The Wins Hideout¶

Leave Westside and make your way north to find a small shack - The Wins Shack - north of a highway running north-west/south-east. West of this shack you’ll find a small shelter inside of which you’ll find two Ammo Boxes. After you loot them, enter the shack to find Pauline Wins and Sammy Wins, the next Vikki and Vance! Talk to them and learn about their grandiose plans to make it big and succeed at a [Speech 55] check when talking to Pauline to convince her to go for her dreams and ignore her nightmares. Fortunately for them, her common sense kicks in and she realizes she’s going to end up dead, and she’ll tell you to tell Sammy to give you the key to The Wins’ Safe. This bypasses a lock [Very Hard], and inside this safe you’ll find the long-missing weapon stolen from the Vikki and Vance Casino; Vance’s 9mm Submachine Gun .

Harowitz Farmstead¶

Exit The Wins Hideout and follow the highway north-east, but keep your eyes to the north to spot a house near (east of) a power station. The house is guarded by a pair of Fiends, which are easily dispatched. Once done, search the house to find some chems, the odd lootable container and a Patriot’s Cookbook magazine on a bookshelf in a room to the west.

Return to the highway and continue following it north-east until you spot another area worth searching north of the road, this time accompanied by a map marker. Search the barn north-west of the power station to find the Horowtiz Farmstead, which is now the lair of some Viper Gunslingers. Murder them, loot them, then plunder the northern end of the barn where the gangers have stored their supplies, including a Produce Sack full of food and chems, two Ammo Boxes (one of which is locked [Average]), a First Aid Box, some Irradiated Water, and a Sunset Sarsaparilla Star Bottle Cap on top of a crate.

From the Horowitz Farmstead, head due north to reach a campsite near some cliffs which frame the northern boundary of the Mojave. Here you’ll find a group of well-armed, hostile Mercenaries, one of which wears some expensive Combat Armor, Reinforced and carries the unique Gauss Rifle, YCS/186 . Focus on him, first, as he’s the one who can actually deal significant damage to you. Once he’s down, mop up the others and claim your prize. Alternatively if you have the Wild Wasteland trait, you’ll find a trio of Aliens standing around; including an Alien Captain. They’re not friendly, and come equipped with powerful Energy Weapons - the two lesser Aliens have Tri-Beam Laser Rifles and the Captain comes equipped with the unique Alien Blaster .

Brooks Tumbleweed Ranch¶

Whichever event you had, you should be walking away one unique and powerful Energy Weapon richer. Not bad. Head west and make your way to Brooks Tumbleweed Ranch, which appears deserted. Head into the empty corral behind (north-east of) the Tumbleweed Ranch House and you’ll be confronted by a friendly Nightkin, who attempts to sell you its “wind brahmin” for the low, low price of “all”. Ouch. Well… it might not hurt to hand over your Caps to avoid conflict, at least this way… wait, what? No, nevermind. Just kill the crazy mutant and keep all your money.

Once you’re done bartering for non-existent brahmin, head into the ranch house and give it a good looting. On the ground floor you can find a well-stocked First Aid Box on a crate, and inside of a Sunset Sarsaparilla Crate you’ll find a good bit of Caps. In a small room to the north-west you can score a Sunset Sarsaparilla Star Bottle Cap on the floor and a First Aid Box on a metal shelf. Head upstairs and search a metal cabinet at the end of a hallway to find a Cattle Prod and a copy of Lying, Congressional Style .

Followers Safehouse¶

Leave the ranch and head south-west to return to the highway, where you can find a smaller road continuing south-west into the mountains. The mountains are your immediate goal, but there’s one last area to explore, first… or at least to discover. Follow the road south-west until it runs uphill and is engulfed by some cliffs, then veer off to the south and follow these cliffs until you find a passage to the east where, upon a hill, sits a shack. This is the Follower’s Safehouse, which you should not yet have access to yet, but it’s worth discovering while you’re out here.

Ruby Hill Mine¶

Return to the road to the north and follow it uphill into the mountains, which you’ll find are crawling with Bighorners. They’re still worth good XP and delicious meat, so put the poor beasts out of their misery (killing them should be child’s play at this point in time). When the canyon walls recede, loot to the north-west to find an undiscovered area; the entrance to Ruby Hill Mine, which can be found along a cliff wall.

Head inside and enter a large cavern, a cavern which is polluted with Lake Lurks, who have apparently made these mines their home. Exterminate them, then explore the chamber to find two ways to proceed; opposite the entrance you’ll find some stairs which lead to an elevated platform, which you can use to find a tunnel that descends down to an underground lake… or at least a watery passage which you can use to swim to said lake (the Rebreather comes in handy again!) Of course, there’s another way to reach this take, which is more direct, but by going down this route you can at least loot two well-stocked Explosives Crates along the way, kill some Lakelurks, then backtrack to the main chamber.

From the main chamber head down a tunnel to the west to reach the rocky shore of the lake, where several Lakelurks are sure to… well, lurk. Near the lake. How appropriate. Put them down, then find the body of a dead Jackal Gang Member just south of the lake. Loot her body for some goodies, include a Worn Key (which bypasses a [Hard] lock shortly) and the unique Displacer Glove, Pushy .

Continue across a wooden plank to the north-west to reach a small island, upon which you can find several Explosives Crates, two of which are locked [Average] and [Hard], the latter of which can be opened by the Worn Key you could have found on the Jackal Gang Member’s body. Once those are looted, head off the island to the south-west and dive into the lake where, if you continue south, south-west and keep your eyes on the bottom of the lake, you’ll see the macabre scene of a card game in progress, now attended by the skeletons of the players. More interestingly you can find the body of a Super Mutant Brute floating around; loot its corpse to find a good bit of fantastic loot, including a Multiplas Rifle.

Silver Peak Mine¶

Well, that was a fine, lucrative mine. Why not indulge in another? Leave the Ruby Hill Mine and follow the road uphill to the south. When the road turns south, south-west, follow the nearby cliffs to the south-west to find the Silver Peak Mine Shack. Kill the Bighorners outside, then head inside the shack, where you can find a Sunset Sarsaparilla Star Bottle Cap on a table in the first room. You can also score some mechanical components, two Ammo Boxes, and, at the foot of a locker, a copy of Tumblers Today . Once you’ve gathered this loot, head into another room to the south-west, which is less interesting, containing only a single Ammo Box.

When you’re done with the shack, head through a doorway to reach the actual mines. Be prepared for a fight, as this place is infested with Cazadores, of all things. From the entrance to the mines, follow the linear, winding path downhill until you reach a fork. If you explore to the north-east you’ll find a small chamber with nothing of interest, so instead go south-west to find a larger room crawling with Cazadores. Sniping them from the tunnel one at a time with either Ratslayer or the Gobi, then backtracking until they lose interest in you is a good way to avoid getting swarmed. There are a considerable number of Cazadores in this chamber, which are fairly spread out, so caution is definitely recommended.

Once they’re dead, explore the room. You’ll find some Explosives Crates along the southern end of the chamber, near a metal cart. Loot them, then head south-west to find a tunnel that’ll lead to an elevated ledge overlooking the Cazador-filled chamber. As you explore this tunnel, be wary, as Cazadores will attack from behind you, and there may be the odd straggler on the ledge, as well - the last thing you want is to be surrounded by Cazadores in a narrow tunnel! Joining these lesser Cazardores is the terribly dangerous Legendary Cazador, which - if you’re lucky - may not immediately follow its fellows up the tunnel and instead stay in the larger chamber. In either event, focus on it when it approaches, pop some Med-X, Psycho and possibly Jet to give yourself the best odds of taking it down before it savages you too much. With any luck, three shots from the Gobi (including one good critical hit) should take it down; the chems will help if it’s not alone, though, and the quicker you kill it, the better.

After the Cazadores are all dead, reach the ledge along the western end of the room and follow it north to find two Explosives Crates near a gate. As lucrative as these crates are, searching behind the gate is even more profitable, as you’ll find two doses of Hydra, some Brass Knuckles, three Sacks full of goodies, and a Remnants Power Helmet on the ground near a skeleton. The Remnants Power Helmet is one half of a tremendously potent suit of power armor, a suit of heavy armor boasting the highest DT in the game. Finding the armor to go with this helmet can be even more dangerous than the helmet, but with some planning, luck, and the Finger of God, it’s doable. It’ll can wait until you’re done exploring these mountains, however.

Ranger Station Foxtrot/Remnants Bunker¶

Leave the Silver Peak Mines and head south-east to reach the road. Instead of following the road, however, find a path running south-east off the road… it should be very hard to miss, as it consists of light dirt. Follow this path as it winds south and east through the hills before turning sharply to the south and terminating at Ranger Station Foxtrot. Here you can find Ranger Kudlow, who will talk to you briefly about their mission here; spying on the Great Khans. In a tent you can also find Comm Officer Lenk, who seems to have run into some problems with the Omertas… which you can exploit by lying to her to gain 250 Caps. This comes with some NCR Infamy, though, so decide if it’s worth it or not. If you ask about her problems (after robbing her or not) you can succeed at a [Speech 30] check to find out how she lost her nerve.

All this is… well, not even all that interesting, really. You’re here for loot, right? Yeah… there’s a bit to steal, including some Purified Water and some food in a Produce Sack, but the best loot lies in the tent, where you can find an Ammo Box, a Mine Box [Very Easy] a First Aid Box [Very Easy] and a copy of Duck and Cover! on the table near the radio. Good stuff.

There’s one last area to discover, although it’s part of another quest later, so aside from picking up the map marker, there’s not much you can do. Along a south-facing cliff north-west of Ranger Station Foxtrot and south-east of the Silver Peak Mine you can find the Remnants Bunker. Finding it now will save you a bit of trouble later on, but it’s not super important.

What is super important is completing the last leg of this trip by reaching Jacobstown. Return to the Silver Peak Mine and head south to rejoin the road - the actual, paved road this time - and follow it south-west into the mountains to find Jacobstown. Cazadores lurk in the hills along the way, so stay wary, as do Giant Mantises and Bighorners, but these are lesser threats. When you see snow, you know you’re getting close.