University Point¶

First stop on the way is University Point, which is south of Andrew Station, and can be reached by following the coast from The Castle west, then south. Along the way you may find an unmarked dockside warehouse filled with Mirelurks, but aside from some crab meat, there’s nothing of interest along the way. When you arrive at University Point you’ll find out that this entire city has been wiped out by Synths… Synths who still linger about in the ruins. Be ready to take down a number of leveled Synth enemies in the courtyard, and be especially careful of the Cyro Mines spread out on the ground and utilize the houses on the left for cover. Note that there is also a Synth on a roof to the east that needs to be shot down before you are completely safe outside.

Once the place is safe to explore, check out the houses to the left (north) for various junk. Of note here is the item “Sylvia’s Holotape” in the toolbox in a house, which is not where you usually find holotapes (kind-of weird). Listen to the holotape if you wish, then loot a safe [Expert] nearby. After looting the houses multiple floors, head to the south side of town. Over here you can find another house with a [Novice] locked door on the left that leads outside of town (a good shortcut, really), but before checking out the house, note that to the right of the house (on the corner of the building) you can find a door leading to the “University Credit Union”, which you’ll get back to, shortly. Head back to the house now and you will want to head up to the third floor here to find the “Mayor’s Terminal” and read everything on it, One of the log entries (the middle one) will give you “Gerald’s Vault Password”, which you will need coming up in a bit. This terminal also has the “University Point Council Meeting” Holotape you can eject.

Head down to the lower floor now and on the west side you’ll see a door heading to the “University Credit Union” (which you’ve been to before). Hack the [Novice] terminal and enter. You are in the back of the Credit Union now, so be sure to loot the area for plenty of Pre-War Money (excellent!) and head downstairs. Open the door here and then use the “Gerald’s Vault Password” you got earlier on the terminal. This leads to a room full of safes. Unfortunately, most of them are open but you can find three still locked which lets you pick two [Master] Safes and one [Advanced] Safe.

By now everybody should be able to pick [Master] locks. After all that exploring, all the levels you’ve gained, there’s really no excuse. If you haven’t, however, be sure to to come back here later. Anywho, open the Safes to find that one of these [Master] Safes has a button in it. A bit weird, right? Push it to open up the wall nearby and find a secret lab. This lab is alluded to more in the next area that you’ll be exploring, but you can inspect the lab to find the unique weapon Prototype UP77 “Limitless Potential” . Quite cool! This gun doesn’t need to reload, but it still requires ammo so pick up the cells nearby to stock up a bit and exit the building once you are done.

You’re still not done with this area however, as there is another building to explore (although admittedly, you already have the “big prize” of this area, but there is a skill magazine coming up at least). Head east to the building that is sinking into the bay and you will find you can enter it to explore “University Point: Sedgwick Hall”.

University Point: Sedgwick Hall¶

This place is a three-story area that has Synths scattered throughout. They also have quite a few locked doors in an effort to make you explore their way, but you can bypass a lot of this with lockpicking skills. On the first floor you can check out the bathrooms but be careful of the last stall (it is booby trapped with a Tension Trigger). To the south on the lower floor you can find a “Student Records Terminal” which doesn’t tell you a whole lot but nearby is a [Master] locked door. If you can pick this it will lead into the Dean’s Room where you can check out the “Deans Terminal”. You can unlock the nearby safe with the terminal if you want or just pick the [Expert] locked safe for the XP (it is on the wall by the desk). There’s a First Aid Box on the wall here as well.

Now, really quick, let’s go over the general layout. That Dean’s Room has an [Advanced] door and outside the Dean’s Room is a [Master] door. Both of these doors lead to the back portion of the building which is what can be called the “Mirelurk Area”. You can also reach this area from the second floor as well. Let’s go explore the second floor first really quick. Head up there using the stairs and kill off the Synth in the room to the left. The north-west room has a [Novice] locked Ammo Box, but head into the “Tools” room to find plenty of useful junk as well as “Gerald’s Terminal”, which is a [Novice] lock but has some good back-story on the town. Be sure to check the the shelves by the terminal as well for “Gerald’s Barricade Key”, which actually opens the expert-locked door on the first floor. There is a [Novice] locked Toolbox in this room as well.

Back outside you will find the middle door is an [Expert] lock but head past it and check “Jacq’s Terminal” for more back-story. You can eject “Jacq’s Holotape” from this terminal as well. Now, another way into the “Mirelurk Area” is here as you can open the elevator door (via the terminal) and drop down into the area. You can also hack that expert door you passed to find a room with junk that also drops you off into the Mirelurk area. Let’s go ahead and head there now, using the elevator (or any other way you want to get there really… up to you). Kill the Mirelurks and Hatchlings you find (from the eggs). In the open room you will likely find a Glowing Mirelurk, which is a bit tougher than the normal ones but there is plenty of space to run around in down here. Head south up the rubble to a hole in the wall (the west path leads to the second floor expert-locked door) to reach a second area full of Mirelurk Eggs and a couple of Mirelurks (two of them). Take them out from above if you can.

This second room has a ramp leading up to a cafe area. There are two Synths in here for you to take out if they are hostile to you. There is a door on the right up here (with nothing but junk) but the shelves past that have a locked [Novice] toolbox on the shelves. Head upstairs and east to the upper floors area. Up here there are a ton of broken floors, so be careful where you step. Head north to the Professor’s Room where you will fight a Synth Leader who has two Synths nearby as back-up. Remember to take out the leader’s arms to neuter him and take them out. Inside the room you can find a Steamer Trunk, a Mini Nuke under the desk and a Duffle Bag, which has “Jacq’s Note” inside it. You can check out the Professor’s Terminal here as well.

Exit the room and head right now (west) and unchain the door to reach the other side. To the left up here is an [Advanced] locked door leading to a room with a skeleton and liquor (which is kind-of depressing…). Further on is a door leading back to The Commonwealth. Skip it and head north to a Cooking Station and a room on the right, where you can find a copy of the skill magazine Tesla Science in the back (by the light). And with that you’ve found every item of note in this place, so go ahead and exit the hall so you can continue your exploration.

Jamaica Plain¶

Leave University Point and travel south-east to find Jamaica Plains. Jamaica Plains is a fairly interesting town, and by the end of this section it’s virtually guaranteed it will leave an impression on you! There is also a good chance that you’ve got this location through a Miscellaneous Quest called “Find the Treasure of Jamaica Plains” or through one of the game’s many Radiant Quests (the Minutemen love to send you here). Before you explore the town properly though, you’ll first need to clear it out as it is chock-full of Ghouls (you may find some Yao Gaui to the north of town as well, just so you know).

Head through town however you wish and take care of the local Ghoul Problem. It is easy to spot them with VATS, but many are hidden in houses and lying down so making noise may be the best way to get them out in the open (where you can take them down as they run at you or use the many cars in the area to trip-up the Ghouls). You can also use the cars as improvised explosive devices by shooting and blowing them up if there are a number of Ghouls around it. In particular, be sure to clean out any houses you can actually get into, especially the Town Hall house on the west side of town.

Now that the town is Ghoul-free you can explore in peace. Starting at the north-east house (the direction you came from if you came from University Point) you can find the door to the garage is [Novice] locked, even though you can walk around it. Head to the north-west now to loot the diner area for some good pre-war cash. South-west of the north-east house is a two-story light-blue house. Head upstairs in it to find a couple of dead character’s named Ken and Tanya who held out up here for awhile (suppose that explains the string of dead Ghouls leading right to their bodies). Go ahead and loot both of them to find the “Jamaica Plain Archives Key” (which will be important), the “Ken’s Invitation” Holotape and a “Torn Journal Page”. Ken and Tanya are part of a team who came to town to find the treasure, and you’ll be “meeting” their team-mates in a bit.

Head outside now and head to the east side of town, where you should find a bunch of cement barriers blocking the road out. Leaning up against the barrier out here is another team member, Carl Everett. Be sure to loot him for the “Jamaica Plain Town Hall Key” and “Carl’s Log”. You can read about the raid team with this log to learn a bit more about the team members.

Next up check out the house just to the west. Inside it you can find a [Novice] terminal that controls the Protectrons nearby. Hack it if you wish. From here head to the south-east house (the red house - be careful of Ghouls) and check the lower level for a [Novice] locked suitcase. Go up to the top floor now (loot along the way) and you’ll find that this path leads to the nearby church. Heh… head to the bell tower first to find an ammo box and then go down the steps. Of the two upper walkways here the left side has a gun trap and tripwire along the way, but it is facing away from us. Head to the upper floor past the walkway to find a broken safe with some goodies, then head down to the lower level. You will find Luke Silverhand down here, another team member, so be sure to loot him for the “Silverhand’s Note” item and more importantly the “Jamaica Plain Mayor’s ID”. Once you have those items, use the Cooking Station if you wish and un-chain the church door to get back outside.

Continue on to the southwest part of town to find a bus and the town hall building beyond it. Check the bus quickly for a [Novice] locked suitcase, then head on to town hall. Hopefully you cleared it out already, as there is always several Ghouls inside. Head inside to the back to find the “Mayor’s Terminal” which has an [Expert] lock. You don’t have to hack this actually, as the password for it is nearby but as always it is good XP if you do. Hacking the terminal lets you open the nearby [Expert] wall safe if you want, although you can just pick that for more XP. Alternately you can get around doing any work by heading upstairs and finding Sal, another raid team member, who has the “Jamaica Plain Mayor’s Password” for the terminal, as well as “Sal’s Holotape”. Grab both of those items, get the terminal and safe however you wish, and head to the first floor and down the stairs on the south side to the “Jamaica Plain Town Hall Basement” which you can open with the “ Jamaica Plain Town Hall Key“ you got earlier.

Jamaica Plain Town Hall Basement¶

You’re getting closer to this fabled treasure! Head inward to find the “Janitor’s Terminal” in a room up ahead. Check it out if you wish, then head north to a meeting room area. To the right is a console and a hallway full of laser trip-wires, but before you mess with that head back to the meeting room and note that on the left of the room is a door you can open with the “Jamaica Plains Archive Key”. Inside you can find an [Expert] locked safe and another copy of the key to the room, as well as a tunnel leading onward. Now, there are a number of ways you can do this section. The “easy path” is by having that Archive Key, as the room leads back through a tunnel to your destination: a console and vault (be sure to unlock the [Novice] locked large toolbox on your way!). However, you can also take the eastern door and find the “Jamaica Plain Janitor’s ID” on the console. You can use this thing and the card reader to turn off the lasers and continue that way if you want. It leads back to the same area. A third option is to save and disarm every single laser trip-wire. This is tempting as you will get a LOT of fiber optic parts doing this but you must save as one wrong trip will make these laser turrets rip you apart in seconds. Seriously, these are some high-grade turrets: you can hardly hurt them and they shoot scattered lasers, delivering death in seconds. Definitely quicksave if you plan to disarm the lasers.

No matter how you get back to the back console, you can hack the [Expert] security terminals on the left and right of the vault door by the Protectrons (for the XP), then go check the terminal in the middle. With the “Jamaica Plain Mayor’s Password” you can log in easily and open the vault door. Head inside and hit the button to open the room and you’ll be treated to the treasure room! And… it is a time capsule! Heh, go figure! Still, there are a couple things here worth noting. On the table in the middle you can find the “The Treasures of Jamaica Plain” and “Treasures Inventory” Holotapes as well as the “Holotape Instructions” file. The only other item worth noting is thev“Sports“ display on the right as you enter, as it has the legendary weapon the “2076 World Series Baseball Bat” , which has a chance of launching enemies when you hit them. All the rest of the items in here are junk, so grab what you wish and then exit, as you are now done with Jamaica Plains. A time capsule as a treasure… Grrr….

Kid in a Fridge¶

Anyways, you’re done with Jamaica Plains. Return to University Point and let’s keep exploring down south from there. Head south from University Point (use the door shortcut from earlier) and follow the road south. You will find a destroyed building on the left up ahead and, as you approach it, you will hear a voice call out to you. Wha..!? Someone nearby is stuck? Equip your CHR gear here and go inspect the nearby fridge. You can pass a easy speech check here to learn that there is a kid named Billy inside the fridge asking you to let him out. Now, this just screams “Trap!”, but go ahead and agree to help him, which means shooting the fridge door to open it up. This officially starts the “Kid in a Fridge” quest.

Talk to Billy once he is out and you can see how he survived. Two-Hundred years stuck in a fridge. Amazing. Here you can get two moderate speech checks as you talk to him involving his parents, but it is worth noting that “moral” character companions will dislike it if you tell him his parents are dead. In the end, Billy will ask you to take him to his house in Quincy to try and find his parents so agree to do so and you’ll have a Ghoul kid companion for awhile.

Before you continue on head south-west across the road to a pond. This pond is special as it actually has a suit of Power Armor in it (likely scaled to your level). You can enter the pond and equip it (a bit weird), so use it now if you want or otherwise drop it off at one of your settlements. When you’re done, continue to head south to find the next icon on the way (the pond icon), which marks Neponset Park.

Neponset Park¶

This isn’t a big area, so you’ll be done quickly here. This recreation area is home to a few Mirelurks living near the water. Take any of them out with sneak attacks if you can and then clean up the rest that show up. One of the houses here also has an [Advanced] door lock you can pick to find a Steamer Trunk with various goodies and a “Personal Terminal you can read to witness the struggles of a failed would-be author. The other house is open to anyone but has some Mirelurk Eggs so watch out for Hatchlings. There is also an Ammo Box out in the boat near the dock (near a Cooler) that you can grab. That’s all for this area, go ahead and head south-west next to the town icon, which will turn into Hyde Park as you get close.

Hyde Park¶

Hyde Park is a destroyed town that is occupied by raiders. As usual, before you explore this place you will need to clear it out of enemies. Approaching from the northeast means you’ll run into a broken house and warehouse before entering the city itself, which is half-submerged in water. If you have any snipping skills, you can start the fighting by picking off whoever you can, after which loop around to the west and enter the broken house with the ramp you find there, being wary of Frag Mines along the way.

There are some potentially tough enemies to be fought here (especially if you’ve gained some levels as they level up with you). This first house you entered also has a Raider named “Scutter”. Clear this first house (upstairs is a great snipping/overlook spot - note the mine sitting by the Ammo Box up here!) and make your way west to a rooftop, then south to another multi-floored house. Clear out this house as well, being careful of the tight quarters. Make your way to the top of this house where a wooden structure is built and take out the Raiders you find. Once you’ve cleared these two houses, the entire area should be clear.

This southern house is the tallest and has the area’s treasures on top of it. You can check inside the wooden structure for a Steamer Trunk, a [Novice] locked suitcase, an Ammo Box, and the “Signed, Your Neighbors” note on the mattress. More importantly, to the right in the half-shelter area, is a copy of the skill magazine “Grognak The Barbarian”, sitting on the safe behind the chair. It’s also sitting on a [Novice] locked Safe as well, so… bonus! You can also head down the pathway nearby to find another Ammo Box. Explore the buildings here for various junk (and drugs - there is a dead settler as well) and then you’ll continue your exploration journey.

Behemoth in the Swamp¶

There are areas to the south-east and south-west. Quincy lies to the south-east, but first, let’s explore a few areas to the south-west. You’ll never find another excuse to go down there, since Gunner’s Plaza has already been explored and all. First up head into the swamps to the west (and slightly south) to find a Super Mutant Behemoth lurking between Hyde Park and Gunners Plaza. It’s still a fairly uncommon foe, although not quite the threat it used to be. Once it’s dead, find it’s camp to score a Steamer Trunk, then continue east, south-east to find Suffolk County Charter School.

Suffolk County Charter School¶

As soon as you head into the school, immediately start sneaking! You’ll want a medium to long range suppressed weapon here, so pick one out and head forwards a bit. Jangles, the proximity-triggered monkey, will alert the place and call several Ghouls to your position that you can easily pick off one at a time. From here, head to the right and kill the Ghoul lying down in the middle of the area. You can find an Overdue Book on the counter here as well as some weird-looking “Food Paste”. Anybody here brave enough to eat that? Didn’t think so. The terminal here does nothing, by the way. Head north into the office and a Ghoul will come from under the desk. Take it out. On the desk is the “School Announcements Oct 18th”Holotape, which is about the paste the school is serving everyone (Note that the Ghouls are note-ably pinkish looking). Use the “Principle’s Terminal” next for some of the story with the paste (they did it for funding - go figure) and then you can either use the terminal to open the Safe on the wall or just pick the [Expert] lock yourself.

Head back to lobby now and check to the south for the bathrooms, as their is a First Aid Box inside one of them. Now to continue note that you can’t head up to the 2nd floor from the lobby (as you once could) as the stairs are broken, so you’ll need to take one of these hallways. Let’s take the south-west one first.

This hallway has three classrooms alongside it: two on the left, one on the right. The left ones are connected together and up near the teacher’s desk are two Ghouls. Kill them off and check the desk for, yep… more Food Paste! Ugh. You can read “Mr. Davidson’s Terminal” here to learn that he was against it at least! The other classroom on the right doesn’t have anything of note, but does have a pupil still in his chair ready to learn! Continue on down the hallway and you’ll have some more classrooms on the left after the turn north. The first door on the left has a Ghoul under the desk and three more off to the right. Take them out and explore the two classrooms for various junk. Also note that out in the hallway along the right-hand side is a [Novice] locked supply closet. Continue to the north where the path will split: off to the west is another alternate exit to The Commonwealth, so hang a right.

This room has a couple Ghouls in it (one just to the right after the door) so take them out. This seems to be an assembly area. Note the hole leading downward, but first check the podium nearby for the “School Announcements Oct 20th” Holotape. Check the north-west corner now for a [Novice] locked door beyond which you’ll find a kitchen. Kill the Ghoul inside, then search the kitchen to find an Overdue Book . Once done, head back out and unlock the chained door to the east, which leads back to the lobby. You can activate the Protectron here with a [Novice] terminal, but he really isn’t needed (you want the XP!). Back in the assembly area, head through the southern doors and kill the two Ghouls you’ll find. Note the machine here. Ugh. Head back out and down the slope in the floor now.

Time to explore the basement. Head down the stairs and into a room with a lantern. You will want to sneak here now, as there are multiple Ghouls in the next room that you can sneak attack. Go ahead and clear the basement out, as there are about seven Ghouls all together down here. You’ll end up to the west, by an “exit” sign, but check the south-west corner for a Fusion Core. Head back east a bit and follow the wall partition south to find a locked room (along with a [Novice] locked wooden crate). The door is a mag-lock, but to the right is an [Expert] terminal you can hack to open it. The prize here is an Overdue Book and a Stealth Boy. Get them if you can and head back to the north-west, following the pathway to an elevator. Take it up.

Head up the stairs you find to the second floor. Up here on the left is an [Expert] lock leading to a small room with a Radroach inside. Collect the junk here if you wish but grab the Overdue Book from the desk. Continue to the area over-looking the assembly hall and the entrance (there is another lunchbox on the floor on the way). The double doors you find to the right are locked, so head past them to the corner and follow it around to the hallway behind them. Back here there is a [Novice] locked door on the left that leads to an un-interesting classroom. You can hug the left wall to reach a science lab as well, where you can kill a Radroach in the back and craft some chems if you want. There isn’t much here, really. Now, the main event, the double doors. Open them and jump into the room, getting a close hard-hitting weapon ready. Several Ghouls will rise up, but the one of note is the Putrid Glowing One coming in from the right. Kill off the lower-level Ghouls first and leave him for last. He will be a ton tougher, but you can use the turned-over bookcases here to force him to chase you (saving up AP in the meantime). Take him out to clear the area.

Well, time to loot this area. The really only thing of note (besides the big score) in this room is the Book Return Terminal, which gives out the following prizes:

Pretty crappy prizes, to be honest. Best to save these books for the Boston Public Library. But now it is time for the big prize: check the corner with the broken terminal for the “School Announcements Oct 22nd” Holotape, a Steamer Box, and near the holotape a copy of the skill magazine Unstoppables . Not bad! You have nothing left to do in this school building, so go ahead and exit now.

Pre-War Tech in the Swamp¶

From the school, head south and you will see some machinery just… sitting out here for some reason. You can find a door here that once you open you will see a red skull face staring right at you and telling you “You look nice today!!”. That’s nice, but you just unleashed an “Annihilator Sentry Bot Mk. II”, a level 60 foe that is now bent on your destruction. This enemy is weaker against energy weapons if you have it, but like most sentinel-type enemies you can aim for its Miniguns to help protect yourself. You can also kite the enemy around the structures here to protect yourself as well. Once it is dead, head to the south-west and search for a downed vertibird (just north-west of a ruined house in the marsh). Here you’ll find some Power Armor sitting out here waiting for you… and who doesn’t need more Power Armor? Dispose of the Mister Gutsy robot guarding the wreck, then haul your fancy new armor somewhere.

Murkwater Construction Site¶

Only one more stop left before you make your way to Quincy. From Suffolk County Charter School head south-east, but try to approach stealthily, as a Mirelurk Queen awaits you at the Murkwater Construction Site. This is your challenge to take over this area: take out the Mirelurk Queen. If you have a high-power sniper rifle it is put to great use here, and by now, Mirelurk Queens should have few tricks to pull on you. Get in your sneak attacks first and use whatever critical hits you have to put the monstrosity down. If anything, keep on the move and try to dodge its acidic shots as you continue to damage it, using the houses nearby for cover. Once you have killed off the Mirelurk Queen, check the house here for a Workshop. Interact with it and you will gain the Murkwater Construction Site as a settlement. With that done, it’s time to move on to Quincy. Fast-travel to Hyde Park, then head south-east and to discover the “Quincy Quarries” area.