Thicket Excavations is a quarry located in the northwest of the Commonwealth in Fallout 4.
Background[]
Originally a granite quarry before the Great War, Thicket Excavations was a supplier for various companies on the East Coast from New York to Virginia, with its shipments routed via railway through nearby Bedford Station.[1][2] By 2287, whether from long-term rainfall accumulation or any other reason, the site has become a flooded, mirelurk-infested pit due to the failure of its water drainage pump. In fact, the quarry has become known as the site for the best mirelurk meat in the region due to the still water improving the meat's flavor.[Non-game 1]
Located just off the road east of Concord, the quarry's seemingly well-defensible positions and proximity to trader routes have made raider boss Sully Mathis see it as the perfect stronghold. Starting in June 2287, he has been pretending to be an average wastelander while attempting to fix the broken pump to drain the quarry and acquire the space for his own raider crew.[3]
Layout[]
The pre-War sign displaying the location's name is directly outside of the fence. It instructs visitors to check-in at the office, wearing safety equipment at all times, and includes a reminder that the area is not open to the public.
A fenced-in quarry area that has been flooded, it is found to have scattered pieces of cut stone around it. There are stairways leading up the north side of the quarry and a sloped ramp that extends into the water. The top-level on the east side includes an elevator as well as a camper in which Sully Mathis's terminal can be found which details his plans for restoring the quarry for use as a base. There are several campers spread out around the nearby area.
If the water is drained from the quarry during Pull the Plug, 24 hours have passed and one has reached level 12,[Non-game 1] then Sully will then (when the Sole Survivor next returns) be found to have brought in his gang of raiders, and these hostile raiders will be found spread out throughout the quarry. Sully Mathis will now be found to be much more powerful - minimum level 30 - and like the raiders will henceforth be implacably hostile regardless of any prior help he was given. Three mirelurk pens will also be found in the area.
There is a chemistry station part-way down towards the bottom of the excavation area. It is in a little shed on the south side of the quarry. At approximately the midsection of the quarry on the north side, a weapons workbench is accessible.
Notable loot[]
- Taboo Tattoos issue #2 - In a metal trailer caravan (the one closest to the excavation area) on the south side of the excavation area and directly southwest of the water pump.
- Sully's journal - Holotape in the east trailer inside of a terminal.
Related quests[]
- Pull the Plug: The Sole Survivor meets a man named Sully Mathis who needs help unplugging some pipes to drain the quarry.
- Raider Troubles: A group of settlers is struggling to defend themselves against a nearby group of raiders and asks the Sole Survivor for help.
- Randolph Safehouse: The Railroad agent Mister Tims will leave dead drops in the form of six holotapes for the Sole Survivor, containing information about possible hazards to the Railroad's escort and escape of synths out of the Commonwealth. They can assist in these efforts by clearing out the location of hostiles.
- Quartermastery: Scribe Haylen has identified the location of a piece of technology she wishes to retrieve and catalog. She asks the Sole Survivor for help in bringing back the technology in one piece.
- Cleansing the Commonwealth: Knight Rhys gives the Sole Survivor an assignment to clear the location of what he calls "abominations" to further the aims of the Brotherhood of Steel.
- To the Mattresses: The synth-hating L&L Gang is a major threat to the Railroad. Desdemona has a lead on them and asks the Sole Survivor to help neutralize their members.
- Stop the Raiding: The Sole Survivor becomes aware of a group of settlers being terrorized by nearby raiders and can offer to help.
A Permanent Solution: One of the leaders of the Nuka-World raider gangs tasks the player character with neutralizing a target to further their gang's aims.
Notes[]
- The Thicket Excavations 'zone area' is one of a few places in Fallout 4 where an infinite supply of weapons, ammunition, medical supplies, food, water, and other junk may be obtained with no respawn delay. After Pull the Plug, the Sole Survivor can return repeatedly and crawl through the area, looting all of the containers and shelves. All of the materials will respawn infinitely with no delay, but the Sole Survivor must move far enough away for the respawn to occur (the railway tracks just south of Starlight Drive In is far enough). This quirk can and will eventually include infinite respawn of raiders and the mirelurks after the raider version of Sully Mathis (or his surrogate) is killed and his corpse has despawned (requires 20 in-game days without entering the zone area; this is possible to determine by the "[Cleared]" tag no longer being marked on the map for the location). There is an automated turret that will respawn with the raiders but may respawn in a slightly altered position with each visit (if destroyed). The obtainable materials in many locations change when Sully Mathis appears with the raiders and mirelurks after Pull the Plug (also, more items appear).
- After the Pull the Plug quest, but before Sully Mathis appears with the raiders, anything left behind in the zone area can be retrieved later. When Sully Mathis and the raiders appear and the zone is marked as "[Cleared]" on the map, anything left behind in the zone area can be retrieved later until the zone area resets. When the zone resets ("[Cleared]" no longer marked on the map), from that point forward anything left behind will be lost as the zone will reset completely and immediately if the player character moves far enough away.
- The Aquaboy/Aquagirl perk will allow the Sole Survivor to find some very minor loot underwater before completing the Pull the Plug quest. The content of the underwater containers will respawn after completing the quest.
- The Thicket Excavations' raider camp respawns accordingly to the level of the Sole Survivor as well as the containers at the surface/bottom of the area, but Sully Mathis has a minimum level of 30. The trunk at the bottom does not respawn until Thicket Excavations has been drained.
- While the quarry is flooded, the elevator will not function from the surface. Diving into the water while equipped with power armor may not be a good idea. If equipped with power armor, the Sole Survivor may not drown (depending on the Sole Survivor's position within the water), but they will immediately sink to the bottom of the quarry, unable to 'swim' back up. It is possible to walk around, potentially finding a route using stairways and platforms to make a return to the surface. It is also possible to reactivate the elevator by pressing the button right at the bottom. Wandering along the bottom of the quarry will be very time consuming compared to swimming around and repairing the pipes without power armor. If the Sole Survivor does wind up at the bottom while in power armor, it may just be better to exit the power armor and then come back to the quarry when it has drained. So long as the fusion core is removed and a return trip to the zone area is made within a reasonable period of time, the abandoned power armor will still be there.
- Attempting to place mines after completing Pull the Plug, but before the quarry has drained will not work, in the sense that the mines will all disappear when the zone area resets in its drained form.
- When at this location companions make comments, which are activated near the water's edge: both before and after the conclusion of the quest Pull the Plug.
| Location comments | ||
|---|---|---|
| Character | Specific location | Comment |
| Cait | Before | "Keep your gun handy. I doubt the only thing fillin' this quarry is a bunch of rocks." |
| After | "Well, there's somethin' you don't get to see every day." | |
| Codsworth | Before | "I wonder how the quarry flooded. Rainfall perhaps? Or maybe they dug right into a spring." |
| After | "Oh my, that was really quite deep." | |
| Curie | Before | "It would take a staggering number of gallons of water to fill this." |
| After | "I am curious to see how the current biosphere interacts with this newly surfaced area." | |
| Danse | Before | "Watch your step. It's impossible to get an accurate sounding without the proper equipment." |
| After | "I wonder how long it will take before the quarry becomes inhabited again." | |
| Deacon | Before | "Always wondered what's at the bottom of the quarry." |
| After | "How about that. Scavengers will pick it clean in a year, but for right now what a sight." | |
| Hancock | Before | "How long you think it took to fill this thing? Decades?" |
| After | "Ours to scour." | |
| MacCready | Before | "I wonder how many years of rainfall it took to fill this quarry." |
| After | "Now all we do is wait a few decades for the rain to refill the quarry, come back and start the process all over again." | |
| Nick Valentine | Before | "How far down you think it goes?" |
| After | "Well, that ought to keep the Mirelurks away for a while." | |
| Piper | Before | "Goodness. That could be hiding a lot of Mirelurks." |
| After | "So much mud." | |
| Porter Gage | Before | "How shitty did your life have to be, that you spent all your time digging up rocks?" |
| After | To do | |
| Preston Garvey | Before | "No telling how deep that is. Or what's living in it." |
| After | "That did the trick. Drained the whole thing quicker than I would have thought." | |
| X6-88 | Before | "Perfect spot for a mirelurk den." |
| After | "With the water gone, we could take a closer look." | |
Appearances[]
Thicket Excavations appears only in Fallout 4.
Bugs[]
- Upon arrival at Thicket Excavations, there seems to be a foglike low-res concrete-floor, hovering above most of the real surfaces, and it persists underwater. It is the high distance version of the model one should only see when the object is very far away. This manifests in that both the Sole Survivor and Sully Mathis wade knee-deep in concrete, Sully always hovers around the compressor/pump, before the Sole Survivor suddenly falls into the water or the access-way leading down into the excavation. The impact of this bug can be negated by restarting the game. [verified]
- If one swims underwater to enter the excavation site before draining it, they will fall down to the floor and be able to walk and shoot their gun underwater. In some cases, Dogmeat may also teleport down to the player character and swim in place as he tries to follow them.[verified]
- Occasionally, the caged mirelurks will spawn outside of their cages. Caged mirelurks only turn hostile when attacked, or when the Sole Survivor (or a companion) enters their cage, so the mirelurks will roam around without turning hostile. [verified]
- Similar to one of the USS Constitution bugs, companions tend to repeat their location-specific comments over and over as long as they are in the quarry's vicinity.[verified]
Gallery[]
Fallout 4[]
Cut interior and mapMagic: The Gathering[]
References[]
Non-game
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Fallout 4 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide Collector's Edition p. 259: "[1.05] THICKET EXCAVATIONS
This marble quarry has gained a reputation as the source of the finest Mirelurk meat in the Commonwealth, thanks to the still water giving the meat a less brackish flavor."
(Fallout 4 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide Map Zone 1)