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Overview

When you arrive at Nipton, you'll find the place in bad shape, with piles of burning corpses and many people crucified. On the steps to the town hall (Exit A), you'll meet Vulpes Inculta, the leader of the attack force and also a lieutenant in Caesar's Legion, one of the major factions in the game. Inculta will go into great detail about why he attacked the town, and how he used a lottery to decide who would live and who would die. Inculta and his men won't attack you (and you probably won't be powerful enough to attack them), but they'll give you the quest Cold, Cold Heart so that you can spread the word of their deeds. With most of the town dead, you won't be able to do much in Nipton other than loot its (now vacant) buildings.

If you follow the road east out of Nipton, then a short ways away you'll find an overturned truck with a Sunset Sarsaparilla Star Bottle Cap on a crate next to it. Just be careful of the Frag Mines in the area (all helpfully marked by red traffic cones).

Somewhere near Nipton, you should witness a gunfight between Tomas and Jacklyn. This encounter is covered in the Star Caps section of the walkthrough.


1 - Oliver Swanick

When you approach Swanick, he'll announce -- with a certain amount of exuberance -- that he just won the lottery, and then he'll run off to the west. You won't learn what he was talking about until you enter the general store (#5) or reach the town hall (Exit A).


2 - House

You'll find a Sunset Sarsaparilla Star Bottle Cap in this house (on the dresser in the bedroom).


3 - Camper

On the ground next to this camper, you'll find a dead wastelander with a Laser Rifle next to him. Nearby you'll also find an ash pile containing Legion Recruit Armor, which will give you a disguise for Caesar's Legion if you need one.


4 - Houses

You won't find anything noteworthy in these houses.


5 - General Store

Inside the general store you'll meet a powder ganger named Boxcars. If you talk to him, then you'll learn that he came in second in the lottery, and so he only had his legs broken. If you give him some Med-X, then you'll gain karma. Boxcars is involved in the quests Booted and Wheel of Fortune (so don't kill him or else you'll fail those quests).

Also in the general store you can pick up a copy of Salesman Weekly (on the front counter) and a copy of the Milsurp Review (in the middle of the rug in the upstairs bedroom), plus loot a safe (in the upstairs bedroom).


6 - Trapped House

Inside this house you'll find several traps (including a few Frag Mines, tripwires in the kitchen and bedroom, and a pressure plate in the bedroom). You won't be able to disarm the pressure plate, which will release the bark scorpions from their cage in the living room when you stand on it.

Elsewhere in the house you'll find some things of interest: a Declaration of Vital Essence (in the tool cabinet in the kitchen), a dead Recruit Legionary (also in the kitchen), a Patriot's Cookbook (in the locked safe in the bathroom), and a Grenade Rifle (also in the safe).


7 - House

When you enter this house you'll get attacked by a Mister Gutsy Prototype, which you should be able to kill easily. Then as you explore the house, you'll find a 9mm Submachine Gun (behind some cinder blocks), a Plasma Pistol (under the workbench), Leather Armor (on the floor by the bed), a dead Recruit Legionary (in the bedroom), a safe with an "average" lock (also in the bedroom), a Laser Rifle (in the bathtub), and more. You'll also find a terminal that will give you some background information on the owner of the house. Nothing will happen if you "reset mainframe connection."


8 - Owen and Beru

You'll only notice the burned corpses of Owen and Beru (Luke's uncle and aunt from Star Wars) here if you have the Wild Wasteland perk.


9 - Hotel

Inside the hotel you'll find four dead NCR soldiers.


10 - Worn Key

You'll find a Worn Key on the counter here, with a Frag Mine on the floor next to it. You can use the key to unlock the basement door (#11).


11 - Basement Door

To get this door open, you'll need to pick its "hard" lock or use the Worn Key from the reception area (#10).


12 - Basement

Inside the basement you'll find an explosives crate, a first aid box, a gun cabinet, and two doses of Turbo (on the coffee table).


13 - Legion Mongrels

At these two spots you'll get attacked by five or six Legion mongrels. Killing them won't cost you any Caesar's Legion infamy.


14 - Dead Wastelander

You'll find a Frag Mine under the dead wastelander. To disarm it, you'll need to move the wastelander out of the way (by pressing Z on the PC).


15 - Dead Prospector

You'll find a nice amount of random loot on the dead prospector.


16 - Mayor Steyn's Office

On the desk here you'll find Mentats, a Big Book of Science, two copies of Programmer's Digest, and a terminal containing the mayor's journal. In the broken cabinet behind the desk, you'll find a copy of Future Weapons Today, a Laser Pistol, some Energy Cells, several Lottery Tickets, and a Bobby Pin.


17 - Locked Storage Room

If you can pick the "average" lock on the door, then inside the storage room you'll find an armor case, a gun cabinet, a 10mm Pistol (in the shelf), a Nuka-Cola Victory (also in the shelf), and more.


Exits:

1. Entrance to the town hall.
2. Lower stairwell.
3. Upper stairwell.