Going Platinum: How to earn all the achievements in Fallout New Vegas

Welcome, one and all, to another edition of Going Platinum. Fallout 4 is officially right around the corner, and that means it’s time to take some time out of your busy week to finally platinum the last entry into the Fallout franchise.

Fallout New Vegas should prove an easy platinum for anyone who has previously gone through Fallout 3‘s trophies, possibly with the help of a quality platinum guide. Also please recall that these guides will only cover silver and gold trophies and will exclude any trophies naturally obtained through the progress of the main campaign of the game. With that being said, let’s get started.

Silver:

Up and Comer: Reach level 20. Unless you’re powering through the story, avoiding everything possible in pursuit of the end credits, this one will come naturally.

The Boss: Reach level 30. Again, this one should come easy to those following this guide, but may require a bit of grinding for others. The easiest ways to reach max level are either to visit the Thorn and fight giant radscorpions over and over or simply look for more side missions. If that’s not enough, earning trust with followers and completing their missions will not only earn extra XP but some cool bonuses as well.

The Whole Gang’s Here: Recruit all companions. This one could be tricky, as you have to make sure not to screw anything up that will prevent certain people from joining you. Here’s how you can get them all:

• ED-E: Find a broken eyebot in the Mojave Express Courier building in Primm. Once you’ve spoken with Johnson Nash in the Vikki and Vance casino, there are a couple of ways to fix him. One is with a repair skill of 65; the other is with a science skill of 55. Once repaired, you can command ED-E to follow you.
• Arcade: Found in the Old Mormon Fort in Freeside, this odd follower will join the player upon a speech check of 75 or a high intelligence stat.
• Rex: If you start doing missions for the King in Freeside, you’ll eventually be tasked with fixing his dog, Rex. Whether or not you actually choose to help Rex, you will net him as a follower.
• Boone: Probably the most useful follower in the game, Boone is also one of the most easily accessible from the start of the game. Upon reaching the town of Novac, you can find him spotting the Wasteland from the giant dinosaur next to the hotel. He’s only there at night, so just wait until the sun goes down. After speaking with him, you’ll be tasked with finding out what happened to his wife. Cutting right to the chase, approach Jeannie May, either in the hotel or her room, and ask her to follow you. Put on Boone’s beret and lead her out in front of her. Try not to jump as her head suddenly explodes. Mission accomplished.
• Cass: Rose of Sharon Cassidy can be found early on in the Mojave Outpost. Speaking with her will activate the quest ‘Heartache by the Number’. Follow through with this quest and you’ll eventually be able to gain her as a companion part-way through the mission.
• Lily: Lily can be found in Jacobstown. This one’s as simple as speaking with Dr. Henry in Jacobstown to start the mission ‘Guess Who I Saw Today’. From there simply speak with Lily and ask her to follow you.
• Raul: Head to the super mutant stronghold of Black Mountain and speak with Neil at the base of the mountain. This will activate the mission ‘Crazy, Crazy, Crazy’. Upon completion of the mission, you will be able to free Raul from his captivity atop the mountain. From there he will join you without any hassle.
• Veronica: Veronica will refuse to join you if you’re not on good terms with the Brotherhood of Steel. She can be found at the 188 Trading Post and will join with a simple conversation…as long as the Brotherhood doesn’t hate you. Seriously, I can’t stress how important that is.

Master of the Mojave: Discover 50 locations. This one will come naturally to most; however, it can go faster with the help of the return of the Explorer perk, which will show you the locations on your map. You’ll still have to physically visit the places yourself, but it makes everything a lot easier.

Globe Trotter: Find all snow globes. Similar to Bobbleheads in Fallout 3, New Vegas has its own collectibles in Snow Globes. This one takes some leg work. Here they are:

• Jacobstown: On the desk in the lobby of the main building.
• Old Mormon Fort: On a bookshelf in Julie Farkas’ office. Just head to the tower to your right as soon as you enter the fort.
• Lucky 38 Casino: Once Mr. House gives you access to the rest of the building, it can be found in the Cocktail Lounge behind the bar.
• Vault 21: Inside Sarah’s room.
• Nellis Air Force Base: Visit Pete’s museum. It will be on a table to your right as you enter.
• Hoover Dam: Enter the Visitor’s Center and find it a nearby desk. Very out-in-the-open.
• Goodsprings Cemetery: Easily the first one you’ll find…or the last if you miss it. You’ll spot it if you visit the site of your own grave just outside the town of Goodsprings.

Caravan Master: Win 30 games of Caravan. This one took me a long time, until I finally figured out how to play the game. The in-game instructions aren’t super clear, so I’ll tell you everything you need to know right here.

1. You’re aiming to make stacks of 21-26
2. Your stacks can only go in one direction
3. Kings duplicate card value, queens turn the direction of a stack around, and Jokers remove cards from play.

Honestly, that’s really all you need. Save Ringo in Goodsprings and he’ll give you a starter deck of cards to play with once you find him again at the Crimson Caravan. Additional cards can be obtained, but you don’t need them. Play Ringo, as he’s easy, and you’ll find that you’ll start winning the more you play. It only takes an hour or two to get this one done.

The House Always Wins/For the Republic/Render Unto Caesar/Wild Card: Complete said missions. New Vegas has multiple endings, all with their own trophies. The easiest way to get all them in one play through is to save before starting these missions, then resetting after the trophies are obtained. 

The Courier Who Broke the Bank: Get banned from every casino. This one may require a second play through. This trophy requires you to win absurd amounts from Casinos on the strip to the point where you’re ‘banned’. 9,000 caps are required from Gomorrah, 10,000 from The Tops, and a whopping 15,000 from Ultra-Luxe. This is easily done (with some time) by creating a character with 8 Luck, purchasing the Luck upgrade from the New Vegas Medical Clinic, and purchasing the Sexy Sleepwear from Mick’s secret stash at Mick & Ralph’s in Freeside. Afterwards, just play Blackjack with your maxed out Luck and watch the chips roll in. 

Gold:

That’s right…a single gold trophy in New Vegas.

Hardcore: Beat the game in Hardcore mode. Hardcore seemed a lot scarier before I actually played it. Basically it’s an option granted to players after the tutorial has finished and will only count for the trophy if you keep it on from the start of the game to the end. Hardcore mode adds difficulty to the game by adding some handicaps of sorts:

• Followers are dead forever when they die
• Players need to watch H20, Food, and Sleep meters, which constantly deplete
• Stimpacks only heal slowly over time
• Radaway removes radiation over time
• Ammunition has weight
• Limb’s can only be restored with Doctor’s Bags or by paying a doctor
• Sleep does not heal limbs of health points

Easiest way to get this one done is to make a speed play through character. I chose to lay all my points into Endurance and Strength and had a tank character plow through the main story, since all you have to do is finish the main story to earn this trophy.

There you have it – how to earn all the achievements in Fallout: New Vegas. If you have any questions or thoughts, leave them in the comments section below.