For Auld Lang Syne is a companion quest in Fallout: New Vegas.
Quick walkthrough
| Side Quest: For Auld Lang Syne | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Obtain Arcade Gannon’s trust by earning at least 5 "like" points. (See below) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Progress to one of the main storyline triggers. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Doctor Henry, found in the main building at Jacobstown | Cannibal Johnson, found in Cannibal Johnson's cave | Judah Kreger, found in Westside | Orion Moreno, found in his house near the NCR sharecropper farms | Daisy Whitman, found in or near her hotel room in Novac | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Persuade them to reunite at the Remnants bunker. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Persuade them to fight for the NCR or Caesar's Legion during the final battle. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reward: 500 XP, Remnants power armor, Gannon family Tesla armor (If Arcade does not join the Remnants) and Power Armor Training. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Detailed walkthrough
Initiating the quest
This quest is initiated by Arcade Gannon, when he realizes that his old friends from the now-defunct Enclave could make a difference in the second battle for Hoover Dam.
The quest is triggered by having Arcade as a companion, gaining his trust, and having progressed to one of the main storyline triggers (even if he wasn't recruited at the time it happened). If the player character is following the main quest line for an independent New Vegas (with Yes Man), the quest will be offered even if the player character has not gained Arcade's trust. If the player character is following the Caesar's Legion quests, equipping a suit of NCR armor will allow Arcade to be recruited despite high reputation with Caesar.
Storyline triggers
The specific point in the story that will trigger the quest varies based on whether the player character has gained Arcade's approval (see the section below) and which main quest line the player character has moved forward with.
If Arcade approves of the player character (at least two "trust" points gained via the methods below), he will offer the For Auld Lang Syne quest if one or more of the following conditions are met (regardless of having Arcade recruited at the time they happened):
- The House Always Wins, part V is active, and the player character reports back to Mr. House that the Brotherhood of Steel bunker has been wiped out.
- Wild Card: Change in Management is active and the player character installs Yes Man into the Lucky 38 mainframe. Yes Man then needs to be installed (and the quest therefore completed) for Arcade to make his request.
- For the Republic, Part 2 is active and the player character reports back to Colonel Moore that Mr. House has been killed or disconnected from his mainframe.
- Even if the player character has not accumulated two "like" points, Arcade will still offer the quest when the following point is hit:
- Wild Card: Finishing Touches is active and the player character installs the override chip in the El Dorado substation.
Note: Arcade will not offer this quest in response to any Caesar's Legion quest, though as it is possible to work on multiple main quests simultaneously, it is possible to trigger the quest while still doing work for Caesar. To do this, achieve an 'accepted' status from Caesar's Legion (and the NCR, if you want to prevent them from becoming an immediate enemy, but achieving a favorable reputation with Caesar's Legion is much harder) and install Yes Man. Both Don't Tread on the Bear! and Beware the Wrath of Caesar! will activate, but neither will shun you. Note that if you travel far enough along the main quest lines to offer the Boomers' help to either side, the two respective warning quests will activate, and installing Yes Man will cause you to become vilified. To avoid all repercussions, from the NCR, this means finishing the quests Render Unto Caesar through Part 2 (Kill Mr. House then report back to Caesar before installing Yes Man), The Finger of Suspicion, killing Benny in the arena, and defeating all of the competitors in the arena (all give Legion fame).
If the player character convinces the Remnants to fight for Caesar, however, or travels to the Legate's Camp to start the assault on Hoover Dam, Arcade will quit. Even when approaching the Remnants bunker, he will not activate the quest.
Gaining Arcade's approval
Arcade keeps a running tally of trust "points" the player character has earned by doing things he likes. To get him to offer this quest early (or at all, if the player character is supporting the NCR or Mr. House), the player character must earn somewhere around 5 points either by going places that trigger positive memories of the Enclave, flattering him, doing smart things (passing Intelligence checks), or doing things that are good for the Followers of the Apocalypse.
Not every place or event that Arcade comments on represents an improvement of his approval rating of the player character. Arcade also has a running tally of "dislike" points, but they don't figure into this quest. They are only used to trigger a warning about the player character's behavior, and eventually cause Arcade to leave the player character permanently. See Arcade's page for more about "dislike" triggers.
The following is a comprehensive list of events that earn trust "points" while traveling with Arcade as a companion. In certain situations, you earn different amounts of points depending on your dialogue response:
- Traveling to a few places in the Mojave Wasteland with Arcade will trigger a comment and gain the player character points:
- 1 point for traveling with Arcade to the crashed vertibird southwest of Camp Searchlight (the approval doesn't increase until Arcade comments on it).
- 1 point for traveling into the Silver Rush in Freeside (the approval doesn't increase until Arcade comments on the weapons).
- Even if the player character had chosen to kill all of the Van Graffs and steal all the energy weapons in the Silver Rush, Arcade will still comment on the large amount of energy weapons.
- 1 point for traveling with Arcade into the REPCONN headquarters building (the approval doesn't increase until Arcade comments on the company)
- Traveling to The Fort with Arcade triggers a dialogue with the Courier inquiring why they are there.
- 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 your companion there are more like points to gain after speaking with Caesar in his tent.
- 2 points for passing an Intelligence check of 8 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 the quest That Lucky Old Sun, when the player character first speaks to Fantastic or gets to the mainframe, 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?", then passing an Intelligence check of 7, saying, "Redundancy. If Caesar takes the dam and cuts off power, it will be chaos all over New Vegas." when Arcade asks why.
- 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 makes their decision.
- There are several triggers associated with the 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 White Wash by blaming the problem on the Scorpions and letting Tom Anderson go (the approval doesn't increase until Arcade comments on it).
- 1 point for completing The White Wash by getting Tom Anderson to turn himself in with a fake story about fighting over Dazzle, but letting Westside Co-op continue to have the water (the approval doesn't increase until Arcade comments on it).
- 1 point for passing an Intelligence check of 7, saying, "You're assuming a motive without evidence. Please be rational." when Arcade gets mad about killing Tom Anderson at the end of The White Wash (obviously, this only happens if the player character kills Tom Anderson).
- 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 followup question to the above, asking why the player character killed Anderson.
Recruiting the Remnants
When the quest triggers, Arcade will approach the player character and ask if they can spare a moment to talk. Arcade tells the player character that he'd like them to help him convince some of his old Enclave buddies to help the NCR fend off Caesar's Legion at Hoover Dam. If the player character agrees, the quest begins.
The player character must recruit five old members of the Enclave, known as the remnants, to come to a meeting to discuss the battle at Hoover Dam. If any of the five is already dead, the quest cannot be completed, and will be failed. Each of them has a conversation tree and some will raise objections, but all can be convinced to come. Each of them will give the player character a single word of the five-word pass phrase that opens the Remnants bunker, where the meeting will be held.
The five Enclave remnants are:
- Daisy Whitman, found in or near her hotel room in Novac, gives the word "Dear."
- Cannibal Johnson, found in Cannibal Johnson's cave, gives the word "old."
- Doctor Henry, found in the main building at Jacobstown, gives the word "friends."
- The quest Guess Who I Saw Today will need to be completed before Henry will agree.
- Orion Moreno, found in his house north of NCR sharecropper farms, gives the word "remember."
- Judah Kreger, found in Westside, gives the word "Navarro."
Important note: After asking each of the Remnant members to join, the player character should wait for Arcade to approach the player character and make a comment about each one in order to set the quest flags properly. For each of the five recruits the player character can give one of two responses: a response that talks about how people can't (or shouldn't) shake their past, or a response that suggest that people should let go of the past, which helps Arcade make a decision later in the quest. If most of the responses suggest that people should let go of the past and forge a new future, he will be inclined to stay with the Followers of the Apocalypse and not fight at Hoover Dam, and if most of the responses suggest that people can't or won't change who they are, he will be inclined to join the fight.
Meetup at the bunker
Once all five of the remnants are convinced, the player character must go meet with them at the Remnants bunker. The five words given to the player character make the phrase "Dear old friends, remember Navarro," which will open the main door.
Upon entering the bunker, the player character must head to the briefing room in the back and talk to Judah Kreger. He will ask whether the player character wants them to aid the NCR or Caesar's Legion. If the player character is siding with Mr. House or angling for an independent New Vegas, then siding with the NCR for the battle of Hoover Dam is the right choice.
Siding with the NCR
The Enclave Remnants at Hoover Dam
If the player character chooses to ask them to side with the NCR, Orion Moreno leaves the room. He is found just outside the briefing room in the hangar. He will talk about his hatred of the NCR and will refuse to fight for them. If the player character has a Speech skill of 80 or has Wild Child reputation with the NCR, Orion can be convinced to participate in the attack, but otherwise he will attack the player character and must be killed.
The player character can then return to the briefing room. Judah will tell you to talk to Daisy for power armor training. If you did not pick up Orion's armor, Daisy will give the player character her power armor, as she says it makes the cockpit "too cramped" if she's wearing it.
Siding with the Legion
If the player character asks them to side with the Legion, Cannibal Johnson and Arcade Gannon will leave and there is no way to convince them to stay. The player character can then talk to Orion Moreno for training in power armor. Moreno will give the player character Johnson's suit since he won't be using it.
Wrapping things up
Judah will ask the Courier to leave while they plan their attack. The player character will receive 500 XP and the quest ends.
If the player character convinced the remnants to fight for the Legion, Arcade will approach the Courier and accuse them of being crazy and/or a sociopath, then permanently leave as a companion.
If the player character convinced the remnants to fight for the NCR, Arcade approaches the Courier and asks if the Courier thinks he should join the remnants in the battle for Hoover Dam. The player character can suggest a path, but if that path contradicts the implications given earlier during the conversations, the player character must pass a Speech check of 80 to convince Arcade to choose a different path.
Arcade will then tell the player character that there's something he has to do, and he will give the player character all the gear he is carrying for them and run off. A short time later, he will come back with the Gannon family Tesla armor. He may return while you are still inside the bunker, or when you first exit; either way, it is not a long wait. If he plans to fight at Hoover Dam he will be wearing it and tell the player character that he can't turn his back on his family and his past. If he plans to go back to the Followers, he will give the player character the armor and tell the player character to use it well during the fight.
Either way, he will then go away and will be non-recruitable for the rest of the game. If he chooses to remain with the Followers he will go away (not respawn) and if the player character follows him, eventually end up in the Lucky 38 suite with no possible option of recruiting him again. If he chooses to fight, he will be in the visitors center at the dam assisting the heavy troopers against the Legion.
Exploit for keeping Arcade Gannon as a companion
It is also 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 you enter the bunker. Arcade should still be waiting for you upon finishing the quest. Keep in mind, Arcade Gannon's ending will be absent when the game is complete if this is done, unless you later sell him to the Legion as a slave. You will also be unable to obtain the Gannon Family Tesla armor from Arcade by using this exploit.
Quest stages
Notes
- This is one of the three quests where you may receive Power Armor Training (the others being Eyesight to the Blind or Tend to Your Business, both of which are the final phases of the Brotherhood of Steel questline).
- Even though the Brotherhood of Steel has been a hated enemy of the Enclave for years, they will not attack each other if you were to have peacefully resolved the conflict between the Brotherhood and the NCR.
- If you complete this quest, the Enclave Remnants will be air dropped into Hoover Dam about halfway into the final battle. All but 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 he will have left the player character on bad terms to an unknown location if sided with the Legion) and Daisy Whitman (who pilots the Vertibird) will swoop in manning the Vertibird midway through the battle to let the other Remnants deploy from above into the raging battle below. Immediately after, they will engage either a group of 5-6 Prime legionaries and/or Centurions if sided with the NCR, or 5-6 NCR soldiers and/or Rangers if sided with the Legion. After the Legion/NCR troops are dead, Doctor Henry and Judah Kreger will follow you as temporary companions either into the confines of the Dam itself and all the way to Oliver's compound while Orion Moreno will hold his position and patrol his assigned area. If you were to side the Enclave remnants with the NCR however, Cannibal Johnson will replace Judah Kreger as the temporary companion and instead follow you into the Legate's camp with a fully armed and operational minigun.
- If you side the remnants with NCR/Legion respectively and actually assist the oppositely separate faction from what you had originally chosen to side them with, they will remain friendly to the player character but will not attack the enemy faction, instead focusing on the player character's allied faction.
- If you decide to kill the Remnants while inside of the Remnants bunker they will all attack you, except Doctor Henry who will instead stand in the same spot inside of the Remnants bunker command room for the remainder of the game.
- After completing the quest Arcade is no longer a permanent companion and will head back to the Mormon Fort (Legion/NCR sided) or the Lucky 38 (NCR sided). If the path to New Vegas has not been cleared (i.e. the player character has fast traveled to the bunker and/or not cleared hostile NPCs/creatures within Gannon's intended course) Arcade can and will most likely perish on the way back if playing on Hardcore mode. To prevent this from happening, simply stay inside the bunker and wait for at least 2 hours before leaving. Arcade will survive the trip and return with the Gannon family Tesla armor.
- If sided with Caesar's Legion, the Gannon family Tesla armor is unobtainable due to Arcade's newfound disdain of you for siding with the Legion.
- If you turn the mutants of Jacobstown hostile while the quest remains active, the quest will fail even if all of the Remnants have been recruited and are inside of the bunker.
- This quest is the only way to open the Remnants bunker outside of console commands.
- After advising Arcade at the end of the quest on what to do next, Arcade will leave the player character and also give back all the items in his inventory the player character gave him. This may become an issue with encumberance.
- 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.
- To find out how many positive points the Courier had acquired with Arcade, use the console command: show "16117f".nArcadeLike
- Likewise, to find out how many negative points the Courier had acquired with Arcade, use the console command: show "16117f".nArcadeDislike
Behind the scenes
The name of the quest is from the Scottish poem and song "Auld Lang Syne," traditionally sung on New Year's Eve in many countries.
- It loosely translates from Scots 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." It is literally translated into "for old long since."
- The first verse of the poem is "Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?" This may be an in-game reference to the Remnants putting aside their fringe lifestyles and reforming their old unit, involving themselves fully in the politics and life of the Mojave Wasteland.
Bugs
If you send Arcade to the Lucky 38 Presidential Suite before you enter the bunker and then complete the quest, you can return to the suite and re-recruit Arcade.[verified]- It's 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 you're traveling with ED-E in your party, get rid of him and the quest should work. PC player characters 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 you do 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 you leave the room, allowing the player character to receive the conversation affirming the checkpoint afterward.[verified]
- If the player character is given a set of Remnant 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]
- 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 you entered through first. Then enter the room that the Remnants are in. Shoot Judah with a low damage weapon (BB gun) as soon as you enter the room (it is helpful to keep firing through the loading screen). The Remnants should become hostile towards you (not Arcade). This prevents Judah from taking the key. Exit the room again so you are 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. WARNING: It is advisable to leave your companions outside of the bunker (including Arcade) as they will try to kill the Remnants when you shoot Judah.
- Solution: If you are doing the mission for the armor you 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 you picked for Arcade to not help out at Hoover Dam he will pop out outside and give you the armor.
- Solution: On PC, this can be fixed using console command set "16117f".nProFollowersCount (if you want 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 can't be completed, Doctor Henry cannot be recruited.[verified]
- Solution: If you don't mind having one less companion, you can always kill Lily (nobody will become hostile for doing so, not even Lily) which will cause you to fail Guess Who I Saw Today, but you will be able 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 decision but he will follow you.
- 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 such as Rex and ED-E, and then dismiss Gannon. You might then be able to recruit Gannon once again as a normal follower.
- Sometimes when you try to get Arcade to rejoin you, there won't 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 remnant 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 when you get the last step to finish the quest, when you exit 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 you unable to progress any further. No solution is yet available for this bug. [verified]
- In many cases If you do not kill Orion and then enter the room of no return, once you come out Arcade is gone and sometimes will not be able to be found for the rest of the game.[verified]
- Sometimes when you want Arcade Gannon to rejoin, and you press dialogue option to ask him to do so, it will say you have followers even when you have dismissed all followers.[verified]
- If Arcade is currently your follower, ask 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 you kill, or convince 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 ROOM, attack Kreger just do not kill 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]
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