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Fallout 1: Find the Water Chip

By Potato Katsuragi

10th Anniversary Edition

This guide explains the first quest in Fallout, Find the Water Chip, which is initiated upon creating a new game.
WARNING: Probably contains spoilers.

Award

Created by

Potato Katsuragi
Offline

Category: Walkthroughs

Languages: English

Posted

Updated

24 Dec, 2012 @ 7:12am

22 Dec, 2022 @ 1:09pm

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Guide Index

Overview

Find the Water Chip

Alternative 'Quick' Guide

Map of the Wasteland

Comments

Find the Water Chip

Vault 13/ Starting the game

Equip some weapons (You should have familarised yourself with the manual. It's a PDF file in C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\Fallout).
Exit the cave (Use your map to find the way out).
Walk towards the exit grid, then step on it.
Click the button next to Vault 15. You will start to travel there automatically (WARNING: Time still passes when travelling. You only have 150 days until the water runs out). On the way, stop at Shady Sands.

Vault 15

Before you reach Vault 15, don't go there quite yet. Instead, find Shady Sands. If you were lucky, you may have came across some guards with a merchant, who will take you to Shady Sands if you ask nicely!
When you reach Shady Sands, talk to one of the guards, Seth. Barter or Steal a rope from him.
Return to Vault 15, equip the rope, use it on the lift, then descend.
Head west to another lift, picking up some more rope from a side room opposite the lift.
Descend to Level 3 and find the destroyed Command Centre. You will gain 500 XP.
Exit the Vault without a water chip. You will need to search harder for one of those.

The Hub

Get to The Hub. Find the librarian and Steal/Barter the Holodisk from her.
This Holodisk contains data of some useful places.
READ ME: To extend the quest deadline by 100 days, talk to the Water Merchants in the downtown area of The Hub. For 2000 caps, they will send water to Vault 13. In the unpatched version of the game,this will lower the time limitation of the mutant invasion on Vault 13 by 100 days.
Head to Necropolis.

Necropolis

Look for a manhole cover. Watch out for the feral Ghouls, though, as they will attack you. Click the manhole cover to go into the sewers.
Head Northwest and talk to the friendly Ghouls. If they enquire about you taking the Water Chip, you can say yes and that you will fix it (RECOMMENDED) or say no. If they don't believe you, say you'll fix their water supply. You should fix it right away, but if you can't be bothered, you can come back 6 months (in game time) later to fix it.
Head north-west until you can go no further. Climb a ladder, and if you end up in a room with a non-hostile Ghoul, then find a Super Mutant (Big, green, stupid). Otherwise, look for a manhole then get to the room with a Ghoul.
Go down the manhole cover next to the Super Mutant, and look around for a pile of junk. You can use this to fix the pump.
Next to the Super Mutant, there is a room. Walk inside.
You'll be greeted by a mutant called Harry. Bypass him by saying "I'm a ghoul." This will allow you to access the water pump. If you fail the check, Harry will escort you to the Super Mutant base. You'll end up being interrogated by a mutant with a weird eye, The Lieutenant. He will probably put you in a prison cell, or if things go really wrong,they might tie you up and dip you into the vat of FEV. You can try to lockpick the door and escape, and sneak out (You may need a high lockpick skill for this). If you don't mind cheating,then you can save before you speak to Harry, and if you fail the check, you can reload and try again.
You will see the water pump in the third room. If you have the parts, then you can fix it and avoid angering the ghouls in the Vault.
OPTIONAL: Find the prison with a ghoul, pick the lock and free him.
In the next room, in a small cell, there is a entrance to Vault 12. Make your way through it. You may have to fight some Glowing Ghouls.
Reach the Water Chip, then make your way out of the vault, (if you didn't fix the pump, expect a fight) go through Necropolis and get back to Vault 13.
Make your way down to the bottom level of the Vault. Give the Chip to the Overseer (Chap at the start of the game) during the daytime.
Congratulations! You have completed the first quest for Fallout 1.

Alternative 'Quick' Guide

Quick route
You can go directly to Necropolis, get the chip & back to the Vault. You don't need to level.
Takes only a few days.
1. Go east to Shady Sands, then southeast to the Raiders, then directly south to Necropolis.
2. Enter the first manhole. Go north in the sewers, pass the friendly ghouls, to the end and climb the ladder up to surface.
3. Head north to building with mutants. Tell the mutant (Harry) you are a ghoul and he will let you pass.
4. Go down sewer manhole to Vault 12, avoid the ghouls, take elevator to lvl 3, pass the ghouls to computer with the waterchip.
5. Grab the chip and head home (Watch out for the Ghouls!).
This allows you to get the waterchip immediately, at low level, without fighting anything!

This 'quick' guide was created by jjellison.home. Thanks!

Map of the Wasteland

Map
https://i.imgur.com/qFFETEm.jpg

32 Comments

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Adrenaline Junkie 26 Mar @ 4:49pm

Pro Tip: You don't have to do anything with Seth for the rope. You can find 2 pieces of rope in the East "farm" section of Shady. One next to a toilet in the south-east, and another on a shelf in a building to the north.

Sir Darles Charwin 6 Aug, 2023 @ 12:45pm

I can't find any Super Mutant. Am I doing something wrong?

Lord Skarra 23 Jan, 2023 @ 12:24am

i wrote alot more... but basically it involves spam clicking, and running for your life back to vault 13.

this guide needs pictures with circles on locations to go to.

the ghouls near the vault in necropolis are unavoidable... and a pain to deal with.

Lord Skarra 23 Jan, 2023 @ 12:22am

This took me awhile... certain parts were unclear...

Mostly i skipped directly to necropolis

Head north-west until you can go no further. Climb a ladder, and if you end up in a room with a non-hostile Ghoul, then find a Super Mutant (Big, green, stupid). Otherwise, look for a manhole then get to the room with a Ghoul.
Go down the manhole cover next to the Super Mutant, and look around for a pile of junk. You can use this to fix the pump.

these lines make no sense... since going climbing up ladder leads to room with 3 ghouls... these ghouls are useless... going outside ders a big mutant and manhole... going down manhole leaves to multiple annoying monsters that basically kill you. so ders no way to get part? from? idk? pile of scrap? so just skip to harry ignore him or sweet talk him... run to manhole in far right room.

Potato Katsuragi [author] 22 Apr, 2021 @ 11:12am

@Blank I've updated that part of the guide

Violence Enjoyer 22 Apr, 2021 @ 2:33am

You forgot to mention this, but doesn't using the water merchant reduce the time it takes for the mutants to attack the vault?

Piromaru 16 Jan, 2021 @ 10:10am

Didn't they "remove" the timer in one of the patches and the game continues even the timer runs out?
I think that they removed and the hidden "mutant invasion on the vault" timer, only invasions happen in other places

Potato Katsuragi [author] 15 Dec, 2020 @ 11:19am

@Someguy1220 Glad that this guide could be of help all these years later!

Someguy1220 13 Dec, 2020 @ 8:03pm

thanks man

Amirkia 6 Jun, 2020 @ 7:55am

Lieutenant didnt put me into the cell, if i dont say him the location another super mutant hit me then he ask me again and after i say him the coordinates of my vault a cinematic show up that they tie up and mummification me to a thing and put me to an acid bowl, then they attack our vault and kill everybody
Read this: if Harry didnt believe that you are a ghoul you can load up back and speak to him again few times and he may believe it

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