Green Clouds Over Searchlight¶

From Matthews Animal Husbandry Farm head north-east to find Camp Searchlight - do not actually enter the town yet, as it’s highly irradiated. Instead, find a small camp along the road west of Camp Searchlight near which you’ll find First Sergeant Astor and a few other NCR survivors wandering around. Talk to him and he’ll tell you what happened; the Legion sneaked in and activated some radiation bomb, which proved fatal to the lucky inhabitants of Searchlight, but other, less fortunate souls were turned into Ghouls. Not being able to bear the thought of his comrades in arms living as Ghouls nor being able to kill them himself, he’ll ask you to do the job, and offer to reward you for every NCR Dogtag you bring back. Get ten of them and he’ll give you a rifle for your trouble. In fact, for merely agreeing he’ll give you two doses of Rad-X and RadAway. This starts the quest We Will All Go Together .

Before you head into the ominously green-glowing ruins of Searchlight, search around the makeshift survivor camp. You can find First Sergeant Astor’s Log on a table near a tent, an Explosives Crate [Average] outside the tent, and a Gun Case and a First Aid Box inside the tent.

Put on your Advanced Radiation Suit and make your way east into Searchlight and kill two Ghoul Troopers at a barricade under a bridge, then hack a Terminal [Easy] nearby to activate a nearby turret… mostly just for the bonus XP. Once done put another pair of Ghoul Troopers out of their misery to the east at the end of the bridge then head south past a barricade near the Searchlight Police Station and search a house east of the police station to find a Terminal [Average] which you can hack to activate another nearby turret.

Continue south along the road until it bisects another road, at which point turn east to find another barricade, where two more Ghoul Troopers await the liberation of death. Kill them and search to the north to find another Terminal [Very Easy]. From the barricade follow the road west to the other end of town, where a more intact church looms. As you’re going you’ll reach a four-way intersection near the Searchlight Fire Station, which seems to be the heart of the radiation. West of the fire station is another Terminal [Very Hard] which… if you can hack it… well, good for you.

Wheel of Fortune¶

Return to the four-way intersection and continue west to reach the church, where you’ll find a cellar door leading down to the Searchlight NCR Storage. Down here you’ll find Logan and two other Prospectors, who apparently beat you to the scene. Talk to him and learn about what he’s doing here. Be more civil than he is and ask what he’s doing here, then ask if you can help and he’ll tell you to hack a nearby computer. This mischievous computer - the an NCR Storage Database terminal [Average] -is on a table to the south. Hack it and either use the computer to open the nearby safe, or pick the locked safe [Average] after hacking the terminal. Tell Logan about the location of the radiation suits he’s after and he’ll offer to let you in on their mission… if you bring him the radiation suits. Succeed at a [Speech 50] check and he’ll offer up a bigger share. Before you leave, loot the basement to score some attire on the nearby tables and some chems and some Ammo Boxes on the metal shelves lining the room.

A little break from bathing in the radiation of Searchlight can’t hurt, so fast-travel back to Nipton. The quest objective is to talk to somebody in Nipton about the shipment… but of course, that might not be so easy thanks to the Legion. Head into the General Store and talk to Boxcar and ask him about the NCR supplies and he’ll tell you about some Legion soldiers skulking off with something to the north. How tedious.

Hidden Supply Cave¶

Return up the train tracks to the Coyote Den and head into the mountains, picking your way uphill to the east until you find a Hidden Supply Cave. Search a Hollowed-Out Rock near the entrance to the cave to score some meager loot, then head inside… after picking the locked door [Average]. At the eastern end of the cave you’ll find a First Aid Box and three Footlockers, on top of one of which is a Radiation Suit. Grab the “Radiation Suit Package” out of a Footlocker - and the copy of Grognak the Barbarian from atop a crate south of the First Aid Box - then return to Camp Searchlight… after perhaps getting your RADS taken care of, if necessary.

Return to Logan and company in the cellar of the church and give them the Radiation Suits you found. How have they survived this long without them? Must have lots of Rad-X and RadAway… anyways, he’ll give you the Searchlight Police Station Key and list it as the goal.

Searchlight Police Station¶

Leave the basement and head north-east to the police station. Loot some Vending Machines in the first room, then head through a door to the north to reach a prison. Dust a Feral Ghoul Trooper, search some metal cabinets to find two bottles of Rad-X, then search the eastern-most cell to find an NCR 9mm Submachine Gun on the floor near the bed. Once you have all that, head west down the hallway and go through a door to the south to reach a room filled with computers. Search the desks to find two NCR Radio Parts and two NCR Computer parts, then grab an NCR 10mm Pistol off a desk in the north-western corner of the room. Hack a terminal [Easy] for a bit of flavor and XP if you wish, then turn your attention to some other rooms.

Go through a doorway to the south-east to find a storage room. Kill another Ghoul Trooper then grab an NCR Grenade Rifle sitting on some wooden crates. On a metal shelf nearby you can obtain some NCR Frag Grenades and nearby are no fewer than five Ammo Boxes. When you’re done looting the storage room, return to the computer room and head into a bathroom to the south. Kill a third Ghoul Trooper and loot a First Aid Box on the wall.

Once all that is done, return to Logan, who is standing in the first room and tell him you found everything. In return he’ll give you the key to the Fire Station, which you should now make your way to by heading south and west, killing whatever Ghouls get in your way.

Searchlight Fire Station¶

Make sure you pop some Rad-X and have your Advanced Radiation Suit on before you enter, as the RADS in the fire station are pretty damn mean… even with 85% radiation resistance you can still expect to catch 2 RADS per second, and it gets unmanageably worse if you’re nowhere near the cap. When you’re ready, enter the fire station and fend off a Radscorpion Queen and her pair of escort Radscorpions, doing your best to make sure Logan doesn’t die. Once they’ve been squashed, search some Legion Recruits to the north to find the note “Legion Orders” on them, then loot some shelves to the east for some fireman gear.

Continue through a door to the east then head upstairs to reach a hallway. Continue north and search the first room to the west to find two NCR Frag Grenades and an NCR 9mm Submachine Gun - amongst other loot - on some wooden bookshelves. Hack the Chief Fire Officer Terminal [Easy] to gain some backstory on where the radioactive canisters downstairs came from.

Return to the hallway and explore a room to the east where you can find a pair of NCR Radio Parts (which look like Fission Batteries) on a table near a couch. Search the Duffle Bags by the beds to find four NCR Computer Parts, then return to the hallway again and search a bathroom across the hallway. Here you can score some RadAway and a Doctor’s Bag on and near some lockers. Loot a First Aid Box along the wall by the sinks, then search the stalls to find one with a skeleton in it. Search by the toilet to find the unique Fire Axe Knock Knock .

Backtrack to the hallway and follow it to the north to reach a kitchen, now filled with irradiated foodstuffs… which… you’ll have to decide if it’s worth grabbing. Pick up an NCR 10mm Pistol on a table, then return to the Logan in the hallway. Tell him you’ve found everything you can and he’ll predictably turn on you. Kill him and loot him for the goodies you’ve given him, which are now normal, usable items. Guess he wanted to give you a large share of the loot, indeed.

Finishing Up Searchlight¶

You’re almost done with Searchlight, but there are still a few places left to explore. South-east of the fire station you can find the Searchlight Elementary School… which is honestly pretty bland. Inside are two Golden Geckos which need to be put down, after which you can loot a First Aid Box behind the teacher’s desk.

Once you’re done with that, leave the school and head north-east to find another, less intact church. This ruined building also has a cellar door you can explore, but instead of housing treacherous mercenaries, this basement is home to some Golden Geckos. Kill them, then search the floor near some metal shelves to find a Chinese Army: Spec. Ops. Training Manual . On a table to the west you’ll find a pair of Mini Nukes which… aren’t quite as valuable as a Skill Book, but they’re still worth grabbing.

Finally, head west to find a Searchlight Home south-east of the church the Searchlight NCR Storage cellar was located in. Inside this home you’ll find the Ghoulish Private Edwards, who unlike the rest of the Ghouls apparently kept his sanity. He is, however, understandably at odds with what to do in his condition, and fears he might turn Feral. Not being able to come up with an alternative, he’s decided instead to sit around here and… well, wait for something to happen. Ask about his dogtag and succeed at a [Speech 60] check or a [Strength 7] check to convince him to hand it over, or just steal it or kill him for it.

However you do it, get his dogtag, which should be the tenth and final one. Loot the house, then leave and return to First Sergeant Astor. Tell him the grim news of deeds done and hand over all ten dogtags to get a generous XP can Cap reward, including a Service Rifle for finding all ten. Once done, that’s all there is to see and do in Searchlight. Since this detour has already been long enough… let’s take another detour and explore the areas around Searchlight! Sound logic, right? Don’t worry, it’s super lucrative. You don’t want to miss out on the loot here. Then again, if you can’t be bothered, skip ahead to “From Nipton to Novac (Part 2)” . Just don’t complain later when you don’t have one of the godliest guns in the game….