Vault 87

Vault 87 is one of the Vault-Tec Vaults, located in the western edge of the Capital Wasteland. As part of the Vault Experiment, experimentation on a Forced Evolutionary Virus (FEV) strain different from the one in Mariposa was conducted on its inhabitants. The vault is full of super mutants and centaurs. By reading information on the computers, it becomes clear that eventually some Mutants escaped and killed their creators. Various rooms have been sealed from the inside using tables as barricades.

Accessing Vault 87
Vault 87 can only be accessed through Little Lamplight. The easiest way to get to Vault 87 is to talk to Joseph. Joseph is the eldest of the children living in Little Lamplight, and you first learn of his existence by questioning the Mayor about vault 87.

The Mayor will suggest taking Murder Pass to get to Vault 87. However, he will also inform the player that a broken computer terminal in Little Lamplight will allow direct access to Vault 87. You must talk to Joseph who will then turn on the door to the vault. To find Joseph and speak to him, go to the Little Lamplight schoolhouse in the morning. You must have 50 (average) Science skill to actually hack the computer to get into the vault.

Note that Joseph will only help if the player rescues Penny from Paradise Falls. If this is done, he is "eternally grateful" and will power the computer terminal allowing it to be hacked for entrance into Vault 87. If Penny is not rescued, or if Joseph becomes upset through dialogue, entrance through Murder Pass will be the only option to get to Vault 87. Murder Pass houses several super mutants armed with heavy weaponry like missile launchers and miniguns. Murder Pass is a good choice for earning experience. However, if you passed the speech check to get into the town, and talk to the mayor about how to get into the Vault, he will suggest Joseph. Speak with him and he will lead you to the terminal.

Traveling Through the Vault
Make your way through Vault 87 by traveling to the locations you haven't already been to. You will encounter and fight several mutants, including a Super Mutant Master and several Super Mutant Brutes.

Upon access to the second room, you will run into a friendly Super Mutant named Fawkes, sealed in a test chamber. Talking to Fawkes through the intercom, you will find that he is willing to help you get the G.E.C.K if you free him. If you choose to free him, he will indeed help you get to the G.E.C.K., pulverizing any enemies in your way as he guides you along to the G.E.C.K's location.

Having Fawkes help you is not necessary, however his warning about radiation in the chamber where the G.E.C.K. is stored is entirely true; the room that contains the G.E.C.K has an extremely high level of radiation that is difficult to traverse without chemical assistance. Being immune to the effects of radiation, if you save Fawkes he will enter the room and get the G.E.C.K for you.

Entering through the Reactor room, there is a copy of Nikola Tesla and You in a nearby room that glows red, inside the box next to the mannequin. The G.E.C.K. is found here.

Above ground, the radiation at the entrance to Vault 87 peaks at several thousand rads/second. The Overseer's terminal states "I'm quite sad to report that due to a direct hit from what I presume to be a nuclear weapon on the entry area of Vault 87, we will be unable to provide the Scouting Reports as outlined in Vault-Tec's Operations Manual. The main door to Vault 87 is damaged beyond repair and we are detecting extremely high levels of lethal radiation outside and in the entry tunnel." according to information obtained via the G.E.C.K. modding tool.

One of the Engineering Logs on a terminal inside the vault mentions problems venting large amounts of radiation from the GECK chamber.

It is not possible to enter from above ground; Even if you survive the radiation, the exterior door is marked "[INACCESSIBLE]". A few dead scientists are outside the entrance, but no really interesting items.

Characters

 * Fawkes
 * Sid

Related Quests

 * Finding the Garden of Eden

Notable Loot

 * A copy of Nikola Tesla and You can be found in a wooden box at the feet of a mannequin in the southwestern-most dead end tunnel of the Reactor Chamber. (From the Murder Pass entrance, turn left and go downstairs, turn left again, then through the door at the end of the corridor.)
 * A copy of Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor can be found on the top of a toilet cistern in the large eastern most room, it's behind the bunker on the right as you enter.
 * A copy of Pugilism Illustrated is on a shelf in the storage room behind an average locked door on the catwalk level of the living quarters. To find the storage room, travel south from the catwalk strewn with Gore Bags and look on the south wall between the two doorways.
 * A Nuka-Cola Quantum can also be found in the aforementioned storage room on top of the southwest shelf.
 * A safe in the west wall of the storage room with an "average" lock contains random items.
 * The Advanced Radiation Suit can be found in a room with only entrance from the room with the stairs leading to the room next to the reactor.

Appearances in games
This Vault was first mentioned in Fallout 3.

Bugs

 * It is possible that companions following you through the vault (other than Fawkes) will be killed or misplaced when you are arrested by the Enclave.
 * You can open vault main door from the inside. After leaving Raven Rock, return to vault 87 via Little Lamplight. From the room where you were taken by Col. Autumn (in the southwest corner of the test chambers area), a door that previously required a key will now be open. Heading through the main door leads to an interesting glitch.
 * Occasionally, the dead Raider in Chamber 01 will be partially sunken into the floor. This makes only the legs visible.
 * It is possible that when searching a Super mutant he/she will be carrying nothing, although it states that the mutant is carrying something.