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The Den is a pretty annoying place, and the most annoying thing about it are the freakin' kids stationed near all doors. The little bastards will steal items from you when you pass near them (e.g., when you go through the door.) Normally I wouldn't even think of doing that, though it's just a game, but after being robbed naked for a few games, my curiosity got the best of me, and I decided I want to see what happends if I shoot the bastards. Got flagged as a child killer, and lost Sulik from the party. Fair enough, I suppose. I reloaded, so I don't know more about that.
You'll want to talk to Smitty on the west edge. It's the guy in the
house in the middle of the car graveyard. He'll tell you that you can
have the car there for 2000$ and a fuel cell controller, which right
now you don't have. Without the patch, you could get the car even if
you didn't have the controller, by showing Smitty the injection system
instead, and then saying you give him the money and the controller.
You still had to have the cash, though.
The car serves a couple of purposes. First, it shortens travel time
_lots_. Second, its trunk serves as a container for your stuff. And
it can hold quite a bit of stuff. It can come in very handy for
storing lots of loot to sell, or lots of different types of weapons
and ammo for later.
Also in this area there's Becky's bar and casino. You can get a
couple of easy quests from Becky. First one is getting some money
back from Fred. I spotted the poor sod with half of it, which I then
got back from Becky. Second one is getting a book back from a geezer
in the east half of the town. Just go talk to him a couple of times,
then look for a book on the ground almost anywhere in the eastern
half. First time I found it in the outhouse, second time near a
burning barrel, third time near another barrel, etc.
Also in the western area there's Lara and her gang (the bunch in metal
armours). She'll ask you to find out what's in the crates in the
church in the western half. I went there and told the moron at the
door that Metzger's sent me to check the contents, 'cause he wants to
be sure. Got 500 xp for bulshitting the guard, and another 500 xp for
examining the crates. Then she'll ask you to ask Metzger if she can
fight Tyler's gang (the bunch at the church). Metzger's the head of
the Slavers' Guild (the bunch in leather armour, in the east half of
town.) Do so. Then she'll ask you to find a weakness in Tyler's
gang. Just go there and talk to the moron. He'll tell you that most
of their gang goes to a party that night.
Now if you want to get your money for this last mission, you'll have
to go with Lara when she fights Tyler's gang. She says that you don't
have to fight, just be there. However, most of the Tyler's buddies
were happily shooting at Lara, and I didn't have the nerve to find out
if I still get paid if she dies. So I had to do most of the work
there, too.
Be prepared for a long fight, since the 10mm you have at this point
doesn't do much damage against metal armour (and even less if you try
AP ammo, so don't.)
For that reason, IMHO you'd better get Vic in your party first. If
nothing else, it gives those guards an extra someone to shoot at. In
fact, you'll probably want to take Vic before even starting Lara's
quests, if you can afford that, since you'll probably get a level up
sometime during them, and it'd be nice to have the moron lavel up,
too, before a real battle.
Also in the western half, there's some geezer in a house full of
addicts, who'll get upset and make an "Animaniacs" type fuss if you
ask about his accent. (As a sidenote, that's the one thing I DON'T
like about this sequel: the heavy Out-Of-Character content, such as
references to its being just a game, or to cartoon shows or to Monty
Python. It definitely ruins my role-playing.) If you can bear to
wade through his BS and keep asking him, you find out he's a
shopkeeper of sorts. More of like a fence, actually, since he's the
one paying the kids to steal. He's got good merchandise, though, if
you have the cash, and here's where you can buy your missing items
back.
There's also a geezer named Joey, who can pinpoint New Reno and some
other town on your map. Not strictly necessary, since you can find
those locations (and more) from Vault City, anyway. He'll also offer
to sell you Jet, a highly addictive drug, for a ludicrious price.
About 10 times or so more expensive than anywhere else in town. My
advice is to stay clear of Jet, since it'll be a permanent addiction
until you get the antidote, and that's much later.
Still in the western half, there's a Brotherhood of Steel building
with a guard, but he won't let you in right now. You can gain
entrance to all Brotherhood of Steel buildings much later, after
bringing them the vertibird plans in San Francisco. However, this
particular building was empty, anyway. I.e., don't lose time with it.
(BTW, the one in NCR is empty, too.)
Next to the Brotherhood of Steel building, there's a haunted house,
but the ghost is only visible at night, around midnight, and there's a
geezer showing a ghoul for a mummy. Talk to the ghost. Talk to Mom,
in her restaurant in the eastern side, and ask about the locket. Talk
to Joey. You can either buy the locket, or BS an already scared Joey
that the gost will come for him. Bring it to the ghost for some xp.
Now take the bones. Get a shovel. Go find Anna's grave in the
cemetery, again in the eastern side. Dig it up (use the shovel on
it). Click on it. Transfer the bones to it. Use the shovel on it
again. More xp.
You don't have anything to do with the ghoul, until you've received
the quest to find the ghoul, from Gecko village. Anyway, if you
really want to see the ghoul, be smart and lockpick your way through
the thrashed room (with the ghost), instead of passing through the
front door and between the two thieving kids.
This just about covers the western part, so let's get to the eastern
one.
The main attraction in the eastern part is the Slavers' Guild. There
are a few silly things you could do here, such as joining the Guild.
That means getting a slaver tattoo on the forehead, which turns Sulik
against you, and I highly suspect will make it impossible to do other
quests later. So I just reloaded. Apparently you can also try to
sell Sulik as a slave, but I didn't use that option, either. I really
needed him more as a fighter.
Vic is a prisoner there, since he sold Metzger a broken radio, and now
he must fix it. But he doesn't have the parts, so he's basically
screwed up. Get permission to talk to him (e.g., from the guard in
front of his door), and he'll tell you he needs the radio back in his
house in Klamath for parts. You did bring it along, didn't you? So
give him the radio. Metzger still won't let Vic go, even after he's
fixed the radio. Ask if some money will help, and he'll ask for
1000$. If you're with the female character, you can screw Metzger for
half the price, which at this point means pretty much.
Alternately, you can get Vic after killing Metzger, which is a quest,
too. Only problem is that at this point you're probably NOT prepared
to deal with a dozen slavers shooting at you. Trust me, you'll need
better armour and better firepower than the lousy 10mm you probably
have now.
After you buy Vic, you can take him in your party. Initially, Vic is
good at repairing things, and he'll do the repairing for you whenever
you use the repair skill. He can also use small guns (pistols and
rifles), so get him a 10mm for now. Mind you, he's pretty inept at it
now, so don't give him a burst mode weapon for now, unless you have a
death wish. But he gets much better after he gets his level maxxed
up, AND he can use armour, unlike other tougher npc's (like Marcus or
Goris). Also, by the end of the game, he could use the M72 Gauss Rifle
(sort of a rail-gun), which Sulik didn't want to use. Briefly, in the
long run he's not that bad a partner to have around.
Speaking of Vic and guns, keep him well supplied with ammo. He's
pretty inept at hand-to-hand combat, and he stays that way. He also
doesn't have too great hp, so you don't want him in the front line.
If you have good stealing skill, you can make some cash by stealing
the guards' ammo and Metzger's shotgun and ammo. At this point, the
shotgun is a good weapon, though, so maybe don't sell it. Just save
before each steal, and be sure to do it from the behind, sneaking.
Don't go for a steal from the front.
There's a bar just west of the slavers, with another couple of those
thieving bastards up front. Its owner sells booze at an overly
inflated price and bad mouths Becky to all his customers for having
lower prices. He asks you to find out where she gets her whiskey. I
didn't like the guy, so I didn't. If you're with a male character,
you can pay to screw a prostitute here, though it beats me what's the
point. If you're with a female, you can screw a customer for some
cash. (Hey, it comes in very handy for buying Vic :)
There's also "Mom's" joint south of the slavers. "Mom" will ask you
to take a dinner to Smitty, the dude in the junkyard at the western
end of the town. You'll get some xp and a stimpak if you do. If you
talk to Mom after that, you get a free rat meal, though again I fail
to see any point in it.
The drunk in the back is Karl, who's missing in Modoc, and contrary to
what I first assumed, it IS possible to talk to him now about the
ghosts. Just don't give him any money, or he'll be perpetually drunk.
Ask him about his story.
A girl in here can tell you about her cat. Boring story, but if you
encourage her to speak, you'll get 200xp at the end of it. (Someone
said it was 250 for them. Is it random? Or is one of us remembering
wrong?)
Last, but not least, you also can dig the other graves in the
graveyard if you have a shovel. There's not much loot to be found
here, but it's more than nothing I suppose. You'll get flagged as a
grave robber, and I think you lose some karma per grave dug, but other
than that it doesn't seem to have much influence on the game's
outcome.
When you're through here, just leave for Vault City...
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