 |
Caesar's Legion Overviews Arizona Killer is a main quest in Fallout: New Vegas.
Synopsis
Aaron Kimball, President of the New California Republic, is making a visit to Hoover Dam to improve morale among his troops in the Mojave. His assassination would devastate NCR forces and inspire Caesar's armies.
Quick walkthrough
| Main Quest: Arizona Killer | |||||
| Rendezvous with Cato Hostilius. | |||||
| Infilitrate Hoover Dam and wait for the President to arrive. | |||||
| Assassinate President Kimball. | |||||
| Reward: Legion fame | |||||
| Leads to: Veni, Vidi, Vici | |||||
Detailed walkthrough
After receiving instructions from Caesar (or Lucius, if Caesar is dead), the Courier must meet Cato Hostilius, camped northwest of Ranger Station Delta. Cato provides a set of NCR Armor and suggests planting a bomb on the Bear Force One, which he will give to the Courier after passing a speech check (50 Explosives). Afterwards, Cato will make his way to Hoover Dam and blend into the crowd of spectators.
The entire area of the Dam is heavily guarded by combined patrols of NCR troopers and Rangers, who can see through faction disguises. The NCR will always be hostile when the disguise is discovered due to the failure of Don't Tread on the Bear! The Courier has a limited time to make some preparations before talking to Cato again in the crowd and telling him that they are ready. Waiting for too long (well over an hour of real time), leaving the location before completing the assassination, killing any ranger atop or in the immediate area of the visitor center (even quietly, this includes Private Jensen) or not arriving at the dam at all will fail the quest.
Immediately after Cato is told the Courier is ready, the Bear Force One will arrive and land on top of the visitor center. President Kimball will make his way to the stage to deliver a speech. If there is any suspicion that an assassination attempt is imminent, the Rangers will interrupt and hurry the President back to the Vertibird or a secured location beneath the helipad if the aircraft is inoperable. Otherwise, after the speech ends, the President and his security detail will simply leave. The President's death completes the quest, and if he successfully leaves the area, the Courier must report failure back to Caesar. If Colonel Cassandra Moore has been killed at any point prior to starting this quest, it will fail immediately after being activated.
Skill check
In addition to the ability to assassinate Kimball using normal combat methods, there are several optional actions tied to specific skills.
Explosives
- Plant a bomb on the Vertibird while it's on the helipad: Cato will provide the explosive necessary to blow up the Vertibird when it takes off, if the Courier passes an Explosives skill check of 50; it can also be pickpocketed from him. Accessing the helipad requires bypassing Private Jensen through stealth, persuade him with a Speech skill check of 50, or dressing as an NCR Engineer (one is in the visitor center). Once planted, the bomb will explode when the Vertibird takes off.
- Plant C-4 in Jeremy Watson's helmet: Private Jeremy Watson is an NCR trooper who is going to be decorated by Kimball. He is missing his helmet, which is on a table next to the stairs below the visitor center. Planting C-4 in the helmet requires an Explosives skill of 50 and a brick of C-4. Watson can then be pointed towards his missing helmet. When he retrieves it, he becomes a walking bomb that can be detonated when the President turns to decorate him. One will have to wait about 2 minutes into the President's speech.
Repair
- Rig the anti-aircraft gun to explode: This is done using the console at the top of the exterior staircase (50 Repair), just east of the visitor center doors (next to a ham radio). The gun will explode just before Kimball calls up Jeremy Watson.
Science
- Sabotage Bear Force One's flight computer: This is done using the computer terminal inside the visitor center (50 Science); the Vertibird does not have to be on the helipad. When the Vertibird lands, the program will be uploaded automatically. The Vertibird will crash into the Hoover Dam as a result.
- Program the anti-aircraft gun to shoot down the Vertibird: This is done using the console at the top of the exterior staircase (50 Science), just east of the visitor center door (next to a ham radio). The gun will spin around and take out the aircraft before it gets over the dam.
Quest stages
Notes
- Drawing a weapon while near the visitor center and after the President has arrived will result in the President and NCR reacting as if he had come under attack, even if the Courier is hidden and has not attacked. However, the NCR will not turn hostile unless they see through the Courier's disguise.
- Any method that involves destroying the Vertibird with Kimball aboard, employs explosives or high impact projectiles (Gauss rifles for example) runs the risk of making President Kimball's Suit and the Meat of Champions perk unobtainable due to the inaccessible or lost corpse.
- Destroying the Vertibird during his speech causes Kimball to head to a safe room inside the dam.
- During Arizona Killer, the Legion sends Cato and the Courier to perform the assassination. During the NCR's version of the quest, You'll Know It When It Happens, the Legion still sends two assassins. Each of the three methods of assassination the Courier must thwart as an ally of the NCR, are available as means of assassination during this quest: placing a bomb on Bear Force One, sniping Kimball from the tower behind the stage, and bum rushing him as a member of the crowd.
- For the Gun Runners' Arsenal challenge Sic Semper Tyrannis, a well-placed shot from the Hunting Revolver can complete the challenge alongside the benefits of killing Kimball from a distance.
- If the quest was failed by not attacking Kimball or letting him get away, Caesar will respond furiously when reporting back to him. He will ask why they didn't attack him or how did they fuck it up. Depending on the response he will say that if not for their previous service he would have them crucified and that he will overlook the error, moving on to give Veni, Vidi, Vici. If the Courier responds that they changed their mind, Caesar will either warn the Courier about disobedience or turn hostile.
- If Lucius gave the quest instead, he will be more lenient and mention that it is unfortunate they weren't able to take advantage of the opportunity to kill him.
Behind the scenes
A majority of the quest was implemented by Charles Staples.[1]
Bugs
If the Courier travels to the Fort, kills Caesar/Lucius and then returns to the Dam, President Kimball will be dead and characters neutral to the NCR will treat them as an assassin.-
Cato can spawn very close to the Cazador Nest, putting him in danger of death from the moment the quest begins. To avoid this, fast-travel to the area before taking the quest, clear out all the Cazadores, and then go to the Fort to receive the quest. - If the Courier visits the Dam after receiving the quest but before making contact with Cato, the quest will automatically fail when he leaves the Dam area. If the Courier waits at the Dam without having met Cato, the President will never appear.
Sometimes the quest will fail immediately once started, forcing the Courier to report failure to Caesar. This usually happens if a specific male engineer stationed at the Dam has been killed prior to starting the quest, as he is a disguised Legion soldier. The death of this engineer sets a number of variables which set the NCR trooper guarding Kimball on alert, thus automatically failing the quest once it is taken.
This is fixed in version 1 of YUP.
- Occasionally, Kimball's Vertibird never arrives at the Dam, making this quest impossible to complete without the use of console commands. Can occur when reloading saves during the mission.
References
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
