Search and Destroy is a quest in the Fallout 4 add-on Far Harbor.
Quick walkthrough[]
| Far Harbor Side Quest: Search and Destroy | |||||
| Speak with Knight Captain Larsen | |||||
| Eliminate all the synths in Acadia | |||||
| Check in with Knight Captain Larsen | |||||
| Reward: None | |||||
Detailed walkthrough[]
After speaking with DiMA at Acadia one has the option of beginning this quest by traveling to the Prydwen in the Commonwealth and speaking with Lancer-Captain Kells. Kells says he will discuss the matter with Elder Maxson, who will decide what action to take, and it will take some time to prepare Vertibirds for long range operations. Return later to talk to Kells again, which starts the quest as such. Kells will say that the Brotherhood has decided to deal with Acadia, and they have sent Knight-Captain Larsen with a small team of soldiers to help wipe out DiMA's community. Alternatively the quest will start when The Way Life Should Be starts, if the player character has informed the Brotherhood about DiMA.
Larsen's team initially land at the southern tip of the small island that contains Rayburn Point. The team's Vertibird, orbiting the landing site, can be heard from the vicinity of Echo Lake Lumber and seen from a short distance southwest of that location. Talk to Larsen and instruct him to begin the attack. Giving this instruction fails all outstanding quests for the Acadia faction, makes Acadia faction members hostile, and disables fast travel to Acadia. Larsen and his team are picked up by Vertibird. The player character and companion are unable to board this Vertibird and must proceed on foot. When the player character reaches Acadia the Vertibird will drop Larsen and his team close to the door of the observatory (inside the fenced perimeter). The final attack begins when the player character enters the observatory. The strike team and optionally the player character and companion, then proceed to kill all occupants inside. The combat is likely to be one-sided, with most occupants other than DiMA and Chase just cowering in place. When all occupants are dead, speak to Larsen again to complete the quest. The reward is XP only, there is no financial or material reward for completing the quest.
If one has not yet completed the main Far Harbor main quest line, they will now be unable to progress any further, and there will be no peace between the residents of Far Harbor and the Children of Atom. Faction side quests will remain available for any factions the player character is still friendly with.
Quest stages[]
Notes[]
- The quest is automatically triggered after uncovering the physical evidence pointed to in DiMA's first memory, if the Brotherhood was previously informed about DiMA, without the need to travel to the Prydwen and speak to Kells.
- This quest is atypical in that it offers no direct rewards (such as experience points, caps or gear) whatsoever. All other endings to the add-on, including the Institute equivalent Forbidden Knowledge, offer a reward of some kind.
- This quest automatically fails upon the completion of The Way Life Should Be unless the player sided against the Children of Atom in Cleansing the Land and agrees to keep DiMA's secret.
- The option to fast travel to Acadia will be disabled once the attack is in progress. Knight-Captain Larsen and his squad will remain in position until the Sole Survivor meets them, and then will walk from their temporary post to Acadia. The player character can fast travel to another point close by, such as wind farm maintenance, and eliminate the residents of Acadia. After this, Larsen's squad may still be marching toward Acadia and the player character will be required to either wait or seek them out to turn in the quest. Once completed, fast travel to Acadia will be possible again.
- This quest results in the deaths of everyone in Acadia (with the possible exception of Kasumi Nakano, and only if she has already left the Island).
- To avoid the death of Kasumi, it is necessary to avoid siding against Acadia or Far Harbor. Side against the Children of Atom and agree to keep DiMA's secret. Then talk to Kasumi, completing Close to Home, and wait until she has left the Island (or meet her at the Nakano residence) before initiating the attack on Acadia. Siding against the Children can take the form of replacing Tektus or destroying the Nucleus.
- Some soldiers (not Larsen) may fall or jump from the Vertbird as it takes off. These soldiers might then not be present during the attack on Acadia. To ensure all BoS soldiers are present in the attack, allow enough time for the soldiers to reach Acadia on foot before entering the observatory, e.g. one game day.
- Nick Valentine will participate in combat against the synths and does not react negatively to killing the synths, including DiMA. However at quest completion he will hate certain of the dialogue options with Larsen.
- There do not appear to be any dialogue topics from Far Harbor residents that mention the assault on Acadia afterwards.
Behind the scenes[]
Search and destroy refers to a real world military strategy of the same name, utilized in the Malayan Emergency and Vietnam War.
Bugs[]
If one has completed the penultimate stage of Close to Home before starting this quest Kasumi Nakano may be seen walking away from Acadia as the player character goes to begin eliminating the synths. Kasumi will be marked as one of Acadia's synths but she is impossible to kill. This can be circumvented by waiting until she has left Far Harbor to begin the attack on Acadia. [verified]
- She may also be marked as one of Acadia's synths while still in the Commonwealth, making the quest impossible to complete.
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