Scrap Metal (Fallout 3)

Scrap Metal can be traded to various different NPCs located in Fallout 3.

Walter in Megaton
Scrap Metal is desired by Walter in Megaton after completing the unmarked quest: Treatment.

He is located in the Water Purification shack during the day. He will pay 10 caps for every piece of scrap metal the player brings him (rewarded 5 XP per for each piece as well). For many players (especially those who reside in Megaton) Walter may be the most preferable option (even when XP is no longer an issue) as you can easily fast travel to Megaton to unload your stacks of scrap metal, and then head down the ramp to Craterside Supply to sell other unneeded loot.

You may also just give the scrap metal for free to Walter for positive karma. This is a good way of increasing your karma, given how common scrap metal is.

Winthrop in Underworld
Winthrop in Underworld also trades for scrap metal. He will give 1 Stimpak, Rad-X, or Rad Away for every 5 pieces of scrap brought to him.

Unless you think you're making a difference, selling scrap here is not as profitable as other scrap buyers. For instance, selling to Walter in Megaton will net you 10 caps each; Stimpaks cost generally about 30 caps. Also Casdin will give you 1 Stimpack for 2 pieces scrap metal. By selling in underworld you lose profit if you were to trade the scrap metals for a Stimpak.

Although in times when these items are hard to find (by lack of traders selling them, lack of known traders, or by the player or having bought out all such items from those selling them) this can be a useful venture in a pinch.

Protector Casdin at Fort Independence
Protector Casdin of the Brotherhood Outcasts is located in Fort Independence. He will trade 12- 5.56mm rounds, 1 Stimpak, 1 Rad Away or 1 Frag Grenade for every 2 pieces of scrap brought to him.

Ammo Press at The Pitt
The Ammo Press in The Pitt is located in the Steel Mill. Scrap metal is very useful in the presses due to it yielding more ammo than scrap put in. For example, if one puts 500 pieces of scrap metal into the press to make Shotgun Shells, it will return 1500 shells.

Scrap Metal Looting

 * A remarkable loot of Scrap Metal, (24 units) is sold by Karl at the Family's bazaar in Meresti Metro Station, or can be stolen from the broken supermarket refrigerator inside his shop, on the right when you get in. If you buy it, those will disappear from his inventory.
 * Most of the robots (of any type) will most likely drop Scrap Metal when defeated.
 * Travels to both RobCo Facility and Red Racer Factory will resupply you with large amounts of Scrap Metal, since there are lots of Toolbox and Crates to loot.
 * Occasionally, Rivet City Supply will have up to 3 for sale. Moira at Craterside Supply will occasionally have one or two for sale.
 * If you have downloaded Fallout 3's Broken Steel DLC, You will have some fun collecting tons of Scrap Metal at the Adams Air Force Base, since it seems that there are dozens of units scattered around the place. A more accurate esteem will be provided as sooner as possible. (During my run for the last mission I manage to get about 50 scrap metal pieces)

Glitches and bugs
It is possible to freeze your current amount of scrap metal through Protector Casdin (confirmed on 360 & PS3). This method can be done directly after leaving Vault 101. Moderate sneak skill is required, around 30-40, which can of course be supplemented by Stealth Boys.


 * 1: First, an even number of scrap metal is needed. The RobCo Facility and the Meresti Station are two places with a lot of scrap metal.
 * 2: (Skip if friendly with Outcasts) Collect various items for Casdin, enough to achieve allied status with the Outcasts. The best place for this is the UFO crash site to the north, not only since the loot yield far more points than required to become friendly with the Outcasts, but also because one can simply stop by Meresti Station on the way and loot the scrap metal there.
 * 3: (Skip if friendly with Outcasts) Speak with Defender Morgan to start The Outcast Collection Agent quest.
 * 4: (Skip if friendly with Outcasts) Give Casdin enough items to become friendly with the Outcasts, around 50 points worth of items.
 * 5: Give Casdin all scrap metal in your inventory. This batch is the X Value. Note! This value MUST be an even number (10, 12, 14 etc).
 * 6: Steal back the X Value scrap metal you gave Casdin.
 * 7: Give back all scrap metal EXCEPT 2 for the best possible profit. This batch is the Y Value.
 * 8: Steal back the Y Value scrap metal from Casdin.
 * 9: Now, attempt to steal one of Casdins basic items, such as his Laser Rifle (or if you've given them to him, the Alien Power Cells). You should get caught (if not, try again). Casdin will then proceed to take back his scrap metal, but will steal back both the X Value and the Y Value. For example, if you gave him an 16 scrap metal, stole them back and then gave him 14 scrap metal, it will say that he removes 14 scrap metal and then 16 scrap metal.

This will glitch your scrap metal value so that you have a Z Value which is negative. It will appear as if you have no scrap metal at all in the inventory, but when you speak with Casdin, Winthrop or Walter you will still have the option of giving them scrap metal.

Following the example above, if you first gave him 16 scrap metal, stole them back and then gave him 14, you will have 14 invisible scrap metal in your inventory that can be given away to Walter, Casdin and Winthrop. Most importantly, this amount of invisible scrap metal is permanent, meaning it can be given away infinite times, as long as you do not pick up any additional scrap metal (which will reset the negative value back to normal).

Used early in the game with Walter, this gamebreaking glitch can launch a level 2 or 3 character to level 20 in less than 20 minutes, netting around 45,000-60,000 caps in the process. Also, going into further detail the super sniary glitch may help boost XP!

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