Vault 3

Vault 3 is one of the Vault-Tec Vaults. The Vault is still completely intact in 2281, occupied by the Fiends, who killed the Vault's original occupants.

Background
The original Vault 3 inhabitants opened their doors to trade with people outside the vault. For a time, it went well and the inhabitants made a good living. However, this also brought the vault to the attention of the Fiends. The inhabitants hadn't set up any security, so the Fiends just stormed in and took over. It is not known if any of the original residents survived. The purpose of this Vault in the Vault Experiment was to stay shut and never open. It is suspected that the dwellers were having a mechanical breakdown due to the floods like every other Vault in the area (except Vault 21.) The breakdown probably pushed them to open up to the outside world in hopes of finding help and additional parts to fix the water leak. Unfortunately for them, Fiends found them instead.

Layout
Vault 3 consists of 3 areas: a Recreation Area, Living Quarters, and a Maintenance Wing.

It is located under a building in the South Vegas Ruins and is the base of operations for a gang known as the Fiends. Its location can be gained from the colonel at Camp McCarran after volunteering to help with the gang problem, from Elder Mcnamara of the Brotherhood of Steel during the quest Still in the Dark, from Diane during the quest Aba Daba Honeymoon, or from Private Ortega in the Barracks at NCR Sharecropper Farms.

Notable loot

 * A Chinese Army: Special Ops Training Manual in the Living Quarters center room, behind a locked door (average), on a shelf immediately to the right by the entrance. Also in this room: 3 magazines - Locksmith's Reader, Meeting People and Today's Physician - on a bedside nightstand.
 * A Chainsaw carried by Motor-Runner in the Maintenance Wing.
 * 3 magazines - Fixin' Things, Locksmith's Reader and Milsurp Review - in the Living Quarters' flooded area in the southwest. Also in this room: the two gun lockers mentioned on the Overseer's terminal.
 * On the bottom floor of the Atrium, behind a locked door (very easy), is a Nuka-Cola Quartz, a Nuka-Cola Victory, several Nuka-Colas, 24 Pool Cues and other minor loot.
 * A Locksmith's Reader in Maintenance Wing, behind a locked door (average) on the desk, and in the flooded section in the shelf.
 * A Today's Physician in the southern part of the Recreation Area's second floor, behind a locked door (hard).
 * The Reverse Pulse Cleaner for the Brotherhood of Steel quest Still in the Dark can be found in a locker inside Motor-Runner's throne room, on the 2nd floor.
 * In general, there are lots of chems, scrap metal and crafting materials everywhere in Vault 3.
 * In what seems to be the Overseer's Office is a Hunting Rifle (About 50% Condition).
 * Large piles of Bobby pins on the floor near almost every locked door.
 * All around the vault are Stimpacks.

Related quests

 * Still in the Dark
 * Aba Daba Honeymoon
 * Killing Motor-Runner

Appearances
Vault 3 appears in Fallout: New Vegas.

Bugs

 * The entry on the Overseer's terminal that unlocks the two submerged storerooms doesn't actually work, and leaves both doors locked with a Hard lock. The PC version still has this bug (confirmed), (Patched on 360)
 * Merely entering Vault 3 may "corrupt" your save and not allow you to load any save created within the vault or after exiting the vault. (Case by case scenario with this, does this for some, but not for all.)
 * Both when using Great Khan Armor and passing the Great Khan speech check at the front door, I encountered a bug where the Fiends cannot become hostile to the player due to suppressed weapons. When shot with a silenced 10mm pistol or varmint rifle, they will say something like "get that away from me" and carry on like they've never been shot. This only works when crouching, however whether you are detected or hidden doesn't seem to matter. This makes clearing the vault very easy, as you can just walk into a room and wipe out Fiends without fear of the others in the room becoming hostile, even if they were standing a foot from the person you just killed.
 * Reloading a saved game while inside the vault may make all of your scopes malfunction. When triggering a scope, you will see a blank screen instead of a zoomed image with crosshairs.

Gallery
Krypta 3 Убежище 3