Veni, Vidi, Vici is a Legion faction quest and achievement/trophy in Fallout: New Vegas.
Quick walkthrough[]
| Main Quest: Veni, Vidi, Vici | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reach the Hoover Dam power plant. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Optional) Take out the NCR snipers along the dam. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (Optional) Release the trapped legionnaires inside the intake tower. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Locate General Oliver in his compound. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fight and kill General Oliver. | Pass a 100 Speech skill check to convince Oliver to retreat. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Speak with Legate Lanius in the power plant. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| XP Achievement/trophy Game completion | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Detailed walkthrough[]
The quest will begin immediately after returning to the Legion's leader at the Fort following the completion/failure of Arizona Killer and deciding the fate of President Kimball. The leader will then send the player character to speak with Legate Lanius at his field camp on the eastern end of the Hoover Dam. After agreeing, one will be transported to a hill just outside of the camp and directed to enter the war tent on the highest will within the camp (the same hill one would find Lanius during a non-Legion playthrough). After finishing a sacrificial ritual to the Son of Mars, Lanius will elaborate on the plan to assault the NCR's position on the dam with the goal of killing or neutralizing their field commander, General Lee Oliver inside his personal compound within the dam's power plant to ensure the Legion's victory. One can also ask questions of Lanius to learn more about him. The player character is then directed to exit the camp via the west-end gate to reach the dam and begin the attack.
Reaching the General[]
The path one follows to reach the objective is a mirrored reversal of that taken during the other three ending quests of the game, this time going from the eastern end of the dam to the western end. Legionnaires will be fighting against NCR troopers, who have set up several sandbag barricades for cover under fire. If the Boomers were recruited during Render Unto Caesar, as one approaches the checkpoint, the restored B-29 will fly over the western end of the dam and drop heavy ordinance on NCR positions before flying off. Inside the checkpoint, a veteran decanus is waiting for the player character, and he can be told of the attack's progress so far and will reveal that the Legion's attack on the western side has been difficult due to most of their men being stuck inside one of the intake towers as well as the effective counteroffensive by Ranger snipers on the dam exterior, triggering two optional objectives to resolve both problems.
On the other side of the checkpoint, two Ranger snipers reside on top of the towers along the south face of the dam, shooting at legionnaires while more troopers guard the doors to the intake towers where the bulk of Legion forces are being held back on the north face. The former can be resolved by climbing the nearest tower, killing the Ranger there, and using a long-range weapon such as the enemy's own sniper rifle to kill the other one on the opposite tower.
- If one completed I Hear You Knocking by repairing the Legion howitzer at the Fort, it can be seen blasting at NCR sharpshooter positions near the dam's western end.
- If one completed For Auld Lang Syne by telling the Enclave remnants to support the Legion against the NCR, they will drop in from Daisy Whitman's vertibird and assist in attacking the NCR, with Orion Moreno becoming a temporary companion for the rest of the quest.
Fighting to the closer intake tower where the quest marker points to, completing the optional objective requires using the terminal to unlock the maintenance hatch, after which a centurion appears to thank the player character for their assistance; one can also pass either a 60 or 80 Speech skill check to decide the course of the Legion's forward attack, either sending more legionnaires into the power plant or rerouting them to the top of the dam.
Finally reaching the western end of the dam, the visitor center will be defended by a large group of Rangers attacking from the southern road. Great Khans will appear outside the center aiding the Legion against the NCR (unless one wiped them out or completed Oh My Papa by convincing Papa Khan to break the alliance and either build a new legacy, causing them to be absent, or that the tribe is a lost cause, causing them to be hostile to both sides).
Final confrontation[]
In the visitor center, a pair of NCR heavy troopers guard the elevator leading down into power plant 01 and attack on sight. Inside the first section of the power plant, more troopers and Rangers guard the length of the plant, with the objective pointing to the door leading to power plant 02, and if the legionnaires were freed from the intake towers and sent to the dam interior, they will aid in fighting the NCR and allowing the player character to get through power plants 03 and 04, in the latter of which, on the southern end lies the metal double doors leading into Oliver's compound.
Inside the compound, General Oliver will speak to the player character from a high ledge, lamenting the Legion's strategic advantage against his troops and resolving to go down fighting with them. One can threaten him and begin the final fight, or one can pass a 50, followed by a 100 Speech skill check to convince the General to retreat with his men through an escape tunnel, unlocking unique dialogue with Lanius afterward. If the latter is not possible, once dialogue ends, a force field is thrown up to prevent directly attacking Oliver as he and his Ranger bodyguards flee deeper into the compound while troopers attack from the ground and from above. Using nearby stairs to reach the path going after Oliver, the force field blocking it can be disabled by attacking a generator in the room right next to it.
On the upper level, a pair of NCR Veteran Rangers equipped with anti-material rifles will attack in an old office bullpen with long lines of sight from their sniping positions, as well as littering the room with traps in-between the cubicles. They will strafe between each long hall a couple of seconds after the player character and attack shortly after. One can use thrown explosives and/or two-handed weapons like grenade rifles/launchers to attack their positions behind cover, but be wary of the frag mines that might catch one unawares.
After killing the Rangers, the final level of the compound includes Oliver's office where the General and a pair of heavy troopers reside. They will attack from the end of a long hallway and can retreat into other side rooms as well. Oliver is much less defended in terms of Damage Threshold compared to the heavy troopers, so he can be killed quickly to focus on his support.
After clearing out the last of the republic defenders, one must return to the compound entrance and exit into the power plant. Legate Lanius will appear and congratulate the player character on bringing the Legion to its ultimate victory and paving the way for the future conquest of the West, completing the quest and ending Fallout: New Vegas.
Quest stages[]
Behind the scenes[]
- The quest name, "Veni, vidi, vici" translates to "I came, I saw, I conquered" and was written by Julius Caesar in a letter to the Roman Senate, describing a recent successful campaign that only took five days. The phrase is often used to refer to a swift, conclusive victory.
- The Latin phrase spoken by Caesar (if he's alive to give it) before starting the quest ("In hoc signo taurus vinces.") is a paraphrase of "In hoc signo vinces," translated as "In this sign, you will conquer." It was most famously uttered by Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor of Rome, who saw the sign of the Cross in the sun and uttered the phrase. By splicing in "taurus" before "vinces," Caesar is exhorting one to conquer for the symbol of the bull and the Legion.
- If Arcade Gannon is an active companion (i.e. he was not sold as a slave to Caesar during Et Tumor, Brute? or one did not complete For Auld Lang Syne), he will immediately leave upon arriving at the Legate's camp. Attempting to talk to him again will result in him saying "Why don't you make like Odysseus and get lost?" This is a reference to Homer's Odyssey, in which Odysseus (also known as Ulysses) traveled for twenty years across the Aegean Sea, trying to return to his home island of Ithaca following the Trojan War, but gets lost and side-tracked numerous times along the way.
Bugs[]
After leaving the Legate's tent, the gate to the dam will not open and the player character will be unable to fast travel thus they are unable to complete the Veni Vidi Vici quest and finish the game.[verified]- When entering the Hoover Dam area with Rex and Cass or Rex and Lily as companions, both automatically go unconscious.[verified]
- Raul randomly dies when attempting to enter Hoover Dam from the Legate's camp. Waiting for an hour as soon as one walks through the door may prevent this.[verified]
- The terminal to release the Legion centurions inside the Hoover Dam intake tower 01 may not appear.[verified]
- If the player chooses to wait before entering the Legate's camp, they might not be brought to the camp when they finally choose to go. Instead, it will simply bring up the prompt, and then not do anything after choosing "yes."[verified]
- After talking to Legate Lanius, the screen will fade to black, but instead of the player character exiting Lanius' war tent, they remain inside, unable to move or interact with the world, making it impossible to complete the quest.[verified]
- During the confrontation with General Oliver, after killing him and all his guards, the quest will not move on to tell the player to exit the room. Despite searching every area for any lingering enemies, no red tick(s) will appear. Simply load a save from before the conversation with General Oliver and try again.[verified]
- After killing General Oliver and the rest of his troops, the game will prompt the player to exit through the first floor. The game may freeze (leaving you inside the room) when activating the door.[verified]
- During the confrontation with Oliver and his troops, the player must navigate through a room full of mines, tripwires, and other traps. If the player quicksaves and quick loads, all the mines previously detonated will detonate again.[verified]
- It is possible for an NCR ranger to become friendly in the office trap area. They will flee from the player character, making the objective of killing all NCR soldiers much more difficult.[verified]
