Vault 34

Vault 34 is one of the Vault-Tec Vaults.

Background
As part of the Vault Experiment, the armory was overstocked with weapons, ammo and not provided with a lock (although an Overseer's log says he had a lock installed on it after a riot). It was also equipped with a great amount of recreational facilities (such as a full-sized swimming pool), but at the cost of living space. The location of this Vault is in the Mojave Wasteland. By 2281, it still has people living in it, although they have become similar to Feral ghouls. They are, however, still able to speak with some level of intelligence. While in combat they may shout words like 'pain', etc (other ghouls have been observed speaking in combat outside of the Vault, whether they are from Vault 34 or not is unknown). There are still a few non-ghoulified Vault dwellers remaining, being trapped somewhere within the ruins.

According to the Boomers historian Pete (Fallout New Vegas) they used to occupy the Vault 34, but they got sick of not being allowed to use their weapons so they left and started a community at Nellis.

According to various terminals inside the vault, Vault 34 suffered overpopulation at some point, which the Overseer wanted to "fix". For obvious reasons, the Vault Dwellers revolted, attempting to riot and gain control of the armory. During the riot, the vault's reactor vents were damaged, dooming the inhabitants to a lethal dose of radiation.

Preparing to enter the vault
Both the entrance to the vault and the whole vault are very radioactive, so it is recommended to stock up on Rad-X and   RadAway and get some high rad resistant armor such as a Space suit or an Advanced radiation suit.
 * NOTE: Most of the radiation generates only 1 Rad/Sec., and whether it's a bug or intended, neither the Rad suit (30 Rad Resist) nor Rad-X (35 Rad Resist) will completely mitigate radiation. With or without the gear, you're still going to be getting 1 Rad/Sec. during your entire time in the vault and several times during the approach.  As such, RadAway is much more important to have with you.  There are areas within the vault that generate more than 1 Rad/Sec. so you'll still benefit from Rad-X and the suit, just not most of the time.

There is a lot of Rad-X and RadAway in a safe (average difficulty) on the first level of the vault. There are also a lot of ghouls present in the Vault and some, like the glowing vault security officers, can be very tough to kill for low level characters. Make sure you bring close-quarters weapons such as a shotgun or SMG, melee weapons, or the Anti-materiel rifle.

It is also recommended to make a back-up save before entering the vault. If you spend too much time down in the vault while being under-supplied, you may die of radiation. If your oldest save point is too deep in the vault to be able to make it back up to the top and you run out of RadAway (including those included in the first aid kits), the result is death by radiation and your save file is dead.

Layout
This vault is set up like most other vaults in the Mojave, though the multiple levels within this vault are connected by the main elevator. This Vault is still unexplored and information is obtained through a terminal on the 1st Floor/Entrance.

Vault 34 Entrance
The entrance to Vault 34 connects the vault to the Mojave Wasteland. This section consists of:
 * Natural rock to the Mojave.
 * Entrance
 * Control Booth containing Overseer's Journal Fragment
 * Atrium. There is a room (Office, but not Overseer's Office) on the upper level of the atrium containing a terminal with information on the 2nd floor flooding and the malfunctioning generator. It also has a fragmented message talking about riots and the armory being closed.
 * Main
 * There is an alternate entrance located on top of the hill right above Vault 34.

Overseer's Office
To get into the Overseer's office, two terminal passwords must be found in the Vault. The security terminal password is in the first flooded area, on a dead Glowing One/vault technician under a desk, and the utility terminal password is through the clinic and into the next flooded area, on the right, on another vault technician.

After finding the passwords, go to the door just before the entrance to the armory (this is the Utility Room), and activate the pump system on the terminal. Next, in the once-flooded area (Which now is behind a closed door -labeled Security Station A- which you must go through) where the utility terminal password was, use the security terminal to unlock the door to the Overseer's quarters. Finally, go to the Overseer's office (where the Overseer can be located, along with two automated machine gun turrets), obtain the Overseer's Password from his body after killing him, and use his terminal in order to unlock the armory. Alternatively, finding the terminal passwords can be avoided altogether, but requires a Science skill of 100. Note: it is possible for the second Vault Technicians password to be replaced by five bottle caps, if so simply reload and the problem will dissapear.

2nd Floor
Lots of Glowing Security Guards and other Feral Ghouls. Lots of 10mm SMG's and Pistols.
 * NOTE: This is actually just the 3rd level of the 1st Floor. The 1st Floor has 4 levels (the 4th is initially flooded until you activate the pump system).

3rd Floor
This floor is inaccessible due to severe flooding on this level. but if you quickly swim to the pile of rubble you will find a dead Vault Technician under a desk on the left side with a key card. Near the dead Vault Technician is a locker containing a Vault 34 jumpsuit. (Alternatively, you don't have to worry about swimming fast if you acquired a rebreather from Nellis Air Force Base.)
 * NOTE: This is actually just the 4th level of the 1st Floor. It is initially flooded until you activate the pump system.

4th Floor
This floor contains Vault 34's damaged generator and is flooded by intense radiation. The generator area is accessible via the stairway in the Overseer's office, through the flooded tunnels. To unlock the generator door, use the terminal on the wall to the right of the door. Inside the generator room, another terminal gives you the option to destroy the generator to help the Sharecrop Farmers outside of New Vegas (gives NCR reputation) or to reroute control of the computer system to the trapped Vault dwellers (they can be later located at Aerotech Office Park "Suite 300" and one of them, Horowitz, will speak to you). Either way, you will receive experience.

Notable Loot

 * Combat Armor
 * Vault 34 Security Armor
 * Vault 34 Security Helmet
 * 5x 10mm Pistol
 * 4x 10mm SMG
 * 2x Assault Carbine
 * Marksman Carbine
 * Missile Launcher
 * 2x Grenade Launcher
 * Minigun
 * Riot Shotgun
 * All-American
 * Pulse gun
 * Detonator
 * 3x C-4 plastic explosive
 * 2x Sniper Rifle
 * Guns and Bullets On the small metal table between the sofas by the pool table, in the Armory Common room.
 * Vault 34 jumpsuit
 * 2x Patriot's Cookbooks
 * Fixin' Things
 * True Police Stories
 * 2x Milsurp Reviews

Enemies

 * There are Golden Geckos or Fire Geckos, depending on your level, at the entrance of the vault.
 * Inside the Vault, there are several different types of Feral ghouls named Vault Dwellers, Vault Security Officers, or Vault Technicians.
 * The Overseer of the Vault has two Turrets that defend him inside his office.

Location
Vault 34 is located just East of the New Vegas Strip and Southeast of New Vegas Medical Clinic.

Related Quests

 * Hard Luck Blues
 * I Could Make You Care
 * Render Unto Caesar

Behind the Scenes

 * The Vault 34 utility terminal password "Thunderbird" is a reference to the Thunderbirds arial display team stationed at Nellis Air Force Base.

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

Bugs
If the player makes it to the armory, then leaves it and saves, the save will become corrupt. If you try to load the save game, you may get an error message saying that it is unable to load the game due to a problem with the storage device and you need a DLC pack. Then, it will put you back on the start screen. If you try to load your most recent save, it will do this again.

If you go into Vault 34 with Rex as a companion, he may randomly appear, probably when you enter the Overseer's Office, or the Armory. This can be very hazardous to Rex, especially if you've gone down the stairs of the Armory and have several Glowing Ones and several Feral Ghouls in Vault Security Armor attempting to murder you.(It is tested that he will do this when you have him and Boone as companions. This happens multiple times, even when you have him waiting half the map away. Other situations are untested.)

ED-E will get stuck going through doors, as he is floating too high to pass through them.

Found glitch where the vault technician under the desk has its inventory listed as [Empty]. 'Opening' the technician will show an empty inventory with no password. Could not solve problem via reloading.

If you go into the vault and decide you made the bad decision by letting the people out instead of shutting down the reactor and then try to reload from the Autosave created when entering the reactor floor when you activate the computer to open the vault reactor door the game crashes, the computer initiation sound plays and everything gets blurry but it just freezes the game.

Taking Boone into the reactor causes him to either walk through the wall to the right of the first terminal or ghouls will walk through the wall... either way boone becomes stuck and cannot leave the vault.