Euclid's C-Finder is a unique weapon in Fallout: New Vegas.
Background[]
Originally designed and developed by Poseidon Energy as a rangefinder device for the ARCHIMEDES II orbital laser platform, the C-Finder remained in storage at the HELIOS One power plant following the Great War.
Sometime before 2273, a chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel led by Father Elijah occupied HELIOS One and discovered the ARCHIMEDES program, though found that the rangefinder itself was no longer in the plant. Elijah theorized that a scavenger acquired it prior to their arrival and sold it on the New Vegas Strip.[1] This theory turned out to be true, as sometime after Vault 21 was opened and turned into a hotel, Sarah Weintraub had acquired and then sold the C-Finder to a man who was under the "persuasion" of Father Elijah to purchase it.[2] After acquiring the C-Finder, the man ended up in Freeside, where he tried to remove his slave collar but ultimately caused it to detonate and kill him.[3][4] Sometime later, the man's body and the rangefinder were found by Max. Mistaking it for a toy, Max took the rangefinder and began chasing his friend Stacey around with it for fun.
Characteristics[]
The C-Finder is a handheld rangefinder linked to an orbiting laser weapon, codenamed ARCHIMEDES II. Firing Euclid's C-Finder will result in a five-second delay and an animated sequence on the weapon's display before the impact. Euclid's C-Finder is not influenced by the player character's Energy Weapons skill.
Pressing the trigger constitutes firing the weapon, which will alert nearby enemies. The weapon can only be used once every 24-hours in-game, and does not work indoors. Euclid's C-Finder can fire a total of about 3995 times from full condition before breaking.
Location[]
The weapon is in the possession of Max, a child living in Freeside. He's typically found chasing Stacey around the street in front of Mick & Ralph's during the day. The player character can pay Max 1000 bottle caps, or 20 bottle caps with 45 Barter. Otherwise, the player character can wait until Max goes to bed, usually after 9 pm, then pickpocket the weapon from him, resulting in a loss of Karma.
Related quests[]
- That Lucky Old Sun: In order to use Euclid's C-Finder, the player character must complete the quest by choosing to direct power to ARCHIMEDES II at the end of the quest. If the player has already completed that quest without directing the power to ARCHIMEDES II, the C-Finder becomes useless as a weapon.
Notes[]
- Euclid's C-Finder cannot be used in V.A.T.S.
- If one has Veronica as a companion, she will respond "Yeah, I guess it works" when it is first fired.
- The weapon will not always fire if the recharge time of 24 hours is waited using the "wait" function instead of in-game time.
- Sometimes, around every two days, one may obtain another C-finder from Max if the player character chooses to use the Barter check. This can be repeated up to four times.
- Even though Euclid's C-Finder is considered a unique weapon, there is no "normal" variant of it.
- If one pickpockets the weapon from Max instead of buying it, he will later reappear chasing Stacey. He will not have the weapon equipped, but if one talks to him he will pull it out. The player character can then wait until it gets dark and pickpocket another from him.
- After firing it for the first time, Mr. New Vegas will have a news article about the event on Radio New Vegas.
- If the player character did not direct the power to ARCHIMEDES II at the end of That Lucky Old Sun, this can be reverted through the console command set "e282d".nPowerConfiguration to 4.
- If the player character has yet to direct power at the end of That Lucky Old Sun, the weapon can be made usable through the above console command AND the following command: set "e282d".bRetargetComplete to 1. Note that this may cause bugs should the player decide to proceed with the quest.
Behind the scenes[]
The name Euclid's C-Finder, and the graphics it shows the player while it is operating, are a reference to using Euclidean geometry to find the third point, C, of a triangle, given points A and B, and distances BC and AC. In this example B is the player's position on the ground, A is the position of the ARCHIMEDES II satellite, and C is the position of the target.
Bugs[]
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Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ The Courier: "Tell me about the rangefinder."
Veronica Santangelo: "It's a targeting device for some kind of doomsday weapon based at HELIOS One. It was lost sometime after the War. We held HELIOS One for a time. Lost a lot of people defending it. Too many. All for this weapon they never got working. If it turns out to be a dud, it'd show how flawed our goals have been. Father Elijah said he thinks a scavenger might have sold it on the Strip."
(Veronica Santangelo's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "I'm looking for an antique rangefinder somebody might've sold you."
Sarah Weintraub: "Wow, I wish I had more of them. All this interest. It'd be my biggest seller. I sold it to a man not too long ago. Real twitchy, nervous sort of guy. Kinda seemed like he was wiggin' out about something. Had a funny collar on. I wanted to ask him about it but I figured maybe I'd regret asking. People are weird around here."
(Sarah Weintraub's dialogue) - ↑ The Courier: "What'd you tell him?"
Sarah Weintraub: "I said I didn't know about anything like that around here. But if he wanted to live for free, a lot of people do that in Freeside. I know there's a concrete building there across from Mick and Ralph's. No ceiling, but I think it still counts. Went up there one time to try and... you know... meet my neighbors in the biz. But you know, I don't think they took me very seriously."
(Sarah Weintraub's dialogue) - ↑ The man's dead body in a ruined building in Freeside
