Arcade Gannon Guide - Wasteland Gamers

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At the bright young age of nine years old, Eoin played his first-ever video game: Fallout 3. Should he have been playing it? No, but this reckless parenting inspired a love of single-player RPGs that has stuck with him throughout his gaming career. Despite investing serious time into Esports, Eoin always found himself returning to narrative-driven games, vowing to one day make it as a narrative designer himself. In the meantime, he has written for numerous gaming outlets on countless topics and titles. Outside of gaming, Eoin has a passion for reading and writing. He tells himself that he’ll write a bestseller one day, if he ever dares to actually put pen to paper.

Intro

Before I say anything, this is your spoiler alert. Arcade Gannon and his quest involve something of a plot twist that you discover as you talk to him through the game. It would be impossible to write this guide without discussing that at length, so if you don’t want to have that spoiled, you should just play through Fallout New Vegas with Arcade Gannon blind.

For those of you that have stuck around despite that, I’m just going to get it out of the way: Arcade Gannon is the son of an ex-Enclave Officer. By extension, that means that he is also an ex-Enclave.

Now, I have a distinct and visceral hatred for the Enclave. I grew up on Fallout 3, so I’m going to be a little bit biased here. I tend to kill Gannon and his Enclave buddies more than I help them when I play through FNV, but that’s not to say that you should. They aren’t all that bad, plus the quest is incredibly interesting, as is Gannon’s entire character.

It’s not like he’s some evil opposite to Veronica (the Brotherhood of Steel follower). He’s a pretty good guy and is working with the Followers of the Apocalypse when you find him.

He’s a fan favorite for many, which is why I’ve decided to write this Arcade Gannon guide for Fallout New Vegas. I’m going to run through everything you’ll ever need to know about the man, including his backstory, how to complete his companion quest, and more.

Oh, and spoilers ahead for both Arcade’s story, and the finale of the main story.

Arcade Gannon is Not Permanent

Consider this an upfront warning. Arcade Gannon will leave you as a companion and be unrecruitable for the rest of the game once you complete his quest. It doesn’t matter what options you choose or what he thinks of you. Once you finish it, that’s all that Arcade you’re getting until the ending sequence.

This comes with the caveat that his quest is only available right at the very end of the game, requiring the player to have completed the majority of their chosen faction’s questline. So, you won’t lose him for long, but he is the only follower that will just up and leave you after you give them a helping hand. You have been warned.

Bottom Line Up Front

Arcade Gannon can be recruited inside the Old Mormon Fort in Freeside. There are a variety of ways to recruit him, including helping Julie Farkas, having low Intelligence, having a high reputation with the Followers, having the Confirmed Bachelor perk, or passing a skill check.
Arcade Gannon will leave the player if they get too friendly with the Legion.
Arcade Gannon requires a lot of micromanagement and has a dislike point system running alongside his trust points.
Once you finish his companion quest, Arcade Gannon will leave your service for the rest of the game.

Key Details

Character Location: Old Mormon Fort.
Related Quests: For Auld Lang Syne/Et Tumor, Brute?
Recruitment Cost: None (Reputation Requirement/Skill Checks ).
Weapon: Arcade Gannon’s Plasma Defender.
Faction Alignment: Followers of the Apocalypse/Enclave/NCR.

Description Overview

When the player stumbles upon Arcade Gannon in the Old Mormon Fort, he doesn’t seem to be all that interesting. To the unassuming eye, he’s just another scientist. In his case, a scientist developed methods to use the local vegetation in various medicines. You would be clueless about the trials and tribulations that he faced to even make it to Vegas in the first place.

Arcade Gannon is the son of an Enclave military Officer and was born at a military installation located in Navarro. His father died when he was young. As Arcade is assumed to be 35 in New Vegas, and that game takes place around 40 years after the NCR-Enclave war that was present in Fallout 2, it’s safe to assume that he was killed by the Brotherhood of Steel forces that hunted down the Enclave remnants that were fleeing Navarro after they were defeated by the NCR.

Following his father’s death, Arcade, his mother, and Enclave soldiers that previously served under his father’s command fled the South to evade BoS and NCR pursuers. Not much is known about his life after this point, only that he eventually managed to integrate with the Followers of the Apocalypse in Vegas. He credits the group with teaching him everything he knows regarding medicine. They did a good job, too, as Arcade Gannon has the highest Intelligence of any follower in the game at 10.

Despite having come from an Enclave background, Arcade has a hatred for any group he considers tyrannical or fascist. He dislikes the NCR, but he outright hates Ceaser’s Legion. He won’t attack them on sight like Boone, but he will leave the player if their reputation with the Legion is too high, or they progress the Legion questline into the endgame.

Arcade Gannon’s Key Moments/Quest Triggers

Arcade’s companion quest runs on a similar points system to Boone’s. You need to tally five total points for Gannon to trigger the For Auld Lang Syne quest. Unlike Boone, however, most of these points are obtained through dialogue. Arcade Gannon is a man of words and his “trust points” system reflects that.

With Boone, you could kill some Legionnaires and call it a day. Arcade is much more specific and technical. If you don’t choose the correct responses in various conversations, you could miss out on his quest entirely. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t respond to him, and others, with your actual RP choices, but you need to be aware and micromanage how many points you have at any given time.

You also need to have completed most of the main quest for him to offer you For Auld Lang Syne. You can get the quest with any faction, but you have to meet one of the following criteria:

Wiped out the Brotherhood Bunker and have The House Always Wins V active.
Have Wildcard: Change in Management active and install Yes Man into the Lucky 38 Mainframe.
Have For the Republic Part 2 active and report that you’ve killed or disabled Mr. House.
Have Wildcard: Finishing Touches active and install the override chip in the El Dorado Substation.

Arcade Gannon’s Quest Triggers

Bear in mind that you need Arcade to comment on any location you visit with him to get the point. You also might have to wait a few seconds for him to initiate conversation anytime you need to talk to him about something.

Travel to the Crashed Vertibird with Gannon. – 1 Point.
Visit the Silver Rush with Gannon. – 1 Point.
Enter Repconn Headquarters with Gannon. – 1 Point.
After traveling to the Fort with Arcade, respond to his worries with the following: “Let’s just listen to him, figure out what he’s up to, and get out.” – 2 Points. “I just want to hear Ceaser out.” – 1 Point. “With how messed up New Vegas is, do you think Ceaser has nothing to offer?” followed by “I’m just trying to be open-minded.” – 1 Point.
After speaking with Ceaser in his tent, respond to Arcade’s worries with the following: Pass an Intelligence 8 check and say “I don’t think either of us can fully understand what he and the tribes have gone through.” – 2 Points. Respond with “He’s a madman. What did you expect?” – 1 Point.
Speak to Thomas Hildern in Camp McCarran, then speak with Arcade and respond to him with the following: “Good thing there are still people like you around.” – 2 Points. “I’m sure he means well.” – 1 Point.
During the That Lucky Old Sun quest in Helios One, respond to Arcade’s suggestion of directing power to Freeside and Westside with the following: “Of course.” – 1 Point.
“Why not the whole area equally?” followed by an Intelligence 7 check. – 1 Point.
During The White Wash quest: If the player visits Westside after finishing The White Wash without Arcade Gannon, respond to Gannon with “If you say so. I’m not arguing.” – 1 Point.
Finish The White Was by blaming the problem on the Scorpions and letting Anderson go. – 2 Points. Complete The White Wash by having Anderson turn himself in with a fake story, allowing the Westside Co-op to keep its water. – 1 Point.
Kill Tom Anderson and pass a level 7 Intelligence check with Gannon stating “You’re assuming a motive without evidence.” – 1 Point. If the player passes the level 7 Intelligence check, respond to Arcade’s question with “It’s cleaner this way, without bringing the NCR in.” – 1 Point.

As you can see, Gannon has a whole bunch of points up for grabs, making accidentally triggering his quest likely for any morally good playthroughs. You can get three points alone just for visiting different areas. Finish The White Wash and speaking to Thomas Hildern will net you enough to trigger For Auld Lang Syne with next to no effort at all.

Just make sure you’re balancing these points with Arcade Gannon’s dislike points. What are dislike points? Well…

Arcade Gannon’s Dislike Points

Arcade Gannon has a unique mechanic amongst Fallout New Vegas’ followers in the form of negative points that run alongside his positive quest trigger points. Whereas other companions will leave you if you complete a certain quest or have a certain reputation level with a faction, Arcade is a lot more fickle than that.

True to his abrasive nature, Gannon will just up and leave you if you say too many things that hurt his feelings. Six things. He’ll give you a warning after you accumulate three points, but after the 6th, he will leave you forever. It’s remarkably easy to have this happen accidentally, so I’m going to list every single positive trigger here so that you don’t experience the pain and irritation that I did. Several times.

If the player visits Westside after finishing The White Wash without Arcade Gannon, respond to Gannon with “Right. The Followers don’t endorse his actions, and all that.” – 1 Point.
If the player finishes The White Wash by extorting the Westside Co-op, respond to Gannon with “They profit from crime, now I profit too.” – 1 Point.
If the player has killed Tom Anderson, respond to Gannon’s criticism with “Anderson killed White. He deserved to pay for what he did.” – 2 Points.
If the player has killed Tom Anderson, respond to Gannon’s criticism with “What’s done is done.” – 1 Point.
If the player passes the level 7 Intelligence check after killing Anderson, respond to Gannon’s follow-up line with “It was either this or spending the rest of his life in an NCR chain gang.” – 1 Point.
During your first visit to the Fort with Arcade, respond to his worries with “With how messed up New Vegas is, do you really think Ceaser has nothing to offer?” followed up with “that’s exactly what I’m suggesting.” – 2 Points.
After speaking with Ceaser for the first time, respond to Gannon by saying “He seemed smart to me.” – 1 Point.
After speaking to Thomas Hildern, respond to Arcade with “But in the end, doesn’t it all just come down to numbers anyway?” – 1 Point.
If you murder any non-hostile innocent NPCs. – 1 Point.

Getting six of these points will cause Arcade to leave you. However, there are a few truly deplorable actions/responses that will cause him to abandon you regardless of how many points you have:

Entering the Legate’s Camp to prepare for the attack on Hoover Dam.
Respond to Arcade Gannon’s various issues by telling him that he should leave if he has a problem with his decisions.
Convincing the Enclave remnants to support the Legion during For Auld Lang Syne.
Reporting to Ceaser after killing President Kimball.
Activating Archemedies I. You can divert power to Archemedies II, but you cannot activate the laser at Helios One. Furthermore, Arcade Gannon will turn hostile if you activate the laser and respond to him with “Time for the NCR to roast.”

Related Quests

So, managing Arcade Gannon and his quest triggers/dislike points is a whole ordeal, but what’s it all for? Honestly, it a pretty awesome quest, especially for fans of older Fallout games. I despise the Enclave with every fiber of my being, but even I have to admit that For Auld Lang Syne is an inspired mission.

For Auld Lang Syne

For Auld Lang Syne, in contrast to everything else about Arcade Gannon, is pretty simple and straightforward. It’s a quick companion quest that almost feels like a nod or an easter egg as opposed to the culmination of Gannon’s character. Whether that’s good or bad is up to you.

Trigger the Quest

You have to trigger the quest before you can do it. As I’ve previously mentioned, you do this by progressing far enough in the main story and earning enough points with Gannon.

Once you have both of those requirements met, he will approach you about getting the old Enclave band back together and give you the locations of the members.

Keep in mind that if any of the Enclave remnants are already dead, you will not be able to complete the quest. This shouldn’t be a problem for most people, but the fact that these seemingly random NPCs hold such importance for a companion quest is a little irritating.

Recruit the Remnants

Despite taking you all over the Wasteland, recruiting the remnants is a quick and easy process. At least, it is if you use fast travel. If you don’t, or can’t, it’ll take you significantly longer.

There are five total remnants that you need to recruit:

Daisy Whitman: Novac.
Cannibal Johnson: Cannibal Johnson’s Cave.
Doctor Henry: Jacobstown (must have completed Guess Who I Saw Today).
Orion Moreno: North of NCR Sharecropper Farms.
Judah Kreger: Westside.

After recruiting each member, Gannon will start a conversation with you. Your responses to him during these conversations are what determine his ending slideshow, as well as whether or not you gain access to the Gannon Family Tesla Armor.

If you reply to him by saying that people should let go of the past, he will remain with the Followers of the Apocalypse for the Battle of Hoover Dam and will give you the power armor. If you tell him that people can’t change who they are, you will not get the armor, and Gannon will train and fight alongside the NCR at Hoover Dam.

Meet the Remnants at the Bunker

Once all five members have been recruited, you need to meet up with them at the Remnants Bunker. This bunker is located East of Jacobstown and shouldn’t be too much trouble to find. It should also be marked on your map.

Once you enter the bunker using the passcode that you pieced together from each Enclave member, you will enter a briefing room and talk with Judah Kreger. He will ask whether you want them to support the NCR or the Legion at the Battle of Hoover Dam. Unfortunately, as with the Brotherhood of Steel, there is no option for the Enclave to fight for Mr. House or for an independent Vegas. If you’re pursuing either of these endings, having them fight for the NCR is the right choice.

Siding with the Legion

To get to this point, Arcade Gannon needs to trust you and generally think you’re an alright person. However, you have the option of downright bamboozling him here by convincing the remnants to fight for Ceaser’s Legion instead of the NCR at Hoover Dam.

If you decide to go down this route, both Arcade Gannon and Cannibal Johnson will leave, refusing to fight on behalf of the Legion. You can then receive power armor training from Orion, and he will give you Johnson’s old Enclave power armor. The armor is in the style of the X-01 series and marks the first time we’ve seen it since Fallout 2.

Judah will then ask you to leave the bunker so that they can plan. Once you do, the quest will complete. Gannon will also confront you, telling you that you’re downright crazy and just the worst human being before permanently leaving you.

Siding with the NCR

Sure, convincing the remnants to side with the Legion is funny, but it does cut you off from the actual conclusion of this quest.

If you tell Judah that the Enclave should fight for the NCR, Orion will run out of the room, prompting you to follow and confront him.

He explains that he hates the NCR and refuses to fight for them. At this point, you have two options. You either have to pass a Speech check of 80 or have the Wild Child reputation rank with the NCR. Meeting neither of these requirements results in you having to kill Orion.

Regardless of how you deal with Orion, return to Judah. He will have Daisy give you power armor training, and if you haven’t picked Orion’s armor up from his corpse, she will give you another set.

Then, once again, you will be asked to leave the bunker so that the group can plan its attack.

After you leave, Gannon will confront you again. At this point, you have a chance to pass a level 80 Speech check to change his ending decision to the opposite of the one you fostered while recruiting the remnants.

If he decides to fight with the NCR, he will put on his power armor and leave for the Hoover Dam Visitors Center to help train the NCR power armored soldiers. The quest will complete and he will no longer be recruitable.

If he decides to stay with the Followers, he will give you the power armor and leave the game. He despawns and cannot be found past this point. The quest will also complete.

Regardless of what ending you choose for Gannon, he is no longer recruitable as a companion, although he can still be found and interacted with if he chooses to fight with the NCR.

Et Tumor, Brute?

At this point, you might think that Arcade Gannon is literally useless for Legion playthroughs. You would be wrong. He has one distinct use for Legionnaite players, and that’s slavery.

If Arcade’s constant moaning and complaining ever get to you, you can shut him up by giving him to Lucius inside of Ceaser’s tent. He will be forced to serve as Ceaser’s physician and won’t be all too pleased about it.

This is one of the resolutions for the Et Tumor, Brute? quest. Giving Arcade to Lucius automatically passes it, removing the need to perform the operation yourself or repair Ceaser’s Auto-Doc.

Arcade Gannon’s Companion Perk

Better Healing

Is this the best companion perk in Fallout New Vegas? Yeah, probably. Why? Because it’s a flat 20% increase to healing from consumables. That includes Stimpacks and it stacks with your other perks.

It doesn’t matter what difficulty you’re playing on or what build you’re using, a 20% buff to your health recovery from all consumables, not just Stimpacks, is incredible. It’s passive, meaning always active, and doesn’t require any sort of special build to take advantage of like Boone or Veronica’s companion perks do.

This is balanced out by the fact that this is the only perk that Gannon has access to. Compare that to the potential three perks that Veronica can have by the end of her story interactions.

There’s also the fact that Gannon leaves you once you finish his companion quest, meaning you can’t keep this perk active past that point. So, naturally, it’s going to be exceptionally strong compared to the others.

If you haven’t got much of an interest in finishing his quest and are looking for the best companion perk from a strict gameplay perspective, this is it.

How to Find Arcade Gannon in Fallout New Vegas

Arcade Gannon is found in one of the back tents in the Old Mormon Fort. If you haven’t found the Mormon Fort yet, it’s towards the top of Freeside. It’s a massive enclosed load zone surrounded by old castle-style wooden walls. It’s pretty hard to miss.

Once you find Gannon, you’ll have to put in a bit of effort to get him as a follower. He’s not like Veronica where you just have to speak to him, and you don’t have to complete a quest as you do with Boone. Instead, Arcade sits comfortably in the middle of how difficult he is to recruit.

To recruit Arcade Gannon after speaking to him, the player needs to have, or do, any of the following:

Have a high reputation with the Followers of the Apocalypse.
Complete the High Times quest and give Julie Farkas the medical supplies.
Pass a level 75 Hard Speech check.
Flirt with him as a male character by possessing the Confirmed Bachelor perk.
Speak with Gannon while at Intelligence 3 or lower.

Just like with Boone, if you have a positive reputation with the Legion, Gannon will refuse to join you regardless of anything. He will also refuse to talk to you if you’re wearing Legion armor. To bypass your status with the Legion, speak to him while wearing NCR armor to temporarily neutralize your reputation status.

If you combine this with Intelligence reducing items, you can effectively auto-recruit Arcade regardless of your current standings or stat points.

Arcade Gannon’s Playstyle

Unlike other followers like Lily, Boone, and Veronica, Arcade Gannon doesn’t have much in the way of a particular playstyle. He uses a Plasma Defender as his default ranged weapon, making him the only Energy Weapons user out of every companion in Fallout New Vegas.

Aside from that, there’s not much to say about his combat ability. He’s an average combatant that can use spicy weapons. He doesn’t get better range, damage, or defense over a more specialized character, but that’s not really what Arcade is for.

You shouldn’t be bringing Arcade Gannon into combat for his gunplay. Instead, it’s all about that perk of his. 20% extra healing while in a fight is massive, especially since it stacks with other perks and effects.

So, if you want to take advantage of Arcade Gannon’s playstyle, you need to build around medicine and make consumables more effective. A build like this can carry you through the higher difficulties, including Hardcore mode.

Key Relationships and Quotes

Daisy Whitman

After losing his mother, Daisy Whitman took on a maternal role for Arcade with him describing her as “the only woman in my life.” He treats her as his sole confidant, something which Daisy reciprocates as she never had any children of her own.

FAQ

Question: Can You Flirt with Arcade Gannon

Answer: If the player has the Confirmed Bachelor perk and is male, they can flirt with Arcade Gannon to recruit him rather than passing any skill checks or helping the Followers of the Apocalypse.

Question: Can You Get Arcade Gannon Back?

Answer: While it is possible to complete For Auld Lang Syne and keep Arcade Gannon as a companion, doing so is considered a glitch and is unintended. If the player dismisses Gannon to the Lucky 38 just before entering the Bunker, it may be possible to re-recruit him.

Doing so bugs Arcade and will remove his ending slideshow from the game. For Auld Lang Syne will be treated as though it hasn’t been completed.
Alternatively, PC players can use mods or console commands to get them back as a follower after completing their companion quest.

Question: Can the Enclave Help Yes Man?

Answer: The only two sides that the Enclave can be convinced to help during the Battle of Hoover Dam are the Legion and the NCR. If you are doing a Mr. House or independent Vegas run, having them fight for the NCR will stop you from having to fight them in either of these routes.

Conclusion

There you have it – a definitive Arcade Gannon guide for Fallout New Vegas. I hope you’ve found it useful in some way regardless of how you feel about Gannon and his Enclave roots.

Out of all the companions in Fallout New Vegas, Arcade requires the most micromanagement. The fact that he leaves you after his quest might be a contributing factor to that. He’s the hardest of the bunch to navigate without a guide, hence why I put this together in the first place.

He’s still a super rewarding follower to use, though, and For Auld Lang Syne is an awesome throwback for old-school Fallout fans, making it well worth doing, regardless of your thoughts on the factions and characters involved.