How Little We Know is a side quest in Fallout: New Vegas.
Quick walkthrough[]
| Side Quest: How Little We Know | |||||||||||||
| Talk to Liza O'Malley during For the Republic, Part 2 or Yes Man during Wild Card: Side Bets or Mr. House during The House Always Wins IV. | During Bye Bye Love, help Joana escape Gomorrah and listen to her tip about Cachino. | ||||||||||||
| Speak with the Gomorrah receptionist about the Omertas' activities. | |||||||||||||
| Ask around Gomorrah for Cachino's whereabouts. | |||||||||||||
| Go to Brimstone and speak with Cachino. | |||||||||||||
| Steal Cachino's journal from his room. | Pickpocket his journal from him. | ||||||||||||
| Bring Cachino's journal to him and blackmail him into turning against the Omertas' leaders. | Bring Cachino's journal to Big Sal and betray Cachino to the Omertas. | ||||||||||||
| Speak with Troike and agree to help break his contract or pass a Speech skill check to threaten him to cooperate. | Help Big Sal kill Cachino and agree to help the Omertas' plans for the Strip. | ||||||||||||
| Use Troike's thermite or threaten him to use it to destroy the Omertas' weapons shipments. | Speak with Clanden and acquire a container of chlorine from the Ultra-Luxe or Ralph at Mick & Ralph's or Blake at the Crimson Caravan Company to create his bomb. | ||||||||||||
| Find Clanden and either kill him undetected or acquire his snuff tapes to blackmail him into leaving the Strip. | Speak with Troike and retrieve his disassembled weapons shipment from the Fiends. | ||||||||||||
| Kill Big Sal and Nero with Cachino's help. | Return to Big Sal. | ||||||||||||
| Reward: 50 Gomorrah chips (if Cachino is alive) Pimp-Boy 3 Billion (optional) Strip fame | Reward: 400 caps or 50 Gomorrah chips Pimp-Boy 3 Billion (optional) Strip infamy | ||||||||||||
Detailed walkthrough (NCR/House/Yes Man)[]
Note: It is tricky to avoid permanently locking options in this quest. The best path for maximizing opportunities is to first complete Bye Bye Love since completing this quest beforehand will render Bye Bye Love either unobtainable or unable to be completed. Additionally, if one does not speak to Liza O'Malley before starting the quest, they will not be able to complete For the Republic, Part 2 (see the #Bugs section below. Finally, completing this quest without fulfilling certain criteria will prevent acquiring the Pimp-Boy 3 Billion afterward.
The player character can get a hint towards starting the quest by talking with Mick at Mick & Ralph's in Freeside on the topic of his customers, when he mentions that the Omertas running Gomorrah have stopped buying his guns and he'd like to know why.
The quest is properly started by first completing Bye Bye Love and helping Carlitos Wayne free his lover Joana from Gomorrah, after which Joana will tell the player character about the shady operations of the Omertas. Alternatively, if one is following the Wild Card quest-chain, upon asking Yes Man about the Omertas, the quest starts, and he indicates toward asking the casino employees for information. Optionally, one can return to Yes Man after first entering Gomorrah and opt to ignore the Omertas, leaving the quest open. Similarly, if one is helping the New California Republic during For the Republic, Part 2, they are asked to get some information regarding the Omertas by Colonel Moore. She will send them to talk to Liza O'Malley at the NCR Embassy, also triggering the quest. Lastly, the quest is also automatically triggered upon beginning The House Always Wins IV for Mr. House.
Cachino the traitor[]
If the quest is started through a faction quest, one is sent to talk to the receptionist behind a desk to the left upon going through the main entrance of the casino. Depending on which faction prompted their visit to Gomorrah, one may require passing a Speech check to ask about "the outstanding balance," whereupon she directs the player character to find Cachino, a low-level lieutenant of the Omertas who run Gomorrah. If one was told about Cachino from Joana, they can go ahead to asking around the casino and asking any of the Omerta thugs and prostitutes for Cachino's whereabouts. Everyone will give an unfriendly and non-helpful answer, while having the Confirmed Bachelor, Lady Killer, and/or Terrifying Presence perks offer additional dialogue options for different, friendlier replies that still garner the same result.
Going to anyone in Gomorrah asking about Cachino will prompt the mobster to make an appearance and approach them directly when they enter the Brimstone club through the rear left door on the casino floor. He will aggressively question why they're asking after him, then blows off any attempt to talk about his illicit activities. It then becomes necessary to find proof of Cachino's shady activities to get his attention, as he has been skirting the rules of the Family and putting his life at risk if it ever gets out.
The proof needed is a journal logging his activities, found in one of two places: in his desk directly to the left as one enters the bedroom of his suite on the upstairs suites level of Gomorrah (accessed via elevator) and/or residing in his inventory from which it can be pickpocketed. If one doesn't want to incur Karma loss, the key to Cachino's suite can be acquired from the receptionist either by paying her a bribe of 300 caps, passing an 8 Strength attribute check, or passing a 55 Barter skill check to lower the bribe to 200 caps (one can always pickpocket her to get the caps back too).
When confronted with his journal, Cachino realizes the danger he's in and offers to pay 100 caps to get the journal back; passing a 60 Barter check garners an additional 200 caps for 300 total. He also tries to sweeten the deal by offering to bring the player character in on his scheme to disrupt the Omerta leaders' plans. Once the journal is traded back, he goes on with explaining that while he doesn't know the specifics of what the bosses, Big Sal and Nero are planning, he does know that it hinges on the contributions of two people brought in from outside the Family: Clanden and Troike. Cachino advises the player character to look into both and find out the specifics of their roles in order to come up with a way to disrupt the Omertas' plan.
Note: While it is possible to complete the relevant objectives for both characters, only one is required in order to progress the quest to completion.
Clanden the madman[]
From the main floor, take the elevator to the suites level to find Clanden, who was given the suite opposite from Cachino's. When speaking with him, he will not give up any clues or talk with them about what he does at all, even if one mentions that Cachino sent them. Returning to Cachino, the mobster will mention he did some asking around and found out the bosses' plans would be screwed if Clanden was not around, so he suggests they try to kill Clanden discreetly. Alternatively, one can steal Clanden's key off him, which opens a Hard-locked safe behind the dresser next to his bed (or pick it themselves) and take the snuff tapes from inside.
With the evidence, the player character has both options of going back to Cachino who suggests confronting Clanden with the tapes, or just go straight to confronting Clanden themselves. Showing the tapes to him will cause Clanden to threaten to kill them, but one will have the option of telling him to leave and never come back if they give him the tapes. Passing a 50 Barter check also makes him leave after giving the player character 200 caps. If one tells Clanden they are keeping the tapes, he will become hostile and attack them, and must be killed.
Note: Clanden's room key also unlocks the Very Hard-locked maintenance room (on the same suite level to the west), where one can find a hooker's corpse, with which passing a 35 Medicine check allows for examining it; the room and its contents are important to dealing with Troike.
A third option is available for dealing with Clanden. If one waits until after destroying the weapons with Troike and then asking Cachino about the next step, then choosing to delay meeting with the boss, after acquiring the snuff tapes and telling Cachino about them, the player character has a unique dialogue option to ask Clanden about his "exotic tastes." Then, either passing a 45 Speech check (claiming to deliver a new girl for Clanden) or a female Courier using Black Widow (volunteering as a "playtoy"), Clanden can be convinced to go directly to his "playroom" (the room with the dead prostitute). After reaching the room, he will turn hostile (angered at being tricked or "playing" with his volunteer) and can be safely killed without any of the Omertas turning hostile.[verification needed]
Troike the smuggler[]
Troike is found in the lower Brimstone level, also accessed via the elevators. He is initially cagey about speaking with the player character, jokingly entertaining the idea of getting out of his contract with the Omertas that's keeping him under their thumb. He also tells the story of how, after a serious drug bender, he woke up to a dead prostitute and himself as the prime suspect, and that he could only escape the punishment by working for the Omertas. One can then pass a 30 Medicine check to point out the inconsistencies in his account, suggesting he was set up by the Omertas. It thus becomes important to find evidence of foul play and acquiring the blackmail note, located in a safe in Big Sal's office that proves the bosses set Troike up.
- Note: If the note is taken out of the safe, one will be unable to get Troike out of his contract, making it impossible to legitimately obtain the Pimp-Boy 3 Billion.
Alternatively, one can go directly to the Omerta boss Big Sal and pass either a 53 Speech or 45 Barter skill check to convince him to let Troike out of his contract, freeing Troike without having to investigate the dead hooker incident or find any evidence. A third option is available to pass an 80 Speech check to lie to Troike (resulting in Karma loss) and threaten to report him to the NCR if he doesn't help them, bypassing the hooker investigation and talking to Big Sal.
However one has gotten Troike's cooperation with stopping the Omertas' plan, he will reveal why they brought him on: Troike has been smuggling guns onto the Strip discreetly, via NCR supply shipments, storing them within Gomorrah to add serious firepower to the Omertas' arsenal. Suggestions of destroying the guns has Troike admit he planned for that outcome and hands over his key to the weapons storage room and a supply of thermite to destroy the guns, advising using a faulty light fixture in the room to ignite the compound and reduce them to useless slag. Passing a 70 Speech check results in threatening Troike to plant the thermite himself.
The weapon containers are found behind a unique door and at the end of a hall just outside of the room Troike is in, consisting of two footlockers containing a random assortment of flamers, sniper rifles, and assault carbines (these might help later in the next part of the quest). The thermite must be placed on four green metal crates around the room, after which the player character must exit the room, close the door, and activate the light switch next to the door to set off the thermite. If Troike is persuaded to do the deed himself, he will get caught and rat the player character out before the Omertas kill him, though this will not ruin any of the objectives.
Meeting the bosses[]
Upon returning to Cachino after getting rid of Clanden and/or destroying the smuggled weapons, he says that their actions so far would only serve as a temporary setback if the bosses themselves are not taken down. Luckily, he was put in charge of finding out who is responsible for ruining their plans, and he intends to use the upcoming meeting as an opportunity with the player character's help to eliminate them. It is possible to convince Cachino to wait for their initiation signal by passing an 80 Speech check before the assassination. If a weapon wasn't taken from the weapons stash beforehand, Cachino will still provide a sawed-off shotgun and ammo before the meeting. One can also use any holdout weapons that were smuggled into the casino.
Once the meeting room within the Zoara Club is entered, the bosses will ask the player character to have a seat, and a conversation begins. Big Sal reveals that they already know who has been ruining their plans and now they intend to kill the player character for their interference. At any point in the conversation, one can choose the dialogue option to signal Cachino to attack. Alternatively, passing an 80 Speech check convinces Big Sal to explain the whole plan to them, followed by an opportunity to trick him into thinking that Nero intends to betray him. This results in Big Sal killing Nero when combat starts, thus allowing time for Cachino to kill Big Sal in turn. One can also quickly loot the office key from Big Sal's body and run outside. The various Omerta thugs in the casino will actually assist in killing Nero.
The quest ends upon the deaths of Big Sal and Nero, with Cachino promising to run Gomorrah slightly better now that he's in charge. If one asks about doing some gambling, he will offer a sum of 50 Gomorrah chips.
Detailed walkthrough (Legion)[]
Note: Despite that helping the Omertas complete their plans is beneficial to him, Caesar does not have dialogue referencing completing the quest this way nor does one gain Caesar's Legion fame for it.
The quest has an alternative order of events that can be triggered after acquiring Cachino's journal and directly telling him they will keep it. Instead, bring it to the Zoara bouncer standing to the right of the counter in Brimstone. Upon showing him the journal and telling him it's an urgent matter, he will let them in to see the bosses. Going to talk to Big Sal, they can offer him the journal for 100 caps (200 with 60 Barter). Big Sal will then have Cachino brought into his office for a meeting where a button man kills Cachino after he begs for his life. Talking to Big Sal afterward, he asks the player character to take on Cachino's role aiding Clanden and Troike in securing their plans for the Strip.
For Clanden, he requests help perfecting a way to kill "a large amount of people in a short amount of time." Passing a 60 Science check allows for guessing that Clanden wants to make a chlorine bomb; otherwise Clanden will tell them what is needed. Containers of chlorine can be stolen from the Ultra-Luxe casino or purchased from either Ralph in Freeside or Blake at the Crimson Caravan Company. The chlorine from the Ultra-Luxe is found in a small supply closet with an Easy lock on it, in the area behind Mortimer's counter. One can also persuade Ralph to give them chlorine for free by passing a 60 Science check, but no such option exists for Blake.
Troike requests help retrieving a crate of guns that were stolen mid-transport by the Fiends. The disassembled weapons shipment necessary is found slightly to the west of the Sunset Sarsaparilla headquarters west of the Strip, near 3 Fiends who will attack on sight. Once it is retrieved, return it to Troike.
Once the chlorine is given to Clanden and the weapons to Troike, return to speak with Big Sal. Upon informing the mobster of the success in finalizing their plans, he rewards 400 caps, completing the quest. One can also speak to him about getting 50 Gomorrah chips. Choosing this solution will gain Strip infamy. If one started the quest as part of Wild Card: Side Bets, a dialogue option will appear when talking to Yes Man saying that the player character supports the Omertas' plans of attacking and taking over the Strip.
Quest stages[]
Notes[]
- If Big Sal is convinced to attack Nero, there is a chance for Big Sal and Nero kill each other at the same time, which will prevent any need to enter combat.
- If the weapons cache is destroyed with Troike's thermite, the parts of several recognizable weapons can be seen lodged in the melted debris. This includes a Chinese assault rifle, with only a few inches of the barrel and its attached iron sight visible.
- If Cachino survives the showdown with the bosses and if one has high Sneak, after talking to him to get 50 Gomorrah chips, one can immediately hide and kill him for good Karma without making the entire casino hostile. Even if one does make the casino hostile, there is a chance they will go back to neutral by remaining in the office with the door shut and holstering their weapon.
- It is possible to do this quest the "good" way (supporting Cachino) and still obtain the Pimp-Boy 3 Billion. This is accomplished by getting Troike out of his contract without picking up the blackmail note in Big Sal's office safe, and instead convincing Sal through a skill check to let Troike go, then making sure to tell Sal to buy from Mick and Ralph's again before helping Cachino kill Big Sal and Nero at the end of the quest. Alternatively, if the blackmail note is used to get Troike to let them blow up the guns, one will not be able to get the alternate Pip-Boy.
- Confronting Clanden and turning him hostile in sight of an Omerta guard will actually cause the guard to attack Clanden instead.
- Killing Clanden or Cachino before one is instructed to will result in failure of the quest, but the same rewards (positive Karma, experience, etc.) can still be gained. Also, if one ignores Clanden initially, but decides to kill him after Cachino sets up the meeting with the bosses, the quest will be failed.
- The quest objective of "convincing Clanden to betray the family" corresponds to persuading him into leaving New Vegas.
- Killing the greeter or anyone in Gomorrah before receiving this quest will instantly fail the quest.
However, during the quest, the Courier can kill any unnamed thug without consequence.
- A random, generic gambler may spawn within the weapons room.
Behind the scenes[]
- This quest was designed by Akil Hooper, who also created the Gomorrah casino itself.[1]
- The quest name may be a reference to two songs, "(How Little It Matters) How Little We Know" written by Carolyn Leigh and Phil Springer, and recorded and released by Frank Sinatra in 1956, and "How Little We Know" written by Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer, and recorded by Lauren Bacall for the 1944 film To Have and Have Not.
- The story of Troike being set up by the Omertas is very similar to the film The Godfather Part II, where Michael Corleone has Tom Hagen turn Senator Geary by drugging him and making him think he killed a prostitute, whereafter Tom then promises to cover up the incident in return for the senator's loyalty.
Bugs[]
- When showing Cachino the snuff tapes and asking him to verify it, the objective option to turn him in to the NCR may not trigger. This is the result of a typo in the objective's script. [verified]
- If the player character does not speak to Liza O'Malley before starting How Little We Know then they will not be able to speak to Cassandra Moore upon returning to Hoover Dam. As such, one will be unable to complete For the Republic, Part 2. [verified]
- This can be fixed by entering the following console command: SetObjectiveDisplayed 00136166 30 1
- If one attacks the dead bodies of Big Sal and Nero after killing them, you will continue to gain experience. This can vary from 50xp to 750xp each hit. [verified]
- When speaking to Cachino before going to kill the bosses, selecting the "Wait" and "Ready" dialogue options may prevent Cachino from further interacting with the player character. When trying to re-initiate dialogue, Cachino will only respond that 'there is no time to talk' meaning the player character cannot tell him they are ready to go; and he will also remain in place and not lead the player character to the meeting with the bosses, preventing further progress in the quest. Leaving Cachino there and attempting to finish to quest later will revert Cachino to previous lines of dialogue in which you can only ask about the bosses' plans, Troike, and Clanden. Note: this quest was undertaken before initiating or completing Bye Bye Love as the walkthrough indicates is necessary. [verified]
- This bug can be bypassed, by simply finding the small office where the meeting would take place (next to Big Sal's office on the main floor) and killing the bosses, resulting in a quest complete message, regardless of Cachino following the player character there.
- It is possible to fix this by taking the elevator to the main floor, then typing prid 11118d followed by moveto player in the console to bring Cachino to the main floor. Once Cachino gets to the main floor, he walks normally to the bosses' room and the usual sequence of events proceeds.
- Once Cachino brings the bosses to the office for the player character to kill them, he may shut the door while one is outside, at which point the door will re-open and he and the bosses will leave the office and return to their original positions. From that point on, Cachino will only say that it is time for the meeting and there's no time to talk. [verification overdue]
- On PC version there is same (similar) problem when Cachino saying only "Its time for the meeting with the bosses I cant chit chat right now". First mark objective completed with console commands setobjectivecompleted 00110a63 62 1, then prid 11118d followed by moveto player.
- This can be bypassed if one later finds Nero standing in the office and kill him there.
- When Cachino is supposed to give the player character the sawed-off shotgun, it may end up in a companion's inventory instead of the player character's. This can occur even if Cachino is still bugged as previously mentioned. [verified]
- If one goes to the meeting room when Cachino is bugged, and kills Big Sal, Nero will not attack the player character until they attack him. [verified]
- Sometimes, after planting the thermite charge, the switch will not set off the explosives. [verified]
- If Sal and Nero's ammunition is stolen from them before sitting down for the chat, choosing the lie option implicating Nero will cause the two of them to stare at one another with guns out, but they will be unable to attack. [verified]
- The dead prostitute one can inspect during "How Little We Know" can be found alive and standing before, during, or after the quest is complete. If one examines her the box telling the player character to inspect her will still pop up. [verified]
- If the player character receives the key from the receptionist, they can lift the book off Cachino AND head up to his room to get another copy of his journal. Sell the first one with the Barter check then talk to him again for the 100 caps and intel on the Family's activities option. [verified]
- After receiving the option from Cachino to kill Clanden, occasionally, killing Clanden will result in a failed mission. In this playthrough, Troike set off the thermite and did not know he was exonerated. [verified]
- If one chooses to bypass the quest and instead simply kill the Omertas, Big Sal may not necessarily become hostile. It is possible to approach him after fighting through the rest of the main floor and pass the Speech 50 check to convince him to buy from Mick and Ralph's, even though in the context of the game this is a complete non sequitur. You also have the option to get 50 chips from him. This will also advance For the Republic, Part 2 and prompt one to lie to Colonel Moore even if the Omertas have been eliminated. [verified]
- If the player character has chosen to assault the Omertas and kill them all, ED-E may kill one of the unnamed prostitutes in the courtyard. [verified]
- If one sides with Cachino for this quest, then goes talk to Clanden without having the evidence to progress in dialogue, then sees Troike and finishes his objective, reporting back to Cachino will cause him to tell the player character that it is time to take out the bosses, bypassing Clanden's portion of the quest altogether. [verified]
- Sometimes, after completing How Little We Know, one cannot tell Mick that the Omertas are buying his weapons again. To work around this, before telling Troike to destroy the weapons, have his contract destroyed by talking to Big Sal before completing the quest. Then tell Troike he is free and then tell him to destroy the guns. Note that if one finds the Troike blackmail note before talking to Troike about the prostitute, although Troike will still have the dialogue asking for help getting out of his contract, Big Sal will not have the related dialogue, so one cannot get Troike out of his contract, thus never tell Mick that the Omertas are buying guns again, and never gets the Pimp-Boy 3 Billion. [verified]
- One fix with the console is to use SetObjectiveCompleted 00110A63 50 0, SetObjectiveCompleted 00110A63 51 0, and SetObjectiveDisplayed 00110A63 51 1 to go back to the stage when Big Sal had the dialogue.
- The dialogue option that starts this quest can appear without doing Bye Bye Love or starting For the Republic, Part 2. [verified]
- Killing Clanden may cause ED-E to stop following the player character.
- This may also happen after killing Big Sal and Nero.
- If this happens, dismiss ED-E before killing Clanden, or Big Sal and Nero. [verified]
- If one proceeds with killing Cachino and beginning the missions for the Omertas family, the receptionist that Mr. House sends to speak with the player character during The House Always Wins IV, may not give the player character the necessary speech options. [verified]
- After talking to Big Sal and telling him of Cachino's treachery, going into his office to have a 'little talk', button man remains immobile, Cachino just sits there and none of them will speak anymore. [verified]
- After picking up the blackmail tape, one cannot negotiate Troike's contract with Big Sal. This means one cannot free him and get the Pimp Boy. At this stage, one also cannot turn in Cachino, as he will have his diary back (pickpocketing it does nothing) meaning there is no way to get the Pimp Boy at all. To get around this the Courier must kill Cachino then talk to Big Sal who will buy the guns from Mick and Ralph if the Courier selects the 50 Speech check. Doing this will fail the mission but grant the player character the Pimp Boy after talking to Mike. [verified]
- Rarely, when Cachino gives the player character the sawed-off shotgun before they 'talk' with the bosses, Cachino's head may spin around in a full 360° motion. [verified]
- If the player character gives Cachino's Journal to Big Sal, sometimes Cachino will not move from his place in Brimstone. In Big Sal's office, Big Sal will have his scripted conversation with the chair Cachino should be sitting in, and the Button Man will shoot empty air when he would usually kill Cachino. Cachino will still die - his corpse can be found downstairs where he was originally standing and the quest will progress normally.[verification overdue]
- When retrieving the chlorine for Clanden, it is possible that upon entry to the suite floor, Clanden will be glitched into the wall, making this quest incompletable. Reloading an earlier save may fix this.[verification overdue]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Josh Sawyer Fallout 4 Project Mojave Mod Stream 13.11.2021 (reference starts at 48:26)
Joshua Sawyer: "'Who wrote that line?' That was Akil Hooper, wrote that line. Akil designed many, many areas in the game. Including the Gomorrah and the Omertas quest line if I recall correctly."
