You are Courier Six, a humble delivery person trying to make a living in the post-apocalyptic Mojave. After one fateful delivery goes horribly wrong you are nursed back to health in the town of Goodsprings. Your only motivations? Find the men who shot and robbed you. Along the way you’ll become tangled in the politics brewing in the inhospitable wasteland that is Nevada. An army of tribes emulating antiquity from Arizona seeks to cross the Colorado and expand into Nevada, while the over-stretched New California Republic tries to maintain its tenuous grasp on the region.

The battleground is Hoover Dam. Whoever controls this functional pre-war relic controls its electricity, and hence, they control Nevada. Of course, the natives aren’t going to remain docile while the two super-powers duke it out; escaped convicts, chem-addicted raiders, fiercely independent tribals and the local towns all have their own motivations… and then there’s the enigmatic Mr. House, the overlord of the shining Jewel of the Mojave, New Vegas. Will the NCR’s corrupt democracy spread to the Mojave? Will Caesar and his army of slavers bring their brand of harsh justice across the Colorado? Will Mr. House access forgotten pre-war tech to keep New Vegas independent? Or will an exceptionally ambitious Courier play all sides and perhaps find their own brow fit for a crown?

Fallout: New Vegas is a game where choices abound, where your actions have repercussions. Depending on how you interact with certain NPCs, how you resolve quests, and most importantly, who you shoot, you will change how different factions perceive you. Become hated by a faction and you won’t be invited to help them further their position in the Mojave. Work for one side, and their post-game fate might end up more positive. Since this game is about choice, an unconnected, quest-based walkthrough just won’t do, nor would blindly running around completing quests with no heed to their consequences or context. Instead, in this guide you’ll proceed through the Mojave in an ideal chronological order. Different quest solutions will be given, but mainly a path to cultivate good-will amongst as many factions as possible will be provided, so when it comes time to choose (a choice that will be delayed as long as possible), you will be free to shape the future of the Mojave as you wish.

How you get along with the inhabitants of the Mojave is an important part of the game, but so too is how you handle the wildlife… and the less friendly inhabitants of the Mojave you’ll come across. When trying to scurry around the feet of giants and create the figurative omelette that is New Vegas’s future, you’re going to have to break a few eggs. A character creation mini-guide will help ensure that you’re the best egg-breaker in the Mojave, that your omelette recipe is the one that ends up on the table, and that you don’t get too much egg shell in your breakfast. Bad metaphors aside, the character creation mini-guide will provide comprehensive advice for making the most dangerous, most versatile Courier you can, able to navigate the treacherous waters of dialogue, endure the rigors of simple survival in a post-apocalyptic desert, and slay even the meanest foes in the Mojave. Knowing what to do doesn’t help much if your character isn’t capable of doing it, right?

And now that everybody is hungry for omelettes (stupid metaphor!) this guide will also provide information on the game’s unique weapons, skill books and snowglobes, as well as the relatively simple (but lucrative) game of Caravan. For those out there who love embellishing their nerd-badges out there, there’s also a complete Achievement/Trophy Guide, as well. All in all, this guide is for everybody who wants to see and do everything there is to see and do in the Mojave… as long as you don’t mind some hand-holding and following a walkthrough step-by-step, this guide’s for you.

-Nathan “Haeravon” Garvin