Left My Heart is a side quest in Fallout: New Vegas.
Quick walkthrough[]
| Side Quest: Left My Heart | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Speak with Frank Weathers in the tent at Aerotech Office Park or with any of the Weathers in the caged pen near the HQ at Cottonwood Cove. | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Pay 300 caps (150 with 50 Speech) to Canyon Runner for the key to the family's collars. | Pickpocket the key from Canyon Runner or pass a 50 Explosives check to unlock the family's collars. | Kill the family by attacking or pass a 35 Explosives check to set off their collars. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Given by Frank Return to Frank. | Given by the Weathers Freed the Weathers: 300 XP, 50 caps Killed the Weathers: Quest failed. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Tell Frank his family's whereabouts. | Pass a 35 Speech check to convince Frank to deal with his addiction before reuniting with his family. | Pass a 35 Speech check to convince Frank to commit suicide. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Reward: 1000 XP 50 caps | Reward: 1000 XP 50 caps Karma gain | Reward: 1000 XP 50 caps Karma loss | |||||||||||||||||||
Detailed walkthrough[]
Note: Depending on one's reputation with both the NCR and Caesar's Legion, the ease of access to the two locations involved in this quest may vary, whether able to roam freely or be attacked by hostile enemies and may require the use of faction disguises.
Family in danger[]
The quest is started by speaking to an NPC in one of two locations:
- Frank Weathers can be found at the Aerotech Office Park, under the jurisdiction of Captain Parker of the New California Republic Army. The Weathers patriarch can be asked about why he came to New Vegas and he says that he was one of many who thought they'd strike it rich on the Strip, trying to help his family. At the mention of his family, though, he breaks down and reveals that they were captured by slavers of the Legion close to Camp Searchlight; passing a 6 Intelligence attribute check leads to him revealing he escaped alone by running away like a coward. He pleads with the player character to save them from living as slaves and gives all the information he has on where to find them, triggering the quest.
- One can instead go directly to Cottonwood Cove and speak to any of the three Weathers family members in the caged pen near the HQ building; only speaking to Mrs. Weathers will actually trigger the quest. Starting this way also prevents speaking with Frank about his family and thus making the rewards from him inaccessible.
However one gets to helping the Weathers at the cove, there are a few methods for freeing them from captivity:
- Pay the 300 caps price for their freedom to the Legion slavemaster, Canyon Runner.
- Pass a 50 Speech skill check to convince Canyron Runner that the family is diseased, causing him to reduce the price to 150 caps.
- Pickpocket the key to the Weathers' collars from Canyon Runner or looted from his corpse and the cage can be broken into.
If the quest was given by Mrs. Weathers, she can be asked about how they were captured and will mention her husband Frank and how his alcoholism and abuse forced them to flee, ending up captured in the process. If the quest was given by Frank, mentioning his name will garner the same information along with a request not to tell him where they are going once freed.
Note: If the player character has the Mark of Caesar but has not gone to see Caesar during Render Unto Caesar, Canyon Runner's only dialogue will be to tell them to speak with Cursor Lucullus and travel to the Fort. His quest-related dialogue will only be available after speaking with Caesar and returning to the cove.
Upon acquiring the key, enter the cage with the key and talk to Mrs. Weathers to use it to set them all free; the Weathers' children's collars will automatically unlock this way. If one does not have the key or does not wish to use it to deactivate their collars, a 50 Explosives check can be passed to do so, garnering Karma gain.
One can also attack and kill the family or pass a 35 Explosives check to set off their collars as they leave the cage, however, these options will fail the quest if it was given by Mrs. Weathers and garner Karma loss.
If the player character frees the Weathers family members without killing them, they will express their gratitude and mention that they are headed to the Followers of the Apocalypse at the Old Mormon Fort. If the quest was given by Mrs. Weathers, this will complete it and garner 300 XP and 50 caps.
If the quest was given by Frank Weathers, the quest remains active and one must return to him at Aerotech. Upon informing him that his family is alive or dead, the quest completes and garners 1,000 XP and 50 caps. Subsequent dialogue gives three options to determine the outcome for Frank's relationship with his family:
- Pass one of two 35 Speech checks to convince Frank to either clean up his act and hope to reunite with his family or admonish him into committing suicide, garnering Karma gain and loss, respectively.
- Tell Frank directly that his family went to Freeside, to which 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.
Note: Regardless of what option is chosen, Frank will never actually leave the Aerotech Office Park, and his post-quest dialogue will be either happy, angry, or neutral depending on the outcome.
Quest stages[]
Notes[]
- There is a truck perched on a precipice at Cottonwood overlook, used 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 Weathers 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 still die.
- If freed and they make it to the Old Mormon Fort, the Weathers will be found standing unmoving around the middle of the fort courtyard for the rest of the game. They do not move at all because they do not have NPC AI packages assigned to them in this state.
- If the player character has a negative or mixed reputation with the NCR. 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 and released as a single in 1962. It eventually became known as Bennett's signature song.
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]
- Taking the key from Canyon Runner and giving it to Mrs. Weathers, despite having no need for it, will bypass the Speech check and complete the quest with no Karma loss.
- Canyon Runner will sometimes stand in one place, unable to be interacted with, and can be walked through, preventing completing the quest. One solution is to use the nearby door into Aurelius' office or the storage room, then exiting again, upon which he can be talked to again.[verified]
Gallery[]
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