Honest Hearts

"Zion may not be lost to us, after all..."

- Joshua Graham

Honest Hearts is the second add-on for Fallout: New Vegas, developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Bethesda Softworks.

Plot
Honest Hearts takes you on an expedition to the unspoiled wilderness of Utah’s Zion National Park. Things go horribly wrong when your caravan is ambushed by a tribal raiding band. As you try to find a way back to the Mojave, you become embroiled in a war between tribes and a conflict between a New Canaanite missionary and the mysterious Burned Man. The decisions you make will determine the fate of Zion National Park itself.

Crafting
Honest Hearts adds new crafting recipes to the game that make use of the Survival skill. Unlike recipes added by the previous add-on, Dead Money, most recipes added by Honest Hearts do not require add-on-specific items or perks. Most recipes are available from the start of the game, provided the player has the necessary skill level and ingredients.

Notable new recipes include a method of turning one fission battery and 5 drained energy cells into 25 energy cells, as well as being able to make Homebrewed Nuka-Cola and Homebrewed Sunset Sarsaparilla at a campfire using the appropriate ingredients, (Nevada agave fruit and barrel cactus fruit for the Nuka-Cola, and Nevada agave fruit together with a xander root for the Sunset Sarsaparilla).

There are four new gecko-backed armor types that may be crafted. They require tanned green gecko hides. Green gecko hides are only available in Zion.

The add-on has also introduced two new ways of crafting scrap metal. You can create 1 scrap metal at a workbench by either combining a metal cooking pan, metal cooking pot and a pot together or by combining a butter knife, a metal spoon, a fork and a tin plate. The recipes are listed in the crafting menu as "Cookery-for-metal" and "Meals-for-metal" respectively.

Ammunition

 * .45 Auto

Quests
The XP that is rewarded for quests is variable based upon your level when the quest is completed. The total XP split between the main storyline quests is approximately 3000 XP at levels 1-4 and 22000 XP at levels 45-50, the secondary quest XP ranges from 75 XP per quest to 550 XP per quest.

Bugs

 * The Honest Hearts add-on does not show in the starting screen menu. The radio signal does not come up either and the Northern Passage is still blocked. The game may not be recognizing that the add-on was installed. This could be caused by file corruption from PSN outages.
 * If you have the US version of the game, delete the French (CA) version of the Classic Pack. This should instantly repair the issue. To do this go to "Game", then go to "Game Utility", in there delete "Fallout: New Vegas DLC - (CA)". Then load the game and make sure that the current update has been applied (v.1.05). Go to "Downloadable Content" in the main menu and all of the DLC you have installed should be there, including Honest Hearts.
 * It has been discovered that the bonus pack add-ons have been disrupting the installation.
 * Uninstall the Classic Pack and download/reinstall the Canadian version (which says French but is actually in English). The file is called "Fallout: New Vegas - (CA)". Honest Hearts will appear as well as everything else that may have disappeared (i.e. Dead Money).
 * Uninstall Classic Pack, Dead Money and Honest Hearts. Download both add-ons but do not install. Disconnect from internet (either software upgrade or, on-line trophies may be interfering). Install Classic Pack, then Dead Money. Run game with at least one save. Quit game and install Honest Hearts. Honest Hearts must appear on starting screen menu. Save game after receiving radio signal. Reconnect to internet.
 * After installing Honest Hearts, the radio signal for Northern Passage may not appear if "ED-E My Love" has not been completed. The only fix is reverting to a previous save file.
 * A possible glitch can occur when you leave the Angel Cave after talking with Joshua for the first time. When going back through the water the way you came and reaching the initial entrance, Chalk may suddenly disband as your companion and you automatically fail all three quests given to you at that point. This was remedied with a reload from the last autosave. The latest patch (version 1.5) fixes this bug.
 * The medical supplies picked up in the deliverer of sorrows quest still appear in inventory following the quest completion. As with all quest items they cannot be removed and don't contribute to your weight (regardless of them having a listed weight of 10 lbs) making them a neat but pointless souvenir from Zion.
 * When returning to Zion national park after traveling back to the Mojave Wasteland, the game will become stuck in a permanent loading screen, leaving the previous autosave glitched.
 * If you have not found all of the locations in Zion Canyon and leave, the tick marks on your compass indicating undiscovered locations may disappear when you move close to them upon returning to Zion. You can still discover these locations, however tick marks on your compass for these locations will not be visible even after discovering them.
 * All special weapons that are found may disappear.
 * Saving inside Zion National Park, quitting the game and trying to reload from that save will cause the game to get stuck at the loading screen. Loading a save from before you entered Zion and then loading the save from within Zion will allow you to bypass this problem.
 * Completing the add-on may cause the NCR or Legion to be hostile towards the player regardless of reputation with the respective faction. Wearing faction armor can negate this, but no long term solution has been found.
 * Completing the add-on may stop your xp from accumulating normally after you return to Mojave.
 * It seems that every time you fast travel, creatures such as cazadors or yao guai will appear instantly in front of you after about 5 seconds.
 * If you are playing through Dead Money when you download and install Honest Hearts, you will not hear that radio transmission during Dead Money, or after you finish Dead Money and are back in the wasteland. Basically the game will not at all recognize that Honest Hearts has been installed.
 * Upon completing the main quest and evacuating Zion, Two Sorrows may still be on the road to Pine Creek after the quest is finished.
 * The map marker for Red Gate will not show up until you actually climb onto Red Gate. Other map markers may not show up in one location, but will from another.
 * The mantis leg glitch that was patched in normal game play works in Honest Hearts.
 * Sometimes fog never comes in the add on at all in Zion National Park.
 * It appears that after the patch for Old World Blues, you can actually reach a higher level cap then what has been issued to players, a full playthrough of this DLC before level 40 will get you to around level 46 without the install of the 3rd DLC.
 * Some cliffs in Zion may not be properly structured, causing the player to fall through and render the player's movement to a standstill. A possible location is the yao guai cave. To the right of the entrance, a small cliff overlooks the canyon (confirmed once on the PS3).
 * Sometimes White Legs that are dead and floating in water will glitch causing their body to stretch in weird ways such as extended legs, neck, and arms.
 * Sometimes after completing the Honest Hearts main quest and returning to the Wasteland, your Honest Hearts DLC will fail to load, causing you to have to reinstall the DLC, resulting in loss of all items, quest progression in Zion National Park and perks you may have obtained that became available in Honest Hearts. The only thing you do not lose is the extra 5 levels you gained from originally installing Honest Hearts.

Behind the scenes

 * Honest Hearts was first hinted at via in-game graffiti, sparking speculation that it would be the next add-on. This speculation was seemingly confirmed when ZeniMax registered "Honest Hearts" as a trademark. The graffiti hinting at Honest Hearts refers to Joshua Graham, and New Canaan, which were originally to appear in Van Buren, Black Isle's canceled Fallout 3 project.


 * Honest Hearts was again hinted at in the game files of the Dead Money add-on, with the inclusion of an unused snowglobe for Zion National Park, and further suggesting it would be the next DLC in line for release after Dead Money.
 * J.E. Sawyer has indicated that the title of this add-on is a reference to Brigham Young's aphorism, "Honest hearts produce honest actions".
 * J.E. Sawyer also revealed that the story of Honest Hearts drew inspiration from the Utah War and Mountain Meadows Massacre.
 * All titles for Honest Hearts achievements are taken from Psalm 126 and Psalm 137 in the Bible.

Videos
OxXE2yHUZUU