Three-Card Bounty is a side quest in Fallout: New Vegas.
Overview[]
Major Dhatri has been running into some problems with the raider gang known as the Fiends, who are terrorizing the area outside Camp McCarran. The Fiends have three known leaders: Violet, Cook-Cook, and Driver Nephi. They have killed many NCR troopers from the camp; those they did not kill, they left traumatized. Dhatri wishes for them to be assassinated so that he can put a major dent in the Fiends' leadership and morale.
Quick walkthrough[]
| Side Quest: Three-Card Bounty | |||||||||||||
| Speak to Major Dhatri about bounties. | |||||||||||||
| Kill Violet and acquire her head. | |||||||||||||
| Turn in Violet's head to Major Dhatri. | |||||||||||||
| Kill Cook-Cook and acquire his head. | |||||||||||||
| Turn in Cook-Cook's head to Major Dhatri. | |||||||||||||
| Kill Driver Nephi and acquire his head. | (Optional) Enlist the help of Lieutenant Gorobets and his First Recon snipers to take down Driver Nephi. | ||||||||||||
| Turn in Driver Nephi's head to Major Dhatri. | |||||||||||||
| Reward: 250 caps per bounty 100 XP per bounty NCR fame 500 caps (after all three) 500 XP (after all three) | |||||||||||||
Detailed walkthrough[]
Once the Courier offers help, they are tasked by Major Dhatri to assassinate the three Fiend leaders operating around the South Vegas ruins. Dhatri will advise against headshots since he needs the bounties' heads as proof of their deaths. As a result, the full reward is only given for an intact head.
Violet[]
Unlike the other Fiend leaders, Violet doesn't have Fiend henchmen; instead, she has vicious guard dogs. Her camp is due south of the Poseidon gas station, which is a short distance southwest of Cook-Cook's camp. Her camp is built on top of an abandoned trailer park, allowing both Violet, who will herself stand on the first floor of the middle structure, and her dogs to see the player character from a fair distance. The number of dogs may vary. There is a Nuka-Cola Quartz in a box on a shelf, up the ramp and to the left.
Violet is dressed in standard raider armor, and almost has the same amount of health as standard Fiend raiders. She is armed with a hunting rifle and is fairly accurate with it. Once her head is acquired, collect the bounty from Major Dhatri.
Cook-Cook[]
Cook-Cook is the closest of the bounties to the airport, located just north of the South Vegas ruins west entrance in a makeshift camp built out of a broken-down building. He is surrounded by four to eight Fiends gang members, and a small brahmin herd. Cook-Cook himself is distinguished by his use of metal armor and an incinerator, as well as a flamer.
In his camp, there is his a recipe for his stew on a shelf or on the ground near a campfire.
Little Buster, a soon-to-be-retired bounty hunter found in McCarran, has been known to scout Cook-Cook. If one talks to him, he will reveal to the Courier that Cook-Cook has a brahmin pet named Queenie, and that killing it can make him careless.
Once Cook-Cook's head is acquired, turn it into Dhatri for the reward. Additional rewards can also be gained by speaking to corporal Betsy at McCarran (or Forlorn Hope if Nephi is already killed) and Pretty Sarah in Westside (in the Casa Madrid Apartments), who will reward the player character for their "service to humanity."
Driver Nephi[]
Driver Nephi is the farthest away of the three, located northwest of the Samson rock crushing plant. He will be guarded by some unfriendly Fiends, usually more than Cook-Cook would have. Like Violet, Driver Nephi is not particularly tough because he wears raider armor and is armed with a melee weapon. However, Nephi's skill with his namesake golf club is considerable.
Prior to this portion of the quest, one can speak with Lieutenant Gorobets to request that he assemble Alpha Team of NCR First Recon at the Samson Rock Crushing Plant. They will take up a position at the plant, and will fire upon Nephi if he is lured into range. Merely assembling them is enough to get a 300-cap bonus, even if they do not take a shot at Nephi. They tend to kill with headshots, so they may prevent the player character from getting the full reward if hired. They will set five frag mines along their path to the plant. Once Nephi's head is acquired, claim the bounty from Major Dhatri.
Conclusion[]
Major Dhatri, with all the major Fiend leaders gone, will express his relief and thank the Courier heavily, for undertaking a task that seemed nearly impossible. As a result of not needing more manpower to keep the Fiends in check, Dhatri will move Alpha Team to Camp Forlorn Hope.
Quest stages[]
* The assassinations can be performed in any order, which will change the order of the journal entries.
Notes[]
- Though each section of this quest is distinct in that Dhatri assigns each portion individually, the player character can kill any of the Fiend leaders at any time. Dhatri will accept their heads and give out the reward even if he didn't specifically ask the Courier to hunt them down.
- Having the Bloody Mess perk might prevent the player character from getting an intact head and thus not get the full bounty, since the perk increases the chance of dismemberment.
- A recipe of Cook-Cook's can be found in the same camp he is in, along with the ingredients (except beer).
- Violetta, a unique dog of Violet's, will be found among the pack of Fiend dogs. She has slightly more health than the rest of the dogs. Once killed, Violetta's brain can be taken as part of the quest, Nothin' But a Hound Dog.
- If one decides to bring Alpha Team along when going for Driver Nephi, most of the team's members will have alternating dialogue depending on whether they get in the killing shot:
- Betsy: "You did good out there. Glad you let me have a piece of Nephi."
- Bitter-Root: "That's one less drugged-out waster. Best part of the job - shootin' folks who deserve it."
- Sterling: "Nothing like a job done right. I wish I had a cigar."
- Dhatri will move Alpha Team to Camp Forlorn Hope immediately after turning in Driver Nephi's head, even if he is not the last to be taken out.
- Driver Nephi's body disappears a while after killing him, so it is best to kill him when the quest is given, or a quest marker to the railroad track northwest of Samson Rock Crushing plant will be placed there forever, rendering the quest impossible to finish.
- If Driver Nephi is killed before speaking to Major Dhatri about the bounty and without looting his head, Lieutenant Gorobets will be aware that Driver was killed by the Courier's hand (he behaves as if the bounty had been completed and the head turned in). The same is true for Cook-Cook and Little Buster.
Behind the scenes[]
The title of this quest is a play on the name of the confidence game, Three-card Monte.
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