’t know you very well.

And with that, the mission is officially complete. After the mission is done, wait a few seconds and the next main mission, “Hunter/Hunted” begins. Before you leave, be sure to search Virgil’s small cave for some “Super Mutant Bracers” (for Strong, although you will have to steal them) and the Tesla Science magazine. Very nice! Before messing around with a Courser, however, it’s time to explore the rest of The Glowing Sea.