Money, Experience and Quick Tricks
Easy Caps
- Megaton: with negative Karma, after blowing up the town, empty the houses and sell everything: about 600 Caps.
- Susan Lancaster: after the quest "Strictly Business", talk to her at Paradise Falls (you need the slave key) and choose "You're a slave. Accept it", then go back to Grouse. Repeatable for 250 Caps and a collar every time.
- Pre-war books: at the Arlington Library an NPC buys them for 100 Caps each and gives you 10 XP per book.
- Reilly's Rangers: after saving Reilly, do not accept to map the area right away. From level 20, choose "Scout" and, once you have found all the locations, you will have about 2,200 Caps.
Infinite Experience
The higher your level, the harder the enemies get: use these methods in moderation. Unpatched version where indicated.
- Frag mines: in the Craterside Supply, place a mine near the mercenary and pick it up right away: 5 XP every time.
- Speech (at least 30): in Big Town talk to Bittercup and Pappy; if you fail try again, 6 XP per attempt (unpatched version).
- Mister Sandman (level 10, Sneak 60): in Andale, in the Smiths' house, try to steal the boy and choose "Kill": 50 XP without losing Karma, repeatable (the game may freeze).
Hacking, Lockpicking and Stealing
- Save before every hacking, lockpicking or stealing attempt and reload if you fail.
- Hacking: by moving the cursor over the symbols you find groups in brackets, such as "( )", "[ ]" or "{ }". Select them to remove a word or get your attempts back. If you leave the terminal with an attempt still available, when you return you find all 4 again. Look for words with the same suffix (-ing, -ed) and choose the longest one.
- Bobby pins: before it breaks, exit the minigame and re-enter so you do not lose it.
- Falls: save in mid-air and reload to land unharmed.
Unique Weapons and Armor
- A3-21's Plasma Rifle (50 damage): Harkness gives it to you after the quest "The Replicated Man".
- Alien Blaster (100 damage): on the alien's body near the spaceship north of MDPL-13 Station. It uses the rare Alien Power Cells.
- Blackhawk (.44 Magnum, 55 damage): reward of the quest "Agatha's Song".
- Experimental MIRV (1610 x 8 damage): in the bomb storage of the Guard Depot, after finding the 5 Keller Family transcripts.
- Firelance (72 damage + fire): found in random places, often near Vault 101. Look for a smoke signal in the sky.
- Lincoln's Repeater (hunting rifle, 50 damage): on the upper floor of the Museum of History.
- Terrible Shotgun (80 damage): owned by Smiling Jack at the Evergreen Mills Bazaar.
- Vengeance (laser): under a rock near a pool of blood in the Deathclaw Sanctuary.
- Xuanlong Assault Rifle (64 damage): on Prime's body near the Jury Street Metro Station, after the Museum of Technology puzzle.
- T-51b Armor: complete Mr. Crowley's quest "You've Gotta Shoot Them in the Head" and use the 4 keys at Fort Constantine.
- Prototype Medic Power Armor: at Old Olney (Deathclaw area), going through the southeast grate down to the sewers.
- Craftable weapons: Bottlecap Mine, Dart Gun, Nuka Grenade and Shishkebab require schematics found in various shops and quests; each schematic increases the quantity or condition up to 3.
Bobbleheads and Secrets
- Stats: Agility at Greener Pastures Disposal; Charisma at Vault 108; Endurance at the Deathclaw Sanctuary; Intelligence at Rivet City (Dr. Li's Laboratory); Luck at the Arlington North Cemetery; Perception at Dave's Republic; Strength at Megaton (Lucas Simms' house).
- Skills: Barter at Evergreen Mills; Energy Weapons at Ravenhold; Explosives at WKML; Lockpick at Bethesda Ruins; Medicine at Vault 101 (Dad's desk); Repair at Arefu (Evan King's house); Science at Vault 106; Small Guns at the National Guard Depot; Sneak at the Yao Guai Tunnels; Speech at Paradise Falls; Unarmed at Rockopolis.
- Project Purity code: 216.
- Dogmeat: found in the Junkyard near Minefield; Jericho joins you for 1000 Caps.
- "The Replicated Man": to get both rewards convince the android to go to Zimmer, then reveal the android's identity to Zimmer.
Awards (Trophies)
- Platinum: earn all the other awards.
- Gold: The Bigger They Are... (kill all the Behemoth Super Mutants), Vault-Tec C.E.O. (20 Vault-Tec Bobbleheads).
- Silver: Take It Back! (complete the mission), Scourge of Humanity, Paradigm of Humanity and Last, Best Hope of Humanity (level 20 with Evil, Neutral or Good Karma), Weaponsmith (create a custom weapon), Silver-Tongued Devil (win 50 Speech challenges), Data Miner (50 terminals), Keys Are for Cowards (50 locks), One-Man Scouting Party (find 100 locations), Yes, I Play with Dolls (10 Vault-Tec Bobbleheads).
- Bronze: the main and side quests (Escape!, Following in His Footsteps, Galaxy News Radio, Scientific Pursuits, Tranquility Lane, The Waters of Life, Picking up the Trail, Rescue from Paradise, Finding the Garden of Eden, The American Dream, Big Trouble in Big Town, The Superhuman Gambit, The Wasteland Survival Guide, Those!, The Nuka-Cola Challenge, Head of State, The Replicated Man, Blood Ties, Oasis, The Power of the Atom, Tenpenny Tower, Strictly Business, You Gotta Shoot 'Em in the Head, Stealing Independence, Trouble on the Homefront, Agatha's Song, Reilly's Rangers); Vault 101 Citizenship Award (get the Pip-Boy 3000); The G.O.A.T. Whisperer (take the G.O.A.T.).
- Bronze (level and Karma): Reaver, Mercenary and Protector (level 8 with Evil, Neutral or Good Karma); Harbinger of War, Pinnacle of Survival and Ambassador of Peace (level 14).
- Bronze (other): Doesn't Play Well with Others (kill 300 people), Slayer of Beasts (300 creatures), Psychotic Prankster (plant a grenade or a mine while pickpocketing).
Other Tips
- Easy Karma: stay neutral and save near the levels of the goals (8, 14 or 20); then become good or evil by completing quests that require a specific Karma and reload after the trophy.
- Cheaper Stimpaks: at Tenpenny Tower, in the bar, activate the 50% VIP card and the 10% Party Discount from the terminal: Stimpaks for 25 Caps (instead of 37), Beer 2, Vodka 20, Whiskey and Wine 10.
- Special clothes: Tenpenny (Tenpenny Tower), Eulogy Jones (Paradise Falls), Shady Hat (Wasteland Survival Guide quest), Mr. Burke (Megaton or the pre-war clothing store).
- Quick detection: use V.A.T.S. while looking around to see nearby enemies.
