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Oh my God... you actually opened it...Amata upon seeing the vault door being opened.

Escape! is the fourth main quest in Fallout 3. It is also an achievement on the Xbox 360 and PC and a bronze trophy on the PlayStation 3.

Quick walkthrough[]

Main Quest: Escape! 
Talk to Amata about her plan to escape the Vault. 
Enter the Overseer's Office and access the terminal to open the secret hatch. 
Open the Vault Door. 
Escape the Vault. 
Reward: 200 XP 
Leads to: Following in His Footsteps 

Detailed walkthrough[]

The quest begins with Amata frantically trying to wake the Lone Wanderer up. She informs them that their father has left Vault 101 and Jonas is dead. Every member of the vault security team has been ordered to attack the player character because the overseer thinks that they are aware of James's departure, and radroaches have infested the vault. Amata offers a 10mm pistol in perfect condition to the player character, which can be accepted or refused. If one refuses, Amata will keep the gun and use it against Officer Mack later. The player character may also become angry towards Amata, resulting in her remaining in the room. The player character may still leave, however.

Outside of the room, one will encounter Officer Kendall, who is being attacked by several radroaches. If he survives the attack, he will become hostile towards the player character as soon as the radroaches are dead.

DeLoria residence[]

Butch DeLoria approaches the Lone Wanderer shortly thereafter, running down the hallway begging them for help. His mother is being attacked by radroaches, and he is too afraid of them to fend them off himself. If the player character has any weapons in their inventory, one can suggest to Butch that he is capable of killing the radroaches himself by lending him a BB gun, baseball bat, or through a Speech check. Alternatively, the player character can kill the radroaches for Butch. Other options include leaving, telling Butch his mother is doomed by passing a speech check or killing him. If Butch is killed, his mother can still be saved. Regardless of choice, the player character will receive Butch's Tunnel Snake outfit. If one refuses to help, Butch will continue to call for help and follow the Lone Wanderer to plead their case eventually giving up and yelling over for John Kendall telling him the Lone Wanderer's direction. Alternatively, if the Lone Wanderer saved Butch's mother and Kendall is still alive, Butch will intentionally mislead Kendall to buy the Wanderer time to escape.

Clinic[]

Near the clinic, Officer Gomez will run into the Lone Wanderer and tell them to leave the vault, allowing them to go free. One has a few options here involving the officer, two of which involve blaming him for Jonas' death. Andy can be found torching radroaches in this corridor. In the nearby diner is the body of Grandma Taylor. Stanley is hiding in the medical office behind a Very Easy lock, but one can either pick it or wait until Andy kills the radroaches, at which point he'll come out on his own. The Medicine Bobblehead is on the desk in the office.

Atrium[]

When entering the atrium, one will see two fellow vault dwellers contemplating escape, referencing the player character's father in the process. Tom Holden will rashly run into the guarded corridor, shouting his name and asking to be let through. Mary Holden will comment on his rashness, before running to her death after his at the hands of security. If the guards are engaged before they rush in, the couple will flee and no violence will take place. The door at the end of the corridor leads to the vault entrance and is secured with a Very Hard lock.

The route one will need to follow is through the security door just to the right of the entrance corridor. It has been jammed open with a locker. Proceed up the stairs, where one will encounter 2 radroaches, and an additional 3-5 radroaches in the connecting corridor. At the upper level of the atrium, the facing doorway will be open while the two doors on the wall to the left are inaccessible.

Heading to the only open door, one will pass a windowed room with Allen Mack and Gloria Mack inside. Allen will begin shouting at the player character, blaming them and their father for the predicament that they are in. Security Chief Hannon is usually found wandering around here as well and will attack. There will be a dead maintenance worker, Floyd Lewis, by a toolbox, near the next corridor to progress through.

Overseer's office[]

When turning the corner, one will hear Amata and her father, the overseer, Alphonse Almodovar talking. He is interrogating her about the Lone Wanderer's whereabouts. If they let Amata keep the 10mm pistol, she will free herself by shooting Mack. If the player character enters the room, Amata will flee and Mack will attack.

The overseer begins making demands of the Lone Wanderer, to which the player character can respond with their own, inquiring about the overseer's office key and terminal password. The overseer will refuse, and if he is threatened for the keys, he will attack or call for help. If Amata is threatened, he will give in. One can also choose to respond that they can escape without them. The keys may also be pickpocketed from him, or found in lockers near the door and computer. A key can be found in a dresser in the overseer's room, where Amata is found. The overseer can also be killed. If the Lone Wanderer gives him their weapons and ammunition, they will turn hostile and attack. If the overseer is not hostile and further dialogue is attempted after the conversation, he will simply say he has "nothing else to say to you" and the Lone Wanderer can leave. If one attacks Officer Mack and kills him, Amata will run to her room and thank them for saving her.

Vault entrance[]

Amata will be waiting in the connecting room if she was rescued. If the gun was not accepted at the beginning of the quest, she will present it to the player character when spoken to. If the player character does not pick up a key to the office, the red door to the overseer's office will have to be picked. The lockers in here have the overseer's terminal password. If not picked up, the terminal will have to be hacked.

Once logged onto the computer, one can select the "open overseer's tunnel" option to proceed through the secret passage. A door is at the end of the tunnel and once through, one will find themselves in a small room with a switch on the wall. Once activated, it will reveal a larger room. There's another switch here that will open the vault door. Once opened, Amata will come down to say goodbye.

Shortly after this, another door will open and any surviving security officers will enter. The final objective is to run through the exit and reach the final door between the player character and the Capital Wasteland. When the final door is activated, the player character will be offered one last chance to change their name, race, initial SPECIAL stats, tagged skills, sex, and initial appearance.

Exiting the vault completes the quest and nets 200 XP. Any available add-on content apart from Broken Steel will become available after leaving the vault.

Quest stages[]

StageStatusDescription
5 Talk to Amata about her plan to escape the Vault.
10 Enter the Overseer's office.
40 Use the Overseer's computer to access the secret tunnel.
50 Enter the reactor control room.
60 Turn the power back on.
70 Open the Vault door.
80Quest finishedEscape the Vault.

Notes[]

  • Regardless of how much XP one gains during this quest, they will not level up until reaching the vault door.
  • If another guard or the overseer is near Officer Gomez, he will be hostile.
  • Attacking Ellen makes Butch hostile.
  • Abandoning Butch and Ellen makes Butch call for the guards to attack, but no one will come.
  • If the overseer dies, Amata will be upset. If Ellen is dead, Butch will react similarly. If both are dead, Butch and Amata will tell the Lone Wanderer to "get away" from them.
  • If the overseer dies at the hands of a radroach or Butch, Amata will still blame the Lone Wanderer for "killing" him.
  • Butch is considered an ally and will be an active combatant if talked into saving his mom.
  • If left alive at the end of the mission, the following security guards: Officer Kendall, Officer Gomez, Security Chief Hannon and Officer Mack can be found as neutral characters when the Lone Wanderer returns to Vault 101 during Trouble on the Homefront. The remaining two hostile security guards found before they leave the vault, Officer Wolfe and Officer Park, will not reappear.
  • Respawning radroaches will eventually kill them over time while the Lone Wanderer is out of range of them if they take too long to finish the quest
  • If the BB gun is given to Butch to save his mother, he will return it in 100% condition.
  • Before exiting the vault through the wooden door, if Amata was saved from her father and the pursuing guards are alive, they may be heard beating up Amata, with her saying "Stop it!" or "Get away from me!"
  • Everyone except Amata, Andy, and Stanley may be killed during this mission.
  • Stanley can be pickpocketed for a Vault 101 utility key. However, it cannot be used during this mission, as almost all closed doors are marked as "INACCESSIBLE."
  • If guards are attacking the Lone Wanderer as they leave the vault's entrance hatch, they will back away. They will yell, "I'm not crazy enough to go out there!" or "Quick! Close the door!" and "I don't care what the Overseer says!" Pushing them towards the door will briefly turn them non-hostile and they will begin to slowly walk back towards the hall with their batons drawn. The second they reach the top of the stairs, however, they will once again turn hostile.
  • The 10mm pistol Amata gives will be at 100% condition.
  • If the overseer chases the Lone Wanderer to the door he will wait with the other guards saying "I'm not going out there no matter what the overseer says."
  • Attacking Amata enough to make her hostile, but not kill her, she will chase the Lone Wanderer nearly out of the vault.
  • Rendering Amata unconscious and dragging her body out of Vault 101, the vault door will still close, but Amata will walk to the door and disappear after a few seconds.
  • The only thing on the Vault 101 PA System is the overseer saying "This is the Overseer. All residents of Vault 101 are hereby confined to their quarters. The radroach infestation is under control. Do NOT interfere with Vault Security personnel. Any resident found outside his or her quarters will be dealt with. Severely. That is all."
  • After completion of this quest, the Vault 101 PA System will always remain in the radio section, out of range for the rest of the game, even after completing Trouble on the Homefront.

Transition quotes[]

Full transition audio:

Bugs[]

  • PCPC Playstation 3Playstation 3Playstation 3 Attempting to interfere in the event with Tom and Mary can cause several strange effects. (See discussion page) [verified]
  • PCPC If The Overseer becomes hostile but is not killed before reaching the Vault door, Amata will still speak as if he were killed by the player. [verified]

Gallery[]

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