Reilly's Rangers (quest)

 is a Fallout 3 quest. It is also an Xbox 360 and PC achievement.

Obtaining the Quest
This quest can be started in three ways:


 * Picking up the Ranger Emergency Frequency, an automated distress call from Rangers stranded on the roof of the Statesman Hotel. The signal can be picked up while exploring near the National Archives building at the Mall Northeast map marker, but also on Pennsylvania Avenue and Vernon Square near the Statesman Hotel.


 * Finding Reilly in Underworld, the Ghoul City situated in the Museum of History in D.C. (near the Washington Monument). She is lying unconscious in the Underworld hospital, The Chop Shop. You must either convince Doc Barrows to wake her (speech skill), or do so yourself (60 medicine skill). Reilly explains that she was wounded by Super Mutants while trying to exfiltrate and get help for her team, who are stranded on the roof of the Statesman Hotel. (Speaking to Reilly is the only way to learn about Theo's ammo cache and obtain the code to unlock it.)


 * Traveling to the top of the Statesman Hotel and talking to Brick there.

The Rangers
Reilly's Rangers are a mercenary group operating in the Capital Wasteland. Their current missions are the ongoing eradication of Super Mutants, and mapping the Wasteland. The five members of Reilly's Rangers are:


 * Reilly: Leader of the Rangers.
 * Donovan: The Rangers' Engineer.
 * Brick: The Rangers' heavy weapons specialist, who uses a unique Minigun named Eugene.
 * Butcher: The Rangers' Medic.
 * Theo: The Rangers' Quartermaster, who was carrying most of the Rangers' ammo when he was killed in action.

Objectives & Walkthrough
1. Locate the Our Lady of Hope Hospital in Vernon Square. To get to the square, walk through Anacostia station (which is near Rivet City) to the square. Once there, go around the path to the right (fighting several raider groups near the fountain and in the buildings along the way) and head through the abandoned buildings to the north. There are several entrances to the hospital, including the front and side entrances in Vernon Square. There is also an entrance from the nearby sewers, and a service/basement entrance.

2. Cross over to the upper floors of the Statesman Hotel. Make your way through the hospital, fighting or sneaking past the Super Mutants and Centaurs. First Aid Supply boxes are plentiful, as are medical braces and surgical tubing. Be on the lookout for traps; there is at least one pressure plate and several tripwire-activated grenade bouquets, set by the Rangers. In one stairwell you will find the body of Theo, the Rangers' quartermaster, and a locked ammo box (if you received the quest from Reilly, you will have the code needed to open it). Cross over to the Statesman Hotel by walking across the toppled crane, and drop down into the hotel.

3. Make your way to the roof and meet up with the surviving Rangers. Proceed through the ruined hotel. There are a few items scattered about, but one is linked to another quest. The holotape labeled, 'A Message from Little Moonbeam's Father,' is very important to Sydney, the relic hunter from the Stealing Independence Quest. A Nuka-Cola Quantum is in the bar of the Alfresco Lounge.

4. Repair the elevator to the ground floor. As you arrive on the roof, you will hear a final round of explosives taking out the latest wave of Super Mutants. Butcher waves you in, but admits you're stuck there with them unless the elevator can be repaired by Donovan. You may speak to each team member and, if you wish, offer them ammo (Brick takes 150 5mm rounds, Butcher takes 50 10mm rounds, Donovan takes 50 5.56 rounds), then ask Donovan about the elevator. He will tell you that he needs a fission battery; if you aren't carrying one, he mentions that he saw a broken Protectron in the restaurant below. Once you give the battery to Donovan, he will repair the elevator and the Rangers will leave the roof. Or you can repair the elevator panel with the battery yourself, with a Repair Skill of 75.

5. Exfiltrate with the Rangers and return to the Ranger HQ in Seward Square. Fight your way out of the Statesman Hotel lobby. Butcher (if he survives) will tell you to drop by Ranger HQ, where you will find Reilly and the surviving team members. If you are unable to fast travel to Ranger HQ, it's likely that Seward Square will be swarming with Super Mutant Brutes, Masters and Centaurs when you exit the Dry Sewers, with a sprinkling of Talon Mercs or Regulators (depending on your Karma), so be prepared. At the Ranger compound you can obtain a secondary quest from Reilly, where she will pay you for mapping locations throughout the wasteland. An informal quest regarding the fate of Reilly's sister can be obtained by looking through the Rangers' computer.

As a reward you will be offered Ranger Battle Armor or Brick's minigun, Eugene (see Rewards section).

Strategy & Tactics

 * Reilly provides directions to the Statesman Hotel: "Using the Metro tunnels, head north from here to Metro Central. Then look for the tunnels to the Dupont Circle Station. Exit from Dupont Circle Station into the Dry Sewers and follow them to Our Lady of Hope Hospital." To make those directions work, you will have to leave the Dupont Circle station and head a short walk to the Dupont East station, where a flight of steps leads down to a door marked 'Hospital Maintenance.' This leads to the Dry Sewers and into the hospital.


 * If you're using fast travel, a shortcut is to hop to the GNR Building and leave through the back door. Climb down from the ledge, cross the bridge and enter the Metro Junction. Proceed downstairs into the tunnels and bear right into the station. Follow the right-hand bore and exit into Vernon Square near the Statesman Hotel. (As you step out of the tunnel mouth, there will be a Super Mutant patrolling a bridge to your left.)


 * You can choose to clear out the lobby of the hotel prior to entering the hospital, to make exiting the hotel with the Rangers easier. A slightly weaker contingent of Super Mutants will respawn if you do this.


 * Some players recommend not resupplying Brick (or perhaps any of the Rangers) with ammo, therefore increasing Brick's chances of getting killed in the lobby battle. If she does get killed, you can loot her corpse for both Ranger Battle Armor and Eugene (and still receive either one as a reward when the quest is finished). See Rewards below.


 * There is a small chance that you can knock Eugene out of Brick's hands through gunfire (by targeting the weapon in VATS) or if her arm gets disabled in the fight, but attempting this has about the same chances as pickpocketing her.


 * You may also want to clear the building diagonally across the street from the hotel and hospital as it contains Super Mutant riflemen in the windows. (This isn't necessary, as the Rangers fast-travel to their headquarters upon leaving the hotel.)


 * The supply closet where the broken Protectron lies can be tricky to locate. The closet is behind the stairs in the southwest corner of the restaurant and blocked from view by a pillar. Remember, any fission battery will work.


 * Reilly mentions Theo's body is in a stairwell on the 2nd Floor of the Statesman Hotel; some players have argued that this isn't correct because you can enter the hotel lobby and climb a flight of stairs, which would put you on the 2nd Floor (Theo's body is found above the level where you cross over from the hospital). Regardless of which of these perspectives is "correct" to each player, ultimately, it doesn't matter. It's hard to miss a dead body and an ammo box in a stairwell that you have to take to reach your objective.


 * The easiest way to reach Ranger HQ is to enter Anacostia Crossing Station (just north of Rivet City) and cross the mezzanine (don't go down). You will exit at Seward Square.


 * If you are accompanied by Charon and/or Fawkes, tell them to wait for you somewhere safe on the roof before you approach Reilly's Rangers. It has been reported that the Rangers will turn hostile towards you if they see you with either of these NPCs when you first meet them. Once the initial contact is made you can then collect your NPC companion(s) and return to the Rangers without them turning hostile. Note that some players have reported that the Rangers will not turn hostile if Charon is with you.

Official Quest Reward
The official quest reward is either a suit of Ranger Battle Armor or Brick's unique minigun, Eugene. However, players have come up with several creative ways to get their hands on both rewards. (See summary below.)

Geomapper Module
After rescuing Reilly's Rangers, if you offer to help Reilly with the Rangers' mapping duties, she will give you a Geomapper Module. As long as you have the module in your inventory, it will record every new location you discover. Return to the Compound periodically and speak to Reilly again to receive 30 caps per location. Given the number of locations in the game, this is a great source of income. You can speak to her right away after first receiving the Module and get paid for locations you've already discovered.

Some players have reported a minor glitch upon talking to Reilly about the Geomapping. She may say that all the locations you mapped before receiving the module were already found, and that you need to find "new" locations to receive any payment. This can be avoided by not trying to 'cash in' right away; leave the Compound and discover at least one location, then return to Reilly, and you will be paid for every location on your map.

Ranger Services
Two of the Rangers (provided they survive) also offer services:


 * Butcher will treat your wounds for free, but cannot cure radiation poisoning or clear addictions.
 * Donovan offers to repair your weapons and armor for a fee, but despite Reilly's glowing recommendation his repair ability is actually very low.

If you choose the armor
If you take the armor as a reward you can always steal Eugene from Brick using a Stealth Boy, though this is extremely difficult (prepare to take as many as 100 tries to pickpocket Eugene). To increase the likelihood of successfully stealing it from her, equip as many Luck and/or Sneak boosting items as possible, temporarily drop your heaviest equipment in a nearby drawer/locker/ammo crate/etc., with the exception of the Ranger Battle Armor itself, a Stealth Boy, and a regular Minigun. If you have any companions, tell them to wait for you outside of the room. Wait until Brick is asleep in her bed, activate the Stealth Boy, turn off your Pip-boy light to ensure minimal visibility, crouch into sneaking mode, move the maximum distance away from her to pickpocket her, THEN proceed to steal it from her. Replace Eugene by reverse-pickpocketing it with the regular Minigun, and at the expense of adding something from your inventory to hers of similar value (not to mention another negative karma deduction for doing so), you will have successfully stolen Eugene without any casualties or hostility between you and the Rangers.

If you choose Eugene
There is another way to obtain both the Ranger Armor and Eugene, again involving pickpocketing. When asked to choose between Eugene and the armor, take Eugene. Then, find some Tesla Armor (available only after The Waters of Life quest, worn by Enclave Soldiers). If you want the Ranger Battle Helmet, you'll need a Tesla Helmet as well (actually you can trade a regular Combat Helmet and possibly any head gear that has a better damage resistance than the Ranger Battle Helmet for the Ranger Battle Helmet, this appears to be dependent on the Ranger Battle Helmet's condition when you try to steal it, and its condition depends on how much damage Donovan takes on his way out of the Statesman Hotel). Make sure the Tesla gear is in good condition (at least 40 DR, which beats the Ranger Armor's 39 DR). At the Ranger Compound, pickpocket any one of the Rangers (it might be best to pickpocket Donovan, as he's the only one who has the Ranger Battle Helmet). First, drop the Tesla Armor and Helmet into his inventory, then leave the Compound and return. Donovan should now be wearing the Tesla Armor and Helmet, which means his Ranger Armor and Helmet are in his inventory for you to pickpocket. ( A fully repaired Enclave power armor and helmet will also work.)

Before you choose either
If you wish to obtain both the Ranger Armor and Eugene, do not give any ammo to the Rangers on the rooftop (this will be an option in the dialogue tree if you found Theo's Ammo Cache). After the elevator is repaired, you and the Rangers will be attacked in the hotel lobby by Super Mutants. Without ammo for Eugene, Brick is likely to rush in with only a 10mm pistol, which usually results in her death. You can then loot her corpse for Ranger Armor and Eugene. If you manage to get Brick and one other Ranger killed, you can loot them both. So the maximum equipment (including the 'official' quest reward) would be three sets of Ranger Armor and Eugene, or two sets of armor and two copies of Eugene. Note that if all the Rangers die, the message 'You are now hostile with Reilly's Rangers' follows shortly after and the quest has failed.

Alternatively, in case you want to ensure the survival of all Rangers, reverse pickpocket another weapon and fitting ammo to Brick. A Chinese Assault Rifle and 5.56mm rounds do the trick. You could also set difficulty to lowest possible temporarily and attempt the end the fight ASAP. If you specialized in headshots (Finesse, Sniper & Grim Reaper's Sprint) while using a Sniper Rifle you can come up with a devastating headshot series, making incredible short work of enemies - but that requires level 20.

A more dastardly way to accomplish the third option is to kill Brick yourself. During the battle in the lobby, crouch down, equip a Stealth Boy, remain Hidden, and give Brick a few headshots. Depending on how the battle is going, you can even kill one other Ranger. (Note: the use of a Stealth Boy and having Hidden status may not be necessary). Then you can loot the dead Rangers. Note that you must kill Brick (and one other Ranger if you choose) before the last Super Mutant is killed. If you shoot at a Ranger after the Mutants are dead, the Rangers will turn on you.

Bugs

 * There is a minor bug near the conclusion of this quest. You are tasked with retrieving a Fission Battery to repair the elevator (any Fission Battery will do). If you have a Fission Battery in your inventory, do not select a conversation topic to give it to Donovan and elect to repair the elevator yourself, you will still have a quest objective to give the battery to Donovan until you end the quest by debriefing Reilly. This does not seem to have any effect on the quest itself, just a quest objective that does not update properly.


 * There have been bugs reported regarding how the quest is started. These involve not activating the quest though the radio signal or by reviving Reilly and may result in glitched endings, dead Rangers, or even making the Rangers hostile.


 * If you loot Donovan's Wrench off his dead body after he has repaired the elevator, there is no way to drop it, as it is flagged as a quest item. Its only purpose is to repair the elevator panel should you have neither the skill or battery to do it yourself.


 * If the Rangers go hostile due to seeing Fawkes or Charon with you, a quickload from before they went hostile may solve the issue.
 * This can be fixed by using the commands to kill and resurrect all the remaining hostile Rangers, even if you have Charon or Fawkes with you. Simply open the console with ~ and type 'prid' followed by the ID for each Ranger (i.e., 0002a9fc for Reilly - click on them for their ID) then Enter. Then type 'kill' then 'resurrect'. This will kill, then resurrect each individual and reset them, no longer hostile!


 * There may be a glitch when you talk to Reilly for the first time. The marker on the compass will stay on her. Don't worry though, use this site to look for the Our Lady of Hope Hospital and make your way to the roof. You will come out and a fallen piece of metal will make a bridge over to the Statesman Hotel. Jump down and go through the door. Fight your way through the halls and eventually a new objective will pop up leading you to the Rangers and therefore finishing the quest.


 * A bug on the PS3 version, where talking to Reilly will result it the game exiting out to the main menu.