Fallout NV Location Guide – Must-Know Fallout Series Information

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Callum Marshall

Callum is the gaming managing editor and a very keen Fallout fan. While overseeing the day-to-day running of the site, you'll commonly see Callum carve out some time to produce some content on his favorite RPG series and lead from the front. Callum has been around the block within the gaming industry, working as an Editor-in-chief for a number of well-respected gaming outlets, he has worked as a games tester, he has gaming podcast experience, has worked in gaming PR. Basically, you name it, and Callum was probably there or somewhere on the periphery.

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If you are a fan of the modern Fallout series and were lucky enough to play Fallout when it revived the series all those years ago, you will remember that the game did a lot right. It offered a more FPS feel while still maintaining a lot of RPG aspects from the Interplay days. It introduced the iconic VATS combat feature had a wonderful cast of characters, memorable quests, and a sprawling map.

However, one thing that players may remember is how empty the Capital Wasteland was. Sure there were points of interest and some radiant encounters, but overall, the map was big for the sake of it, with no key areas worth exploring, and even when you did come across one, it was often an area devoid of any lore, unique items or anything of value to the player. Well, when Obsidian Entertainment released Fallout New Vegas, they didn’t make the same mistakes that Bethesda Game Studios did.

Fallout New Vegas would offer a map that was actually slightly smaller than FO3, but it certainly didn’t feel that way. Obsidian Entertainment decided to densely pack quests, locations, characters, lore-filled areas, unmarked quests, and much more into their game, and quite frankly, we are happy they did. There are so many areas and locations in Fallout NV that creatively push forward the series, repair a lot of the narrative issues in Fallout 3 and make every place you scavenge in and explore a worthwhile endeavor.

However, you may be wondering what the key locations within Fallout New Vegas are, what they have to offer, and who inhabits these areas. Well, we will cover all of this and more as we give you a rundown on all of the main locations in FNV that you must check out if you intend to visit the Mojave. So without further ado, let’s get into it. Here is our comprehensive Fallout NV Location Guide!

Getting Started

To kick things off, we reckon we should give you a breakdown of the first major areas that you will encounter throughout the first few hours after waking up in Doc Mitchell’s house. These are the main areas that you will encounter if you follow the main questline; check it out:

Goodsprings

• Related Quests: Ain’t That a Kick in the Head, Ghost Town Gunfight/Run Goodsprings Run, Back in the Saddle
• Key Residents: Doc Mitchell, Sunny Smiles, Trudy, Ringo, Victor, Chet, Easy Pete
• Interesting Features: Goodsprings Cemetery, Goodsprings General Store

First up, we have the area where the player begins the game, Goodsprings. The player wakes up in Doc Mitchell’s home, and here the player will build their character, choose their key skills and traits, and then be sent on their merry way into the Mojave Wasteland.

In this area, the player will be able to meet the locals, learn how to shoot their Varmint Rifle with the help of Sunny Smiles, and you will also have the option of helping out Goodsprings with their tiff with the Powder Gangers.

The player can either head over to the NCR Correctional Facility and see to the issue, engage in a shootout to protect the town of Goodsprings, or you can condemn the town and its residents by siding with the Powder Gangers.

This town is a fun tutorial area and a great place to get your bearings before heading off into the more deadly areas of the Mojave.

Primm

• Related Quests: I Fought The Law, My Kind of Town, E-DE, My Love, They Went That-a-Way
• Key Residents: Johnson Nash, Deputy Beagle, Primm Slimm, E-DE
• Interesting Features: The Vicki and Vance Casino, Home of Companion (E-DE), The Bison Steve Hotel, El Diablo Rollercoaster

Next is the second town that most players will come across, Primm. This is an area that is currently under siege by the Powder Gangers, who have taken over the town. The NCR are camped outside but are reluctant to lose men taking the town back. So, this responsibility falls to the Courier.

You must storm the Bison Steve Hotel and try to rescue Deputy Beagle, who is kidnapped and held inside. This is also where the player will find Johnson Nash, who has info on Benny’s whereabouts, and you will also be able to assign a new sheriff to the town. We recommend Primm Slimm, mostly because it’s funny rather than an appropriate choice.

NCR Correctional Facility

• Related Quests: I Fought the Law, My Kind of Town, Eddie’s Emissary
• Key Residents: Carter, Dawes, Eddie, Hannigan, Meyers
• Interesting Features: Visitor’s Centre, Administration Building

If you weren’t a goodie-two-shoes and decided to wipe out the town of Goodsprings, then the NCR Correctional Facility may serve as your early-game home away from home. Here, you will encounter the leaders of the Powder Gangers, and you will be able to do a few quests, earn their trust and ultimately live the life of a fugitive.

Also, if you want to complete the quest in Primm that requires you to choose a sheriff and Primm Slimm isn’t your cup of tea, Meyers, a resident of this area, is a great option if you can convince him.

Nipton

• Related Quests: Booted, Cold, Cold Heart, Wheel of Fortune, Keep Your Eyes on the Prize, They Went That-a-Way
• Key Residents: Vulpes Inculta, Oliver Swanick, Boxcars
• Interesting Features: Nipton General Store, Nipton Town Hall, Nipton Hotel

After Primm, you will wander onwards, and you may see smoke on the horizon. Well, simply follow the smog if you want to find Nipton. When you arrive, you will come across devastation, flames, and carnage.

Men and women will be hung from crosses, the town will be crumbling before you, and you soon learn that this is all thanks to The Legion. Vulpes Inculta will serve as the player’s introduction to this faction and will ask the player to report what they saw to the NCR at the Mojave Outpost.

The player will also encounter the two people that won the lottery and were allowed to live, Oliver Swanick, who we suggest you shoot on sight. Then Boxcars the Powder Ganger who was crippled and left to die in the General Store. There are some fun buildings to loot here, but aside from that, you should just keep moving to Novac.

Novac

• Related Quests: Come Fly with Me, Classic Inspiration, Talent Pool, One for my Baby
• Key Residents: Manny Vargas, Craig Boone, Jeannie May Crawford
• Interesting Features: The Dino-Bite Hotel, Dino-Dee-Lite Motel

After Nipton, you’ll eventually stumble across Novac; just look for the huge dinosaur; if you miss it, you’ve gone too far. This is the area where you find out more about benny’s whereabouts through Manny Vargas.

You can either check out the old REPCONN site for him to earn this information, or you can hack his personal terminal and save Come Fly with me for another time.

This town is also home to Craig Boone, one of the toughest and most interesting companions in Fallout NV. The player will need to help him find out who in the town of Novac sold his wife to the Legion as a slave, and once he knows, he will do the rest.

Then after this, he will be open to joining the Courier on their quest. Aside from this, there are several colorful characters in this town, some fun areas to explore, and usually a traveling merchant if you need to stock up on gear.

Boulder City

• Related Quests: Boulder City Showdown, Ring-a-Ding-Ding
• Key Residents: Lieutenant Monroe, Jessup
• Interesting Features: Big Horn Saloon, Great Khan Hideout, Boulder City Memorial

After gaining the vital intel from Manny Vargas, you’ll find out that Benny and the Great Khans were in cahoots, and this will lead you to Boulder City, an area that is pretty much rumble by the time the player gets there.

Here you will encounter a scene where the Khans are held up in the city ruins, and the NCR are outside.

They want to breach the area and take out the Khans, but they have two hostages inside. So once again, the burden of responsibility is put on the Courier to save the day.

You can negotiate and have the Khans come quietly, or you can go in all guns blazing. It’s up to you. There are also some small buildings to loot and some fun dialogue to be had with Private Kowalski at the Boulder City Memorial, no spoilers here.

Sloan

• Related Quests: Don’t Make a Beggar of Me, Claws Out, Power to the People, You Gotta Break Out a Few Eggs
• Key Residents: Chomps Lewis, Jas Wilkins, Snuffles
• Interesting Features: Mess Hall, Machine Shop, Mining Office, Worker’s Barracks

Then lastly, if you decide that the long but relatively safe route isn’t for you and you want to make a bee-line for the New Vegas Strip, you will have to pass through a load of Cazadors, and eventually, Sloan followed by Quarry Junction, home to a litany of deadly Deathclaws.

This area will serve as a pitstop before you brave the Quarry itself. Now, while you can engage in some quests here, including one that asks you to steal the young of a Mother Deathclaw, we would recommend that you just run as fast as you can and hope those devil creatures don’t sink their claws in your back.

Getting To Know The Factions

As you may know, Fallout New Vegas introduced the phenomenal faction system and treated its players to an open and diverse main questline with many branching paths. This means that you encounter a lot of different groups in this game, and each of these has locations that directly relate to them.

Truthfully there are quite a few faction-owned locations, so let’s just take a look at the most important ones, shall we? Here we go:

Cottonwood Cove

• Related Quests:
• Key Residents: Aurelius the Phoenix, Anders, Cursor Lucullus, The Weathers Family
• Interesting Features: Cottonwood Cove HQ, Sniper’s Nest

Cottonwood Cove is kind of like a staging area that prepares you for what lies downstream at The Fort. Cottonwood Cove is The Legion’s base of operations away from The Fort, their main stronghold.

Here, the player will be able to request travel to The Fort when granted an audience with Caesar, they will also be able to take part in a few quests where they can free several trapped slaves, and if you travel up into the hills before Cottonwood Cove, you’ll encounter a vantage point where you’ll be able to claim the Gobi Scout Sniper Rifle, provided you have a maxed-out lockpick skill.

The Fort

• Related Quests: Render Unto Caesar, I Put a Spell on You, Et Tumor, Brute? The Finger of Suspicion, Nothin’ But a Hound Dog,
• Key Residents: Caesar, Vulpes Inculta, Lucius
• Interesting Features: Caesar’s Tent, The Securitron Bunker, The Legion Arena, Weather Monitoring Station

After Caesar extends an invite to the player, you can take the boat up to The Fort, The Legion’s stronghold and base of operations. Here you will find their ruler, Caesar. This area has a lot of significance within the main questline as laying dormant under the fort is an army of thousands of Securitrons just waiting to be activated.

These will play a huge role in your success at Hoover Dam if you side with Mr. House. You will be tasked with activating or disabling these with the Platinum chip for the main quest, and you will also partake in other questlines here, such as one which sees you attempt to remove a tumor and save Caesar’s life, or where you follow Benny to The Fort to deal with him once and for all.

Nellis Air Force Base

• Related Quests: Volare, Young Hearts, Sunshine Boogie
• Key Residents: Pearl, Loyal, Jack, Raquel
• Interesting Features: Nellis Hangars, Nellis Schoolhouse, Nellis Boomer Museum, Pearl’s Barracks

Once you are deep into the second act of the game and the player has effectively chosen a faction that they want to side with, they will then need to choose how to deal with the sub-factions within this game. The Boomers are usually the first ones that players need to deal with.

These guys who emerged from a vault quickly made a home in the old air force base and have fully utilized all the amenities in place. You will have to dodge mortar fire just to get access to the base.

Then from there, you will be granted access, and Pearl will ask you to help in their grand plan to raise the old bomber from the depths of the nearby lake, and outside of that, you can make nice with all the other residents by doing some odd jobs.

If you impress the Boomers, they will provide some very welcome air support in the final battle, so well worth doing if you ask us.

Hidden Valley

• Related Quests: I Could Make You Care, Still In The Dark, Eyesight to the Blind
• Key Residents: Elder Mcnamara, Paladin Harkin, Head Scribe Taggart, Paladin Ramos, Knight Torres
• Interesting Features: Hidden Valley Bunker, Scorpion Gulch A great place to get some Power Armor and Gauss Rifles

Next up, you have the poster boys for Fallout 3, The Brotherhood of Steel. While these guys don’t have as big of a role in FNV, they still play the role of an important sub-faction that must be dealt with. Even with their limited numbers, they can still be an asset to the player.

Once you enter the bunker, you will have to earn the trust of this reclusive Brotherhood chapter, and if you manage this, you will be granted entry. You can then help the Brotherhood find their place within the Mojave, repair their relationship, to an extent, with the NCR, and of course, you can help Veronica, the Brotherhood-affiliated companion, in her quest to find her place within the group.

Old Mormon Fort

• Related Quests: Cry Me a River, G.I. Blues, High Times, Wang Dang Atomic Tango
• Key Residents: Arcade Gannon, Julie Farkas, Beatrix Russell, Farris
• Interesting Features: Has its own Snow globe, Home to Arcade Gannon (Companion)

The Old Mormon Fort plays host to the Follower’s of the Apocolypse, a group of do-gooders who give medical treatment to those in need, take in refugees, and generally serve as a beacon of hope to those within Freeside.

Here, the player will be able to help form a relationship between the Followers and the Kings; you will also be able to help those who are suffering from addiction to get clean and rid Freeside of its drug dealers. Plus, you can enlist the services of Arcade Gannon.

The Lucky 38

• Related Quests: The House Always Wins, The Moon Comes Over the Tower
• Key Residents: Mr. House
• Interesting Features: Casino, Cocktail Lounge, Penthouse, Presidential Suite

The Lucky 38 may be a single building on the New Vegas strip, but we feel it deserves its own mention as it serves as a home to the enigmatic and powerful Mr. House. The player will make their way to the Strip to confront Benny, but ultimately, you will have to visit Mr. House at some point, either to assassinate or to work together to see his vision of New Vegas become a reality.

Here, the player will complete large amounts of the main story; they will also be granted a residence where they can use as an HQ to store all of their goodies; the Lucky 38 also has its own Snowglobe, so that’s a free 2,000 caps. Plus, if you decide to get rid of Robert House once and for all, you’ll still likely be visiting the Lucky 38 with Yes Man in the hot seat.

Red Rock Canyon

• Related Quests: Cry Me a River, Aba Daba Honeymoon, Oh my Papa, We are Legion, Why Can’t We all be Friends?
• Key Residents: Papa, Diane, Regis, Jack
• Interesting Features: Great Khan Longhouse, Great Khan Armory

When you are working through all of the factions, it can be easy to forget about the Great Khans, as they are in the corner of the map, and generally, they keep to themselves. However, if you do visit either enlist their help in the Battle for Hoover Dam or simply neutralize them, you’ll find that they are an interesting bunch.

You’ll arrive and notice there is a battle for supremacy within the ranks—a typical power struggle and disagreement of ideas between young and old. Your role will be to serve as a middle party and solve this issue, electing a leader to push the Khans forward. Or you can just murder everyone; that works too. Either way, we recommend you make the journey to Red Rock Canyon.

Camp McCarran

• Related Quests: Classic Inspiration, I Don’t Hurt Anymore, I Put a Spell on You, The White Wash, Three Card Bounty, You Can Depend on Me, There Stands The Grass
• Key Residents: Colonel Hsu, Lieutenant Boyd, Dr. Thomas Hildern, Dr. Angela Williams, Corporal Sterling
• Interesting Features: The Terminal Building, Concourse, Camp Mccarran Supply, The Monorail to the New Vegas Strip

While the embassy on the New Vegas strip is one of the most important NCR areas aside from the Mojave Outpost and Camp Golf, we would say that Camp Mccarran is perhaps the most notable NCR area the player will encounter. Unless you count Hoover Dam, but as you probably know, that area is very much up for grabs.

Here, the player will be able to help the NCR out immensely if they so choose by holding with the Fiends in Outer Vegas, dealing with a suspicious issue at Vault 22, sniffing out a Legion spy within their ranks, and much more.

Helios One

• Related Quests: That Lucky Old Sun, Sunshine Boogie, Restoring Hope, Classic Inspiration
• Key Residents: Ignacio Rivas, Fantastic, Haggerty
• Interesting Features: Power Plant, Mirror Yard, Solar Collection Towe, Observation Deck

If Hoover Dam is the prom queen that everyone wants to date, HELIOS One is definitely next in line. This area plays a huge role in the final stages of the main questline, but also arguably most notably, this area is where players will complete the quest, That Lucky Old Sun. 

This quest requires the player to restore Helios One to its former glory and uncover why this facility is so valuable to all of the different militant groups. Hint, it’s because it powers a solar-powered laser. So, for that alone, it’s worth popping your head in here on your travels.

Hoover Dam

• Related Quests: Arizona Killer, King’s Gambit, You’ll Know it When It Happens
• Key Residents: General Lee Oliver, Colonel Cassandra Moore, Ranger Grant
• Interesting Features: Power Plant, Intake Towers, Tower, Visitor Centre

The crown jewel of the Mojave and the one territory that everybody desires, Hoover Dam. When the player first encounters this facility, it will be run by the NCR. There aren’t a lot of small quests to partake in at this facility, but you will encounter two of the most memorable quests here.

One quest will see you try and protect the NCR leader or kill him if you side with the legion. You’ll either have to act as the lone sniper that gets a clean shot on the target, or you’ll have the sniff out the assassin before they make their mark.

Plus, as you probably have gathered by now, this is where the final battle and the grand finale of this game takes place. No matter what you choose, Hoover Dam will always act as the final act. 

Mojave Outpost

• Related Quests: Can You Find It In Your Heart, Cold, Cold Heart, Heartaches By The Number, Keep Your Eyes on the Prize, My Kind of Town, You Can Depend on Me
• Key Residents: Rose of Sharon Cassidy, Ranger Ghost, Ranger Jackson, Sergeant Kilborn, Major Knight
• Interesting Features: Unification Monument, Headquarters, Barracks

Then lastly, we have the Mojave Outpost, an NCR base, and checkpoint that blocks the most popular trading route out of the Mojave. This will probably be many players’ first encounter with the NCR, provided you do as Vulpes Inculta advises in Nipton.

Here you can get to know the faction do a few odd jobs to raise your reputation with this group. You can enlist the services of companion Rose of Sharon Cassidy. Plus, you can take in the Unification monument that can be seen from all over the Mojave, much like the Lucky 38. 

Other Major Settlements

Then while these aren’t main faction-related areas, we have to mention these as they still serve as important areas in the game with smaller factions inhabiting each area.

They might not help you at Hoover Dam, but they still play a huge role and have major questlines too. So let’s take a look at these below:

New Vegas Strip

• Related Quests: Bye Bye, Love, How Little We Know, Ring-a-Ding-Ding, Talent Pool, Beyond the Beef, Pheeble Will, Classic Inspiration
• Key Residents: Phillipe, Marjorie, Big Sal, Benny, Swank, Cachino, Nero, Clanden, Mr. House
• Interesting Features: The Ultra-Luxe, The Tops, Gomorrah, NCR Embassy, Michael Angelo’s Workshop, Vault 21, Lucky 38

We could easily make a whole article about the many things on offer on the New Vegas Strip, and maybe we will. However, for now, let’s keep things brief.

Here you will be able to finally track down Benny and deal with him, meet Mr. House, visit the swanky cannibals at the Ultra-Luxe, live it large in the depravity of Gomorrah, become a master photographer at Michael Angelos, or visit Vault 21, where a genuine Vault-Tech Vault has been gutted and turned into a hotel.

There is a wealth of things to do here, and we urge you to do it all, and what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. 

Freeside

• Related Quests: GI Blues, Kings Gambit, Birds of a Feather, Debt Collector, Wang Tang Atomic Tango, Ain’t Nothin But a Houndog
• Key Residents: The King, Mick, Ralph, Francie Garret, James Garret, Gloria Van Graff
• Interesting Features: The Atomic Wrangler, Kings School of Impersonation, Old Mormon Fort, Mick and Ralph’s, The Silver Rush, Cerulean Robots

Freeside isn’t just a staging area or a gateway to the magic of New Vegas. Freeside is a wonderful yet very rough and ready place. Here you will have the task of finding a way into new vegas, which can include forging an illegal passport.

You can get your hands on a gold-plated Pip-Boy, you can head to the Van Graffs and get some uber-powerful energy weapons, you can head to the Atomic Wrangler and become a certified pimp, or you can head over to the Kings and see what legacy that one Elvis Pressley left in this alternate universe.

There is a cavalcade of things to do here, and they are all a joy!

Jacobstown

• Related Quests: Guess Who I Saw Today, Unfriendly Persuasion, Ain’t Nothin’ but a Houndog
• Key Residents: Markus, Keene, Calamity, Doc Henry
• Interesting Features: Jacobstown Lodge, Home of Companion (Lily), Has it’s own snow globe

Fallout 3 was great at making Super Mutants look like one-dimensional characters and complete neanderthals. Well, Jacobstown serves as a haven for all the lucid and civilized Super Mutants like Fawkes and undoes a lot of the failures of this game’s predecessor.

Here, you will encounter a scene where the schizophrenic Nightkin who are demanding that Doc Henry cure them of their affliction, so as you would expect, The Courier gets roped into this one, and you will have to help find a solution.

The player also needs to head here to help Rex, and this is also where you find your Nightkin companion, Lily.

Black Mountain

• Related Quests: Crazy, Crazy, Crazy, Eyesight for the Blind, Still in the Dark
• Key Residents: Tabitha, Neil, Raul
• Interesting Features: Broadcast Building, Storage Building, Prison, Neil’s Shack

Then speaking of portraying Super Mutants as multi-faceted characters, the game also goes out of its way to satirize and poke fun at the way Bethesda Game Studios handled this in FO3.

On Black Mountain, players will have to scale this area and head toward the broadcast tower where Tabitha, the deranged Super Mutant, is sending out her strange broadcasts.

Plus, if you check out the prison, you’ll also find the companion Raul, the super-lucky Ghoul voiced by Danny Trejo of all people. 

Best of The Rest

Now, we would love to go into depth about every location in FNV, as this game is chocked full of amazing locations that each tell their own unique story. However, as well said, the amount of locations in this game is far superior to that of Fallout 3 (or Fallout 4 for that matter), so we would be here all day listing them off, so why don’t we just give you the highlights? The rare little oddities that you shouldn’t miss when braving the Mojave.

Here they are listed below:

• 188 Trading Post
• Bitter Springs
• Camp Golf
• Camp Searchlight
• Westside
• Crashed Vertibird
• Gun Runners
• REPCONN Headquarters
• The Thorn

FAQ Section

A Wild Wasteland to Explore!

As you can see from the information above, there are so many incredible locations that have so much to offer players of Fallout New Vegas, and honestly, this only scratches the surface.

However, this is a great foundation that will give you a good understanding of the main areas of the game and act as a base to build on as you explore the deepest nooks and crannies that FNV has to offer.

We hope this guide serves you well on your travels, Courier, and as always, thank you for reading Wasteland Gamers!