“Caesar's Legion attacked us near Searchlight. The rangers say they probably took my family to Cottonwood Cove.”— Frank Weathers
Left My Heart is a side quest in Fallout: New Vegas.
Contents
Quick walkthrough
| Side Quest: Left My Heart | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Talk to Frank Weathers. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Head to Cottonwood Cove. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Purchase the ownership of the family from Canyon Runner. | Steal the key from Canyon Runner and pass an explosive check to free the family. | Kill the family. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Return to Frank Weathers. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Tell him his family's whereabouts. | Convince him with a Speech check to reunite with his family. | Convince him with a Speech check to commit suicide. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Reward: 1000 XP 50 caps | Reward: 1000 XP 50 caps Good Karma | Reward: 1000 XP 50 caps Bad Karma | |||||||||||||||||||
Detailed walkthrough
Note: How the player character goes about completing this quest depends greatly on their reputation with Caesar's Legion and somewhat on their reputation with the NCR because of the locations this quest takes place in. Disguises may be in order if the player character wants to avoid conflict.
- To begin the quest, speak with Frank Weathers at Aerotech Office Park, who will provide a note, or travel to Cottonwood Cove and speak to Canyon Runner near the slave cage.
- For 300 caps, the Weathers family can be purchased outright from Canyon Runner. By passing a Speech check of 50, it is possible to convince him that the family is infected with a terrible disease and he will sell them at a reduced price. Alternatively, the key to the Weathers' collars can be pickpocketed from Canyon Runner or looted from his corpse and the cage can be broken into.
- Enter the cage with the key and talk to any of the Weathers family members to set them free. If the player character does not have the key or does not wish to use it to deactivate their collars, an Explosives check of 50 can be passed to do so. At the consequence of bad Karma, the player character can also kill the family or pass an Explosives check of 35 to set their collars to explode as they leave the cage.
- If the player character allows the Weathers family members to live, they will express their gratitude and mention that they are headed to the Old Mormon Fort. If the Courier mentions that it is Frank who sent him or her to find them, they will explain that they were trying to escape Frank's abuse when they were captured by the slavers and do not wish to see him again.
- If the quest was given by Frank Weathers, the player character is given the objective to report to him at Aerotech Office Park. Upon informing him that his family is alive or dead, the quest ends and he rewards the player character 50 caps, though the dialogue continues. At this point, the Courier has three options which will determine whether he chooses to change his ways and reunite with his family or not.
- Passing one of two Speech checks of 35, the player character can convince Frank to either clean up his act and reunite with his family or commit suicide, awarding good or bad Karma, respectively.
- Alternatively, the player character can inform Frank of his family's whereabouts, but he will choose to not reunite with them since he is not allowed into the Old Mormon Fort and does not want to go into rehab.
Quest stages
Notes
- The XP rewarded if talked with Frank Weathers first is much higher than if discovering the family while exploring the Wasteland. This could be explained due to the need for Intelligence of 5 to engage in conversation about them.
- There is a truck perched on a precipice at Cottonwood overlook, as part of the quest Eye for an Eye. If the door is opened, a large number of radioactive waste barrels tumble out, killing everyone below. If the slaves have not been freed by this stage, they will die as well and one will not have any other option than to tell Frank that they are dead, thus completing the quest, provided the quest was started by talking to Frank. Also, the Weathers family will need time to escape the camp before opening the door or they may die too.
- Upon completion of this quest, the Weathers can be found at the Old Mormon Fort huddled in a small group, straight ahead past the "guards desk" at the entrance. They will stand in place and won't move from their location for the rest of the game.
- Attempting this quest after completing Ring-a-Ding-Ding! results in being unable to advance the dialogue with Canyon Runner until accepting Caesar's first task in Render Unto Caesar. He will only say to go to the dock to take the ferry.
- If Cottonwood Cove is reached and set the family free before talking to Frank, the quest is still completed, but upon meeting Frank, it will be impossible to open a dialogue with him, and therefore cannot succeed at any of his Speech checks.
- When the slaves are freed, they will attempt to reach a ranger outpost. Kenny will enter the building, but if followed he won't be inside.
- If the player character has negative or mixed Reputation with the NCR (e.g. Wild Child or Soft-Hearted Devil), Frank Weathers will attack and will not give the quest.
- He will only attack if the NCR officer at the Aerotech Office Park, Captain Parker initiates combat. Sneaking by the captain will make it possible to still get the quest.
- If the player character has a negative reputation with the Legion, there will be at least one enemy that may need to be killed after saving the Weathers family or they will try to kill the family first.
Behind the scenes
The quest name is a reference to the song "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" made popular by Tony Bennett in 1962.
Bugs
The Weathers family may not be wearing collars. This makes the quest reasonably easier as the player character doesn't have to worry about remembering to deactivate the devices. However, this bug does remove the option to detonate them prematurely.[verified]
Sometimes, if you begin the quest by talking with the Weathers, you can pick the lock to the cage, disarm all three collars, kill all guards in the area, then tell the Weathers to run for it. They survive but you lose Karma.[verified]
Gallery
The Weathers at the Old Mormon Fort if you free them and they survive
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