For Auld Lang Syne is a companion quest in Fallout: New Vegas.
Quick walkthrough[]
| Side Quest: For Auld Lang Syne | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Recruit Arcade Gannon as a companion and gain a total of 5 "trust" points (see below) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Progress a non-Legion faction quest arc to a certain threshold (see below). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Find and convince the Enclave remnants to take part in the Second Battle of Hoover Dam. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reach Jacobstown and complete Guess Who I Saw Today to recruit Doctor Henry. | Reach Cannibal Johnson's cave to recruit Cannibal Johnson. | Reach Westside to recruit Judah Kreger. | Reach Orion Moreno's house to recruit Orion Moreno. | Reach the Dino Dee-lite Motel in Novac to recruit Daisy Whitman. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reach the Remnants bunker near Jacobstown. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Send the Remnants to support the NCR or the Legion at Hoover Dam. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reward: 500 XP Remnants power armor Gannon family Tesla armor (if the Remnants support the NCR and Arcade returns to Freeside) Power Armor Training (if not already gained) The Enclave remnants appear during the Second Battle of Hoover Dam Arcade Gannon permanently leaves as a companion | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Detailed walkthrough[]
The quest is started by first recruiting Arcade Gannon as a companion. He is typically located wandering around the interior of the Old Mormon Fort in Freeside, helping out with the Followers of the Apocalypse. To recruit him, one must have a non-positive reputation with Caesar's Legion (Arcade will refuse to join the player character otherwise) and accomplish one or more of the following:
- Having a Liked or better reputation with the Followers of the Apocalypse (other recruiting methods will work even with a negative Followers reputation)
- Completing High Times for Julie Farkas as well as Short-Term Treatment by giving surplus supplies to the Followers.
- Passing a 75 Speech skill check.
- Using the Confirmed Bachelor perk.
- Having a 3 or lower Intelligence attribute level (temporary Intelligence-reduction effects that achieve the minimum can be used in this situation if no other options are available).
By wearing NCR faction armor and talking to Arcade again, one can temporarily bypass the Legion reputation check and allow Arcade to become a companion.
Gaining Arcade's trust[]
While acting as a companion, Arcade keeps a running tally of "trust" points that the player character earns by doing things he likes. Generally speaking, points are accumulated by going places that trigger positive memories of the Enclave, flattering Arcade, passing Intelligence checks, or doing things that are good for the Followers of the Apocalypse. On the other hand, Arcade also has a running tally of "dislike" points, but they do not figure into triggering the quest; they are used in determining whether Arcade abandons the player character.
Triggering the quest requires accumulating a total of 5 "trust" points. However, if one completed Wild Card: Change in Management by installing Yes Man on the Lucky 38 mainframe and one does not have any Caesar's Legion fame (indicating to Arcade that they desire an NCR victory at Hoover Dam but an independent Vegas), or if one completed all of the Followers' relevant side quests, the quest will trigger with just 2 "trust" points.
The following is a comprehensive list of events that earn "trust" points while traveling with Arcade as a companion:
- Traveling to a few places in the Mojave Wasteland with Arcade will trigger a comment and gain points afterward:
- 1 point for traveling with Arcade to the crashed vertibird southwest of Camp Searchlight (the point is not gained until Arcade's dialogue chain ends).
- 1 point for traveling with Arcade into the REPCONN headquarters building (the approval does not increase until Arcade comments on the company)
- Traveling to the Fort with Arcade triggers a dialogue questioning why they are entering the Legion's stronghold.
- 2 points for saying "Let's just listen to him, figure out what he's up to, and get out."
- 1 point for saying "I just want to hear Caesar out."
- 1 point for saying "With how messed up New Vegas is, do you really think Caesar has nothing to offer?", followed by "I'm just trying to be open-minded."
- All of the above comments will work even if Caesar has been killed previously.
- Although, if Caesar is left alive and Arcade is the active companion, there are more like points to gain after speaking with Caesar in his tent.
- 2 points for passing an 8 Intelligence attribute check, saying "I don't think either of us can fully understand what he and the tribes have gone through."
- 1 point for saying "He's a madman. What did you expect?"
- Speaking to Thomas Hildern about anything at all (any conversation that ends with Hildern saying "Yes...Goodbye." or "Wrong turn?...") with Arcade along will cause Arcade to start a conversation afterward about Hildern and his motives (one time).
- 2 points for saying "Good thing there are still people like you around."
- 1 point for saying "I'm sure he means well."
- During That Lucky Old Sun, when first speaking to Fantastic or reaching the plant mainframe in the solar tower at HELIOS One, Arcade will spontaneously suggest that the power should be directed to Freeside and Westside.
- 1 point for saying "Of course."
- 1 point for saying "Why not to the whole area equally?" and passing a subsequent 7 Intelligence attribute check, saying "Redundancy. If Caesar takes the dam and cuts off power, it will be chaos all over New Vegas."
- Note that it is not necessary for the player character to do what Arcade wants; the trigger is the pre-diversion dialogue, not the action of diverting the power. This conversation also won't trigger if the player character has already entered the terminal room and chooses to recruit him afterwards right before they make their decision.
- There are several triggers associated with the side quest The White Wash:
- 1 point for saying "If you say so. I'm not arguing." when Arcade mentions that he's heard about Anderson, if the player character visits Westside with him after having already completed The White Wash without him along.
- 2 points for completing the quest by blaming the problem on the Scorpions and letting Tom Anderson go free (the point is not gained until Arcade's dialogue chain ends).
- 1 point for completing the quest by getting Tom Anderson to turn himself in with a fake story about fighting over Dazzle while letting the Westside Co-op continue to have the water (the point is not gained until Arcade's dialogue chain ends).
- 1 point for completing the quest by inciting Tom Anderson to attack, killing him, then passing a subsequent 7 Intelligence attribute check when Arcade gets mad about his death, saying "You're assuming a motive without evidence. Please be rational."
- 1 point for saying "It's cleaner this way, without bringing NCR in. No connecting Anderson back to the locals," in answer to Arcade's follow-up question to the above, asking why the player character killed Anderson.
Note: Though Arcade will comment on the Van Graffs' energy weapons supply if brought to the Silver Rush, no "trust" points are gained.
Faction quest triggers[]
Along with gaining Arcade's trust, triggering the quest also requires progressing any non-Legion faction quest arc to a certain threshold, by which time Arcade is convinced that the tension in the Mojave is advancing towards open conflict. The thresholds are as follows for each faction:
- NCR: Dealing with Mr. House for Colonel Moore during For the Republic, Part 2.
- House: Completing The House Always Wins V by wiping out the Brotherhood of Steel.
- Independent/Yes Man: Completing Wild Card: Change in Management by neutralizing Mr. House and installing Yes Man in the Lucky 38 mainframe.
Note: No amount of progress with Render Unto Caesar will enable the quest, but as Yes Man can be installed without permanently locking the player character out of siding with the Legion (or NCR), the player character can both get the quest and ultimately fight for Caesar's Legion at Hoover Dam. Replacing House with Yes Man does reduce the player character's reputation with the Legion, so if the player wishes to be safe they could increase it beforehand; methods of increasing Legion fame which don't create NCR infamy include dealing with Mr. House during Render Unto Caesar (and reporting back to Caesar), completing The Finger of Suspicion for Vulpes Inculta, killing Benny in the arena, and defeating all of the competitors in the arena.
Recruiting the Remnants[]
After all prerequisites have been met, Arcade will approach the player character and ask if they can spare a moment to talk, leading to him revealing his past ties to the Enclave and his belief that the other ex-members living in the Mojave, the Enclave remnants could have the advanced technology and veteran battle experience needed to turn the tide of the coming battle, ideally in favor of the NCR over Caesar's Legion. He requests that the player character bring him along as a calming factor in order to convince his old friends to reunite for one last mission and secure the Mojave's future.
The player character is then given five quest markers to seek out the old members of the Enclave and get them to agree to a meeting discussing their involvement in the Second Battle of Hoover Dam. If any of the remnants were killed beforehand, the quest cannot be completed and will be failed. Speaking to each remnant leads to a dialogue chain, and though some will raise objections, all can be convinced to come. After agreeing, each one will give the player character a single word of the five-word passphrase that opens the Remnants bunker where the meeting will be held.
The Enclave remnants and their respective locations consist of:
- Daisy Whitman, residing in and around the Dino Dee-lite Motel in Novac. She gives the word "Dear."
- Cannibal Johnson, residing in his cave home slightly south of Vault 34. He gives the word "old."
- Doctor Henry, residing in the lodge at Jacobstown. He gives the word "friends."
- Orion Moreno, residing in his house north of the NCR sharecropper farms. He gives the word "remember."
- Judah Kreger, residing outside Miguel's Pawn Shop in Westside. He gives the word "Navarro."
Note: While the other four will agree to come after the initial conversation, Doctor Henry will refuse to leave until his research on the nightkin is finished, requiring the completion of Guess Who I Saw Today.
After asking each of the Remnants to join, the player character must wait for Arcade to approach and make a comment about the member's past in order to set the quest flags properly. In each of the five dialogue chains with Arcade, the player character can give one of two responses: a response that talks about how people cannot (or should not) escape their past or a response that suggests that people should let go of old history, which helps Arcade make a decision later in the quest.
Meetup at the bunker[]
Once all five of the remnants are convinced, the marker will direct the player character to reach the Remnants bunker, situated a short distance west-southwest from Jacobstown. The entrance is on the south side of a cliffs and consists of a small trapdoor at the bottom of a cave. Inside the first tunnel, one must interact with the terminal on the left wall and give the passphrase, "Dear old friends, remember Navarro," which will open the main door.
Inside the bunker, the marker will lead past a vertibird and suits of power armor stored in forcefields to a second door leading to the command center. The remnants will all be assembled inside, and the one to talk to is Judah Kreger. He will ask the player character to decide who the remnants will be supporting at Hoover Dam, the NCR or Caesar's Legion.
Supporting the NCR[]
The Enclave Remnants at Hoover Dam
If the remnants are told to support the NCR, Orion Moreno leaves the room, furious at being asked to help the ones who carried out the Enclave's destruction, with Kruger asking them to follow and try to bring him back. In the hangar, Moreno has suited up in his power armor and refuses to hear anything about helping the NCR and intends to kill the player character. Passing an 80 Speech skill check or having a Wild Child reputation with the NCR will lead to convincing Moreno to stay and help the NCR, but otherwise he will attack and must be killed.
Once the Moreno situation is dealt with, one can return to the briefing room. Judah will offer them the use of an old suit of Remnants power armor and recommend talking to Daisy for learning the required training. If Orion's armor was not picked up after killing him, then Daisy will give the player character her own suit of power armor, mentioning that the vertibird cockpit gets "too cramped" with it.
Supporting the Legion[]
If the remnants are told to support the Legion, Cannibal Johnson leaves the room (unlike Moreno with the NCR, there is no way to convince him to stay and help). Arcade will also angrily rebuke the player character for throwing away all their work by helping the Legion and leaves as well, becoming permanently unavailable as a companion.
Arcade's choice[]
After making a choice and seeing the consequences, Judah will then ask the player character to leave the bunker while they plan their attack, completing the quest. Subsequently, if the player character convinced the remnants to fight for the NCR, Arcade approaches them in the hangar, talking about the remnants' choices and history, and wondering if he should make a similar choice for himself. Depending on the dialogue choices made when recruiting the remnants earlier, about keeping to the past or letting the past go, Arcade will ask them if he should remain with the remnants and fight alongside them, or completely break ties to make his own path with the Followers in Freeside. One can suggest a path, but if that path contradicts the options chosen earlier (which Arcade will point out), they must pass an 80 Speech check to convince him to choose the other path.
Once he comes to a decision, Arcade tells the player character that there is something he has to do, leading to him returning all items in his inventory and leaving their company. Upon leaving the bunker as Kruger asked, Arcade will appear outside the bunker and approach them again. If he was convinced to fight with the remnants, he will be wearing the Gannon family Tesla armor and tell the player character that he cannot turn his back on his family and his past. If he was convinced to return to Freeside and the Followers, he will give them the power armor instead and tell them to use it well during the fight. Regardless of either choice, Arcade will become permanently unavailable as a companion and either enter the Remnants bunker for the rest of the game, or return to the Old Mormon Fort (or the Lucky 38 presidential suite if he was previously dismissed there instead of Freeside).
Quest stages[]
Notes[]
- It is possible to complete For Auld Lang Syne, even in the Legion's favor, without losing Arcade as a permanent companion. Simply tell Arcade to wait at the Lucky 38 after recruiting the remnants, but before entering the bunker. Arcade should still be waiting at the Lucky 38 upon finishing the quest. Note that using this exploit results in the Gannon Family Tesla armor becoming unobtainable, and Arcade Gannon's ending will be absent, unless he is sold to the Legion as a slave during Et Tumor, Brute?.
- Completing this quest is one of three ways to gain the Power Armor Training perk, the others being Eyesight to the Blind or Tend to Your Business, albeit the latter two are mutually exclusive and depend on the outcome of the side quest Still in the Dark and who is picked as the Brotherhood of Steel elder.
- Completing this quest results in the Enclave remnants being air dropped into Hoover Dam about halfway into the final battle, except for Daisy Whitman (who pilots the vertibird) and Arcade (who is either helping a pair of NCR heavy troopers fight Legionaries in the Hoover Dam visitor center, staying at the Old Mormon Fort assisting the Followers, or has left the player character if they sided with the Legion.)
- Doctor Henry joins as a temporary companion, while Orion Moreno stays behind and holds the position. Either Judah Kreger or Cannibal Johnson will also follow as a temporary companion depending on if the remnants are supporting the Legion or NCR respectively. In the NCR's case, Kreger will remain to hold the position by himself, or alongside Moreno if the latter was convinced to fight. They will always stay friendly with the faction they were told to support.
- Attacking the remnants while inside their bunker turns them hostile, except for Doctor Henry, who will instead stand in the same spot inside of the Remnants bunker command room for the remainder of the game.
- Turning the inhabitants of Jacobstown hostile will fail the quest, even if all of the remnants have been recruited and are inside of the bunker.
- Progressing this quest is the only way to open the Remnants bunker without the use of console commands.
- If the player character informs Judah Kreger to assist the Legion, does not interact with Orion Moreno to receive the Enclave power armor, and kills Arcade Gannon (after permanently leaving the Courier), the quest will fail.
- On PC, the amount of like and dislike points for Arcade Gannon can be seen by using the console commands show "16117f".nArcadeLike and show "16117f".nArcadeDislike.
- Arcade can still start the quest for the player even as late as the SYS save on a Legion-aligned character. This can be achieved by uploading Yes Man to the Lucky 38's mainframe, starting the Beware the Wrath of Caesar! quest. Travelling to the Old Mormon Fort, equipping any clothing item that is NCR affiliated will allow the Low Intelligence, Speech, or Confirmed Bachelor check required to get Arcade to follow. As soon as he accepts open the Pip-Boy immediately and unequip the armor, while also fast travelling to The Fort in the same action. Dialogue will open following this, so select the option "Let's just go in, see what he has to say, and get out." Afterwards Arcade will start the quest For Auld Lang Syne, and will not disband from the player through the entirety of the quest.
Behind the scenes[]
- The quest name is a reference to the Scottish poem and song "Auld Lang Syne", loosely translated as "For Days Gone By," or "For Old Time's Sake," and is used as a phrase to mean "Remembering those passed" or "Recalling what has happened before." A direct translation is "for old long since."
- The first verse of the poem, "Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?" correlates to the Remnants putting aside their fringe, unassuming lifestyles, reforming their old unit and involving themselves fully in the politics and future of the Mojave Wasteland.
- This quest was designed by Jeff Husges, based on concepts and a basic outline by Joshua Sawyer.[Non-game 1]
- Husges wrote all of the Enclave remnant characters as part of this quest, although he said in retrospect that he believed he may have made them too sympathetic, more than what was originally intended.[Non-game 1]
Bugs[]
If one sends Arcade to the Lucky 38 Presidential Suite before entering the bunker and then completes the quest, one can return to the suite and re-recruit Arcade.[verified]- It is possible that Arcade Gannon may stay in the Lucky 38 presidential suite after completing the quest by telling him to stay in Freeside.[verified]
- It is possible to not be able to activate the quest for some unknown reason, despite attempting all trigger options. If the player character is traveling with ED-E in their party, get rid of him and the quest should work. PC players could also use the console command setstage 157e60 10 to activate the quest. If this does not work, try using the console command resetquest 00157e60 and then use the setstage command to acquire the quest.[verified]
- Even if one does not have ED-E as a companion, it is possible to not be able to activate the quest for some unknown reason despite attempting all trigger options.[verified]
- When recruiting Whitman in the hotel room, as soon as she agrees, Arcade will despawn, but will reappear once the player character leaves the room, allowing them to receive the conversation affirming the checkpoint afterward.[verified]
- If the player character is given a set of Remnants power armor and helmet and already has another set in their inventory, they may appear as one set in the player character's inventory, but can be dropped or stored twice.[verified]
- The player character may be unable to leave the briefing room at the end of the quest.[verified]
- Solution: Pickpocket the key from Orion Moreno, if he is still alive (be sure to pickpocket the key from him AFTER he has walked back into the briefing room, or else it will be removed.)
- Solution: Kill all the remnants. Fails the quest.
- Solution: Reload the autosave from entering the room. Shoot at the remnants as soon as the game loads, which prevents the key from being taken. Fails the quest.
- Solution: Convince Moreno to go back in the briefing room, finish the quest and then kill the Remnants.
- Solution: Unlock the door that the player character entered through first. Then enter the room that the Remnants are in. Shoot Judah with a low damage weapon (BB gun) as soon as one enters the room (it is helpful to keep firing through the loading screen). The Remnants should become hostile towards the player character (not Arcade). This prevents Judah from taking the key. Exit the room again so one is in the room with the vertibird and wait for Judah to chase you. Quickly go into sneak mode and use a Stealth Boy; the Remnants should now be friendly again. Talk to Judah and he will take the key and complete the quest.
- Solution: If the player character is doing the mission for the armor they can just use the override key to just go out the hanger door instead of going into the control room of no return. Also, if one chose for Arcade to not help out at Hoover Dam he will be outside and hand over the armor.
- Solution: On PC, this can be fixed using console command set "16117f".nProFollowersCount (if one wants him to stay with the Followers) OR nProEnclaveCount to at least 3.
- Upon entering the Remnants bunker, Daisy Whitman might randomly die, causing the mission to fail.[verified]
- Sometimes, Orion will appear near Silver Peak Mine after storming out of the bunker and will stand there until the Battle of Hoover Dam.[verified]
- If Guess Who I Saw Today glitches and cannot be completed, Doctor Henry cannot be recruited.[verified]
- Solution: If one does not mind having one less companion, one can always kill Lily (nobody will become hostile for doing so, not even Lily) which will cause one to fail Guess Who I Saw Today, but will provide access to proceed with For Auld Lang Syne.
- When the Enclave Remnants appear during the fight at the Hoover Dam, if the player character is sided with Mr. House or Yes Man, the Remnants might be hostile.[verified]
- At the end of the quest, Arcade Gannon might not ask about his decision whether to fight or not, and might stop following. His companion wheel might also become inaccessible.[verified]
- Arcade will not ask about the decision but he will follow the player character.
- Solution: Take Gannon back to the Lucky 38 (or the Old Mormon Fort but I haven't confirmed that). Once there dismiss any non-humanoid companion, and then dismiss Gannon. One might then be able to recruit Gannon once again as a normal follower.
- Sometimes upon trying to get Arcade to rejoin the player character, there will not be an option in the dialogue to do so.[verified]
- Sometimes asking Rex or ED-E to leave the party can fix this.
- The player character might randomly get another set of Remnants power armor at the end of the quest.[verified]
- It is possible for Dr. Henry to not be present in Jacobstown at all, making it impossible to recruit all members.[verified]
- Sometimes upon reaching the last step to finish the quest, when the player character exits the command room, the quest will not finish. This can be fixed by exiting the bunker, and entering again.[verified]
- Sometimes Arcade will appear at the exit of the Remnants bunker in his full Tesla armor and wander in and out of the bunker.[verified]
- After convincing Moreno to assist the NCR, Arcade will ask if he should go back to Freeside or assist in the battle at Hoover Dam. Upon leaving, he will give the player character three stimpaks and his ripper. Reloading a save just before this dialogue, it seems completely random whether or not the ripper is given (even when choosing the same dialogue options every time) - resulting in the player character possibly not receiving the weapon.[verified]
- Upon finishing the quest the game will stop responding, making one unable to progress any further. No solution is known for this bug. [verified]
- In many cases, if one does not kill Orion and then enters the room of no return, upon coming out Arcade is gone and sometimes will not be able to be found for the rest of the game.[verified]
- Sometimes when trying to get Arcade Gannon to rejoin, and one presses dialogue option to ask him to do so, it will say that the player character has followers even when they have dismissed all followers.[verified]
- If Arcade is currently a follower, asking him to return home or to the Lucky 38, not to wait. If he is waiting outside the bunker he will be placed in the bugged Remnants bunker meeting room after one kills, or convinces Moreno to stay. This fixes the problem with Arcade. Now, in order to keep from being locked in the bugged Remnants bunker meeting room: after being briefed on Moreno's rebellion by Judah Kreger, do not leave the room, attack Kreger without killing him (this will not fail the quest). After attacking him run out of the room to the vertibird area. Wait for Kreger to appear in the room, then use a Stealth Boy and crouch, wait for him to stop shooting and he will no longer be hostile towards you. Kreger will stay in the vertibird area. Now that Kreger is set in a safe area, you can go after Moreno. You will find him outside the bunker. You can either convince Moreno to return, pickpocket the key, or kill him and take the key. After getting the key, return to the bunker to talk to Kreger, the vertibird area door will be locked, use the override key to get in. Still in the vertibird area (not in the bugged room) will be Kreger. Talk to Kreger and you will complete the quest. This trick keeps you out of the bugged room upon quest completion and your companion safely back at the Lucky 38.[verified]
Gallery[]
References[]
Non-game
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