Vault 3

"Underground Troubles" 
Vault 3 is a location in the Mojave Wasteland .
==Background==
Vault 3 was one of five vaults constructed by the Vault-Tec Corporation in the broader Mojave region assigned to house a civilian population, along with Vault 11, Vault 19, Vault 21, and Vault 34, as well as one of two vaults constructed in proximity to the Las Vegas Strip, along with Vault 21. Nestled amidst the blocks of South Vegas, Vault 3 was intended as one of the seventeen "control" vaults, so it was not given any parameters for the social experiments that notoriously plagued most other Vaults.Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition pp. 316-318: "[2.24] Vault 3Vault 3, which is now completely within South Vegas Ruins (AKA "Fiend Territory") was once an ordinary, happy vault. It wasn't built above a sulfur cave, or to feature Vault-Tec "experiments" that could drive dwellers mad. In fact, the place was functioning normally until a slight water leak turned the lower chambers soggy and forced the inhabitants out to the surface, in search of humanity on the topside. Instead, they met the Fiends."(Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition Tour of the Mojave Wasteland)
For decades after the Great War, all was going well in the Vault until a water leak occurred sometime in the 23rd century, forcing the residents to open the Vault for the first time to find help. After the original inhabitants of Vault 3 opened their doors, they began trading with other communities and establishing connections with the outside world. For a couple of weeks, it was peaceful and the inhabitants made a good living. However, the increased trade also brought the Vault to the attention of the drug-addicted raider tribe known as the Fiends.The Courier: "What can you tell me about Vault 3?"Bryce Anders: "The inhabitants of the Vault were simple traders. They made a good living for themselves for a couple weeks. Then they caught the Fiends attention. I don't think they set up any kind of security, stupid fucks. They all got themselves killed.	"(Bryce Anders' dialogue)
Exploiting the Vault dwellers' naivety and lack of security, the Fiends successfully conned themselves into the Vault, upon which they killed the inhabitants and claimed the Vault for themselves.The Courier: "Can you tell me what happened to the residents here?"Motor-Runner: "I guess it isn't a secret. Yeah, the residents of the Vault are all dead. We killed them. Funny thing is, they just let us in. We didn't have to force the doors or anything.(Motor-Runner's dialogue)The Courier: "What can you tell me about what happened here?"Bryce Anders: "The Fiends killed everyone living here, and now they are squatting in their home."(Bryce Anders' dialogue)
Originally intended as a safe place to house his people and keep them from accidentally wandering near the settlement of Westside, partially to avoid disrupting the Great Khans' drug trafficking around there and partially to prevent more of their number being killed by the Westside Militia, especially their super mutant member Mean Sonofabitch,The Courier: "Why did you move the Fiends into this Vault?"Motor-Runner: "We needed some place to put down some roots. I was having trouble keeping my people out of {outta} Westside.""The Courier: "What's going on in Westside?"Motor-Runner: "I try to keep my people out of Westside. Apart from trying to stay on good terms with the Khans, who do business there. There's Mean Son of A Bitch. That fucking mutant is more trouble to kill than to avoid. Having someplace for my people to sleep reduces the chances of drifting into Westside."(Motor-Runner's dialogue) Motor-Runner eventually capitalized on their fortune and turned the vault into an impenetrable base of operations.
With Vault 3 under their control, the Fiends have since grown steadily stronger, becoming a serious threat to the people living on the outskirts of the southwestern corner of New Vegas as well as a constant nuisance to the New California Republic Army command stationed at Camp McCarran.The Courier: "Who are the Fiends?"The Courier: "The Fiends?"James Hsu: " They've set up shop in Vault 3 to the west. Every day they attack our positions and my men repel them. But every day there's more of them and less of us. I sent one of my rangers after their leader to try and destabilize them. He didn't return. Hell of a thing, losing a ranger. You come to depend on them. And they come through for you so often, you forget it can happen."The Courier: "I'll go to Vault 3 and see if I can find your ranger."James Hsu: "That Vault is a hornet's nest. If you have second thoughts, no one would think less of you for it. But if you can get him home, it'd mean a lot. Watch for civilians, too. The Fiends have been kidnapping locals. They just walk right into people's homes in the middle of the day and take them. But the man you're looking for is Bryce Anders. Anders was trying to find the leader, Motor-runner. "(James Hsu's dialogue)
==Layout==
The location of Vault 3 can be acquired from Colonel Hsu at Camp McCarran after volunteering to clear it out for him, from Elder McNamara in the Hidden Valley bunker during Still in the Dark, from Diane at the Red Rock drug lab during Aba Daba Honeymoon, or from Private Ortega outside the east gate at the NCR sharecropper farms.
Situated within the main block of the South Vegas ruins, the Vault door, which is opened by the adjacent control panel, is connected directly to the South Vegas ruins rather than a cave system like other Vaults in the game and therefore provides no loading point for the Vault interior, thus the lack of a door opening sequence.
Inside the entrance is a Fiend guard, who will question the Courier on what they are doing there. Passing a 64 Speech skill check or wearing Great Khan armor allows the player character to navigate the Vault without being attacked. The armor can be removed after the initial dialogue with the guard. This particular guard levels with the player character, and will have a high HP at higher levels, with a maximum of 260 HP at level 30.
The walls of the Vault are covered with graffiti, presumably done by the occupying Fiends. Much of the graffiti in the Vault is the same as that which can be found on the Brotherhood's bunkers in Hidden Valley. In one of the toilets, there is graffiti on the wall of a stick man and woman. It's an enlarged version of the one in Hidden Valley. Overall, there are about five hackable terminals inside the Vault, which contain information about the Vault's history.
Vault 3 consists of three areas:
===Recreation area===
Vault 3 seems to have a much larger recreational area than the other Vaults. The recreation area also includes several pool tables and some minor loot. There is a locked door containing multiple Nuka-Cola bottles, one Nuka-Cola Quartz, and one Nuka-Cola Victory. Within the recreation area, there is a locked door leading to the maintenance wing.
===Maintenance wing===
The leader of the Fiends in the Vault, Motor-Runner, can be found in his throne room in the northern part of the maintenance wing along with his two guard dogs, BoneGnash and GhashBone.
===Living quarters===
On the main floor of the living quarters, there is a cage holding three captives, including Rick Lancer, Rachael and Dennis. The cage also holds the body of the fourth captive, Carter, who managed to escape to search the Vault for weapons before being caught and subsequently killed. Daniel, the Fiend who holds the key to the cage can be found in one of the southernmost rooms of the living quarters. Alternatively, the cage door can be picked without Karma loss, and no Fiends will become hostile regardless of detection. In addition, the captives will leave the cage and walk in the crouched "sneak" position past all of the Fiends in the Vault to the front entrance, and the Fiends seemingly pay them no mind. 
Two of the rooms in the living quarters each have a deceased Fiend on a bed, surrounded by empty syringes, Jet and Psycho. Around the southern part of the living quarters is a bedroom containing a terminal with an administrator "Billy boy" and a function called "Compose Automated Blast Message." However, this does nothing, stating that the system is offline. Some of the Vault is flooded, and the flooded areas are long and difficult to swim through with enough time to return for air before taking drowning damage. In addition, the water is irradiated at 1 rad/sec. The rebreather or Turbo will aid in searching these areas.
==Inhabitants==
===Previous Vault dwellers===
==Notable loot==
Note: If one passes the Speech check at the front gate or has a Great Khan disguise on when entering, rendering the Fiends non-hostile, looting will not make them hostile, nor will it incur Karma loss.
===Recreation area===
* 15 bottles of Nuka-Cola, 1 Nuka-Cola Quartz, 1 Nuka-Cola Victory, and 20-30 pool cues - Behind a Very Easy-locked door in the northwestern-most room connected to the main part of the recreation area.
* Several bobby pins - In front of every locked door, lying on the floor. Likely to be barely noticeable due to their size and the low visibility.
* 90 empty Nuka-Cola bottles and 17 milk bottles - Spread throughout the Vault.
===Living quarters===
* A copy of Chinese Army: Special Ops Training Manual on the bookshelf, in the large bedroom behind a door secured with an Average locked terminal, immediately opposite the entrance to the living quarters from the recreation area. The book is on a shelf immediately to the right upon entering.
* One Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle cap - On a desk in a room next to a bottle of Sunset Sarsaparilla in a southern room of the living quarters, one floor above the flooded area. It's in the room across the hall from the room with a terminal that says "Hello Billy boy!" when accessed.
* binoculars - Pn the bookshelf outside the overseer's office. Another pair are on the shelf next to the observation window in the overseer's office.
* There's a 25% chance of finding a Vault 3 utility jumpsuit in the 25 lockers spread throughout the living quarters and maintenance wing.
===Maintenance wing===
* Motor-Runner's helmet and chainsaw - Carried by Motor-Runner.
* Reverse pulse cleaner - Found in the lefthand locker to the left upon entering Motor-Runner's throne room. Relevant as a quest item for a certain part of Still in the Dark.
==Related quests==
* Aba Daba Honeymoon
* Still in the Dark
* I Could Make You Care
* Bounty Killer
* I Love Bananas
* Suits You, Sarah
==Notes==
* If one approaches the Vault entrance with Veronica as an active companion, it will execute one of the triggers for her companion quest.
* If one enters the cafeteria area with Lily Bowen as an active companion, she will comment about herself when she was a small girl and will reminisce about her first kiss.
* There are signs that the Fiends have tried but failed to access some of the restricted areas of the Vault, as many bobby pins are dumped together in large clusters near the doors that can be picked open.
* Due to the many bugs associated with Aba Daba Honeymoon, including quest outcomes which conflict with other quests, e.g. Still in the Dark, Bounty Killer and I Love Bananas, it is highly recommended that one does not interact with Motor-Runner prior to starting Aba Daba Honeymoon. When entering the room that Motor-Runner is in for the first time, he will automatically engage in dialogue. This will be the player character's only time to engage in direct dialogue with him, as once that conversation is finished he will not respond again. If the player character wishes to complete all related quests successfully, it is recommended to advance in the following order of quest progression:
*# Aba Daba Honeymoon - Progress to the point of ready to deliver Motor-Runners package.
*# Still in the Dark - Progress to the point of ready to enter Vault 3.
*# Bounty Killer - Progress to the point of sending the Ranger back to Camp McCarran.
*# I Love Bananas - Progress to the point of secretly freeing the hostages.
*# Complete Aba Daba Honeymoon, then complete Bounty Killer, then complete Still in the Dark.
* Once Aba Daba Honeymoon is complete, one may return to the Vault and the Fiends inside won't be hostile. This makes it possible to stealth-kill Motor-Runner and not have to fight all of the Fiends.
* If Motor-Runner is killed before finding Ranger Anders, he won't appear in the secret room, but instead will be met back at Camp McCarran, where the dialogue will be the same as if they had met him in the Vault.
* If one leaves the Vault after telling Anders to stay put, he will sometimes trigger his own mine boobytraps and die on the stairs leading to his hiding place.
* The dressers in the upstairs area of Mick & Ralph's in Freeside contain several Vault 3 jumpsuits.
* None of the doors feature a gold stripe and a number, instead they are marked "No Access." This is also true of Vault 21.
* If one stealthily kills a Fiend when they are non-hostile and isn't detected, the other Fiends comment on how someone is targeting them.
==Appearances==
Vault 3 appears only .
==Behind the scenes==
* Vault 3 was designed by Akil Hooper.
* One of the rooms in the Vault contains graffiti of the name "Germaine" crossed out with the name "Bret" written above. This may be a reference to the musical comedy act "The Flight of Conchords," whose band members' names are Bret and Jemaine.
==Bugs==
* When entering the Vault, the Fiend will talk to you. If you pass the Speech check or are wearing Great Khan clothing, she will tell the other Fiends not to attack. Regardless of that happening (even on previous visits) the Fiends may still randomly become hostile and attack. This appears to be due to the companion code still highlighting some Fiends as enemies, and happens even if you tell them to wait outside the Vault. Instead, send them back to the Lucky 38 and go on completely alone. Note that killing the attacking Fiends in the Vault does not always cause other Fiends to attack you. Usually, the Fiends in the entrance room of the Vault will never attack if you passed the Speech check and you don't attack them. Motor-Runner will also never become hostile unless you attack him.
**Running to access living quarters and fast-access the door many times, the recreation area Fiends will become friendly again, and exiting Vault 3 will fix this bug.
* Occasionally when you save inside the Vault, the save files will spontaneously become inaccessible, leaving them useless. 
* The entry on the overseer's terminal that unlocks the two submerged storerooms doesn't always work, and sometimes leaves both doors locked with a Hard lock.
* If you go to the jail cells, look in the cell, and press 'sit bench' you will appear inside the locked cell. To get out either pick the lock or do the same thing on the bench outside the cell.
* Sometimes the ghoul Dennis will spawn outside of his cell and move freely throughout the Vault, or a Fiend will spawn inside the cell with the prisoners.
* After finding Bryce Anders' body and hacking the computer to open the door, Captain Curtis walks into the Vault and starts talking to you as if you were in Camp McCarran.
* If you pass the Speech check to enter Vault 3 and immediately go to talk to Motor-Runner, sometimes if you go to look for Bryce Anders afterward, he will not be there and the secret door will be open. If you return to Captain Curtis he will talk to the player as if Anders had been rescued.
* Sometimes when inside the living quarters, Great Khans will appear, or "pop in" and will bug your character and make them seem like they are floating, leaving the crosshairs slightly up from where they should be and 3rd person mode will result in a slight zoom as if transitioning to this mode but will not complete the full transition. This seems to resolve itself once all the Great Khans have loaded.
* At the bottom of Vault 3, there is a door that is too low for ED-E to go through. Sometimes ED-E goes further into the Vault, but cannot get back through the door and is therefore stuck. Loading a new game and telling ED-E to wait on one side of the door fixes it. 
==Gallery==
Chinese Army Special Ops Training Manual.jpg|Chinese Army: Special Ops Training Manual
SS star bottle cap Vault 3 lq.jpg|Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle cap
NC Victory Vault 3 recreation area.jpg|Nuka-Cola Victory and Nuka-Cola Quartz
Vault 3 skill magazines.jpg|Three skill magazines in the flooded area
Frag mines Vault 3 RA.jpg|Armed Frag mine, recreation area
Frag mines Vault 3 LQ.jpg|Armed frag mine, living quarters
Grenade bouquet Vault 3 LQ.jpg|Grenade bouquet
Grenade bouquet Vault 3 outside.jpg|Grenade bouquet, outside
Vault3graffiti.png|Vault 3 graffiti
Vault_3_Cafeteria.jpeg|Vault 3 cafeteria
Recreation area.jpg|Recreation area
Vaultdoor inside.jpg|Vault door from inside
Maintenance wing.jpg|Maintenance wing
Living quarters V3.jpg|Living quarters
Billy rules.jpg|Billy rules
HeartV3.jpg|Heart
Like give a shit.jpg|Like ! give a shit
Keep outV3.jpg|Keep out
Lovepeace.jpg|LOVE
FNV Vault 3 gear door.png
==See also==
* Spare Us the Cutter: Vault 3 cut content
==References==
Non-game
 
de:Vault 3
es:Refugio 3
fi:Vault 3
fr:Abri 3
it:Vault 3
ja:Vault 3
pl:Krypta 3
pt:Vault 3
ru:Убежище 3
uk:Сховище 3
zh:3号避难所