Arachnophobia[1] is an unmarked quest in Fallout: New Vegas.
Quick walkthrough[]
| Unmarked Quest: Arachnophobia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reach Camp Searchlight east of Wolfhorn Ranch and speak with First Sergeant Astor to start the side quest We Will All Go Together. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Locate and enter the Searchlight home in the southwest side of the town to speak with the ghoulified Private Kyle Edwards; choose questioning dialogue options to find out about his fear of radscorpions keeping him from leaving. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Agree to wipe out the radscorpion pack for Edwards. | Pass a 60 Speech skill check to lie that the radscorpions are already dead and he can leave. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 60 XP Karma loss | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assist Pvt. Edwards in deciding a new course of action. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Choose dialogue options to convince Edwards to wander the wasteland. | Suggest talking to 1st Sgt. Astor about Edwards rejoining the NCR. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Choose questioning dialogue options to ask Astor about other NCR posts Edwards can join OR pass a 50 Speech check / 7 Intelligence attribute check to convince Astor that the non-feral Edwards is safe to join his squad. | Pass a 60 Speech check to lie about Astor accepting Edwards' help and he can leave to join them. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Karma gain 50 bottle caps | 60 XP Karma loss | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Detailed walkthrough[]
The quest is started by first traveling to Camp Searchlight and starting the side quest We Will All Go Together by speaking with First Sergeant Astor at the camp west of the town overpass road; he will request the player character recovered 10 irradiated NCR dogtags from the ghoulified remnants of the former NCR garrison. The tenth and final of these tags is in the ghoulish hands of Private Kyle Edwards, residing in the Searchlight home in the southwest side of the town; there will be a couple of radscorpions outside that attack. While that quest has several methods for acquiring Edwards' dogtag, this quest is only triggered by specifically following the dialogue chain to learn more about Edwards' situation and reasons for continuing to live in the irradiated house (Why are you still here -> There must be someplace you can go -> Is that the only thing you're afraid of? -> The radscorpions are gone).
Once Edwards reveals that he is hiding due to a fear of radscorpions, one will have a couple of options for proceeding:
- [Speech 60] Lie to Edwards about having killed all the radscorpions, resulting in him thinking it is safe to leave, however, radscorpions will spawn outside the house and attack him once he exits. Choosing this option leads to acquiring the dogtags via conversation no longer being possible. Once the player leaves the house, Edwards' corpse will be close by and three giant radscorpions will attack. One will garner 60 XP for the Speech check and incur Karma loss.
- Volunteer to kill the radscorpions for Edwards. The three giant radscorpions will spawn like in the above; kill all of them, then return to Edwards. One can then suggest that Edwards no longer needs his dogtags since he is now free to go. He will agree and hand them over.
After the radscorpions are eliminated, Edwards himself will still not leave without knowing somewhere he can go from Searchlight. One can accomplish this via the following options that intertwine with completing We Will All Go Together:
- Choose passive dialogue options to tell Edwards that there are plenty of places in the wasteland that he can discover for himself. He will agree and leave, with no Karma change or reward.
- Suggest that Astor might take him back in; this then leads to the following additional options:
- [Speech 60] Lie by telling Edwards that Astor would be happy to see him unexpectedly. Choosing this option incurs Karma loss, and Edwards will then run to the NCR camp, where Astor's group will likely gun him down, as they are operating under the assumption that all ghouls coming from Searchlight are feral.
- Make an offer to speak with Astor on Edwards' behalf to find out how to help him. One will then have the following options to amend Edwards' situation:
- [Speech 50] Suggest that Edwards can be of help. Passing leads to Astor agreeing to take him on as a squad member.
- [Intelligence 7] Explain that Edwards is not showing any signs of going feral. Passing leads to Astor agreeing to take him on a squad member.
- Ask for suggestions on where Edwards as a ghoul can go in the NCR. Astor will then mention Ranger Station Echo and its majority ghoul staff, which can be reported back to Edwards.
Any of the non-lying outcomes will garner Karma gain and Edwards leaving the house safely. If Astor is convinced to take Edwards into his squad, the private will gift 50 caps for helping him reclaim his former life.
Behind the scenes[]
Arachnophobia is the fear of spiders and other arachnids including scorpions and ticks, derived from the Greek words "arachne" and "phobia" related to the mythological figures Arachne (a weaver who challenged the goddess Athena to a contest, lost and was turned into a spider) and Phobos (god of fear and son of the god of war Ares).
References[]
- ↑ Quest name from the GECK
