Highpool (Wasteland 2)

## Highpool

**Highpool** is a small settlement located South East from the Ranger Citadel that was a popular camping ground before the war as well as the site of a large water reservoir that supplies drinking water to the region. It comes under raider attack early in the game and the Rangers have to choose between saving it or the agricultural center.

Entering Highpool automatically destroys the ag center. Note that if the Rangers enter Highpool to save it, they cannot withdraw from the location. Leaving Highpool and entering the world map will cause it to be destroyed by the Wrecking Crew automatically.

## Background

Main article: Highpool
In the years after Highpool and its water reservoir would become an important part of the new society the Desert Rangers would be trying to build up in West Arizona, it providing a lot of the water needed by the various communities and farms. Part of this arrangement was continued protection by the Desert Rangers against the raiders and wildlife of the wasteland. However, a group of raiders called themselves the Wrecking Crew became a scourge to the inhabitants, intercepting and raiding travellers and caravans moving from and to Highpool and launching the occasional raid on the settlement itself. The Rangers at the time had moved their headquarters from the old Prison to the new Ranger Citadel and no longer patrolled the general area as much any more, giving the raiders free range for their activities.

Conditions became so bad for the inhabitants that their leader, Mayor Vickstrom, made a deal with the Red Skorpion Militia to take over protection of Highpool from the Desert Rangers, but the RSM proved to be simply a different type of raider, demanding high sums of protection money while doing little in return while being another source of annoyance and problems for the Highpool settlers. When the Wrecking Crew launched a major assault on Highpool in 2102, the RSM troops stationed at the town could not defend it (on the account of being dead, torn apart by a robot reactivated by Tinker), forcing mayor Vickstrom, and later Sean Bergin after the mayor was killed, to contact RSM's base to send in reinforcements. The Ranger Citadel intercepted the general call for help and contacted the nearest ranger team, Team Echo to respond to the distress signal and render aid to the besieged civilians.

When the Desert Rangers arrived at Highpool they found the town in chaos, the Wrecking Crew had taken over the lower section of the settlement and those survivors who had not been able to evacuate to the higher terraces in time had either been killed or were forced to flee into the wasteland to escape the raiders. The raiders were now trying to move up while bombarding the remaining settlement defender at the upper dam and terrace with a self made mortar. Other raiders were busy looting the buildings that were mostly abandoned by now. The Wrecking Crew's intention was to plant explosives at the dam wall that would cause it to collapse in order to reach the settlers. But this action would also release the water in the reservoir that would flood the lower lands, sweeping away everything such as houses and even land suitable for planting. Furthermore the raiders' mortar attacks has caused damage to the pumping station, causing a pressure build up in the reservoir that could also destroy the dam if it was not released in time.

## Points of interest

### Surface

* Highpool is half a combat area. The area between the entrance and the dam is littered with Wrecking Crew raiders and requires getting through them to reach the base of the dam, where Jackhammer is trying to blow it up. Just before the dam approach is a small enclave to the side, where Alexey Chuklin resides and will ask you to find his love. The approach can be made easier to fight through if you adjust the mortar and decide to direct it against the raiders (firing it without adjustment will kill Highpool denizens on top of the dam).
	+ Note that one of the enterable buildings in the lower area contains Jess-Belle and a toaster that contains lenses for Dr Baum at the Temple of Titan.
* Once Jackhammer is dead, he will let the Rangers up and be nonplussed that they aren't the RSM, but will eventually grudgingly allow them to roam around. The upper terrace is centered around the massive pumps and offers several methods to help Highpool, including helping Mark Stachowiak put out his burning house, finding Adam Doochin's dog, and finding Jess-Bells' dowry. The real work is below the ground, where the Rangers have to help Kate Preston save the town's reservoirs from exploding.

### Underground

* The underground is fairly maze-like. The goal here is to find and activate four pumps to prevent the reservoir from overflowing and taking the topsoil with it on top of draining the aquifier, which would be bad news for the whole of Arizona. The area is numbered, so it should be easy to get around. You need to reach pumps #4, #5,#9 and #10 to deal with the problem. The valve for pump #10 is in the chamber with valve #2. The rest of the area has various foes and goodies, like cockroaches (#1).
* To repair the generator and access the tower to attach the repeater, you need to flip the breaker in the central section, number six.
* The section to the northeast is not accessible from the main area, but rather through a hidden access door next to the Alexey Chuklin's statue. Inside, you'll find what remains of the RSM garrison, torn apart and the Children of the Citadel logo painted on the walls. The perpetrator is found in the collapsed tunnel connecting to the main underground. You can remove a synth component from its body with Computer Science (somewhat difficult check) and pilfer the toaster at the end of the tunnel. Mind the mines.
* The RSM camp also contains a difficult safe with Jesse-Bells' dowry.

## Characters

### Highpool citizens

* Adam Doochin
* Alexey Chuklin
* Jess-Belle (damsel in distress)
* Kate Preston (reservoir engineer)
* Mark Stachowiak (house owner)
* Sean Bergin (militia leader)
* Vultures Cry (potential recruit)
* Wormy Jim (trader)

### Wrecking Crew

* Jackhammer (Wrecker) (leader)
* Pry Bar
* Pole Axe
* Dump Star
* Maul
* Dead Fall
* Blasting Cap

## Quests

* Protect Highpool from the Wrecking Crew
* Restore power to the radio tower
* Talk to Kate Preston in the tunnels under Highpool → Help Kate Preston fix Highpool's irrigation system
* Find the Wrecking Crew stronghold and wipe them out (only if Highpool was destroyed)

### Side quests

* Help save a burning house ↔ Find a use for a scorched valve wheel
* Help a man find his dog
* Take Alexey's note to his 'soul mate' in Highpool
* Stop the wreckers attempting to break into Jess-Bell's safe → Locate and recover Jess-Bell's "dowry"

## Notable loot

* Akita figurine: Two, one buried in the enclosed area at the base of the dam, another in the locked safe in the underground.