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Cleanup (Issue: Walkthrough cleanup needed (missing locations, removed objective))
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Tax Evasion is an Expedition quest in Fallout 76, introduced in the Expeditions: Atlantic City update part one, Boardwalk Paradise.
Summary[]
Billy Beltbuckles is an unlikely mobster who got a cushy job as an accountant, courtesy of his father, a Lombardi capo. Problem is, Billy works for the mob and has to cook the books to minimize the dues they owe to the Munis and The Showmen. He got caught and the dwellers are asked to step in and assist.
Quick walkthrough[]
- Make contact with Billy in the Casino Quarter.
- (First playthrough only) Save Billy from the Showman.
- Complete phase A. Objective randomly selected from the following:
- Locate the Showmen signal jammer and disable it, defending it from Showmen attacks.
- Interdict the Muni auditors by killing their commander.
- Find and destroy financial records by dumping them in the Casino Quarter sewers.
- Proceed to the Neapolitan for phase B, which can include:
- Gathering caps from the vault and swapping them for casino chips, to hide the money.
- Finding and hacking accounting terminals with compromising records.
- Locating and disabling listening devices using a proximity tracker.
- Bonus rewards are unlocked for completing both phases under the time limit (15:00).
- Finally, head on to Quentino's Night Club to duel Buttercup for Billy's life.
Detailed walkthrough[]
First encounter with Billy[]
Upon arriving in the Casino Quarter, the expedition team is contacted by Billy Beltbuckles, begging for help with his job. He can be found near The Neapolitan Casino, kneeling at gunpoint, with an angry Showman trying to make him cough up the dues he ineffectually tried to hide. The objective is to confront the showman, which can be accomplished by:
- Talking to him and convincing him to stand down with Charisma 3+, noting that hurting Billy won't give the Showmen their money back.
- Kill him after aggroing him in dialogue or just shoot him at a distance.
The terrified Billy will now be available for conversation. Depending on how the situation was resolved, he'll be freaked out or only slightly freaked out. The player can ask him several questions as to the job, why he is doing it or what he expected would happen while working for the mob. Eventually, he'll explain his conundrum and give the player one of three possible objectives and then mention he can be found in Quentino's Night Club. On subsequent playthroughs, he will always start located in the Night Club, where he'll give the objectives.
Phase A[]
There are three possible objectives, selected at random.
Signal jammer[]
The radio transmitter is located somewhere in the main area of the Casino Quarter. The players need to reach and activate it, which will start the progress bar towards shutting it down. This is mechanically similar to the Union Dues seizure: The counter will only progress as long as there are no marked enemies within the radius. The Showmen will spawn at regular intervals in groups of five, and will automatically start searching for the players, engaging any Overgrown that also happen to spawn nearby. The varieties are as follows:
- Showman Butcher (explosives)
- Showman Toaster (flamer)
- Showman Pelter (grenadier)
- Showman Tyrant (heavy automatics)
- Showman Duker (melee)
- Showman Grinder (missile)
- Showman Trouper (pistol)
- Showman Grandstander (automatic rifle)
- Showman Scatterer (shotgun)
- Showman Ringer (sniper)
Once the meter is filled up, the objective is complete.
Grab and dump[]
A straightforward task to locate and collect X stashes in the Casino Quarter and throw them in the tunnels. The stashes are located:
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
Overgrown will spawn while fighting, and will interfere with attempts at dumping items in the sewers. The objective is complete once all stashes are done.
Assassination[]
Four groups of Muni auditors spawn across the quarter. The objective is to eliminate them with extreme prejudice. The auditor commanders are tougher than the regular auditors, though far less than their boss.
Phase B[]
The second stage of the expedition takes place at The Neapolitan Casino. There are no ambient NPCs, as an audit by the Munis and The Showmen is in progress, which means running into a lot of both, especially on the main floor of the casino, with Overgrown in the basement. If the players are playing through for the first time, then Sal Sticky Fingers will contact them over the radio, asking to meet them in the basement, where he will introduce himself and his latest scam. Sal's objectives are optional, but contribute to the ranking and rewards at the end of the expedition.
Note that the second phase is timed. The par time is about 15 minutes and finishing it quickly will also improve the rewards. Although the timer suggests wrapping things up before the audit is finished, as long as the players complete Billy's objectives in time, they will qualify.
Hide caps[]
A bait and switch scheme. The goal is to gain access to the vault first, collect the winnings from the stash box inside, then dump them into randomly selected slot machines upstairs. The main obstacle is the fact that the Overgrown lurk downstairs and it's easy to get sandwiched between them and the Munis and Showmen upstairs. Depositing the casino chips swapped out upstairs completes the quest.
Hack terminals[]
The terminals are scattered across the casino. There are 4 terminals in total, located:
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
All terminals are level 1 locked and require either Hacker cards or the Master Infiltrator perk. Once the last is cleared, the objective completes.
Locate and disable bugs[]
The players need to locate the bugs using a proximity tracker. There are X bugs, randomly spawning at the following locations on the casino floor, offices, and inside the vault:
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
Once the last bug is disabled, the objective completes.
Bonus objectives[]
Sal's sticky fingers provide two additional opportunities for the quest. These bonus objectives count towards the final rating and the rewards received. The first requires activating the Anti-Cheat Mainframe in the basement, which will locate a (dead) cheater, whose illicit winnings Sal covets. The gambler can spawn at one of four locations:
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
The other objective requires the players to locate five tampered machines on the casino floor and collect the winnings from them. The machines can be recognized by the sparks they give off and a screwdriver jammed in the reward slot. There are a total of fourteen to locate:
- ?
- ?
- ?
- ?
Completing Sal's objectives is optional, but highly recommended.
Save Billy[]
Regardless of the outcome, the final stage requires the player to return to Quentino's Night Club and duel with Buttercup, the head of the IRS. Buttercup is equipped with a raider power armor and is equivalent to any of the expedition mission bosses. He'll also be supported by vanilla Muni auditors, and once he's down, the expedition completes. Once the players talk with Billy and Sal, they are free to return to Appalachia.
Completing Tax Evasion at least once will provide an additional interaction option with Stanley Soriano in the main storyline.
Quest stages[]
Notes[]
The objective to collect evidence in the casino vault was temporarily disabled on December 11, 2023. This was due to an exploit in which the Overgrown would spawn infinitely until five pieces of evidence were collected. This could be used for XP grinding, as the Overgrown would only stop spawning endlessly if evidence was collected and the objective was completed. The objective was slated to be re-enabled and patched with update 49 on January 30, 2024, though this did not occur with the release of the update.
Bugs[]
Showman bug
Although the Showman who threatens Billy is supposed to only spawn on the first run of this Expedition, he may spawn again on subsequent runs. The Showman will not say anything when interacted with and has no dialogue, but will hold out his gun to point at Billy (who is not there) and may die in the firefight of the "inconspicuous assets" objective.[verified]- Players on public servers on the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S platforms might be unable to progress the expedition unless a second player joins the expedition. This applies whether the player is on a team or not. The expedition will progress once a second player has joined. This appears to have been patched with update 49.[patched]
- The objective to gain access to the casino vault might become active, for no apparent reason, even if none of the tasks involve or require going to the vault. This appears to have been patched with update 49.[patched]
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