Wild Card: Side Bets is an Independent/Yes Man faction quest in Fallout: New Vegas.
Quick walkthrough[]
| Main Quest: Wild card: Side Bets | |||||
| Determine the fate of the Boomers in the quest Volare! | |||||
| Determine the fate of the Brotherhood of Steel in the quest Still in the Dark | |||||
| Determine the fate of the Great Khans in the quest Oh My Papa | |||||
| Uncover the Omerta's secret in the quest How Little We Know | |||||
| Determine the fate of the White Glove Society in the quest Beyond the Beef | |||||
| Reward: Legion infamy | |||||
| Leads to: Wild Card: Finishing Touches | |||||
Detailed walkthrough[]
Talking to Yes Man in Benny's suite on the 13th floor of the Tops reveals that the Securitron learned part of Mr. House's calculated scheme to win the Second Battle of Hoover Dam involved dealing with several minor factions around the Mojave Wasteland that would either be a help or a hindrance to the plan. With the Courier in charge, Yes Man gives them the same information to do what they will with it. Completing the quest requires interacting with the five factions listed below:
- The Boomers at Nellis Air Force Base
- The Brotherhood of Steel at Hidden Valley
- The Great Khans at Red Rock Canyon
- The Omertas at Gomorrah
- The White Glove Society at the Ultra-Luxe
Each of these factions can be met in any order, and all have a quest(s) associated with them. Upon successfully completing the associated quest(s), one will have the option to tell Yes Man what they have done and mark off the faction's portion of the objectives list.
Uniquely, when helping Yes Man and unlike when helping House, the NCR or Caesar, one can simply tell Yes Man to ignore any and all of the factions, thereby skipping the need to deal with them and completing their portion of the objectives for this quest; note that this option only becomes available after one has gone to a given faction's territory as listed above (it's immediately available if one has already been there). Even if one has told Yes Man to ignore a faction previously, their quests are still available to be completed for XP, and one can then return to Yes Man to change the decision to ignore them.
Essentially, this quest is just a guidepost quest that points the player character to the most important minor factions, leaving it up to them to actually earn their aid or solve their problems through completing their side quests, of which usually rewards the player character with positive faction reputation and sometimes special benefits.
Boomers[]
Just as with The House Always Wins III, Things That Go Boom, or part of Render Unto Caesar, the Boomers at Nellis Air Force Base in the northeast Mojave are sought out for their considerable stockpile of weapons and ammunition and the tide-turning capacity it has for the inevitable battle. Reaching Nellis requires getting through the Boomers' defensive artillery fire, best accomplished by traveling along the northwest of the wrecked town, hiding in destroyed structures until each artillery volley ends until reaching the fenceline and following it to the main gate, where one will then be brought by Raquel to meet Mother Pearl, the Boomers' leader.
Pearl will ask the player character to help out around Nellis, teaching her people that some outsiders can be trusted not to be a threat to the Boomers, triggering the overarching quest Volare!. Boomers fame can be acquired by completing side quests, unmarked quests, and special interactions with certain Boomers:
- Ant Misbehavin' (Raquel)
- Sunshine Boogie (Loyal)
- Young Hearts (Jack (Boomer))
- Bear Necessities (Lindsay)
- Malleable Mini Boomer Minds (Mini Boomers)
- Missing a Few Missiles (Raquel)
- Iron and Stealing (Jack)
- Argyll needs help with his patients in the Nellis medical station. Completely healing all injured Boomers requires a 60 Medicine skill level.
- Pete at the museum tells the Boomers' history. Multiple skill checks afterward can earn further Boomers fame.
- The Boomer teacher's curriculum can be improved by passing a variety of skill checks.
Upon becoming Idolized by the Boomers, return to Pearl where she tells the player character to go and talk to Loyal about fulfilling the tribe's dream. Loyal himself reveals that their dream is raising the "Lady in the Lake", a crashed B-29 residing at the bottom of Lake Mead they intend to recover and restore to add aerial bombardment to their arsenal. Reaching it underwater will necessitate talking to Jack who offers to construct a rebreather either by giving him a pressure cooker or passing a 45 Science skill check.
The map marker for the crashed B-29 is set around the middle of Lake Mead, near Callville Bay. The southwestern shores near Boulder City will be infested with lakelurks while the northern shores close to Bitter Springs may have cazadores. At the site of the B-29, one must attach ballasts to both wings, then swim over to a towing winch at Callville Bay to use Loyal's detonator to trigger the ballasts. Once the bomber emerges, return to Loyal to give him the news, then return to Pearl with more good news. She will give her thanks, and one can then request the Boomers' help for the coming battle.
Alternatively, instead of gaining the Boomers' aid, one can exterminate the tribe and completely remove them from being recruited by anyone, of which requires killing Loyal and Pearl as the tribe's senior members.
Once a choice is made with the Boomers, return to Yes Man to report on the situation, where he's receptive to the tribe being allies or corpses (or cautiously optimistic about their role in the future if they are ignored).
Brotherhood of Steel[]
The Mojave chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel may have been reduced down to the size of a single bunker in Hidden Valley after the NCR's crippling offensive against them in the past, but given time and effort, they would present a problem to New Vegas and its army of robotic soldiers.
Getting into the bunker can be done one of two ways. The first way is to go to Hidden Valley directly; there are multiple bunkers around the fenced-in area, with the one in question being on the northern end with a tree stump above the door. Inside the first room, approaching the door will cause a group of paladins to appear, demanding that the player character hand over all their gear. Refusing will turn them hostile and the T-51 armor-wearing paladins will attack. Agreeing will completely remove all weapons and armor in the inventory and one will be transported into the bunker where Nolan McNamara, elder of the Mojave chapter will request one proves themselves as a non-threat to the Brotherhood by removing an NCR Ranger lurking in Hidden Valley, Dobson, triggering the quest Still in the Dark. The elder will also attach an explosive collar that will kill the player character if they try to leave Hidden Valley beforehand. Dobson can be dealt with in a number of ways:
- Attack directly and kill him. McNamara will be disappointed, believing Dobson's absence will be investigated and the Brotherhood eventually exposed; if a 50 Speech skill check is not passed, the Brotherhood turns hostile.
- Pass a 50 Speech skill check or a Liked NCR reputation check with Dobson to convince him to leave. McNamara will approve.
- Meddle with Dobson's radio in his camp in the southeastern bunker. The radio can be smashed or rigged to explode; if either option is done with Dobson in the room, he will turn hostile and must be killed. If done without Dobson in the room, the next time he uses the rigged radio, it will explode and kill him, with the same scenario as the first option. The smashed radio will result in him leaving, with the same scenario as the second option.
Whichever way the situation with Dobson is resolved, and the Brotherhood remains friendly at that, McNamara will remove the collar and invite the player character to speak with him in his chambers for further tasks to help the Brotherhood.
Alternatively, the entire situation of the collar and dealing with Dobson can be skipped entirely if one comes to the Hidden Valley bunker for the first time while Veronica is an active companion; she can be found at the 188 Trading Post west of Boulder City. Doing so results in her vouching for the player character to be let into the bunker, where Paladin Ramos will direct them to speak with Elder McNamara in his chambers, triggering Still in the Dark and progressing to the next stage of the quest.
Because there is no option where the Brotherhood of Steel will directly ally with the Courier, dealing with them can be done with one of three methods:
- Destroy the Hidden Valley bunker. This is done by hacking the Very Hard-locked self-destruction terminal on the second level (in the room reached through the side door in the elder's chamber), or pickpocketing 3 keycards from Elder McNamara, Head Paladin Hardin and Head Scribe Taggart in order to acquire the password from a nearby terminal to the first. Once the player character has activated the self-destruct protocol, the whole base will turn hostile. One can also accomplish this by killing all the bunker inhabitants directly, though it will take longer; one can find a Hard-locked control terminal for the automated turrets in Paladin Ramos' office on the first level (to the left in the first chamber after the entrance), though they will still have to kill everyone on the second level as there are no turrets placed there.
- Convince the Brotherhood of Steel to support the NCR at the Second Battle of Hoover Dam. This requires progressing For the Republic, Part 2 up to Colonel Moore sending the player character to eradicate the Brotherhood. Though she will oppose any suggestion of a truce, the option is available, but only after completing Still in the Dark with McNamara remaining as elder; if Head Paladin Hardin becomes elder, he will refuse a truce with the NCR outright, forcing one to either destroy or ignore the Brotherhood.
- Ignore the Brotherhood. This will require getting into the bunker through the methods described in the above section for the option to become available. Choosing to ignore the Brotherhood will prompt a passive-aggressive response from Yes Man over their technocratic practices being at odds with the player character's plan to rule New Vegas with a robot army, but he will accept the decision nonetheless.
Great Khans[]
The Great Khans are the latest incarnation of one of the NCR's longest-lasting enemies, a tribe of toughened and hearty raiders that are equally notorious for their lucrative chem operations that have caused widespread mayhem, particularly with the savage Fiends as some of their best customers, from the relative isolation of their territory in Red Rock Canyon. Yes Man himself does not have a very high opinion of the tribe, but he will leave the choice of their fate up to his partner.
Traveling to Red Rock Canyon, far north of Goodsprings, and entering the longhouse, one can discover that the Great Khans have fallen in with Caesar's Legion, with the frumentarius Karl acting as liaison, in order to gain their own revenge on the NCR as a byproduct. Talking to the tribe's leader, Papa Khan and asking him to break the alliance will go nowhere as he refuses to entertain any idea outside of going to war at Caesar's side against the NCR. Upon leaving the longhouse, however, Regis, Papa's right-hand man will appear and prove more skeptical of the Legion alliance, willing to help the player character sway Papa into cutting ties with Caesar, triggering Oh My Papa.
The tribe's future can be decided in four ways:
- Kill the Great Khans. This will require killing Papa Khan and Regis, though of course doing so will also turn every Great Khan in Red Rock Canyon hostile including Jack and Diane at the Red Rock drug lab, along with Melissa at the Great Khan encampment near Quarry Junction as well as Karl. Yes Man will approve of their demise once told about it.
- Convince the Great Khans to ally with the NCR. As stated above, Papa Khan will strictly refuse to forge a new alliance with the NCR, but talking to Regis at any point will reveal that he is more receptive to the idea but cannot act on it due to only being a lieutenant. This will require progressing For the Republic, Part 2 up to Colonel Moore sending the player character to eradicate the Great Khans. Though she will oppose any suggestion of a truce, the option is available, but only after Papa Khan is assassinated (undetected so that the Great Khans won't turn hostile) and Regis left alive to take over the tribe.
- Convince the Great Khans to make their own future/go out with glory. This will require progressing Oh My Papa up to breaking the alliance with Caesar's Legion by convincing Papa Khan's lieutenants to help sway him against the Legion. After abandoning Caesar, Papa Khan asks what will become of the Great Khans, and one has two options: telling him to lead the Great Khans to make their own future, or to lead them in a final blaze of glory fighting at Hoover Dam. Two separate 75 Speech skill checks can be used to immediately achieve one or the other, but if not possible, then one has to talk to Julie Farkas at the Old Mormon Fort, who will redirect them to Ezekiel near the 188 Trading Post to acquire the historical document Pretty Pretty Horsies: A History of the Mongol Empire, then return to Papa Khan with it as evidence for either outcome.
- Ignore the Great Khans. This will require going near the longhouse in Red Rock Canyon for the option to become available. Yes Man will be highly condescending towards the Great Khans' threat working with Caesar, but will agree to leave them alone.
Omertas[]
The Omertas serve as one of the Three Families in charge of the casinos on the New Vegas Strip, with themselves being in charge of Gomorrah, known around New Vegas and beyond for being a den of high riches, loose bodies, and utter debauchery. Yes Man tells that Benny always suspected them of plotting something because that's exactly what the Omertas were known for, even before joining with House.
The casino can be found across the street from the Lucky 38, denoted by the large neon prostitute sign and being encircled by pyrotechnical displays all over. Like all casinos, one will be required to leave their weapons with the greeter; refusal will turn the Omertas hostile. The Gomorrah receptionist behind the counter to the left of the entrance will provide a few vague clues about where to find the Omerta leaders.
Dealing with the Omertas can be accomplished through the following methods:
- Dismantle the Omertas' conspiracy and kill the traitors. This will require triggering How Little We Know (either by talking to inhabitants of Gomorrah about finding Cachino or by completing Bye Bye Love and hearing about their plans from Joana) and progressing up to talking to Cachino about his journal, at which time one must choose to give him the journal and agree to work on wreaking the plans of Big Sal and Nero culminating in Cachino helping to assassinate them and take over Gomorrah.
- Help the Omertas complete their plan. Like with the above option, progress How Little We know up to the choice with Cachino's journal, except here, one must bring it to Big Sal to betray Cachino and get him killed. The Omertas will then send the player character to complete preparations for a plan orchestrated by Caesar's Legion to weaken the Strip during the Second Battle of Hoover Dam. Yes Man will be plussed to find out that they would help set up an attack on New Vegas but can only go along with it.
- Ignore the Omertas. This will require as little as entering the casino and talking to the receptionist for the option to become available.
White Glove Society[]
Another of the Three Families occupying the casinos of the Strip, the White Glove Society runs the Ultra-Luxe, striving to be the crème of the crop when it comes to culinary finery in the irradiated wasteland. However, behind the comfy pillows, illustrious food and shiny spoons lies dark secrets that would cause serious trouble for New Vegas if put in the spotlight.
The casino can be found across the street from the Tops and adjacent to the Las Vegas Boulevard Station, denoted by the spritzing water fountain in front of it. Like all casinos, one will be required to leave their weapons with the greeter; refusal will turn the White Gloves hostile. Sitting at the bar in the middle of the gambling floor is New Californian rancher Heck Gunderson, drowning his sorrows at the sudden disappearance of his son Ted Gunderson and asking anyone for help finding him, triggering Beyond the Beef.
Dealing with the White Glove Society can be accomplished through the following methods:
- Prevent the conspiracy to return the Society to cannibalism. This will require progressing Beyond the Beef by either lying to, or not agreeing to help Mortimer. Completing the quest by preventing the Society from dining on a meal of human flesh, whether by drugging the wine or serving the imitation strange meat pie will earn a positive response from Yes Man.
- Aid Mortimer in returning the Society to cannibalism. This will require progressing Beyond the Beef by agreeing to help Mortimer. Completing the quest by either kidnapping Carlyle St. Clair III, by returning Ted Gunderson to his father safely, or by killing Ted and framing Heck for his death, resulting in the Society being served human flesh by Mortimer will earn a jovial, if cautious response from Yes Man.
- Ignore the White Glove Society. This will require as little as entering the casino and walking around the gambling floor.
Completion[]
Once all five factions have been dealt with, whether ignored or their respective quests completed/failed, return to Yes Man and confirm the decision regarding the tribe(s) to complete the quest. If Wild Card: Change in Management has already been completed, Yes Man will immediately inform the player character about some late-stage preparations ahead of the impending events at Hoover Dam, triggering Wild Card: Finishing Touches.
Quest stages[]
Notes[]
Completing both this quest and Wild Card: Change in Management is considered a point of no return. Completing the latter fails The House Has Gone Bust!, permanently locking out the House quest arc while completing both fails both Don't Tread on the Bear! and Beware the Wrath of Caesar!, permanently locking out the NCR and Legion quest arcs, respectively. From this point forward, the only ending possible is the Independent/Yes Man quest arc.
Bugs[]
If the Courier killed Mortimer before beginning this quest and Beyond the Beef, the optional part about asking him for information regarding the White Glove Society will keep showing on-screen until the quest is fulfilled.[verified]- Yes Man may not realize one has told him all the tribes are dealt with, which will prevent the player from finishing the quest.[verified]
- Typing Setstage 00157322 104 in the console then speaking with Yes Man about the tribes should solve the problem.
- One can also reset the quest by typing resetquest 00157322 in the console. the progress in this quest is stored separately so one will only need to tell Yes Man that they have dealt with each tribe.
