Broken Hills – Fallout 2 Location

In this guide we’ll show you everything there is to know about Broken Hills, where ghouls, mutants, and humans live in peace and harmony — sometimes. Broken Hills is also where you can pick up the super mutant companion Marcus.

Introduction

This is an intermediary area where you can find the super mutant companion Marcus and pick up a few quests along the way.

The first time you drive into Broken Hills, you’ll hit a ghoul named Lumpy with your car. This is a different Lumpy than the one in Gecko. Talking to Lumpy won’t lead to anything. He’s just an amusing character who will reference the Nuka-Cola Truck special encounter from the original Fallout. Once you’ve completed your conversation with Lumpy, he’ll shamble off, never to be seen again.

Quests & Opportunities

Here is a list of some of the quests and other opportunities in Broken Hills, each with a brief synopsis containing at least one way to solve it. The remaining ways, and possibly other minor quests I will leave up to you.

An Honest Day’s Work

You’ll meet Bill in the caravan office on the western side of Downtown. He’ll offer you some work: guarding caravans to Gecko, the NCR, or Vault City for $200, or shoveling brahmin manure for $100. Caravans start every ten days (Gecko on the 1st, NCR on the 11th, and Vault City on the 21st) and usually involve one or more battles. When you reach your destination, you’ll just need to talk to Chad (in the Leather Jacket) to collect your earnings. Just be aware that the trips are only one-way, so you’ll have to walk back. Shoveling manure takes 24 hours, but if you do it five times, then you’ll earn the Expert Excrement Expeditor perk plus 500xp. At that point all the manure will be gone, and Bill will stop offering the job.

Three Favors for Typhon

On the northern side of the street in the Residential area, you might notice a house with a fenced in “yard.” This is the Old Ghouls’ Home. Inside, you’ll meet Typhon. He’ll tell you that a hid a treasure a long time ago, and he’ll offer it to you if you do him a favor. This will actually turn into three favors, where you’ll have to find three items for him:

• Cat’s Paw Magazine. You can get one of these from a pot in the outdoor dining area of the hotel in the Downtown map. After handing over the magazine, you’ll have to wait an hour before you can continue the quest.

• Rubber Doll. Typhon will suggest that you go to New Reno for this, but you can actually find one inside a bookcase in Marcus’ house in the Downtown map. After handing over the doll, you’ll have to wait three hours before you can continue the quest.

• Rotgut. Typhon will direct you to Phil’s bar in the Downtown map for this. Phil will sell you Rotgut for $5. You can also steal Rotgut from Elmo in the sheriff’s office south of Marcus’ house in the Downtown map.

When you deliver the Rotgut to Typhon, you’ll earn 2000xp and 2 karma. But Typhon won’t remember exactly where he hid his treasure. He’ll know it was in the Downtown map, and that it was somewhere “indispensable,” but that’s it.

You’ll find the treasure when you examine the town well. It’ll be behind a loose brick. However, when you try to grab the treasure, it’ll fall down to the bottom of the well, and you’ll be much too big to go after it.

By amazing coincidence, you’ll meet a small treasure hunter named Micky loitering nearby. When you tell him about the treasure, he’ll agree to climb down into the well and get it. Unfortunately, Micky will discover that the treasure only consists of Bottle Caps, which aren’t worth anything. You’ll then get so distracted by the faux treasure that you’ll forget Micky is in the well, and he’ll end up stuck down there for the rest of the game. The perils of treasure hunting.

“Hmmmm… I keep having this feeling that I’ve forgotten something about the well. Oh well, no time to waste.”

If you go back to Typhon, he’ll claim that he didn’t know his treasure was worthless. If you forgive him, then you’ll gain 2 karma.

A New Home for Seymour

In the northeastern part of the Residential map, you’ll discover a garden that includes a chatty spore plant named Seymour. Seymour can be tough to see, so just look for his subtitles to figure out where he is.

When you talk to Seymour, he’ll ask you to replant him near the Old Ghouls’ Home. To do this, you’ll just need to talk to him while you have a Shovel in your inventory. You’ll then automatically move him to his new home, which will earn you 1000xp and 2 karma. Seymour will also teach you the Flying Liver Attack, which you’ll need if you want to beat the radscorpion at chess (see The Professor and the Radscorpion below).

The Professor and the Radscorpion

In the southeastern part of the Residential map, you’ll meet the Professor and his radscorpion (but not Ginger or Mary Ann). The Professor will tell you that he’s researching ways to increase Intelligence using drugs, and that he’s been having success with the radscorpion after failing with Seymour the spore plant. If you feel up to it, you can test yourself against the radscorpion:

• Agility. This test involves picking locks. You’ll earn 500xp when you succeed.

• Perception. This test involves reading an eye chart. You’ll earn 500xp when you succeed.

• Intelligence. This test involves playing chess, but the radscorpion will cheat, and you’ll always lose — until you learn its weakness. To do this, you’ll need to complete Seymour’s quest (see A New Home for Seymour above). As a reward for your help, Seymour will teach you the Flying Liver Attack, which will allow you to beat the radscorpion.
  
  When you win the match, you’ll earn 500xp, but the radscorpion will attack you. Killing the radscorpion is easy, but you’ll lose 10 karma as a result. If you want to avoid that penalty, then you’ll need to leave your companions far enough away from the chess match so they don’t get involved, and you’ll need to run away during your turns in the battle until you can manually end combat. If you can get away, then the radscorpion will return to being neutral, and you’ll even be able to take more tests against it.

Note: If you kill or pickpocket the radscorpion, then you’ll discover Spectacles in its inventory. Unlike the Mirrored Shades that you can find elsewhere, the Spectacles won’t help your Primary Stats in any way. They’re just an item that you can use in New Reno to acquire the Pip Boy Medical Enhancer.

Fix the Mine’s Air Purifier

You’ll meet Zaius in the building next to the Mine entrance in the Residential map. He’ll tell you that the air purifier in the Mine is broken, and he’ll ask you to meet with Renesco in New Reno to get the necessary parts to fix it. If you demand compensation, then Zaius will promise you $500-$1000 (depending on your Barter skill), with half now and half later. If you don’t ask for anything, then he’ll tell you the code phrase “the canary’s kicked the bucket,” which will allow you to get the Mine Parts for free. You’ll also get a better reward at the end of the quest if you’re generous now.

In New Reno, you’ll find Renesco inside Renesco’s Pharmacy on Commercial Row. Your conversation with him should go as expected. If you learned the code phrase from Zaius, then you’ll receive the Mine Parts for free; otherwise, you’ll have to pay $100-200 for them.

Back in Broken Hills, you’ll need to fix the air purifier yourself. The Mine contains giant ants, lesser scorpions, and a lesser deathclaw.

Inside the Mine, you’ll encounter a bunch of giant ants, plus possibly a lesser deathclaw and some lesser scorpions, and every so often you’ll take 10-15 points of damage due to the fumes. Since the enemies should be fairly easy for you by this point in the game, and since you can skip most of them, we’d recommend leaving your companions outside the Mine, and heading for the air purifier alone.

The Mine is a bit of a maze. You’ll find the broken air purifier in a northeastern chamber. When you use the Mine Parts on it, you’ll fix it and earn 1500xp. This will also fix the air in the Mine, which means you’ll no longer take periodic damage from it.

If you explore the rest of the Mine, you might notice a pair of secret rooms. The one to the north is empty, but inside the one near the entrance you’ll meet Chuck Stodgers (a reference to Buck Rogers), which will earn you 1000xp. If you ask Stodgers who he is, then you’ll earn an additional 500xp. You’ll find Uranium Ore in the footlocker next to Stodgers.

When you return to Zaius after fixing the air purifier, he’ll give you your reward — either the second half of the money he promised you (if you asked for money) or a Combat Shotgun (if you didn’t). You’ll also receive 20 karma.

Find the Missing People for Marcus

You’ll meet Marcus on the eastern side of the Downtown map. He’ll tell you that he helped found Broken Hills, and that he’s now acting as sheriff. If you ask Marcus what’s going on in town, then he’ll tell you that some people are missing. He won’t have any helpful information about them, but he’ll offer you $500 to track them down.

Nobody else in Broken Hills will mention the missing people except for Dan inside his house on the eastern side of the Residential map. He’ll tell you that his wife is one of the missing people, and he’ll describe her as being blonde and sexy — and no friend to mutants or ghouls.

Note: As a result of this quest, Francis will leave Broken Hills and Jacob the Chemist will end up in jail, so if you want to complete their quests (Beat Francis in Arm Wrestling, Break Manson and Franc Out of Jail, and Blow Up the Mine’s Air Purifier), then you should do them before continuing.

You’ll eventually discover what happened to the missing people when you explore the Underground tunnels beneath the Residential map. You’ll find their bodies — or what’s left of them — in a chamber on the eastern side. This will earn you 500xp. When you examine the bodies, you’ll see that they were shot before being dumped in the tunnels, and on one of them you’ll find a Note from Francis. The note will indicate that Francis killed the people in an attempt to frame Jacob and his “damned conspirators” because they hate super mutants.

After reading the note, you’ll decide to confront Francis, whom you’ll find in Phil’s bar in the Downtown map. Francis will explain that he only killed people who were trying to kill him. This will leave you with two options: attack him or force him to leave Broken HIlls. The former will cause the town to turn against you, so it’s not recommended. If you choose the latter, then you’ll gain 1000xp, and Francis will disappear.

Next up, you should talk to Dan. When you tell him that his wife is dead, you’ll earn 500xp. If you do it in a nice way, then you’ll also gain 5 karma. But if you’re mean about it, then you’ll lose 5 karma.

Finally, you should return to Marcus. When you tell him what you’ve discovered, he’ll pay you $500, and he’ll arrest Jacob.

Note: To recruit Marcus, you’ll need to complete Zaius’ quest (see Fix the Mine’s Air Purifier above), and you’ll need to end Jacob’s plot to kill the mutants, either by completing this quest or by revealing Jacob’s plans to Marcus after learning about them.

Beat Francis at Arm Wrestling

Inside Phil’s bar in the Downtown map, you’ll meet a super mutant named Francis. He’ll tell you that no one has ever beaten him at arm wrestling. You can challenge him, but he won’t bother with you unless you have at least Strength 8. To beat Francis, you should get your Strength and Endurance as high as possible, and perhaps his as low as possible. There is some randomness to the event, but you’ll need to get your Strength + Endurance close to Francis’ Strength + Endurance — which starts out at 19 — to have any sort of chance of winning.

The easiest way to give yourself an advantage is to use Buffout — both on yourself and Francis. When you use it on yourself, you’ll gain +2 Strength and +3 Endurance for six hours, and the game will allow you to use it twice. You can also use Buffout on Francis once or twice, and then wait six hours for the withdrawal symptoms to kick in. This will cost him -2 Strength and -1 Endurance for each dose. You can get some Buffout by completing Eric’s quest (see Divert More Electrical Power to Eric’s Home below).

If you lose to Francis, then you’ll become his gimp for the night, which will net you a Ball Gag plus some soreness. But if you win, then Francis will give you a Power Fist, and you’ll earn 350xp. If you don’t want to deal with the whole arm wrestling thing, then you can also just steal the Power Fist from Francis.

Divert More Electrical Power to Eric’s Home

Eric lives on the western side of the Residential district. When you approach his house, you’ll notice flies all over the place. Then when you go inside, Eric will tell you that his body exudes fly nutrients — and even more so when he sweats. So he’ll ask you to visit the power generator in the Downtown area to the west, and allocate more power to his house so he can turn on his air conditioning and get rid of the flies.

At the power generator, you’ll meet Brian. With enough Speech you can convince him to divert more power to Eric’s house, or you can use Science on the computer next to him for the same result. You’ll only get one shot when talking to Brian, but you can fiddle with the computer as many times as you’d like. When you’re successful, you’ll earn 1000xp — unless you have a critical success with the computer and optimize the town’s power grid, and then you’ll earn 1500xp instead.

When you return to Eric, he’ll offer you one of two rewards: Buffout (but only if you haven’t completed Francis’ quest yet; see Beat Francis at Arm Wrestling above) or $150. You’ll still receive your chosen reward even if you’ve cleaned out Eric’s Buffout and money by bartering with him or robbing him. If you decline Eric’s reward, then he’ll tell you the location of the NCR, and you’ll also gain 10 karma.

Break Manson and Franc Out of Jail

In the southern part of the Downtown map, you’ll meet Jacob the Chemist inside the Chemist’s Pharmacy. The first time you talk to Jacob, he’ll ask you how you feel about mutants. If you say that you’re ambivalent about them or hate them, then he’ll reveal that mutants are taking over the town, and that anyone who disagrees with them is killed — or at least that’s what a “friend of a friend who had friends disappear” claims. If you agree with Jacob or just play along, then he’ll give you two quests, starting with this one.

For Jacob’s first quest, he’ll ask you to break Manson and Franc out of jail. The jail is the big building north of the well in the Downtown map. The mutant guard inside won’t like it if you have a weapon equipped or if you enter at night, and after two warnings he’ll open fire, which will probably go poorly for you since he has a Minigun. So you might need to wait or do some sneaking to avoid him.

Note: If you talk to Manson in jail before accepting this quest, and if you ask him about Broken Hills, then you can try to convince him to be more open-minded about mutants. Manson won’t understand what you’re saying, but you’ll still earn 300xp for making the attempt.

You’ll find Manson and Franc in the locked cell in the back of the jail. There are a few ways to open their cell door:

• You can steal or barter for the Cell Door Key from the mutant guard. The key has a value of 0, so it won’t cost you much.

• If you have Intelligence 7 and Charisma 7, then you can talk the guard into giving you the key.

• You can kill the guard for the key. Nobody outside the jail will notice. But given that there are three guards with Miniguns, this option isn’t recommended.

• You can pick the lock on the cell door.

If the guard gives you the key, then you can unlock and open the cell door at any time. Otherwise, you’ll need to open the door when the guard can’t see you — or, once again, after two warnings he’ll attack you and you’ll probably die. So stand away from the guard, and wait for him to start patrolling. Then when he gets to the front of the jail and looks outside, quickly unlock and open the cell door. When you do, you’ll gain 1500xp but lose 10 karma, and you’ll automatically free the prisoners and return to Jacob, who will give you his second quest (see Blow Up the Mine’s Air Purifier below).

Note: If you think Jacob is crazy and dangerous, then at any point after accepting his first quest and completing his second quest, you can rat him out to Marcus on the eastern side of the Downtown map. This will earn you 2500xp and 20 karma, but Jacob will get thrown in jail, and you won’t be able to complete any more quests for him.

Blow Up the Mine’s Air Purifier

Jacob will give you this quest after you’ve completed his first quest (see Break Manson and Franc Out of Jail above). Jacob will reveal that he has a plan to kill all of the mutants in town. He’ll give you an Explosive Charge, and he’ll tell you to plant it on the Mine’s air purifier. Then when he lures the mutants into the Mine, he’ll be able to take them out before they know what’s going on.

The entrance to the Mine is located on the northern side of the Residential map. You’ll find the air purifier in the northeastern part of the Mine. If you didn’t complete Zaius’ quest to fix the air purifier (see Fix the Mine’s Air Purifier above), then you’ll take damage as you explore the Mine, and you’ll also have to defeat some giant ants, plus perhaps an adolescent deathclaw if you get lost. When you reach the air purifier, you’ll just need to use the Explosive Charge on it to complete the quest. This will gain you 1500xp but cost you 50 karma. You’ll then automatically vacate the Mine, which you’ll no longer be able to enter.

As a result of completing the quest, almost all of the mutants in Broken Hills will disappear, including Marcus, and so you’ll potentially break some quests and lose a companion. Also, Bill in the caravan office will close shop, and he’ll no longer offer you work. But Jacob will be thrilled with you, and he’ll allow you to loot the stash under the General Store, where you’ll find an FN FAL and more. Just be sure to talk to Liz first, or else she’ll get mad when you try to go down there.

If you don’t like the “reward” for completing the quest, then you can instead turn in Jacob to Marcus on the eastern side of the Downtown map. You’ll earn 2500xp for this, and Marcus will lock up Jacob and his cohorts, keeping Broken Hills safe.