From The Vault
| requirements:
| Complete A Meeting of the Minds
|
| gamerscore:
| 20
|
| trophy type:
| Gold
|
|
A Meeting of the Minds is a Fallout 3 quest and achievement that is added to the game with the Point Lookout add-on.
[edit] Walkthrough
[edit] Making Your Way to the Brain
After telling Desmond that you are ready to go, you will both make your way to the Lighthouse. Once you make your way to the base of the Lighthouse, enter it. When you enter, a section of the Lighthouse floor slides away and reveals a door to what is called the "Underground Lab". Once inside the lab, you will begin making your way down with Desmond, fighting turrets and Robobrains along the way. The fighting will occasionally pause after you've cleared the area, where in you'll have to find a clearance badge in order to open locked doors (via terminals). This pause also gives you a chance to loot the surrounding rooms of weapons and ammo (including Mesmetron Power Cells, MFCs, Laser Rifles/Pistols, and even 2 Gatling Lasers), and also get some background information of the lab.
[edit] Who to kill?
You and Desmond will eventually reach Calvert's room, where you'll see the Brain himself in a massive glass tank surrounded by inactive protectrons. Desmond and Calvert will have a short conversation, each of them claiming to have your support. Eventually you'll be forced to decide which of them to kill. If you speak to Calvert, he'll offer the greatest thing any human could ever hope for in exchange for your killing Desmond. You now have a decision to make...
[edit] Reward
[edit] Killing Calvert
Desmond may be an asshole but that crazy brain-guy has gotta go. If you decide to side with Desmond, simply shoot at the Brain's glass tank until the glass shatters (note that after beginning to fire on the brain, many of the once inactive Protectrons will attack). After the Brain is dead, any remaining robots will be disabled and you can talk to Desmond. He will be overjoyed to have finally won and remarks that everything that Calvert stole from him is finally all his. He will also give you a key which unlocks the nearby door. Inside this door are 2 ammo-boxes, a safe, 2 first aid boxes, some energy weapon ammo, some misc. items, and of course, the Microwave Emitter! The room also has a ladder leading outside.
- If they're not already so, all unnamed tribals will become hostile to the player. However named tribals such as Croatoa and Woodrose will only become hostile if they see you attacking other tribals.
- It is possible to still kill Desmond after completing this quest. This will allow you to take his glasses (though they can still be acquired through reverse pickpocketing better gear to replace their glasses and then stealing them).
[edit] Killing Desmond
If you decide to kill Desmond (who will only become "killable" after you tell Calvert you're going to kill him), you'll be able to loot his corpse for his special glasses, his clothing, as well as any weapons he's carrying (which should include a combat shotgun and Sniper rifle along with the corresponding ammo).
After you're done, the Professor will reward you with the greatest thing any human could ever hope for... DEATH! At least he'll try, at which point he'll send some of the previously inactive protectrons after you. Destroy them and the professor (though killing the professor will disable all the robots anyway), then feel free to loot the area. You'll find a door has opened, giving you access to 2 ammo-boxes, a Safe, 2 first aid boxes, some energy weapon ammo, some misc. items, and of course, the Microwave Emitter! The room also has a ladder leading outside.
- After speaking to Desmond again, he will tell you that after he's done in the lab he will go north to confront another one of the "players". He refers to this contest as a "microcosm of the old world".
- Calvert's brain may actually be found relatively intact near the bottom after the glass tank is shattered. At this point it is also possible to destroy the brain itself with a single shot. Sometimes it may even just float where it was originally.
- If you exit the lab via the ladder you'll be on a little island near the lighthouse. There's quite a high likelihood that you'll be attacked. If you can't see your attacker she's on an island around you (South, the one with the shack) shooting with a sniper rifle (which explains the range and pretty high damage done). Approach the island under water and you won't be attacked until you surface. There's a bit of loot there and the sniper was actually a smuggler. Or just take a few steps back, and fast travel to any location.
- In some cases if you choose to kill Calvert the Protectrons don't attack.
- If you shoot Calvert with the gauss rifle the Protectrons don't attack. (tested on pc)
- In the room where you need the alpha security badge, if you hack the terminal to unlock the door before you have the badge, the game still thinks the door is closed and there is an invisible barrier that you cannot pass. By leaving and reentering the lab you can remove the barrier. Another way to remove the barrier is to shoot at the open doorway several times... As soon as the sparks stop flying and your shots are hitting the wall at the end of the hallway, it now becomes passable. This saves time, instead of looping back to the entrance. (Tested/Confirmed on Xbox360)
- Occasionally, Desmond will become stuck in one of the side rooms.
- Sometimes Calvert's tank will be missing and the brain will be replaced by one of the bobbleheads that appeared after getting the seeds. In this case, Calvert is not able to be killed and after killing Desmond you will be unable to talk to him. In other words you will need to backtrack your saves in order to complete the quest.
- Sometimes, sitting in the chair in one of the offices will glitch you into the floor, unable to escape.
- Sometimes it may be possible to look at the top of Calvert's tank and talk to him after killing him. In this case he says nothing (A blank subtitle appears if subtitles are on) and you gain the vault key.
- After going out and looting the ammo on the island of the sniper, if you go back to the exit where you come from, Crowley may appear standing above the water. Talking to him will only give you the normal phrase about the keys, but his neck will be like broken and his head will turn down... Quite funny. (xbox 360)
- If you grab Calvert's brain after destroying his tank, his brain will constantly be doing flips in the air while you are holding it.
[edit] Videos
| Point Lookout (add-on) |
|---|
Quests &
achievements
| Main quests
| The Local Flavor · Walking with Spirits · Hearing Voices · Thought Control · A Meeting of the Minds
|
| Side quests
| A Spoonful of Whiskey · An Antique Land · Plik's Safari · The Dark Heart of Blackhall · The Velvet Curtain · Lighting the Lighthouse · Lost Daughter
|
| Achievements
| The Local Flavor · Walking with Spirits · A Meeting of the Minds · Bog Walker
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| Places
| Riverboat Landing · Duchess Gambit · Point Lookout · Ark & Dove Cathedral · Ark & Dove Resting Grounds · Beachview Campsite · Blackhall Manor · Buoys · Calvert Mansion · Coastal Grotto · Disaster Relief Outpost · Dove Delta · Flooded Sinkhole · Grower's Shack · Haley's Hardware · Herzog Mine · Jet Crash Site · Kenny's Cave · Lighthouse (Underground Lab) · Lil' Tyke Playhouse · Marguerite's Shack · Ofie Clan Plot · Pilgrim's Landing (Boardwalk, Homestead Motel, House of Wares, Naval Recruitment Center, People's Bank of Point Lookout, Pier, Warehouse) · Ritual Site · Ruzka's Lair · Sacred Bog Entrance · Sub Recovery Site · Smuggler's Shack · Trapper's Shack · Trash Heap · Truck Wreckage · Turtledove Detention Camp · USS Ozymandias · Wrecked Seatub
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| Items
| Weapons
| Axe (The Dismemberer) · Bio-Gas Canister · Double-Barrel Shotgun (Pa's Fishing Aid (cut)) · Lever-Action Rifle (Backwater Rifle) · Microwave Emitter · Ritual Knife · Shovel (Fertilizer Shovel) · Toy Knife
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| Armor
| Confederate Hat · Cryptochromatic Spectacles · Desmond's Eyeglasses · Grifter's Fit · Handyman Jumpsuit · Pint-Sized Slasher Mask · Police Hat · Tribal Garb · Workman's Coveralls
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| Misc
| Cogwave Jammer · Fishing Pole · Kenny-Bear · Lab Access Card · Lighthouse Bulb · Lump of Brain · Moonshine · Plik's Journal · Punga Seeds · Refined Punga Fruit · Riverboat Ticket · Submarine Self-Destruct Codes · The Krivbeknih · Wild Punga Fruit · Yeast
|
Characters &
creatures
| Friendlies
| Catherine · Desmond · Freki · Geri · Jackson · Tobar the Ferryman · Haley · Plik · Rip Smithy · Jacob Humboldt · Jimson · Woodrose · Croatoa · Kenny · Nadine · Marguerite · Obadiah Blackhall · Madame Panada · Marcella · Professor Calvert
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| Hostiles
| Feral Ghoul Reaver · Ruzka · Swamplurk (Swamplurk Queen) · Swamp Ghoul · Swampfolk (Brawler, Bruiser, Creeper, Scrapper, Tracker) · Smugglers · Tribals
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| Perks
| Ghoul Ecology · Punga Power! · Superior Defender · Gray Matters (cut) · Mirelurk Ecology (cut) · Swing For The Fences (cut)
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