The Outcast Collection Agent

The Outcast Collection Agent is an unmarked and repeatable quest $$

Detailed walkthrough
To start the quest, head to Fort Independence. If this is the Lone Wanderer's first time visiting Fort Independence, Defender Morgan will automatically initiate a conversation and alert them of incoming raiders, then two raiders will spawn just south of them. Once they are dealt with, she will speak to the Lone Wanderer again. When she finishes speaking, choose the dialogue option "Thanks for the help. Who are you?", or any other dialogue option except for "Shut up and get that fucking gun out of my face," as this option will cause Morgan to become hostile. Then select the options "Who are you people?" and "You collect technology? How do I sign up?" Protector Casdin will come after a few seconds, unlock the gate, and approach the player character. Speaking to Casdin before talking to Defender Morgan should be avoided since he will become aggressive as a result.

The player character is asked to trade certain pieces of technology, such as power armor, some energy weapons, Sensor Modules, and Scrap Metal to Protector Casdin. In return, he will give the player character their choice of ammunition, grenades, or medical supplies.

Once the Lone Wanderer has gained 50 "points" (see table below), they are told that they are considered friendly by the Outcasts. This allows for the infiltration of Fort Independence without encountering the hostility of the residents. Casdin also stops confiscating any Outcast Power Armor that the player character has.

Value table
1 Scrap metal must be traded in groups of two; alien power cells must be traded in groups of twelve.

2 Casdin will not take Tesla helmets.

Collecting for caps
A profit can be made from Casdin by reselling the items traded with him. Listed below are the items that the player character can receive, along with values.
 * Stimpaks at base value of 25.
 * Frag Grenades, value 25.
 * RadAways, value 20.
 * 12 5.56mm Rounds, value 12. (12x1)

In any one deal, one can receive an equal number of one of these: stimpaks, frag grenades, or RadAway. Or, one can receive a higher amount of 5.56mm rounds. For the items besides the aforementioned ammunition, the stimpaks and frags are worth more than the RadAway, therefore making stimpaks the most profitable.
 * Stims and frags

The 5.56mm rounds do not scale the same as the other three items. As the number of reward points increases, the better the ratio of bullets to the other rewards. For example, there's a 12:1 ratio at 1 point, but a 24.2:1 ratio (484/20) at 10 points. At the low end, one gets 2.083 times the value (sensor module: 1 stimpak = value 25 vs. 12 bullets = value 12). At the high end, stimpaks still barely win at 1.033 the value (alien blaster: 20 stimpaks = 500 vs. 484 bullets). So, stimpaks or frags are always the most profitable choices.

If the items collected are in very good condition, almost none are profitable to "launder" through Casdin. The Barter skill doesn't matter here, because both the original item and the reward are usually subject to Barter, even though Casdin isn't. The only things that at least break even when at 100% repair are:
 * Item's condition
 * Alien power cells (base value: 120 for 12), which will show a 2.3x return (275 for 11 stimpaks) - but these cells are very rare.

Conversely, if items are in poor condition, Casdin still gives his full reward. This makes them worthwhile. For example, if degraded to 25% of their full value: However, Thus the weapons need to be in really bad condition to make a profit from Casdin - plasma weapons should be less than ~20% condition, and laser weapons should be less than ~10%.
 * One would make 4x profit on the alien blaster at 25% repair (value 125 vs. 500 for stimpaks).
 * Enclave and regular power helmets (base value 110; 25% value 28) will make a 2.7x profit (3 stimpaks = 75).
 * Tesla power armor makes 1.6x profit and Enclave power armor makes 1.4x when at 25%
 * Regular power armor only makes 1.2x when at 25%
 * The plasma pistol and plasma rifle only get ~.76x (losing money), and
 * The laser pistol and laser rifle only get ~.52x (losing half of the player character's money), at 25%.

The sensor module is always a bad deal, on a pure profit basis - one would be cashing in something worth 30, for something else worth 25 at best. But they can be accumulated earlier than the other items to meet the point requirement for admission into Fort Independence, in exchange for grenades or ammunition that exist in limited supplies at lower levels. Sensor modules are also an important component of Bottlecap Mines, which are probably the best early money makers from schematics, and deal 373 damage per mine.
 * Sensor modules

If The Pitt is installed, trading for the 5.56 ammunition starts making sense, as the Ammo Press can convert the 5.56 into other ammunition types. Converting the 5.56 into 5mm at a 1:3 ratio makes it the most profitable (although long-winded) path. For example, converting a low quality laser rifle into 96 5.56mm ammunition with Casdin, then into 288 5mm ammunition at the ammo press will allow the player character to then sell them at about 0.6 bottlecaps per round (with middling Barter) or about 170 bottlecaps. As a poor condition laser rifle can be bought in some shops for about 50 bottlecaps, the rate of return is decent.
 * Munitions

Some rudimentary mathematics can be done to see which items are best for getting into Fort Independence cheaply and/or early:
 * Rudimentary mathematics
 * Scrap metal, particularly if the player character's Barter skill is high.
 * Sensor modules, if one wants to get into Ft. Independence quick and isn't worried about bottlecap mines.
 * If the player character's Barter is low, give low condition power helmets or power armor, or really low condition plasma weapons, or practically "broken" laser weapons.
 * Low condition laser weapons can be purchased from various vendors and make a profit:
 * Flak and Shrapnel in Rivet City normally stock 2 low quality laser pistols at 25 caps each (with 10% Rivet City Merchant's discount). One laser pistol is worth 2 stimpaks, which at a price of 66 for 2 from vendors, is a great profit.
 * Tulip in Underworld sells two low condition laser rifles at 52 caps each. Laser rifles are worth 4 points which are 5 stimpaks, 5 RadAway, 5 grenades, or 96 5.56 ammunition. This is a great way to make a profit.

Bugs
Sometimes Protector Casdin can be found dead. On the PC, this can be fixed by using the console commands:, ,