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Intro
I don’t think it’s controversial to say that the Dunwich Building was one of the best places to explore in Fallout 3. The eeriness and H.P Lovecraftian theme suited the locale very well.
So it should come as no surprise that one of the best places to explore in Fallout 4 is the Dunwich Borers. It’s a hot zone packed with raiders, feral ghouls, and something more sinister down below.
Hold on a Second, what’s the Dunwich Building?
The Dunwich Building is an abandoned office building in the Southwestern most area of the Capital Wastleland in Fallout 3. On the outside, it looks like yet another non-descript ruined building. But on the inside, it possesses numerous paranormal terrors for the player to experience.
The company that owned the Dunwich Borers before the war also owned the Dunwich Building in the Capital Wasteland. They were planning on releasing a new rock drill. Now it is just a notorious Haunted House that few dare to explore.
If you want to get the entire Dunwich Building experience, you need to install Point Lookout. There’s a quest in Point Lookout called The Dark Heart of Blackheart. In this Fallout quest, you will need to find a mystical book that just so happens to tie to the Dunwich Building.
I don’t want to spoil everything in this Dunwich Borers Guide, so please, load up Fallout 3 and enjoy it yourself.
Notable Characters
Bedlam
Bedlam is a lieutenant of The Forged and leader of the raiders at Dunwich Borers. She was sent by Slag, leader of The Forged, to get the detachment of raiders at Dunwich Borers back on schedule.
They have been behind on their quotas. Initially, Bedlam believed that the raiders were just afraid of feral ghouls, and got them back to work. After a short period of time, however, a group of raiders went missing. Bedlam went after them to see what happened, and she came back broken and insane.
Hugo
Hugo was a member of the raiders at Dunwich Borers. He is one of the raiders that went into the deeper reaches of the Borers and was driven insane. He abandoned his fellow raiders and set up a highly trapped base in the loading area of the Borers.
His final moments come in the form of a holotape of him appearing to talk to something. Whatever that something was, it kept him from killing his fellow raiders and made him kill himself.
Notable Loot
- Kremvh’s Tooth
- Sneak Bobblehead
- Mr. Handy model kit
- Hazmat suit
- Astoundingly Awesome Tales
- 3 mini-nukes
Valuable Resources
- Bone
- Oil
- Anti-freeze bottle
Related Quests
Out of the Fire
While this quest has no direct ties to the Dunwich Borers, it does put you into conflict with The Forged at their home base: Saugus Ironworks. After taking down The Forged at Dunwich Borers, you may find yourself wanting to finish them off for good at Saugus.
The Surrounding Area
We’re here for the Dunwich Borers today, but there are several interesting places to visit near the Borers as well.
Museum of Witchcraft
The guards of Diamond City have a lot to say, and one such thing is telling the Sole Survivor that something weird is going on at the Museum of Witchcraft. Thus beginning the miscellaneous quest: Investigate the Museum of Witchcraft. Wear armor that’s good against claws.
Saugus Ironworks
The enemies at Dunwich Borers and Saugus Ironworks all belong to the same faction: The Forged. These nutcases are hardcore, even by raider standards, and love fire. If you can survive, there’s good loot waiting for you inside. You may want to talk to some folks before going here, however.
Finch Farm
Located right behind Saugus Ironworks is the Finch Farm. The Finch family has a problem; young Jake Finch has joined up with The Forged at Saugus. He took off with a family heirloom, a Shishkebab sword, and Abraham Finch wants you to get it back. Agreeing to the task starts the quest Out of the Fire.
Note: The Shishkebab is a legendary weapon in Fallout 4, and completing this quest is a guaranteed way to get one.
The Slog
The Slog is home to a pack of ghouls kicked out of Diamond City. They’ve thrived as an individual settlement by starting up the Commonwealth’s only tarberry bog. Tarberry cannot be replanted by you, making The Slog a great place to pick some up every now and again.
Speak to the leader of The Slog, Arlen Glass, for a quest called Giddyup ‘n Go. This quest will take you to the Wilson Atomatoys Factory. Thoroughly explore the place if you want Arlen to open up about some pre-War backstory.
Recommended Level
Dunwich Borers is a pretty tough place to take down at a low level. The exterior area is crawling with raiders, including one sporting Raider power armor. There are several machinegun turrets spread throughout the quarry as well. I wouldn’t try coming here until you are in the 20-30 level range.
Starting Point
If you plan on taking on Dunwich Borers, I recommend The Slog as your starting point. It’s a short way south from the Borers and easy to find.
Be aware of Saugus Ironworks directly east of The Slog, however. It’s home to The Forged, a fire-obsessed gang of raiders. Merchants stop by The Slog, and merchant pathing in Fallout 4 is terrible. Merchants will go straight through Saugus Ironworks, and it always starts a firefight with The Forged.
Getting to Dunwich Borers
Head due north from the fast-travel spawn point at The Slog and cross the river. After a short walk under the broken overpass, you should be able to get your first look at Dunwich Borers.
They may show up as regular raiders, but the enemies here are associated with The Forged at Saugus Ironworks. They were sent here by the leader of The Forged to salvage as much scrap metal as possible and send it back to Saugus.
Taking on the Outside
Be careful with your steps from here on out. The Raider in Power Armor is one level below you (They always wear a helmet and the modulated voice gives it away). There are two guard stations on the upper perimeter of the Borers. One is in the near vicinity to your left, and both have raiders.
The raider is the furthest guard station must be wearing headphones because killing everyone else outside won’t draw this raider into the fight. You can safely leave that raider for last. I recommend killing the raider in the nearest guard station first. Silently, of course.
From the starting point overlooking the Borers, you should be able to spot two raiders across the quarry sitting down. Even if you don’t alert them, they quickly get up and start patrolling.
They usually end up near the Power Armor raider closest to you. Take them out when they’re on the other side to save yourself some trouble. They start chucking grenades at you when they get to your side of the quarry.
You won’t be able to remain stealthy forever, so take out as many as you can quietly before hell breaks loose. If you have a critical stored up, the Power Armor-clad raider is the perfect target for it.
Take care of the three machinegun turrets as soon as you can. Dealing with the raiders is considerably easier without these things peppering you with bullets.
Make like Obi-Wan and take advantage of the high ground. The raiders at the bottom of the quarry can do little to hurt you. They make for good targets for grenades. Be aware that the raiders on the upper levels are more than willing to throw grenades at you too.
After dealing with the raiders and several turrets, finish the last raider off in the second guard station. Once taken care of, you’ve completed the exterior of Dunwich Borers. But there’s one more place to explore before heading inside.
Hugo’s Hole
Slightly southwest of the second guard station is Hugo’s Hole. You can’t miss it; warning signs plaster the marble walls. As soon as you approach the corridor to Hugo’s Hole, you’ll hear a gunshot. I’m sure you can guess what happened.
But first, let’s get there! The corridor has insanely high radiation levels if you don’t use Rad-X or wear radiation protection. There are also tripwires and explosives on the wall.
The first thing you need to do is destroy the machinegun turret Hugo has concealed in the shopping cart. Once it sees you, it will fire and set off all the traps. Take care of it, and you can safely disarm the traps.
Disarm the traps and make your way into Hugo’s hole. You’ll find the body of Hugo on his bed, as he just blew his brains out. There are a couple of goodies here, but most importantly, the holotape called Hugo’s Struggle.
The guy was clearly off his rocker and referred to an “It” when deciding what course of action he should take. Whatever “It” was, it told him to kill himself. Hugo came out of the quarry and ended up in this state. What’s in this mine besides iron? Time to find out.
Don’t Forget the Bones
Make your way down to the bottom of the quarry. In the middle, you should see a smoldering woodpile beneath some cages. Activate the chains under the cage doors to release the skeletal parts inside. You can collect a massive supply of the component bone here.
Once finished, head down the corridor to the west and take a left. Up ahead, you’ll see the door leading into the interior of the Dunwich Borers.
Dunwich Borers Interior Part 1
When you get inside, make your way down. There’s a tripwire to disarm, and around the corner are two patrolling raiders and a turret. One usually patrols near the station terminal, and the other is typically at the cooking station. The turret is near the second raider.
Dispose of them and carefully make your way to station console 1. There’s a grenade trap and a weight scale trap to disarm before accessing it. Read the files to get some backstory on what was happening in the Borers before the bombs fell.
Keep going deeper into the mine. There’s a locked room up the stairs to your left. Disarm the tripwire and unlock the gate to get some goodies. Slightly ahead of this room is another pack of raiders near station terminal 2. Dispose of them and read the second terminal before moving on.
A lone raider will be at the station 3 terminal. Just down below Station 3, however, is another raider and Bedlam. Bedlam is a lieutenant of The Forged and sent here to get things back on track. Both Bedlam and her raider companion are extremely jumpy and will likely detect you all the way up here. Unfortunately for them, they make for perfect grenade target practice.
After killing Bedlam and her companion, make sure you pick up the copy of Astoundingly Awesome Tales on the armor workbench. Access the machine terminal and read Bedlam’s several journal entries.
She started tough as raiders always are, but in her last entry, she cracked. She became terrified of something deep in the mine. At first, she thought it was just feral ghouls her men feared, but clearly, it’s something much worse. Time to find out what that is. The best rewards of Dunwich Borers have yet to come.
Dunwich Borers Interior Part 2
Go past Bedlam’s chamber and enter through the red door. And get ready for some unavoidable flashbacks. These flashbacks will show the Borers before the war. They eventually end, and you’ll quickly remember your present predicament; this place is crawling with feral ghouls.
For this section, use V.A.T.S. to your advantage to identify ghouls playing dead. Another good way to avoid nasty surprises is to sneak. If the game tells you that you are detected, a ghoul is nearby and not yet dead.
Do not be quick to toss on the circuit breakers. Using these will alert the feral ghouls and even activate them in places you’ve already cleared. Feral ghouls in Fallout 4 quite literally crawl from out of nowhere.
Make your way up the path and step through the white door for a flashback. This corridor has two directions to go down. The path on the left is your ticket out of the Borers, but we’re not done yet, so keep heading straight.
There are a bunch of ghouls playing dead in this area, so I recommend chucking a grenade. You can usually kill all of them in one explosion. I always run into at least 2-3 Legendary feral ghouls down here. The first one is always playing possum up ahead. Save yourself the trouble of a tough fight.
After clearing the path, take a right and head into the next chamber. Along with a few sleeping ghouls, you’ll come across one of the prizes of the Borers: the Sneak Bobblehead. It’s on the table next to the Station 4 terminal (There are no new entries to read. Whatever happened at Station 4, no one had anything to say about it. Or couldn’t.)
The Sneak Bobblehead permanently makes you 10% harder to detect by enemies. Very useful for any character build.
Make your way down the final passageway for one last flashback. Candles lined the path as you see a room of people on their knees, hands behind their back with their heads bowed. A 10th man is on a sermon platform of some kind, doing something with a knife.
There’s a bright light, and the game flashes back to the present day. And then you come face to face with the four twisted forms of the Dunwich Borers project managers. They look like a mix between feral ghouls and The Flood from Halo. Put them out of their misery.
In the middle of this ritual chamber is a pool of water. Ignore Deacon’s Railroad tip and head into the pool. Once down, enter through the tunnel at the bottom, and you’ll find an altar. On this altar are two mini-nukes (Which always respawn) and the final prize of Dunwich Borers: Kremvh’s Tooth.
Kremvh’s Tooth is NOT a legendary weapon, and you CAN accidentally scrap it. You didn’t come all the way down here for two pieces of steel, so make sure to be careful.
Now that you’ve gotten the best rewards, you can make your way out of this creepy place. Circle back to the corridor with the diverging passageways. You can go out the white door and exit how you came, but you’ll be missing out on some rewards. Plus, if you make return trips here (And with two respawnable mini-nukes here, you very well might), this gives you an entry point and exit.
Take the left passage next to the circuit breaker from the white door, and head toward station 5. There are a few ghouls to take care of and some decent loot. Head up the ramp, and there will be a small room with a couple more ghouls and more loot. Deal with them and then head up the path and the stairs leading to station 6.
There’s a narrow corridor here with a couple of ghouls. At the end of this corridor lays an explosives box and some stairs. The explosives box is trapped, so disarm it first.
Take the stairs all the way up, and you’ll come across a locked red door. The key to this door is on the dead raider just to the left of it. Take the key off his corpse and unlock the door. You’ll find yourself at the top of the lift at the beginning of the Dunwich Borers. Make your way down and get the heck out of here.
Home Free
And that’s it! You’ve successfully explored the entirety of the Dunwich Borers. Kick back and take a load off like Deacon here because you’ve earned it!
FAQs
Question: Do we Ever Find Out Exactly What the Paranormal Force in Dunwich Borers Is?
Answer: No. Though given the inspiration taken from H.P. Lovecraft, a reasonable assumption is that the presence is Cthulhu.
Question: Is There Any Good Reason to Come Back to the Borers After Clearing it the First Time?
Answer: The Borers is a pretty good place for experience farming, and all the bones at the bottom add up. Plus, if you’re up for reset farming legendary weapons, the sleeping, Legendary feral ghouls are easy targets.
Question: Is Kremvh’s Tooth Worth Using?
Answer: If you are a melee build character, yes and no. It’s a good weapon itself, but what makes it unique is the sacrificial blade mod. You can strip this mod off of Kremvh’s Tooth and place it on a stronger legendary machete. Until you find a suitable replacement for it, Kremvh’s Tooth works fine.
Conclusion
That wasn’t so bad, was it? You successfully took down one of the hardest mid-game areas in Fallout 4. But there are still plenty of places out there in the Commonwealth to explore. You’ve taught The Forged at Dunwich Borers a lesson, so maybe The Forged at Saugus Ironworks is next?
Wherever your adventures take you, remember to have fun! And that war. War never changes.