Still in the Dark

 is a quest in Fallout: New Vegas.

Quick Walkthrough

 * Locate the Brotherhood of Steel in Hidden Valley Bunker
 * Speak with Paladin Ramos
 * Speak with Elder McNamara
 * Deal with the NCR Ranger
 * Speak with Elder McNamara
 * Retrieve 3 Holodisks from fallen Brotherhood paladins
 * Return to Elder McNamara, and give him the 3 holodisks
 * Meet with 3 Brotherhood scouts and obtain their reports
 * Give Elder McNamara the 3 scout field reports
 * Retrieve the parts for the air filtration system
 * Return to Hidden Valley and give parts to Lorenzo

Detailed Walkthrough
is obtained at the Brotherhood of Steel compound at the western Hidden Valley bunker. To gain access to the interior of the bunker, the Courier needs to either have a lockpick skill of 75 (Hard) or perform certain other actions to be able to interact with the intercom, such as:
 * Randomly discovering the bodies of dead BOS Paladins anywhere in the world (The holotape in their inventory will have a password on it which becomes a speech option when using the intercom at the first door within the bunker):
 * REPCONN Headquarters' 3rd floor
 * Near Moe around Black Mountain
 * Outside of Nellis Air Force Base main entry, there are two Brotherhood T-51b Power Armor Paladins. (Artillery bombing may have moved them from their original position.)
 * Being sent by Mr. House or Yes Man to learn about the Brotherhood of Steel. When entering the bunker from the northern entrance, a patrol will run out. This will cause the door to open, allowing you to enter.
 * Getting far enough in any factions storyline to be asked to find the Brotherhood of Steel.
 * Having Veronica as a companion, which allows you to use the intercom to open the gate.
 * After getting two playbacks from ED-E, eventually a Brotherhood Paladin manages to hack in to ED-E's communication systems, asking you to find a Brotherhood patrol so they can have a look at ED-E's databanks.

If using the password you will be greeted by a BoS squad and required to relinquish your entire inventory. A short scene follows in which you are questioned by Senior Paladin Ramos about the password itself. Afterward you are led to Elder McNamara and assigned your first quest. Note: Once you've regained your gear, all BoS within the bunker will become hostile if an attempt to enter dressed as NCR is made; companions are not exempt. Removing the outfit may or may not stop hostility (PC confirmed to stop).


 * WARNING If you have the YCS/186 in your possession when you enter with the BoS squad, it may not be returned to you with your other equipment. (Got it back on PC with patch 1.02, tested it and got the YCS back with everything else)


 * Note: The box with your gear may not give all of it back when Taking All. Check the box a second time.


 * Note: If entry is gained with Veronica as a companion, you are allowed a number of exceptions to the quest line. Your gear is not confiscated, the exploding collar is not placed on you, and the first quest (Below: NCR ranger) is skipped. This too happens when you have ED-E as companion and you have been invited by a paladin).

The Elder will explain the secretive nature of the location and the need to test you. You are fitted with an explosive collar, which will detonate if you pass beyond a certain range of the area.


 * Your first task is to remove an NCR ranger who has set up shop in a nearby bunker. Success is rewarded with removal of the collar, free movement about the BoS bunker, and the next quest.
 * The player can convince him to leave by passing a Speech check (50).
 * The player can also ask about his radio, wait until daylight when he leaves the bunker, select his radio and choose the option to smash it. (Smashing the radio with him in the room will make turn hostile. If The player has a companion with them, they can simply break the radio with the ranger still in the room and let the companion kill him; this will result in negative karma and a reduction of your reputation with the NCR. (Confirmed: PS3))
 * You can also rig the radio to explode. When he returns, he will go fiddle with the radio and meet a quick death. You do not lose karma or NCR fame if you choose this option. If the ranger is in the room he will notice what you did and will confront you. Passing a Speech check(40) will lead to the ranger blowing himself up the next time he uses the radio.
 * The player can also reveal the location of the Brotherhood of Steel to the NCR Ranger. The Ranger will then remove the collar from the Courier, but will be ambushed by Brotherhood of Steel Paladins. If the player manages to save the ranger, he is rewarded with NCR Fame, but the quest will be failed.
 * The final option is to kill him.


 * The second task to to locate several patrols that have gone missing. The paladins must be brought back, or if found dead, their mission holotapes returned.

The moment you exit the Elder's chamber, you are confronted by Head Paladin Hardin who tells you that he believes the Elder's policy of keeping them isolated from the outside world will be their doom, and wants you to help him oust Elder McNamara. He asks you to find out more about what leads to an Elder being replaced and tells you to update him on all the quests the Elder gives you. These are all marked as optional parts of the same quest.

REPCONN Headquarters
Once finished with the tour, enter the door to the left in the Planetarium and up the stairs to get the keycard. Go back to the first room and through the locked door using the card. Find the door to the second floor and take the first door on the left. Hack the terminal (Very Easy), beside a Nikola Tesla and You, and select the first option which gives you unlimited access to the second floor. Find the door heading to the third floor and enter. A waiting security bot will question you. If you cannot pass a Luck check (Luck 7), it will tell you that you must leave in 30 seconds. Search the Paladin near the rubble and leave (there is also a 3rd Level Security Pass located on a corpse). Noteable Loot: On the second floor there is a room that requires 75 Lockpick, if you have this it's recommended to open this door. After opening the door look around for a giant hole in the floor, there will be a red light coming from a protectron case. Right outside the Protection case will be a Q-35 Matter Modulator which looks like a Plasma Rifle. Prior to patch 1.2, it does 25 DAM and 90 DPS fully repaired.

Nellis Air Force Base
The location of the paladin can change game to game because of the artillery the boomers fire at you when you approach Nellis. Here is one probable location: After you get the boomers to stop bombing you, stand at the entrance to Nellis. Head S-SW up the hill and pass between the car and road barricade. You should see a bombed house directly in front of you. Continue S-SW down the road to the house next door. There is a backyard behind that house bordered by a wall with ornamental decorations. In the backyard, there is a crater with a car in it. The paladin should be in or nearby that crater.


 * Another possibility is the indicator points you to the direction where the Paladin should lay, but there's no one there, aim down and scan the ground near you where the indicator tells you to go, you might get the message 'Search Brotherhood of Steel Paladin', although you see nothing, the bombing might've glitched the body into the ground, the holotape will show up in his inventory.

Black Mountain
After exiting the Hidden Valley Bunker, look on your compass and aim directly in between Northeast and East follow this to a hole in the fence and follow the trail to just south of Black Mountain. You can also get into the cage from Black Mountain if you have a Lockpick of at least 75. The gate is just behind The Radio Station.You will encounter Moe and possibly 5-6 additional centaurs in and around an irradiated crater (+1-11 Rad/sec). The paladin is at the bottom of the crater.

Return to the BoS bunker and hand over the tapes to Elder McNamara, or talk to Head Paladin Hardin who will accept the holotapes and use them as evidence to oust McNamara.

Ousting McNamara
If you choose to help Head Paladin Hardin, you may not be able to oust McNamara until after fixing the filtration system or reading the causes of previous dismissals of elders. After finishing the filtration system quest, you will get a new dialog option to give the holotapes to Hardin--even though you've already finished the holotapes and filtration quest. Hardin then says he'll prepare to confront McNamara, which will take a few days. You will not be able to talk to either character during this time and doing so will also abruptly end the quest. Once resolved Hardin will change into Elder robes and talking to him will present a new discussion topic about joining the Brotherhood. McNamara is now reduced to rank of Knight and can be found in Lorenzo's workshop area.

Scouts
Head to each scout and start a conversation; the first option should mention "Are the bears still hunting?" Choose this and you will receive the scouts reports. Collect all three and give them to McNamara.

The first scout is located on the northeast end of the NCR Correctional Facility, relatively close to the facility and relatively low to the ground. He is close to the fence bordering the facility.

The second scout is on the far northeast side of Nipton, quite afar off and very high up. You should see the water tower in Nipton afar off ahead on the right side of the the town of Nipton, if you are at the right place. Head north by northeast from the water tower and scale the mountain (between and a little north of the coyote den and the hidden supply cave), and remember that it is not close to the town, not like the scout over at the NCR facility. This guy is the most difficult to find of the three.

The third scout is easier to find than the second; he is located to the southwest end of the NCR Camp Forlorn Hope. He is up on a rock overlooking the valley on the southern side of the camp, in plain view of the Ranger tower on the far south side of the camp. The rock which the scout is on is not adjacent to the rocks surrounding the camp; there is a large gap in between the rock that the scout is on, and the Ranger tower on the southern side of the camp. The rock is approximately the same elevation as the ranger tower, although slightly higher in elevation. You cannot see him from the Ranger tower; you have to go up the rock to find him.

NOTE: If you are enemies with the NCR, there is a walkthrough for Camp Forlorn Hope.

Vault 22

 * Note: It is highly recommended you fix the elevator in this vault as it will make traveling much easier (requires 50 repair). (PC players with the ability to use the command line interface can increase their repair ability to fix the elevator if desired, however, you cannot use the "unlock" command as the elevator will still need to be repaired to gain access)


 * Note: Vault 22 is also involved in the side quest: There Stands the Grass, which can be obtained at Camp McCarran by speaking to Dr. Thomas Hildern.

The 6 HEPA 20 Cartridge Filters are in a Locker on the 2nd Level - Oxygen Recycling, in the same area where you rescue Keely in the side quest There Stands the Grass. If, however, you already finished the side quest, you must navigate through the caves that can be accessed either through the 3rd or 5th level.

Firstly, navigate towards the 4th Floor (Common Areas). Head into the large area and drop down to the level below. From here, go through the door labeled "Quarters." An average lock is on this door, but can be bypassed by using the terminal in the Overseer's Office in the 4th Floor. Be wary of the corridor, as there are several Spore Carrier Savages. A Vault 22 Cave Door Keycard is in the first room on the left (the one with a baby carriage and crib) with a couple spore carrier savages. Look on the shelves to the right of the room. The Vault 22 Cave Door Keycard is on the third shelf from the bottom.

When you have obtained the keycard, head back up to 3rd Level - Food Production and enter the room with a terminal and the cave door (the door cannot be lockpicked and requires the keycard). Use the terminal on the left to unlock the door.

Once you enter the cave, take your first right and head up that path. You will eventually come to a wooden door labeled Oxygen Recycling; enter this door. You will find 6 HEPA 20 Cartridge Filters in a locker here.

If you cannot find the card or you are blocked out, another way to reach it is to go to Fifth Level - Pest Control, walking away from the elevators turn left, or straight ahead if you've come from the stairs (entering the only unlabeled doorway of the three. It has some foliage in front of it), go up the stairs, turn left and enter the door to "Vault 22 - Food Production". Turn right and follow the path upward, and take the second right and you'll get to the wooden door that takes you to "Vault 22 - Oxygen Recycling" and the locker is located in the north east corner of the room.

Finally, go back into the cave and retrace your steps to go back to 3rd Level - Food Production, and proceed to the vault exit.

WARNING It is advised that you do not use the command line on the PC version of the game to spawn the required six HEPA 20 Cartridge Filters as this can cause the mission to glitch. The specific quest for obtaining the HEPA filters will not complete. If you try to pick up the original six filters in the locker after inputting the command the quest for finding the filters will still not complete. Speaking to the scribe that assigned you the mission from the Brotherhood will not complete the quest either. Instead a dialog option will come up saying you found most of the parts but not all of them for the air filtration system. The entire quest for Still in the Dark will be impossible to complete after this, especially if you do not have an old game save to go back from before entering Vault 22.

Vault 3
Upon entering the vault via the control panel next to the door labeled "Vault 3 Recreation center", in the south Vegas ruins, you will encounter a Fiend who asks your business inside the vault: If you choose to free the prisoners, one of them will give you the password to the Overseer's Quarters.
 * Note: It is suggested that you initiate the Aba Daba Honeymoon quest and the unmarked Bounty Killer quest (see Colonel Hsu at Camp McCarran regarding Motor-Runner) prior to entering Vault 3 so that you can clear all Vault 3 related quests at the same time.
 * Note: There can be some confusion regarding "Anders" in regards to Vault 3. The Great Khan drug runner Anders that is crucified by the Legion outside of Cottonwood Cove during the Aba Daba Honeymoon quest (if you chose to speak to Diane) is not the same person as the NCR Ranger Bryce Anders that is the subject of the search with the Bounty Killer quest and is holed up injured in Vault 3. Both quest dialogues refer to simply "Anders" but are referencing different people.
 * Note: The Vault 3 maintenance key can be obtained from Bryce Anders in the Living Quarters.
 * If you have been given a package to deliver to Motor-Runner by Diane as part of the Aba Daba Honeymoon quest and are wearing a Great Khan outfit the Fiend will assume you are there to deliver the next shipment of drugs from the Khans. After a brief exchange the Vault's inhabitants will become friendly and you will be allowed to pass.
 * If you can pass the Speech check (64), she will be persuaded that you are a Great Khan selling the Fiends' chems. Just follow the main halls and you will end up in the Motor-Runner's room. The Reverse Pulse Cleaner will be in a locker in the same room as Motor-Runner and will not be considered "stolen" if you take it.
 * If you cannot pass the speech check, then the Fiends in the vault will turn hostile. Head to the southern part of the map and look for the door to the Living Quarters. Head left and and (after dodging some traps) enter the door titled Recreation Area. After speaking with the ranger either convince him to go help you kill the fiend leader or just kill him for the maintenance room key.

NOTE: If you've already beat Vault 3, or if you simply can't find it, it is in a locker on the left wall of the throne room of Motor-Runner in the Maintenance Wing. Directions: Fast travel to Vault 3, enter Vault 3, turn left, follow the hall down the stairs, take a right, follow to the end, take another right, follow to the end and down the stairs, congratulations you are at the maintenance wing. Go to the far last room where Motor-Runner resides, which is a dead end in the maintenance wing, and the Reverse Pulse Cleaner is in the first of the two lockers on the left.

NOTE: Entering or exiting Vault 3 has been known to cause *all* future saves to be corrupted. Be sure to do a save prior to entering the first time in case you need to reload. (PC) All of my save games after clearing Vault 3 and exiting were corrupted, leading me to leave this quest line alone until a fix is forthcoming.

Vault 11
You will find the Differential Pressure Controller in a Locker under water in the flooded section of the Lower Level. go towards the overseers office but before you do, take the turn towards the utility room and head down the stairs into the flooded hallway, keep going and take the first room on your right and its in the locker on the right hand side of the room. See the Vault 11 page for a detailed guide.

Here's a quick run down: When you enter the vault open the first door. - Take the first door to your right. - Go right again down the stairs - Walk past the 2 closed doors and go down the stairs - Go straight and follow the stairs downwards into the living quarters. - Follow the stairs down until you get in the big room with 3 routes. - Take the door with ADMIN written on top - At the end of the hall take a right to the Overseer's office - Take the door to the lower levels follow the steps down - Before you enter the Overseers office take a right - Until there is a sign with UTILITY take a right again and follow the it to the end of the hall ignoring the 2 doors. - this is the flooded area, yet it is not completely flooded so you can breath easily by swimming to the top. - However you do take radiation ticks. - Swim down the stairs, take a left and take the first room on your right. In this room you will find the Differential Pressure Controller.

Once you have all three items return to Hidden Valley and tell Lorenzo. You will receive 1000XP and a Brotherhood Safehouse Key in return. Upon re-entering the bunker you will have access to a special footlocker by the entrance that re-stocks energy weapon ammo every time you re-enter the room.

Bugs
-Warning- This quest has been known to cause a save file glitch. It is recommended that you save your game before you start the quest line. Keep the save file as a rollback save in case you encounter this glitch. Also play through the quest line in one straight shot
 * If you give ED-E to Lorenzo to repair (as part of the quest ED-E My Love quest) before the part of where you have to talk to Lorenzo to start fixing the air filtration system, he will not be visible. The quest map marker will lead you to the position where Lorenzo is supposed to be, but he will not be there. To solve this, just wait a few days until he is finishing upgrading ED-E. Also note that if you have all the parts needed to fix the air filtration system but you've not yet completed the quest ED-E My Love and you've been already contacted by Lorenzo asking to have a look at it, the dialogue to give him the parts won't come up at all until you either hand ED-E to him or to the Followers of the Apocalypse.
 * Helping Hardin to take over the chapter and repairing the filtration system are intended to be mutually exclusive quests. However as long as you have spoken to Lorenzo about the filtration system before Hardin takes over you can still turn in the parts to him and he will direct you to the elder, but McNamara will no longer have the completion dialog. You must pick one or the other, with Hardin's route being easier but resulting in less faction rep (the average player ending up at "accepted") and McNamara's being harder but leaving the average player at "liked."  Note also that the quests following their transitions are completely different.
 * Alternatively, if you are pursuing Still In the Dark and Ed-E, My Love quests at the same time before choosing which faction to give ED-E to, Lorenzo will not offer the option to report you have all of the components from each of the vaults. You must do some of the dialogue pertaining to ED-E before the option to report you have the components becomes available. It appears afterward you lose the option of giving ED-E to Lorenzo for some odd reason.
 * Talking to Scribe Ibsen in his bedroom may result in another Scribe getting him stuck under the stairs for several hours, or until you leave or come back.
 * However, there is a bug that allows the player to seemingly complete both options. For this error state to occur, you must tell Hardin about the "Chain that Binds" but NOT tell him about McNamara's orders to find scouts/paladins/filtration parts.  The player can then turn in the filtration parts, tell McNamara you've turned in the parts, and finally tell Hardin about the orders.  This is the only order of events that works, as the "Chain that Binds" dialogue options disappear from Hardin after turning in the filtration parts.
 * This route generates more immediate XP, but leaves the two NPCs in an error state. They will, for the rest of the game, both only tell the player to come back later.  This prevents you from continuing on to the next part in the chain.
 * Note that both legitimate options will result in a brief period wherein the player cannot speak to their elder of choice, but this does not mean that they're bugged - leave the cell and wait for a few days to ensure they've made the transition.
 * To fix the error state, you will need to open the console and reset the quest with the following two lines (WARNING - using the console will disable Steam achievements. You will need to exit and restart the game to re-enable them.):


 * During the quest, having Veronica as a follower, if you tell her to wait previously, she will randomly pop up throughout the vaults, fighting the spores. Then she stands there waiting for you to tell her to follow you once more.
 * Note this quest can be completed following McNamara's route, then the quests "Eyesight to the Blind" and "I Could Make You Care" can be completed. The player can then talk to Hardin and get the XP even though the quest has been marked as completed. This was done by completing Hardin's route just unto the point before he takes over. This seems to still leave Hardin and McNamara in the error state but doesn't matter as all Brotherhood of Steel quest have been completed.
 * If you obtain two of the scouts holotapes by pickpocketing one and talking to the scout to receive another you will be unable to hand them in to Elder McNamara, meaning you will only be able to complete the quest by following Paladin Hardin's route.
 * After dealing with the NCR Ranger,entering the compound and attacking and/or killing any BoS members turns everyone hostile, making it impossible to speak with McNamara to remove the explosive collar.
 * The NCR Ranger may spawn a little distance outside of Hidden Valley, past the main gate. The game acts like he was in the bunker, however. The explosive collar will not kill you if you go to him if he should spawn outside the bunker.

Behind the scenes
"Still in the Dark" is a 1950 blues song by Big Joe Turner.