Bethesda Ruins

The Bethesda Ruins are located on the far outskirts of the DC ruins, north east of Vault 101 across the river. The Ruins are actually two office buildings - Bethesda Offices East and West - linked by a catwalk and a monorail entrance. To the northeast area of the Bethesda Offices East you will find an underground passage called Bethesda Underworks, which you can also enter via manhole located to the southwest of Bethesda Ruins West Office.

Locations
Four areas collectively make up the Bethesda Ruins. They are the street level, Bethesda Offices West, Bethesda Offices East, and the Bethesda Underworks.

Street Level
The entire area is occupied by well-equipped Raiders. Several use Flamers, while the bulk of the remainder use assault rifles or Chinese Assault Rifles depending upon player level. Additionally, a sniper armed with a .308 sniper rifle roosts in a building shell nearby. The raiders have barricaded most of the streets leading to the ruins with haste-make structures and derelict vehicles. While this may force a player bent on attacking the Ruins into unfavorable positions at times, methodical attackers can turn the barricades to their own advantage, drawing the Raiders out to attack in ones and twos, rather than attempting to attack a fortified position. These "fighting positions" also house a few ammunition and supply boxes.

Note: If you have the Ghoul Mask, you can "enlist" the support of Feral Ghouls to help clear out the street level. You have to first enter the Bethesda Underworks without officially entering Bethesda Ruins and then put on the Ghoul Mask. The Feral Ghouls will exit the Underworks and begin attacking the Raiders outside. Make sure you keep any traveling companions away from the area or they might attack the Ghouls, who will then turn on you.

Bethesda Offices West
Mostly reception and office space, Bethesda Offices West is nevertheless home to a considerable number of Raiders. The cramped confines of the building render most hard-hitting long-range weapons ineffective as they become unwieldy when turning corners and investigating small rooms. Raiders are generally well-armed and -armored, making the Chinese Assault Rifle, 10mm SMG, or Scoped .44 Magnum ideal choices for assault weapons. Players with a high Small Guns skill and criticals-enhancing perks may choose to use either a silenced or standard 10mm Pistol.

Players should also keep a keen eye for traps. At least three shotgun traps as well as two grenade cluster traps are located in this building. Players with sufficient Explosives skill can disarm and take the weapons (though the two clusters are in a difficult to reach space between floors).

Notable Loot

 * On the big curved desk in the main lobby there is a Big Book of Science.
 * On the bottom floor, a Stealth Boy is hidden in a crate on its side next to a water fountain. Far east by the stairs.
 * On the second floor, there are two Pre-War Books on top of some Filing Cabinets. Look for a burning barrel just up a set of stairs.
 * On top floor near deep freezer next to the fridge there is small pile of crates. Move them to reveal a Mini Nuke
 * On top floor at the bottom of a wooden crate on a desk under some other stuff there is a Dean's Electronics.
 * On top floor, on shelves to the right of the door, there is a Stealth Boy.

Bethesda Offices East
Much of the East building is offices, with more cramped fighting conditions. Extensive damage to the building also includes large gaps and holes in the floor, making fighting on the upper floor treacherous in places. The apparent leader of the Bethesda Raiders is here, armed with a flamethrower and carrying a Big Guns skill book in their inventory.

Bethesda East is also one of the possible initiation points for the John's Treasure Box miscellaneous quest. Players may find a wastelander's corpse carrying a note written to his brother. The note points the player to the scrapyard north of the Ruins. In this scrapyard is a bus that has been cut in half. Inside is a container labeled John's Treasure Box which holds skill books.

Notable Loot

 * The Bobblehead: Lockpick is located in Bethesda Offices East on a desk next to the Turret Control System Computer on the second level. (its right next to one of the only child's skulls in the game which can be picked up in the Playstation3 and Xbox360 version, PC unconfirmed.)
 * You can find a Mini Nuke near the exit to the catwalk, to the north between the two filing cabinets (which can't be opened), on a rubble pile.
 * There is also a Chinese Army: Special Ops Training Manual to the left hand side on the first floor up, as well as two missiles(far left nearly doubling back on yourself)
 * U.S. Army: 30 Handy Flamethrower Recipes book held by the flamethrower raider. The raider who holds this book respawns every 73 hours, so technically, you can retrieve this book an infinite amount of times.
 * On the PS3, the raider carrying the skillbook has been reported to respawn only 3 or 4 times.


 * Note: On this same Raider is a Safe Key which unlocks the safe just above the desk where the Bobblehead: Lockpick is located. The safe contains Pre-War Money as well as Bottle caps and a Scoped .44 Magnum (Scoped Magnum was not present for me on 360).

Bethesda Underworks
Main article: Bethesda Underworks.

A small tunnel system leading from the Bethesda Ruins to the edge of town, the Underworks are infested with feral ghouls. The Underworks are also a low-radiation area, however given the small size of the tunnel system, any exposure is likely to be brief.

Notable Loot

 * Grognak the Barbarian in a storage room at the bottom of the Underworks
 * Mini Nuke can be found in this same storage room under a wooden crate. The crate must be manually moved via Grab.
 * A Stealth Boy is in the same storage room, held in the skeleton's hand.
 * Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor on a bucket sitting on a bench found right after coming from the tunnel at the entrance.
 * Nuka-Cola Quantum in the same storage room.

Bugs
You may encounter two raiders armed with lead pipes that can't be killed. The only way to escape is let your companion fight them so you can run away and fast travel, or go to a previous save. I've only seen it on Xbox 360