Vault
Vault 19
A Vault built over sulfur caves, now held by Samuel Cooke's breakaway Powder Gangers, and the setting for Why Can't We Be Friends?
- Region
- Western Mojave
- Faction
- Powder Gangers
- Danger
- Medium
- Map position
- 8 × 9
Vault 19 is a Vault-Tec shelter in the hills northeast of Goodsprings, beside Nevada 159 between Bonnie Springs and Whittaker Farmstead. The way in is a sewer grate inside the attendant's booth of an old fenced parking lot. Its pre-war experiment split the residents into isolated Red and Blue sectors and fed their paranoia about each other. Today it is home to a breakaway group of Powder Gangers under Samuel Cooke, who left the Correctional Facility and brought their explosives with them. The lower levels open onto natural caves full of sulfur deposits.
The quest Why Can't We Be Friends? begins when you talk to Cooke or to Philip Lem, who sit in the two overseers' offices. Cooke wants the fire geckos cleared from the sulfur caves so his men can mine the sulfur for explosives to use against the NCR, and then wants his group to join the Great Khans. Lem wants the sulfur deposit blown up to stop Cooke's plan, and afterwards wants to lead the convicts back to surrender to the NCR. You can also wire the deposit to blow and bring the entire vault down on everyone inside.
Fire geckos are the main threat in the caves, breathing flames that eat through light armor, and night stalkers lurk there too. The vault itself is large and dark, with plenty of containers, Vault 19 jumpsuits and four C-4 plastic explosives hidden around the halls. Bring fire resistance if you have it, and an Explosives skill of 60 if you want Lem's ending or want to destroy the vault.
How to get there
From Goodsprings head north-northeast along Nevada 159 to the fenced parking lot between Bonnie Springs and Whittaker Farmstead; the entrance is a sewer grate inside the attendant's booth.
Notable loot
- Vault 19 jumpsuits
- Four C-4 plastic explosives hidden around the vault
Related quests
- Why Can't We Be Friends?
Notable characters
- Samuel Cooke
- Philip Lem
Tips
- Lem's ending needs Explosives 60 and three C-4 to blow the caves; a Speech 40 check lets you send Lem's group to the Great Khans instead of the NCR.
- Fire geckos in the sulfur caves burn through light armor; fire resistance helps a lot.
- Blowing up the caves and the vault together takes five C-4 and fails the quest, so loot the vault first.
Collectibles and items here
- Holotape Patient 1648654One of five patient logs in the first floor clinic: two under the examination room desk, one on top of it, one in the east corner under the shelving unit, and one on the west wall behind the privacy screen under the medical trolley.
- Holotape Patient 1687865One of five patient logs in the first floor clinic: two under the examination room desk, one on top of it, one in the east corner under the shelving unit, and one on the west wall behind the privacy screen under the medical trolley.
- Holotape Patient 3905698One of five patient logs in the first floor clinic: two under the examination room desk, one on top of it, one in the east corner under the shelving unit, and one on the west wall behind the privacy screen under the medical trolley.
- Holotape Patient 5498465One of five patient logs in the first floor clinic: two under the examination room desk, one on top of it, one in the east corner under the shelving unit, and one on the west wall behind the privacy screen under the medical trolley.
- Holotape Patient 6585645One of five patient logs in the first floor clinic: two under the examination room desk, one on top of it, one in the east corner under the shelving unit, and one on the west wall behind the privacy screen under the medical trolley.
- Key Blue sector key cardOn a table next to a terminal inside Vault 19. The keys list places two copies on tables beside terminals in the Blue Sector; this is the first.
- Key Blue sector key cardOn a table next to a terminal inside Vault 19. The keys list places two copies on tables beside terminals in the Blue Sector; this is the second.
- Key Blue sector key cardCarried by Philip Lem in Vault 19. He gives it to you if you offer to help him, or it can be pickpocketed.
- Key Red sector key cardOn a table next to a terminal inside Vault 19. The keys list places two copies on tables beside terminals in the Red Sector; this is the first.
- Key Red sector key cardOn a table next to a terminal inside Vault 19. The keys list places two copies on tables beside terminals in the Red Sector; this is the second.
- Key Red sector key cardCarried by Samuel Cooke in Vault 19. He gives it to you when you offer to help him.
- Character Philip LemIn the red overseer's office in Vault 19.
- Character Samuel CookeIn the blue overseer's office in Vault 19.
- Side quest Why Can't We Be Friends?Talk to Samuel Cooke or Philip Lem in the overseer's offices at either end of the first hallway inside Vault 19.
- Skill magazine Today's Physician (Medicine)Vault 19 first floor, in the clinic, on the desk beside the broken computer.
- Skill magazine Programmer's Digest (Science)First floor of the Blue Sector: under the desk with the terminal in the first room on the left after you enter the sector.
- Star bottle cap Vault 19 blue sector dormVault 19, living quarters in the blue sector (not the first floor). Inside the second dorm, on the desk with the terminal and the chessboard.