Settlement
Nipton
A small town near the California line massacred by Caesar's Legion, where you first meet Vulpes Inculta and Boxcars.
- Region
- Southern Mojave
- Faction
- Caesar's Legion
- Danger
- Low
- Map position
- 9 × 17
Nipton is a small town on Nevada 164 near the California state line, and for most players it is the first real look at what Caesar's Legion does. Under Vulpes Inculta, the Legion took the town and held a lottery that decided who was beheaded, crucified, enslaved or spared. You arrive to smoke, a pyre and crucified Powder Gangers outside the Town Hall, and Oliver Swanick, the lottery winner, may greet you near the entrance.
Vulpes waits by the Town Hall, and how you treat him shapes your early standing with the Legion. Nipton is also a stop on the main quest trail They Went That-a-Way. Boxcars hides in the General Store and gives Booted, which sends you to free Powder Gangers held at the Legion Raid Camp, and he also has a lead for Wheel of Fortune. Ranger Ghost at the Mojave Outpost sends you here in Keep Your Eyes on the Prize.
Loot is decent for an early town. A worn key behind the Town Hall counter opens the basement, the Big Book of Science sits on the mayor's desk on the third floor, and a Nuka-Cola Victory waits behind an Average locked door in the mayor's office. A Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle cap sits on the ruined bookcase in the master bedroom of the ranch house south of the General Store, and another waits on a truck wreck at the Viper Gang ambush east of town along Nevada 164, where frag mines hide under the traffic cones. Legion mongrels in the Town Hall stay hostile without Animal Friend.
How to get there
From Primm, follow Nevada 164 southeast past the Ivanpah area and the Nipton Road Pit Stop into town.
Notable loot
- Big Book of Science (mayor's office desk, Town Hall third floor)
- Nuka-Cola Victory (behind the Average locked door in the mayor's office)
- Worn key (behind the Town Hall counter, opens the basement)
- Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle cap (ruined bookcase in the master bedroom of the ranch house south of the General Store)
Related quests
- They Went That-a-Way
- Booted
- Keep Your Eyes on the Prize
- Wheel of Fortune
- Cold, Cold Heart
Notable characters
- Vulpes Inculta
- Boxcars
- Oliver Swanick
Tips
- Watch for frag mines under the traffic cones at the Viper Gang ambush east of town if you go after the star cap in the truck wreck there.
- Hear Vulpes out before shooting if you want to keep the Legion questline open.
- Pick up Booted from Boxcars in the General Store before you leave.
Collectibles and items here
- Easter egg Owen and BeruIn Nipton, east of the town hall in front of the ruined house #6 (the one with a Mister Gutsy inside): two charred skeletons lying side by side, named Owen and Beru.
- Weapon Laser rifleNext to the corpse of a wastelander in the Good Luck trailer park at the south end of Nipton. Bark scorpions attack on entry.
- Weapon Grenade rifleIn the Nipton house with sandbags in front (house 4): a locked safe in the bathroom holds it, with a Patriot's Cookbook and some 40mm grenades. A pressure plate in the bathroom doorway releases three bark scorpions.
- Holotape Brotherhood scout reportCarried by the Brotherhood scout crouching on a high cliff far northeast of Nipton, up the old railroad tracks, between and a little north of the coyote den and the hidden supply cave.
- Key Worn keyBehind the counter directly to the right as you enter the town hall.
- Note Declaration of Vital EssenceIn the booby-trapped Nipton house east of the general store (the one with sandbags), inside the tool cabinet in the kitchen opposite the front door.
- Note Tomas's journalCarried by Tomas, who fights Jacklyn on the road between the Nipton Road pit stop and Nipton during The Star Showdown. Pickpocket it or take it from his body.
- Character BoxcarsHiding in the Nipton general store with crippled legs.
- Character GabbanIn front of the Nipton Town Hall, only if Vulpes Inculta is dead before the Courier reaches Nipton or Render Unto Caesar has started.
- Character JacklynNear the west entrance of Nipton, on the road to the Nipton Road pit stop, with Tomas. They only appear after the Courier has picked up a Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle cap.
- Character Oliver SwanickRunning away from the Nipton entrance when the Courier first arrives. He may flee toward the Nipton Road pit stop, where the Jackals can kill him.
- Character TomasOn the road between Nipton and the Nipton Road pit stop, with Jacklyn. They only appear after the Courier has picked up a Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle cap.
- Side quest BootedTalk to Boxcars, the Powder Ganger with crippled legs, inside the Nipton general store on the corner as you enter town from the west.
- Side quest Cold, Cold HeartVulpes Inculta speaks to you outside the Nipton town hall after the Legion has massacred the town.
- Unmarked quest The Star ShowdownOnce you hold at least one Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle cap, approach Nipton from the west, between the town and the Nipton Road pit stop, to find Tomas and Jacklyn in a gunfight.
- Skill book Big Book of Science (Science)Nipton Town Hall, top floor, in Mayor Joseph B. Steyn's office. The book is on the desk.
- Skill magazine Salesman Weekly (Barter)On the ground floor, on the counter to the right of Boxcars.
- Skill magazine Future Weapons Today (Energy Weapons)On the shelf right behind the mayor's desk, alongside a Big Book of Science and a Programmer's Digest.
- Skill magazine Patriot's Cookbook (Explosives)In the house with the caged bark scorpions (house 4, sandbags out front), inside the Easy-locked safe in the bathroom along with a low-condition grenade rifle.
- Skill magazine Milsurp Review (Guns)On the second floor, lying on the rug next to the overturned couch.
- Skill magazine Programmer's Digest (Science)In Mayor Steyn's office in the Nipton Town Hall: check his desk with the terminal and the cabinet behind it.
- Skill magazine Programmer's Digest (Science)Second copy in Mayor Steyn's office, by his desk with the terminal.
- Star bottle cap Nipton ranch houseNipton, inside the ranch house south of the Trading Post general store. In the master bedroom, on top of the ruined bookcase near the chessboard and the bottle.