Powering Up is an Institute main quest and achievement/trophy in Fallout 4.
Quick walkthrough[]
| Institute Main Quest: Powering Up | |||||||||||||
| Speak with Father. | |||||||||||||
| Record the speech. | |||||||||||||
| Talk to Father. | |||||||||||||
| Install the new parts at Diamond City Radio. | |||||||||||||
| Meet Father at the Institute's reactor. | |||||||||||||
| Activate the reactor. | |||||||||||||
| Speak with Father. | |||||||||||||
| Attend the Directorate meeting. | |||||||||||||
| Reward: 500 XP | |||||||||||||
| Leads to: End of the Line | |||||||||||||
Detailed walkthrough[]
When teleporting to the Institute, one must talk to Father. He will ask the player to deliver a speech at a microphone beside a terminal near him. He gives an announcement script which one can dictate. After recording, he will then give the Sole Survivor the task of going to Diamond City to boost the range of Diamond City Radio. Once arriving in Diamond City, head over to Travis's shack where he broadcasts from. When entering his shack, look on the floor for a box of radio things for his transmitter gear.
Each unit placed into the correct rack will illuminate one of the three unlit lamps next to the two lit green lamps at the top of the center console:
- 'Radio thing with the buttons' goes to the left.
- 'Radio thing with dials' goes in the center.
- 'Radio thing with the tubes' goes on the right.
When all 5 lamps are lit, indicating maximum power, the "Reconfigure the Transmitter" stage of the quest will complete.
After that is done, return to Father, who is waiting in the reactor room at the Institute. He will prompt the player character to install the beryllium agitator that was acquired during Mass Fusion into the reactor.
After placing the agitator in the reactor, one must activate it using the terminal nearby. The door to the reactor will close and the player character must then talk to Father. He will ask the player to attend a board meeting as the director. At the board meeting the future plans of the Institute will be discussed.
The player will discover that the Directorate has already made the decision to destroy the Brotherhood of Steel. If arguing for a solution that avoids conflict, it will be rejected because the Brotherhood of Steel has already invaded the Commonwealth with their troops and the Prydwen.
One has to decide whether to tell Allie Filmore to focus on further development of synths, weapons, or to surprise them. When the meeting concludes, this quest will finish and the quest End of the Line starts automatically.
Quest stages[]
Notes[]
- Choosing any of the options during the crafting of the speech has no effect on the Institute's stand or ending.
- Travis Miles will not react to the player installing the radio's parts. Installing the parts does not affect one's standing with him.
- The speech can be heard intermittently on Diamond City Radio after quest completion.
- If the player is enemies with the Institute, the speech is held by Shaun instead.
Behind the scenes[]
The Institute's reactor shape is based on the tokamak design used in fusion research over the last few decades.
Bugs[]
Sitting down will not start the meeting and the player will be unable to speak with the participants. One possible cause for this bug might be the destruction of the Brotherhood of Steel prior to finishing this quest.[verified]
- Leaving and re-entering the Institute may fix the problem. If this does not work, then open the console and type in setstage 000a274b 200. It will finish the quest and start the next one.
- When entering the reactor room, Enrico Thompson will have exchanged his yellow institute coat for a blue one while still working in the Facilities department.[verified]
