Vault 34

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"Industrial Junk"

Vault 34 is one of the Vault-Tec vaults located in the Mojave Wasteland.

Background
As part of the Vault experiment, the armory was overstocked with weapons and ammunition. It was also equipped with a great number of recreational facilities, including a full-sized swimming pool, at the cost of living space. By 2281, it still has people living in it, including Horowitz, although most of its residents have become feral ghouls and glowing ones. They are, however, still able to speak with some level of intelligence.

According to various sources inside the vault, the vault became overpopulated. Foreseeing problems, the overseer had a remote link to the armory lock installed on his terminal, denying access. A group of residents demanded access to the armory, stating the right to defend themselves, which the overseer denied. Rioting broke out soon after, and the group who had demanded access to the armory stormed the exit and left the vault.

Additionally, according to the Boomers historian Pete, the Boomers used to occupy Vault 34, but they grew tired of not being allowed to use their weapons so they left and started a community at Nellis. The fact that Pearl possesses the key to a gun case located deep in Vault 34 contributes to the credibility of this story.

The main exit was then sealed and guards posted to prevent anyone else from leaving. Years later, another group unsuccessfully stormed the armory. With most guards at the main exit or armory, there was little to stop the damage that was done to other areas in the vault, most importantly the reactor cooling vents, main computer systems, and other infrastructure. Consequently, undetected radioactive gases began venting throughout the vault; after this was discovered, panic set in. Whether by accident or design, the main exit could not be opened again, trapping the residents inside, their only hope being an automated unsealing of the vault in the near future or external intervention before they died from radiation poisoning.

Layout
Outside, just in front of the entrance, is a U.S. Army truck with radioactive barrels in the back and several golden geckos will spawn. The interior itself is unique among the vaults of the Mojave, having a much longer access tunnel appearing to be a natural cave, as well as a radically different layout. Moreover, the vault interior is highly irradiated. Precautions should be made to address rads accumulated while exploring. Once they enter Vault 34, the player will start to become irradiated.

1st floor
This section is comprised of the vault's long entrance tunnel, blast door, atrium, clinic, and a few apartments. Although this vault can feel a little like a labyrinth, it is mostly symmetrical in layout, although some halls have collapsed or been barricaded, forcing alternative routes to be taken. A flooded area along the western side contains the corpse of a glowing one which the game calls a 'Vault technician' under a desk. The corpse holds the Vault 34 security terminal password. The entry room is completely devoid of items, but an overseer's journal fragment can be found in the control booth. Most loot in this section is either in lockers or dressers, although first aid boxes are scattered about, as are 10mm pistols and 10mm submachine guns.

There is a terminal (Science 100) on the lower level, located in the Utility room, through the Clinic, which can pump the water out of one of the flooded areas. To activate the terminal without hacking, backtrack a small amount to the flooded area which will be on your right when facing the armory door. Straight down at the bottom of the pool is another dead glowing ghoul 'vault technician' under another desk with the Vault 34 utility terminal password. Use this on the computer in the Utility room to drain the water from that same flooded area and gain access to the Security Room.

In the room opposite the Utility room is another overseer's journal fragment. This level has access to the Armory and the Overseer's office.

Reactor
This section has higher radiation than the rest, excluding the armory, as it contains the damaged reactor of the vault. At the end of the main hallway is a door to the flooded areas of the vault, which is inaccessible, and a small room containing a few security guards and a True Police Stories on the floor. The mutated overseer is in his office, standing on his raised desk with two turrets mounted underneath it. One of the overseer's journal fragments is in the room also. Be warned that upon entering the room, more ghouls will break through the inaccessible door labeled "Operations" and attack. Under the stairs is the lightly flooded engineering level, ending in the reactor chamber itself. The terminal next to the door is used to open it, and the terminal inside the reactor itself is required for the quest Hard Luck Blues. The overseer's window overlooks an inaccessible part of the armory.

Armory
This is a small area that begins at a staircase and ends at a hallway. One way goes to a small common room with a reloading bench and a copy of Guns and Bullets by a couch. The other way goes to the armory, with a door that needs to be unlocked through the overseer's terminal before it can be entered. The armory is a small, two level room, with weapons and ammunition scattered around on the floor, tables and shelves. among other ammunition. The unique weapon, All-American, is found on an overturned table to the right side of the armory, and in a Very Hard locked footlocker, is the pulse gun. The upper gantry is inaccessible.

To access the armory you must get two passwords from two ghoul engineers that are in submerged areas. Then you must find two terminals, the first to pump out the water and on the second terminal an option will appear to open the overseer's door, then proceed to the overseer's office which is on the right of a hall beyond the newly unlocked door.

Once inside, you have to destroy the turret(s) and the ghoulified overseer and take his password from his corpse. Use the password to hack his terminal and open the armory door. Proceed to exit the room (if you are searching for the armory) and travel through the clinic. Eventually you will find the room containing many weapons (such as missile launchers, various rifles and SMG's) and the All-American Marksman carbine. Most of the weapons in the armory are in very poor condition but can be repaired with each other.

Security Station A
The door to this small area is underwater, but can easily be accessed when the water is pumped out. It contains a few security guards and a set of security armor. An overseer's journal fragment is found on the desk, next to the terminal which unlocks the overseer's quarters.

Related quests

 * Hard Luck Blues
 * I Could Make You Care
 * Et Tumor, Brute?
 * All Fired Up!
 * Suits You, Sarah

Appearances
Vault 34 was first mentioned in the Fallout Bible and appears only in Fallout: New Vegas.

Behind the scenes

 * On the way into Vault 34 there is a skeleton with a 10mm pistol and ammunition - a reference to Ed from Fallout and Fallout 2.
 * Vault 34 was designed by Sydney Wolfram.
 * The Vault 34 utility terminal passwords are Thunderbird and Bonneville, both names of Triumph motorcycles. These are also the names of popular cars, the Ford Thunderbird, and Pontiac Bonneville.

Bugs

 * Just outside of the vault's entrance, the golden geckos may become stuck "in" the U.S. Army truck.
 * Upon discovery of the Vault 34, the related challenge of discovering the Vault is shown as "Find Vault 34 0/0".
 * Saving anywhere inside the Overseer's office or the Armory may result in a corrupted game save.
 * While in The Armory Great Khans may appear and can make your character zoom in and freeze or slow down the game considerably. Two of the Great Khans will appear at the door to the Armory and one at the top of the stairs toward the armory.
 * Occasionally exiting through doors on lower levels may cause player to return to cave entrance after loading screen.
 * Some clipping issues that may stick the player while swimming in the room with the glowing one with the Vault 34 security terminal password. Directly above the roll top desk your head can lodge in the ceiling and you become unable to continue onward. Switching camera perspective over and over may un-stick a player.
 * Upon leaving the vault, some companions may have vanished and/or their markers moved outside of the map.
 * If companions are told to wait at the top of flooded stairs in this area, they can become permanently stuck between doorways once the pump system is activated. A potential solution involves going into third person and rotating until the option to talk to them and dismiss them comes up.
 * Sometimes the entrance will show as Vault 34, Cloning Cells.
 * Upon entering the armory, any companions that had disappeared without a trace may suddenly join you (confirmed Rex, ED-E and Veronica and Lily).
 * There is an inaccessible room containing three ghouls. Companions may somehow enter this room and become trapped.
 * In the Overseer's office next to the monitor there is a chance you'll "fall in" the water and be stuck "in limbo" off the map or between floors in the water. You have to reload the autosave.