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Get Lou on board for the Vault 79 heist.

Cheating Death is a main quest in the Fallout 76 update Wastelanders.

Background[]

In order to prepare for breaching the Vault, Meg needs an expert on heists. The problem is, Lou, her ghoulified expert, is nowhere to be found at Crater and the Residents will need to find him first and convince him second.

Quick walkthrough[]

Wastelanders main quest: Cheating Death 
Find Lou's goodbye note in his room. 
Talk to Caleb Fisher about Lou's disappearance. 
(Optional) Hack into Fisher's terminal.
[Hacking 3] 
Talk to and/or kill Kogan at Crater watchstation
Convince or pressure Fisher to stop hiding details.
[STR/PER/CHA 8+] 
Confront Fisher about the tracker. 
Go back to Crater to confront Fisher about the information you discovered. 
Reward: 500 XP
Follow Fisher's tracking beacon to Carleton Mine
Talk to Fisher's tracker, Weasel
Talk to Lou through the intercom. 
Navigate through the mine and locate Lou. 
Talk to Weasel about how to deal with Lou. 
(Optional) Disable the explosives without being detected by Lou. 
Convince Lou not to kill himself. 
Talk to Meg back at Crater. 
Reward: 100 caps, 1000 XP, 500 Raiders reputation, random grenades, random quest reward item(s). 

Detailed walkthrough[]

To complete the quest, the player character needs to first persuade Meg Groberg and her raiders to help get into Vault 79. Meg refers the player character to Lou, but she is not sure where he is. A cursory search of his room reveals a note that suggests Caleb Fisher may know where he went.

Speaking to Caleb reveals that Lou is missing. The player character can use Charisma 8+ or Strength 8+ to persuade or intimidate him into revealing that he is deliberately throwing people off of Lou's trail at the ghouls' own request. He will give the player a tracking beacon which assists in locating the mine where he could be hiding. As an alternative, the player character may hack Caleb's level 3 terminal (Master Hacker required), in order to skip some of the legwork to locate Lou's actual last known location.

The beacon can be tuned into via the Pip-Boy's radio or the player may simply head south to Carleton Mine. Weasel is found just inside the mine and she will help progress deeper into the mine to find Lou.

At the first mine junction, Lou will speak to the player character via the intercom. He will explain that he does not wish to talk or see anyone. To bypass the sealed gate, Weasel will offer to plant a charge and detonate a section of the mine wall in a dead-end corridor just off to the side; when that is done the player can proceed further.

Weasel and the player character happen upon a makeshift suicide machine: A chair and a shotgun rigged by Lou in an attempt to commit suicide. Near this chair are several structures and a mine shaft. The left branch of the mine shaft has a door but it requires a terminal to unlock, which is not in the immediate vicinity. Following the right branch leads to a bridge and a stairway, and then another intersection.

At this juncture is a single fog crawler, additional structures, another suicide device (a button wired to several automated turrets), and a door that can be opened with a terminal. Hitting the red button in the center will activate the turrets and cause them to attack the crawler, after which they self-destruct.

That passage leads past a third suicide device, a wooden structure. The area shakes as though the mine were collapsing and the ceiling, studded with threatening spikes moving downward. However, before they crush them and Weasel, the floor collapses and they fall through, into a pool within a cavern.

After falling into the cavern's pool, exit and use caution nearby, because radscorpions inhabit the cave. They can be spotted from afar near radscorpion egg nests, as the cave is dark and linear. Once the final radscorpion has been killed, Weasel will locate another weak wall and blow through it.

Past that lies a large area, with an open chamber, a waterfall, and the location's steamer trunk. Down the main corridor stands Lou is in the middle of placed explosives. Weasel will suggest a stealthy approach to disable the explosives before Lou will realize. If stealth does not succeed, Lou will be willing to talk face to face about his situation.

The player character will need to convince Lou to not commit suicide with explosives. Listening to Lou's story and explanations, and choosing dialogue options to confront Lou's fears makes him doubt himself if he will truly turn feral and become a risk to others. Along with convincing Lou, he asks for a deal made to help him kill himself after the heist is done. The player character may reply in a neutral manner so that Lou keeps his suicide idea in mind, even if the player is hesitant to accept his proposal.

Alternatively to just running up and speaking to Lou, the player character can sneak around and disable all the explosives in the room flipping the four circuit breakers in the room by following the red wires to each of the breakers. Doing this, the player character can tell Lou about the explosives being disabled and how they just want to talk or goading him into trying to explode the mine only for nothing to happen. Either option continues to recruiting Lou for the Vault 79 job.

While speaking to Lou near the end of the dialogue tree, mentioning the details of the job instead of keeping the details withheld for later seems to improve Lou's disposition and willingness to help with the Vault 79 heist. Once the player has finished speaking with Lou and has convinced him to not commit suicide, all they need to do is return to Meg at the Crater to finish the quest.

Quest stages[]

Quest stages
StageStatusDescriptionLog Entry
? Go find Lou in his roomI need to go find Lou in his living area, and try to get him on board for the Vault heist.
? Speak with FisherLou seems to be missing. He left behind a note. The only person mentioned in it is Fisher. Maybe he knows where Lou is?
? Find out where Lou wentI need to find out where Lou went. Maybe I can pressure Fisher?
? (Optional) Find Clues in Fisher's TerminalFisher's terminal may have a lead on where I can find Lou.
? Go to Lou's last known locationFisher's terminal revealed that he secretly knew Lou was missing and sent a tracker to find him. I should talk to Fisher about this and get him to divulge more information. OR
Fisher seems pretty convinced that Lou went out to a Crater outpost East of here. It's a promising lead. I should go there and see if I can convince Lou to come back.
? Speak with the RaiderLou is nowhere to be seen, but one of the raiders at the Crater Watchstation is bound to know where he went. I should find out what the leader of this outpost knows.
? Kill KoganIt turns out that Lou was never at the Crater Watchstation. Kogan suggested that fisher was lying. I should find out for sure.
? Confront Fisher about the information you discoveredAfter dealing with Kogan, I'm no closer to finding the missing demolition expert. Fisher's my only lead, and there must be a reason he doesn't want anyone to know about Lou.
? Meet Fisher's FriendAfter Fisher came clean, he admitted he is worried about Lou and sent a tracker to find him. I can find Fisher's friend by using a device Fisher gave me to home in on a radio signal.
? Tune Radio to Fisher's Tracking BeaconFisher's device worked like a charm, leading me right to his tracker friend, Weasel. I should speak with her. Hopefully she has information about Lou.
? Enter the Cave
? Speak with the Tracker
? Find LouWeasel and I are now searching for Lou, somewhere in this abandoned mine.
? Speak with Lou through the IntercomA voice is coming in over an intercom. It must be Lou. I need to speak with him and find out where to find him in these caves. Maybe I can convince him to come home.
? Find a way to get to LouLou doesn't want visitors, and he's sealed himself inside Carnegie Mine. We need to find another way to get to him. Weasel seems to have an idea. I should take her advice.
? Speak to WeaselSince Lou won't speak over the intercom, our only shot of getting through to him is finding another way through the caves so we can speak face to face. Weasel has an idea. I need to speak with her.
? Stop Lou from detonating the ExplosivesWeasel was able to blow a hole in the weakened cave walls using explosives. She's confident we can follow the cave system in this manner until we reach Lou.
? (Optional) Disable the ExplosivesI've found Lou, but he's surrounded himself with explosives! I need to handle this delicately. Maybe I can talk him out of whatever he's planning on doing.
? Speak with LouI need to talk Lou out of detonating the explosives. Or, if I want to be extra safe, Weasel suggested I may be able to stealthily deactivate the explosives before Lou realizes it.
Lou is aware of my presence now. I need to see if I can talk him out of whatever he's planning on doing.
? Speak with MegNow that Lou has agreed to help us break into Vault 79, I need to report back to Meg.

Gallery[]

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