Last Voyage of the U.S.S. Constitution is a side quest in Fallout 4. The Sole Survivor has been drafted by Ironsides to assist him and his robot crew in their quest to return the USS Constitution to the ocean.
Quick walkthrough[]
| Side quest: Last Voyage of the U.S.S. Constitution | |||||||||||||||||||
| Travel to the USS Constitution. Meet Lookout. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Meet the captain. | |||||||||||||||||||
| (Optional) Negotiate for a pre-payment. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Reward: 100 caps from the Ship's Purser. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Repulse the scavenger attack. | |||||||||||||||||||
| (Optional) Fire the cannons. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Talk with the Bosun. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Pick up the new power cables and replace the old ones. | (INT 3+) Jury rig a replacement. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Talk with the Bosun. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Find/buy a power relay coil and replace the old one. | (INT 5+) Jury rig a replacement. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Talk with Mr. Navigator. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Head back towards Bunker Hill. Talk to Mandy Stiles. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Refuse to side with the scavengers. | Agree to side with the scavengers. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Recover the NX-42 guidance chip and fight the scavengers. | Recover the NX-42 guidance chip without bloodshed. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Return on the ship's deck. Install the guidance chip. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Talk with Mr. Navigator. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Reward: 250 caps | |||||||||||||||||||
| Find a Poseidon radar transmitter and replace the old one. | (INT 9+) Jury rig a replacement. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Report to Mr. Navigator. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Reward: 250 caps | |||||||||||||||||||
| Talk with Ironsides. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Reward: Captain's quarters key | |||||||||||||||||||
| Recover the FLL3 turbopump bearings. | |||||||||||||||||||
| The scavengers have been killed during the recovery of the guidance chip. | The scavengers are still alive. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Betray the scavengers. | Side with the scavengers. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Return to the USS Constitution. Install the FLL3 turbopump bearings. | Take the turbopump bearing to Mandy. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Repulse the scavenger attack. | Install the FLL3 turbopump bearings. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Report to Ironsides. | Report to Ironsides. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Reward: Broadsider | Reward: 500 caps | ||||||||||||||||||
| Activate the auxiliary power circuit. | Activate the auxiliary power circuit. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Reward: 450 XP | |||||||||||||||||||
| Defeat Ironsides. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Travel to the ship's new location. | Talk with Mandy Stiles. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Talk with Ironsides. | Kill the scavengers. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Reward: Lieutenant's hat | Reward: 450 XP | ||||||||||||||||||
Detailed walkthrough[]
Upon approaching the USS Constitution, the Sole Survivor is greeted by Lookout, who tells them to meet with Captain Ironsides on the ship's main deck. Finishing this conversation starts the quest.
Enter the bank building and turn north, up the clutter ramp to the second floor and up the stairs to the third floor. Once there, turn south, head through a broken wall and to the ship's bow, and enter the ship through the hatch located there. Once inside, head up two sets of stairs and meet the First mate on the third deck, upon which a small conversation takes place. After this, the main deck can be entered through either of the hatches, at the stairs behind the First mate.
Speaking with Ironsides reveals that the captain requires assistance with repairing the ship's systems. Asking for a reward and passing the easy persuasion check, allows the Sole Survivor to deduct a 100 cap upfront payment from the terminal called Ship's Purser, which is sitting on some crates at the north end of the main deck. They are then tasked to speak with both the bosun and Mr. Navigator about the repairs. As the conversation with Ironsides ends, the ship gets attacked by scavengers. They can be dealt with in any way possible, firing the ship's cannons by flipping the circuit breaker on the starboard side is entirely optional. Note that hitting robot allies with stray fire may result in turning the entire crew hostile and therefore failing the quest; however, the cannons are safe to fire as they do not affect the robots.
Repairing the ship's systems[]
Talk with the bosun, who is located on the third deck in front of the captain's quarters, and wants to have three power cables either repaired (requires Intelligence 3+) or replaced with new power cables, which can be taken from a nearby metal box. The cables in need of fixing are stored in yellow utility boxes, whose lid must be opened first. One is located on the third deck, on the ground near the western ship hull. The other two can be found one deck below, one on the ground near the stairs to the first deck, and the second on the western ship wall.
Once the cables are fixed, return to the bosun and receive the next task, which consists of fixing the power relays for the ship. This can be done by either repairing an eroded power relay coil (requires Intelligence 5+) or by installing a replacement coil. The fuse box housing the relays is located at the western wall on the third deck. After power is restored, return to the bosun and receive praise by him.
Next, find and speak with Mr. Navigator, who needs the ship's guidance chip retrieved from the scavenger's outpost, which is located a small trip west. Once there, talk with Mandy Stiles, who tries to persuade the Sole Survivor to turn on Ironsides and his crew and instead plunder the ship with her and her scavengers. At this point, one can either side with Ironsides or with the scavengers, with different effects on the quest's progression:
- If helping Ironsides, the chip must be stolen from the scavengers' camp, doing so turns the local scavengers hostile, even if the theft is undetected.
- If helping the scavengers, they give up the guidance chip for free, while requesting that any repair parts for the ship are being brought to them first, so that they can sabotage them.
Regardless of which side was chosen, once the chip is acquired, return to the Constitution's main deck and install the guidance chip into the core guidance system at the bow. After doing so, Mr. Navigator appears for another short talk. One is then tasked with either repairing (requires Intelligence 9+) the guidance radar or retrieving the Poseidon radar transmitter and installing it afterwards. After the radar is repaired, speak again with Mr. Navigator and receive instructions to talk with Ironsides again.
Ironsides then gives the player the key to his quarters, as he requires them to retrieve and install the FLL3 turbopump bearings there. They can be retrieved from a specific location, with known locations being the Corvega assembly plant, Fort Hagen, and the General Atomics factory. With the bearings in their possession, the Sole Survivor must now decide if they side with Ironsides or the scavengers.
Siding with Ironsides[]
Upon retrieving the bearings, head back to the USS Constitution, and install them at the turbopump in the captain's quarters on the second deck. Head back to the main deck and speak with Ironsides, after doing so, another wave of scavengers attacks the ship, later even making their way through the lower decks. If they reach the main deck, the quest fails. After eliminating them, return to Ironsides, who awards the Broadsider and asks the player character to complete a final task of firing up the auxiliary power to launch the ship. Head down to the street and enter the second building on the southern side of the road. Head to the attic, open the lid, flip the circuit breaker, and watch the ship take off and subsequently crash into a skyscraper in the distance.
Afterwards, head over to Faneuil Hall, enter the adjacent tower, and use two elevators to access the ship. Speaking with Ironsides will award the Lieutenant's hat and conclude the quest.
Siding with the scavengers[]
Once the FLL3 turbopump bearings are retrieved, take them to Mandy instead of Ironsides, where Davies will sabotage them so that the ship will explode when the rockets are fired up. Then install the sabotaged turbopump bearings in the captain's quarters on the second deck and talk to Ironsides again. Go ahead and agree to turn on the auxiliary power. Head down to the street and enter the second building on the southern side of the road, where the player can optionally meet with Mandy, but she only tells them to start up the power. Head to the attic, open the lid, flip the circuit breaker, and watch the ship's rocket fail, as it remains landlocked. Ironsides and his crew turn hostile, and all that is left to do is to storm the ship with the scavengers and defeat all the robots.
Meet up with Mandy after claiming the ship, she has relocated to the nearby Cabot House. She reveals that the scavengers held a vote and are not going to split the cut, and instead decided to kill the Sole Survivor. As there is no way to resolve the situation peacefully, the two scavengers as well as Mandy and Davies need to die in order to complete the quest.
Companion reactions[]
Quest stages[]
Notes[]
- Killing Mandy Stiles before having to speak with her allows one to avoid even going to her. It will still be possible to obtain the guidance chip and progress the quest.
- During the player's first chat with Mandy Stiles, Piper voices her doubts about both eventual choices (siding with the robots or the scavengers), but neither option directly affects her affinity.
- Even after Ironsides grants use of the captain's quarters, the items inside it are still marked as owned.
- When siding with Ironsides, the ship can be boarded after flipping the auxiliary power switch. Sprinting towards the ship grants the chance to jump onto the main deck as it leans toward the building; wearing a jet pack does also help. Note that the ship's crash sequence likely results in instantaneous death and potential bugs, which can be avoided by entering the lower deck while the ship is still flying.
- After crash-landing into the tower, Ironsides is able to assist with fighting raiders and super mutants. However, the range is minimal and only applies to the area around the ship. Shooting enemies from the deck also triggers Ironsides to open fire on them.
- When the ship launches, it is possible to ride it, either by having a companion activate the circuit breaker while the player returns to the ship, or leaping off the roof in front of the circuit breaker as the ship passes by. However, when the ship impacts the Baxter building, the player will die if they are standing on the main deck. This can be avoided by going inside the ship before it begins to move (the entrance hatch will be disabled once in flight), or standing at the far rear end of the ship near where the dinghy is. Do not stand on the dinghy itself, however, as shortly before the impact it will be removed and the player will fall, likely to their death.
- Upon giving the player the lieutenant's hat and access to the captain's quarters, Ironsides claims that he cannot fit below decks. However, he goes below decks when the Constitution launches, and if the player accesses the ship at this time and goes below decks, they can find Ironsides there, though he may be clipping into environment objects. Once the ship crashes into the Baxter building and Ironsides finishes his dialogue, he will be removed from the ship's interior and can be found on the main deck again.
- MacCready will react to your conversation with Mandy, however which side you choose to ally won't affect your affinity with him.
Behind the scenes[]
This quest was created and designed by quest designer Ferret Baudoin. He performed research related to rockets and how to tamper with them, which he later joked about, saying that he was likely put on a watchlist.[Non-game 1] Baudoin was also paired with level designer Daryl Brigner for this quest, and the two collaborated closely:[Non-game 2]
- Baudoin pitched the idea of the Constitution being moored on top of a building, as well as the initial scavenger attack.
- The repairs on the ship were first scripted by Brigner, before Baudoin suggested adding the SPECIAL stat checks to the quest.
- Brigner also designed the rowboat elevator to expedite getting to the ship's deck.
- Baudoin and Brigner liked how the scavenger attack had turned out, and Baudoin fleshed this out into another mini-faction that the player could side with; Baudoin wrote the characters and Brigner worked with the world art team to design their base in Charlestown.
- The world art team had also added the cannons on the side of the ship itself, so Brigner worked on making the cannons actually functional via a circuit breaker, and Baudoin implemented them into the quest with an optional objective.
- After the Constitution launches and crashes into the Baxter building, Brigner worked on making the ship accessible again via an elevator in the skyscraper, while Baudoin wrote a slate of post-quest dialogue for the ship's crew.
Bugs[]
If before the quest starts, the robots are hostile, typing player.AddToFaction 0008c9db 1 will add the player to the faction, thus making the robots friendly, and allowing the quest to begin normally.[verified]- If the Lookout refuses to talk to you, type setstage MS11 55, which will start the quest, and allow the Lookout to speak again. [verified]
- During the scavengers' first assault on the ship, the game's music may be stuck in an infinite battle loop even after the battle is over. One can fix this by saving the game, closing the application, then rebooting Fallout 4. The music should be back to normal upon resuming the game. Fast travel should also work.[verified]
- The player can also ride the ship to the destination and survive by using a companion to activate the auxiliary generator in the last step and then sprinting to the dinghy elevator at the back of the ship (one must reach the dinghy before the companion activates the switch, try sending them to a spot down a couple floors first and then set the command to activate the switch. The hatch into the USS Constitution remains accessible until the countdown ends and the ship begins moving. Talking to Ironsides inside the ship while in flight may cause a crash of the game.[verified]
- It is possible that the scavengers will not attack the ship after the player has talked to Ironsides, making the quest uncompletable. A possible workaround for PC is typing setstage MS11 200 in the console, which will continue the mission by setting the scavengers to attack. Typing setstage MS11 840 will set the quest to the very last stage.[verified]
- When completing the quest and returning to the USS Constitution after its second crash, Ironsides will give the player full access to his captain's quarters after promoting the player to lieutenant. Despite this, the items are still listed as "owned" and can't be taken without stealing them. Ironsides will also be stuck in the same dialogue loop of allowing the player access to the captain's quarters.[verified]
- After repairing the guidance system and being instructed to talk to Ironsides by Mr. Navigator, Ironsides may become bugged and not respond to the player by talking. There are several workarounds for this bug: One workaround is to save and reload; another workaround is to enter and leave the USS Constitution; a third workaround is to ask a companion to inspect the captain, after which he will return to normal; the last workaround is to spawn another Ironsides nearby with the console command player.placeatme 0003adc4 and talk to the duplicate, which will initiate a conversation with the original Captain Ironsides in which one will have to turn to him to continue the quest.[verified]
- Mandy Stiles may be hostile when first met, leaving only the option to side with Ironsides.[verified]
- The player may not receive any quest marker for the FLL3 turbopump bearings and they will not spawn at any of the three possible locations at which they are normally found thus rendering the quest impossible to complete. In this case, the quest cannot be completed without console commands. In console enter player.additem 0009139F 1 and the quest stage will advance.[verified]
- Placing the turbopump bearings may not complete the quest conditions, leaving Ironsides to loop dialogue about the turbopump bearings.[verified]
- After the scavengers' second assault on the ship, when the quest asks the player to speak with Ironsides, it may be possible for Ironsides to get stuck in a sentry bot's "steam out" condition, and will remain there, making the quest unable to be completed. This can be fixed by reloading a save from before the second assault. Attacking him will eventually turn the crew hostile, though interestingly enough will not always fail the quest.[verified]
- When the scavengers are all finished, a glitch may happen in which the defending mission continues, with no possible way to finish the quest on consoles. On PC one can use the console command setstage MS11 840 to finish the mission and solve the glitch. [verified]
- During the scavengers' attack, some scavengers can make their way inside the ship and may get stuck in an infinite loop of exiting and entering the deck, causing them to appear and disappear instantly. Killing them as soon as they appear is possible with a rapid-fire weapon. This may be a cause of the above bug.[verified]
- When the player is tasked with retrieving the guidance chip, it may not be present inside the file cabinet and the quest marker may direct them to the garden patch in Covenant, thus making the quest impossible to complete.[verified]
- After speaking with the bosun and completing his task, the mission will not update. If having the companion check out Ironsides does not work, and spawning in a new Ironsides does not work, the player can leave the ship, shoot a scavenger, and the mission quest will update afterward.[verified]
- If for any reason the crew turn against the player (while allied with them) after the player dies (loading a save wasn't tested) and the last save is in the ship (before they turn hostile to the player), the fighting music plays, but no one turns hostile.[verified]
Gallery[]
References[]
Non-game
- ↑ Bethesda Fallout 76 Interview ~ QuakeCon At Home 2020:
Ferret Baudoin: "I did the Last Voyage of the U.S.S. Constitution and so I was doing all sorts of research about rockets. My searches would be like, 'rockets how do I tamper and make them explode.' Like, that would be my search, right? And then I'd be like, 'oh no, that wouldn't quite do it, we need to make the rocket explode in a different way' so that you could tamper with it. So I kept doing search after search, and I'm like, 'if I'm not on a watchlist...'" - ↑ Level and Quest Design Collaboration from 'Skyrim' to 'Starfield' (14:55 - 21:15)
