You’ve been to Freeside before, if you’ve followed this guide. Several times, in fact. During the New Vegas Medical Clinic Run you should have gambled at the Atomic Wrangler, and if you completed the Crimson Caravan quests you’ll have journeyed here, too. It’s also across the street from the Van Graffs… in fact, the Atomic Wrangler is perhaps the most visited of the three big areas to visit in Freeside. The other two are the King’s School of Impersonation and the Old Mormon Fort. Freeside itself is split into two parts, the part closer to the strip, and the part further away. Since you enter into the further side from the Mojave, and the Old Mormon Fort is in this section, that’s the first place which will be explored.

From Freeside’s North Gate head south-west past the bodyguards, which are over-priced and you don’t need their “help” anymore. Also bypass Genaro, who is busy selling mystery meat. When you reach some train tracks, follow them south-east to find the body of Little Buster, the brash bounty hunter from Camp McCarran who left for easy riches after the quest Three-Card Bounty was completed. Seems like he wasn’t tough enough to New Vegas’s hospitality. On the plus side, you can loot his body to obtain his unique Cram Opener weapon. If you stole it from him earlier at Camp McCarran… well, now you have two of them.

Exploring the Old Mormon Fort¶

Continue south-west to reach the Old Mormon Fort, which is the haven for the Followers of the Apocalypse here in Nevada. First, talk to a Ghoul lady named Beatrix Russel, who will talk about her sadistic sexual habits, Freeside, the NCR, and will offer some unique perspectives on the elusive Mr. House. Unfortunately for now you don’t have the means to alleviate her boredom.

Of more immediate interest is Arcade Gannon, a blonde researcher who will be wandering around or wasting time in one of the tents. Talk to him about his research, Caesar and about work. In the latter case he’ll refer you to Julie Farkas. When you get the chance, ask him to join you and pass a [Speech 75] check to get him to agree. When he joins, you should get the Better Healing perk, which will cause you to “regain more health from all sources”. Neat. If you’re following the guide exactly, you should also get the Trophy/Achievement “The Whole Gang’s Here”. Score.

Jerry the Follower¶

Keep Arcade with you if you wish, trigger some of his dialogues, then do what you wish with him. In any event, find Julie Farkas wandering around, either outside, or in a tower to the west, if it’s night. In the latter case, be sure to grab the Snow Globe - Mormon Fort from on top of a bookshelf on the upper floor of the tower. Wherever you find Julie Farkas, pretty much every Followers quest runs through her, so let’s get started, eh? First, ask if Jerry the Punk can join the Followers and she’ll accept, even if you don’t give him a glowing endorsement. Tell Jerry the Punk the good news to complete the quest Cry Me A River .

Jobs for Julie¶

Return to Julie Farkas and ask if she needs supplies, and she’ll name the three big drugs Freeside needs the most; Med-X, RadAway and Fixer. Agree to supply her, then suggest finding a long term solution and she’ll suggest you talk to Mick and Ralph at their store and the Garretts at the Atomic Wrangler. Next, observe that Freeside isn’t the nicest of places and she’ll complain, after which you can offer to help with this, too, which leads to two more objectives; helping Old Bill Ronte and Jacob Hoff get back on the wagon (asking about this starts the quest High Times ) and calming down tensions between locals and the NCR. Once these tasks have been assigned, feel free to ask about Freeside, the Kings, the Followers, and other points of interest.

Short Term Supply¶

The easiest task to complete is to supply the Followers with chems, which you can do by talking to Julie again and giving her chems. Of the three possible chems, Med-X is probably the easiest to get rid of, as it’s fairly common and you only need it for big fights, although RadAway is a good choice, too, as you can cure RADS by visiting a doctor. Just as long as you don’t give away your entire stash, you should be fine. Give them away three at a time to gain Followers Fame and 10 XP per chem until Julie says they have enough stocked up. At this point she’ll start selling you some magazines along with her normal chems… after this point, feel free to stop, but you can keep donating up until you’re “Idolized” by the Followers, if you wish. Thirty or so chems will go a long way towards boosting trust. If you’ve donated enough supplies, go meet Julie Farkas out in the yard, where she should talk to you and tell you that their short-term supply issues have been resolved, and she’ll offer to allow you to join them. Even if you’re not terribly altruistic, you should join up, as it grants you access to the Followers Safehouse and the unique Followers Lab Coat . If you don’t get the offer… just donate more chems until you do.

Long Term Supply¶

That’s all well and good, but there’s more work to do for the Followers. Leave the Old Mormon Fort and follow the road south-west to find the blue doors leading to the next area of Freeside. From here, head north-west to reach the Atomic Wrangler, where you’ll find James Garret manning the counter. You’re not here to start new quests yet, so stick to the Follower’s request and ask if he can supply them. Surprisingly he’ll agree to do so… if the Followers will help them out by fixing up their stills. Return to Julie Farkas and tell her the news, then convince her to agree with it by going through the dialogue options. Once done, pay James Garret a visit and confirm the business deal to solve the Follower’s long term supply problem and score a bit of Freeside Fame. For the full quest reward, report back to Julie Farkas.

High Times¶

Leave the Atomic Wrangler and, while you’re down here, head north-west down the street and into a ruined building to the north-east, just across the street from the Silver Rush. In here you’ll find Bill Ronte, who is wallowing in his addiction. Talk to him and tell him to stop drinking and he’ll make excuses. Seems like you’ll have to stop the addiction at its source by going after a dealer named Dixon.

Return to the outer area of Freeside and, from the blue gate head south-east to reach Mick and Ralph’s. Ignore the store for now and head south-west from it to reach a ruined building, where Jacob Hoff dwells. If anything, he seems in worse shape than Bill Ronte, and his problem is the same; he’s stuck on whatever Dixon is peddling, and keeps on the drugs to avoid the adverse effects.

Time to talk to this Dixon character. Fortunately, he tends to lurk around outside of Mick and Ralph’s, so find him and give him a good talking-to. He doesn’t seem all that concerned about what effects his drugs are having on his customers, and if you view his goods, they seem somewhat less potent or more deleterious than normal versions. If you question his motives, you’ll learn that he’s anti-NCR, and has been supplying this vicious chems to those two on purpose because of it. Tell him to stop supplying them and he’ll ask for some incentive. Either give him 300 Caps or pass a [Speech 35] check to implicate him of a crime worse than being a drug-dealer.

Return to Jacob Hoff and tell him he’s cut off. He’ll complain and ask for ten doses of Fixer to get him past the withdrawals. You can buy Fixer from most doctors, but it’s easier to just pass a [Science 50] check to suggest an alternative regimen or succeed at a [Speech 50] check to tell him to tough it out… or better yet, tell him to do the former, then do the latter for extra XP. This way you need not spare any chems on him, either. Now return to Bill Ronte and he, too, will ask for two doses of Fixer, a bottle of Whiskey and a dose of RadAway to get him over his withdrawals. Like with Jacob Hoff, you can suggest an alternative regimen with a [Science 50] check and/or pass a [Speech 50] check to send him to the Followers to get through the dark days ahead. The quest High Times will end when you tell Julie Farkas after dealing with the two drug addicts. You’ll get some Fame for both Freeside and the Followers, as well as one dose of Stimpak, Fixer or RadAway per day if you visit Julie.

Followers of the Apocalypse¶

If you want to go see your new safehouse, now is as good of a time as any. Fast-travel to the Follower’s Safehouse (which you should have discovered enroute to Jacobstown) and head inside. Occasionally you’ll find Doctor Luria in here, who will regularly provide you with your choice of Stimpaks, Superstims, Rad-X and RadAway. Less transient loot can be found in a room to the north, on a number of beds. On the eastern-most bed you’ll find a Hunting Shotgun, some 12 Gauge, Bean Bag, Combat Armor, Reinforced, a Combat Helmet, Reinforced, a Fixin’ Things magazine and a True Police Stories magazine. On the table here you’ll also find a copy of D.C. Journal of Internal Medicine . On the middle bed you’ll find a Multiplas Rifle, an All-Purpose Science Suit, two Stimpaks, a Pulse Mine, a Pulse Grenade, an issue of Today’s Physician and a copy of Programmer’s Digest. Finally, pillage the western bed to obtain a Tri-Beam Laser Rifle, a Plasma Mine, a Plasma Grenade, a dose of Rad-X and RadAway, a Advanced Radiation Suit, an issue of Future Weapons Today and a copy of ¡La Fantoma!