Raven Rock

Raven Rock, originally known as "Site R," is the East Coast Enclave's main base of operations in the Capital Wasteland and a former American military base and fallout shelter built before the Great War. It was originally intended to shelter many of the United States' top military and civilian leaders from the effects of a nuclear attack on the nation. It can be found in the northwestern edge of the Pip-Boy 3000 map. The base itself isn't accessible during free-form play (only the entry door and surrounding compound can be reached from the southeast); you arrive here after Finding the Garden of Eden and escape during The American Dream, and the entrance seals behind you.

Depending on the player's choices throughout the game, a few named NPCs might be found while moving about Raven Rock. Nathan Vargas from Megaton can be found warning the player's character that the Enclave "aren't who they say they are" and to "get out while you still can." Anna Holt can also be found in a room near John Henry Eden's office. She has gone to work for the Enclave, seduced by their advanced technology and promises to improve the wasteland. She is the one who has let the Enclave know what they need to make the Purifier work (except the access code, which she apparently doesn't know), and is responsible for Autumn's following you to steal the G.E.C.K..

The player character can destroy Raven Rock through a speech check with President Eden, or by finding his self destruct code on Autumn's terminal. This seems to hold little relevance in game play as the Enclave presence at Project Purity is just as strong and organized as it would be had the player character not destroyed Raven Rock. A plausible explanation is that the highly militaristic Enclave has prepared evacuation drills for abandoning the base with minimal loss of men and material. A further explanation is that the Enclave has been preparing significant defences at Project Purity in the event of a Brotherhood attack. Colonel Augustus Autumn, the commander of the Enclave's military forces, may also have been preparing to leave for some time, since he seems to require very little to finally push him into rebellion against President John Henry Eden at the time of the Lone Wanderer's arrival. The player may inform Elder Lyons of Raven Rock's destruction, but again this only results in dialogue and no visible difference in the Enclave's performance.

In the add-on pack Broken Steel, Raven Rock will be destroyed by Liberty Prime if the player did not destroy it, and there is no way to get back into the base.

Description
Raven Rock is a hardened underground fallout shelter originally built to house high-ranking American military and political personnel in the event of a nuclear attack on the United States. It is powered by a General Atomics-built nuclear reactor and gets its fresh water from deep underground wells and a mini purifier similar to the vaults. It is also likely that Raven Rock had manufacturing capabilities able to produce Vertibirds, power armor, and weapons.

Notable loot

 * The Energy Weapons Bobblehead is located near the end of Sector 2C in Colonel Autumn's room, along with the ZAX destruct sequence. If you miss it during your visit to Raven Rock you will be unable to retrieve it later. After opening one of the large metal doors on the second floor, the player will be confronted with two doors, one with two enemies behind it. The bobblehead is behind the western door. The player should not enter the Control Room before retrieving the bobblehead, as the doors will lock permanently.
 * There is an immense amount of loot available at Raven Rock including Tesla armor, plasma rifles, Enclave power armor, Enclave Hellfire armor (with Broken Steel), AER9 laser rifles, and Gatling lasers, most off dead Enclave bodies that you kill.

Related quests

 * Finding the Garden of Eden
 * The American Dream

Appearances
Raven Rock only appears in Fallout 3.

Behind the scenes

 * Raven Rock Mountain Complex is a real-world government facility located just north of Pennsylvania's southern border. However, the design of Raven Rock's entrance is visually similar to the Mount Weather complex, another nuclear bunker, which is about 50 miles northwest of Washington, DC. Mount Weather is designed to be the President's personal fallout shelter. Raven Rock is located in upper left-hand corner of the map in Fallout 3, roughly in the area of Travilah, Maryland, and relatively close to Mount Weather.

Bugs

 * All glitches have been moved to the discussion page.
 * The outer hatch can be blown off from the outside by small arms fire (but not grenades). If you enter the complex (before The Waters of Life quest), you will be blocked from further entry by an invisible wall. When you leave, you will trigger the event where Colonel Autumn's Vertibirds flee the compound. If you go back and exit one more time, the Vertibirds will be stuck to the ground on top of Raven Rock. Just climb up there and you can study them closely. But you can not do anything to them. They still, of course, blow up if a sufficient amount of damage is dealt.
 * There is a glitch where if you convinced Eden to self-destruct and you fast travel back to Raven Rock with Fawkes as a follower at a later time, Fawkes will get stuck under the level. You can solve this by moving away until he starts following you and he will re-glitch back onto the surface. This glitch can also occur with Dogmeat, but if you try to re-glitch he will die.
 * After the base has been destroyed, Enclave troopers will spawn close to Raven Rock and will flee. They will also respawn every time you fast-travel back to the location. When killed, their bodies are empty even though they are clearly wearing armor.
 * There is a deathclaw in a cage that appears to be friendly, but letting it out will result in it attacking you after first attacking any nearby Enclave forces.
 * After the base has been destroyed, from the hatch, go left and around the mountain. When you get to the top, there is a bunch of hovering flames. They cannot be interacted with.
 * Killing either of the two sentry bots guarding the entrance to Eden's office will cause loss of karma.