Wild Card: Change in Management is an Independent/Yes Man faction quest in Fallout: New Vegas.
Objectives[]
| Main Quest: Wild Card: Change in Management | |||||
| Recover the platinum chip from Benny. | |||||
| Kill or disable Mr. House. | |||||
| Reward: 300 XP | |||||
| Leads to: The House Always Wins, Wild Card: You and What Army?, Wild Card: Side Bets, Wild Card: Finishing Touches, Render Unto Caesar, For the Republic, Part 2 | |||||
Quick walkthrough[]
One of the crucial steps to taking control of New Vegas and pushing out the competition is to gain firm control of the Securitrons that police the city, and that happens by toppling the city's mysterious overlord Mr. House. With the platinum chip in hand, waltz into the Lucky 38 and locate the door to House's control room hidden in the penthouse. Inside the room sealed off centuries ago, the real Mr. House must be neutralized by way of force or technology, followed by bringing in Yes Man to take over as the face on the screen.
Detailed walkthrough[]
Although this quest's initial step coincides with the final objective of the previous quest Wild Card: Ace in the Hole in recovering the platinum chip from Benny, it can be started and progressed at any time after talking to Yes Man in Benny's suite in the Tops.
At any time, enter the Lucky 38 on the Strip and take the elevator to the penthouse. If the Securitron vault and its contents were not yet destroyed for any reasons, e.g. completing Wild Card: You and What Army? or The House Always Wins II or part of Render Unto Caesar, then the Securitrons inside the casino and penthouse will not attack right away. The way to reach the real Mr. House (as the big screen is merely a projector) involves a terminal located under the staircase to the left of Mr. House in the penthouse, which can be unlocked with one of three methods:
- Hacking the Hard-level lock
- Possessing a Lucky 38 VIP keycard. Two can be found in the game, in the H&H Tools factory on Anthony House's desk on the top floor or in the House Resort at Camp Golf, on Chief Hanlon's desk in the first door on the left in the hallway behind the resort reception desk.
- Possessing the platinum chip.
Accessing the terminal will not cause a reaction, it's only once the option to open the door is selected that an alarm will sound and the Securitrons including Jane will become hostile. Behind the hidden door are two more terminals, one towards the back on the right gives an option of a "security override" which will stop any remaining securitrons from attacking on sight, while the second unlocks the door that leads into the control room.
Inside the control room, at the end of the catwalk is a console with another terminal and beyond it, the life support chamber containing the ancient, decrepit form of Robert House. Progressing requires one to use the terminal to open the chamber and bring House out of the sterile environment. He will admonish whatever reason is given by the player character for ruining his plans, particularly referring to their working with Yes Man as a "vanity project" doomed to fail. Taking out Mr. House for Yes Man's plan can be accomplished through multiple methods:
- Attack directly and kill him.
- Use the terminal to sterilize the life support chamber, causing House to violently explode.
- Use the terminal to sever his connection to the Lucky 38's systems, leaving him alive but isolated and helpless.
Should either method that ends with House dead be used, one will receive the note A tragedy has befallen all mankind, and the quest The House Has Gone Bust! will instantly be started and failed.
Once Mr. House is neutralized, now it's time to bring in Yes Man. Return to Benny's suite at the Tops and find him in the workshop, where telling him to meet up at the Lucky 38 will progress the quest.
Sometimes, Yes Man disappears after killing Benny in the Tops, by which he can then be found standing outside of the casino and told to meet up at the Lucky 38 without incurring any faction penalties. Returning to the penthouse will cause a fade to black and the immovable player character watching as Yes Man uploads himself onto the Lucky 38 network, assuming the former position of Mr. House. He will then bring the player character to the Lucky 38 basement to attend the demonstration of the Securitrons' upgrades. If it was not already completed, Yes Man will remind them of the need to head to the Fort and enter the secret bunker underneath the weather monitoring station as well as dealing with the various tribes around the Mojave.
Completing this quest will trigger Beware the Wrath of Caesar! and Don't Tread on the Bear!, indicating that continuing to help Yes Man will result in both the Legion and NCR refusing to work with the player character should they do so.
Quest stages[]
Notes[]
- It is possible to complete this quest simultaneously with For the Republic, Part 2 and Render Unto Caesar, without failing Don't Tread on the Bear! or Beware the Wrath of Caesar! as long as one has not completed Wild Card: Side Bets beforehand or gained a negative reputation with the NCR or the Legion.
- Completing this quest necessarily triggers and fails The House Has Gone Bust!, closing the Mr. House quest line and preventing one achieving the House ending.
Using a 9 iron or Nephi's golf driver to kill House will complete the challenge "A Slave Obeys".
Bugs[]
Sometimes, when Mr. House is killed and the player returns to Yes Man to take over, the robot will go towards the Lucky 38 and disappear. This will cause the game to glitch when returning to the Lucky 38, making a fade out and fade in effect, when a cutscene with Yes Man should normally play. The player will then be unable to move, but can still look around on the spot and the Pipboy will be inaccessible. This can sometimes be fixed by completing Wild Card: Side Bets first, and then returning to Yes Man, or entering the Cocktail Lounge via the Lucky 38's main elevator. [verified]- If, after informing Mr. House the player keeps the chip no matter what, upon leaving the Lucky 38 without killing or disabling him (and even if Victor has been destroyed in the ensuing fight), an unarmed securitron with Victor's face will chase the player around the strip. He cannot follow the player into Strip establishments, but people all around panic as if he were there. [verified]
- Sometimes the player will try to access the Penthouse terminal to enter the inner chamber, but it will not trigger. Also sometimes the terminal does not open immediately (just beeps) but if one turns away the terminal screen appears wherever the player is in the room. It may just require waiting several minutes after using the open command to begin using the terminal. [verified]
- If the player has discovered Yes Man after killing both Benny and Mr House, as well as destroyed the Securitron bunker, and the tell Yes Man about said actions (it may not matter if one says anything). A flashing waypoint will lead to Yes Man once upon exiting dialogue. The player cannot enter a dialogue, but Yes Man tells them he cannot wait to get into the mainframe. Completing the quest Wild Card: Side Bets may resolve this bug. [verified]
- After observing the secturitron upgrades and being returned to Yes Man, speaking to him again to receive the note regarding the secturitron bunker at the Fort will cause the Wait and 3rd/1st person view buttons to become unresponsive. This makes waiting and toggling 3rd/1st person view permanently unavailable. It is possible to completely avoid this conversation, as it is not a requirement for carrying out Wild Card: You and What Army? [verified]
- Sometimes, after killing Mr. House, there will be no marker leading back to Yes Man to ask him to meet at the Lucky 38 Casino, however this does not affect progress as the lack of a marker does not affect progression. [verified]
