The Job is a main quest in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Lonesome Road.
Quick walkthrough[]
| Main Quest: The Job | |||||
| Complete The Silo by exiting the missile silo bunker and entering the Hopeville Missile Base; speak with Ulysses through ED-E. | |||||
| Reach the marked men base near the base headquarters and obtain the laser detonator; use the detonator to destroy the warhead obstructing the path back into the base. | |||||
| Clear the barrier of car wrecks blocking the way out of the missile base by detonating another warhead. | |||||
| Navigate through the collapsed overpass tunnel to reach the entrance to the High Road. | |||||
| Reward: 2310 XP Red Glare (2) (optional) | |||||
| Leads to: The Launch | |||||
Detailed walkthrough[]
First talk with Ulysses[]
Upon emerging from the Hopeville missile silo bunker after completing The Silo, the player character will be interrupted by ED-E being hacked and remotely controlled by Ulysses, using the eyebot's audio systems to speak directly to the Courier. During Lonesome Road's main questline, there will be various points where Ulysses talks with the Courier via ED-E, with multiple branching dialogue trees which will be covered in each detailed walkthrough section as they appear.
To start, Ulysses reveals that he knows of the Courier's past, including their years of service to the communities to the West in New California. Furthermore, he knows they were not initially slated to take the platinum chip to New Vegas — because he was, until he passed that responsibility to the next Courier Six in the hopes that the chip would be their downfall without any direct action on his part; if asked why he would take the indirect route to their death, Ulysses vaguely remarks on "promises to keep [to] others."
- One can pass a Perception 6 attribute check to point out that the Courier does not recognize Ulysses' voice and could not have met him before; Ulysses states that their reputation spoke louder than any words but confirms that neither have never seen the other until now.
- Passing a Speech 75 skill check gets Ulysses to elaborate a little more on why he chose to arrange a meeting with the Courier rather than track them down to kill them; he still refuses to name who got his promise but says that his rival might impress him enough to learn that after going deeper into the Divide.
- Regarding his peculiar name, Ulysses remarks that it is "not [his] given name, close enough" and that he "took it from history, found in a book" about the original Ulysses of the Old World who "made a mark without being myth."
- One can pass both an Intelligence 7 to point out that Ulysses took the name of the historical figure over the mythological one, as well as a Survival 75 check to comment that his choice of "Ulysses" might have been to make reference to the current state of affairs in the Mojave.
- Talking about the Divide itself, Ulysses comments on the base continuing to bear the markings of its pre-War military past, even as its streets are populated by "recent recruits." One can pass either a Science or Explosives 50 check to point out that the damage seen around the area appears to have been caused by underground detonations. Ulysses will affirm that fact, saying that "America sleeps in the Divide" in the form of 200-year-old nuclear missiles left dormant in their silos. He says the Courier will see more of what he means by this as they trek further into the Divide, while warning that its "inhabitants" will not greet them kindly.
- Asking about the "inhabitants," Ulysses explains that they are outsiders who "came with duty, purpose... ready to kill each other," but the Divide turned them into "shadows of Legion and NCR." Depending on the player character's Legion and NCR reputations, one may be able to pass either or both of two reputation checks remarking on the dead marked men found back in the bunker and their resemblance to members of those factions. Ulysses will say that both armies came to the Divide in the past but were simultaneously destroyed by the natural hazards of the area, turning them into the irradiated mutants they are now, "equal in their hatred of the trespassers."
- One can then pass either a Survival or Medicine 35 check to comment on the unique physiology of the marked men that allows them to dwell in areas too irradiated even for regular ghouls, with the rads also being the only thing keeping them alive as the Divide's fierce winds flay the skin from their bodies repeatedly; Ulysses points out that this allows them to heal faster in irradiated areas, so killing them will require drawing them away from any nearby sources.
- Asking about the "inhabitants," Ulysses explains that they are outsiders who "came with duty, purpose... ready to kill each other," but the Divide turned them into "shadows of Legion and NCR." Depending on the player character's Legion and NCR reputations, one may be able to pass either or both of two reputation checks remarking on the dead marked men found back in the bunker and their resemblance to members of those factions. Ulysses will say that both armies came to the Divide in the past but were simultaneously destroyed by the natural hazards of the area, turning them into the irradiated mutants they are now, "equal in their hatred of the trespassers."
Once all alternate branches of dialogue are completed or skipped over, a final Speech 55 check becomes available to press Ulysses about how his history intertwines with that of the Courier's. Ulysses will respond with a loaded question: "Who are you, that does not know your history?" He carries on by commenting on how the Courier's choice to answer his message and come to the Divide shows they have the grit to seek the answers he has, whichhe will only give if they go even further than Hopeville, towards the heart of the Divide. He says such a task can only be accomplished by locating and using "the trigger" buried in Hopeville. He closes out their first talk by encouraging the Courier to search the Divide for colored graffiti he left that might show them the paths they can take, which may eventually lead right to him.
Stroll through Hopeville[]
Hopeville Missile Base[]
After the conversation with Ulysses, walk down the hill and head off to the left. One can also turn around and climb a short incline to the right of the doors to reach an old truck and a small campsite where one can find the first of a few Roughin' it! bedroll kits. At the foot of the hill, there is a plank of wood with a white-colored graffiti mark resembling the U.S. flag, first of three types of marks placed by Ulysses with "white" indicating the proper pathway to advance through the areas of the Divide.
At the fork in the road, heading southeast goes past the east side of the women's barracks; a flipped-over car leads to the roof, which has a metal box with crafting supplies and a military shipping crate. From here, one of the first warheads mentioned by Ulysses can be seen positioned near the west end and the car wrecks blocking the door into the barracks. At the southeast road's end, an Easy-locked gate leads into the base's loading station. Here, the blue-colored second type of mark can be found on a concrete slab after walking around a stack of old trucks, indicating hidden loot stashed nearby; searching the toolbox slightly beyond the mark reveals a holotape marked Ulysses' log: Y-17.15. This is one of six logs hidden in the Divide which expand on Ulysses' history, and obtaining it can affect the outcome of a later quest. Collecting all six logs will also complete the challenge Ulysses' Odyssey. The southeast corner of the loading station has several military shipping crates and some armed plasma mines near that can be disarmed and retrieved, along with a Bowie knife clutched by a skeleton near the rock wall.
Northeast from the road fork is an old gas station. On a rock near the station's toppled-over neon sign, there is a red-colored flag mark, the third type meant to indicate nearby hostiles; in this case, beware of the pair of marked men perched on vantage points from the nearby Hopeville Missile Base Headquarters, one of which wields a flare gun. In the gas station, looking in the attached garage leads to a workbench and a RALPHIE poster on the right-hand wall, along with a Hard-locked safe in the left-hand corner behind some large tires.
Crossing the small bridge to the vicinity of the headquarters, another RALPHIE poster is found on the north face of the HQ building. The building can be entered through a ground-floor entrance on the southwest side next to a tipped-over Nuka-Cola vending machine crushing an old skeleton. Notable loot within the HQ building includes another destroyed eyebot with an eyebot upgrade circuit board for ED-E, another accessible commissary terminal, and the armory access codes inside a Hard-locked safe.
Other notable loot around the west half of the Hopeville Missile Base can be found in the armory, secured by a Very Hard-locked door and wall terminal that can either be picked, hacked, or unlocked with the armory access codes from the HQ. Inside, one can find two sets of riot gear in both locked and unlocked lockers, along with various other loot, including rockets and conventional ammo. There is also the Hopeville men's barracks in the southeast corner against the concrete wall dividing the base. The barracks contain more weapons and ammo and a commissary terminal, but it is occupied by several marked men.
Marked men camp[]
On the south face of the HQ building, a white-colored flag mark indicates the path forward, through an Easy-locked gate leading to a car-wreck ramp overlooking the marked men camp, seemingly inhabited by a lone marked man. Note that upon jumping down into this area, there is no way out without advancing the quest. Upon landing in the camp, from the roof of the building straight ahead, another marked man will spawn on the roof and begin firing at the player character with the unique Red Glare rocket launcher. The ground area of the camp has some loot that can be collected before proceeding: one can find another RALPHIE poster on the east face of the buildings as well as a storefront with several boxes and loose ammo inside.
After climbing to the rooftop position, the player character will find both a second instance of Red Glare leaning against a wooden box in the corner, and just to its left, the laser detonator. This detonator is the "trigger" Ulysses mentioned, which is capable of arming and detonating the warheads around the Divide, opening up the direct path forward as well as revealing other hidden paths and sources of loot. Upon picking up the detonator, ED-E will beep anxiously just as flares shoot up from the ground below and a group of 4-5 marked men rush in to attack below.
Once the group is dealt with, look to the south of the marked men camp to see the exit, barricaded by stacked car wrecks and a warhead. Equip the laser detonator, aim at the warhead, and hold down the trigger for a few seconds to arm and soon detonate the warhead, eradicating the barrier and opening the way back into the barracks area. Turning left, one can follow the main road up to the Average-locked gate to the east half of the missile base; it can either be unlocked with lockpicking or acquiring the base service gate key, or going through an open section on the south end of the divider close to the marked men guard outpost. The east half of the base has another point of interest: in a gated-off back area slightly north-northeast of the marked men supply outpost, unlocked with the warehouse stash key, one can find Ulysses' log Y-17.16 on a shelf.
From the gate between the west and east parts of the base, follow the road turning downward to the left to spot another car barricade and a warhead to detonate. Upon destroying it, the group of 3-4 marked men beyond it will surge from the marked men base on the other side, including the unique enemy Blade wielding a flamer as well as at least one with another flare gun. After defeating Blade and his men, one can find the unique marked men beast eyes helmet on the former's body as well as multiple ammo boxes around the marked men base. The path forward from here is to detonate another warhead to remove car wrecks blocking the collapsed overpass tunnel entrance.
Reaching the High Road[]
Inside the collapsed overpass tunnel, one will be interrupted by ED-E playing another log from Whitley discussing his deterioriating loyalty to his Enclave superiors over the decision to end eyebot production and leave ED-E the last of its kind. A short ways in from the tunnel entrance, a deathclaw will run past, but will quickly be killed by unseen creatures, and its remains left behind. Nearby, there are also several NCR trooper corpses and their supply of flash bangs. Continuing to follow the path between the ruined trucks and cars eventually leads to a clearing with a gas-spewing mound, from which a tunneler emerges and attacks; proceeding further leads to additional tunnelers emerging from tunnel mounds in front of and behind the Courier.
Before proceeding further, there are various items of interest that can be obtained at this point: multiple military shipping crates, one RALPHIE poster, and even a safe or two are scattered at varying heights among the elevated wreckage around the tunnel.
After heading further, past a threshold of overturned trailers, a large group of tunnelers will emerge to attack in force. Tunnelers are considered abominations, so weapons such as the flare gun and flash bangs, both of which can be obtained earlier during this quest, may scare them off, which can be helpful for this and all future tunneler fights. After dealing with the tunnelers, approach the section of overpass leading back into the sunlight, marked by an old freeway sign for the High Road, completing the quest and leading into The Launch.
Quest stages[]
Notes[]
The initial dialogue with Ulysses when first exiting the Hopeville missile silo bunker will differ depending on which (or none) of the player character's reputations with the three major factions in Fallout: New Vegas is the highest at that point (with one also changing depending on gender), as follows:
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