Fallout New Vegas: How to Help Craig Boone Come to Terms With His Past (2024)

In your travels across the Mojave Wasteland in Fallout: New Vegas, you’ll eventually meet one of the series' most tragic figures, Craig Boone. Boone is easily one of Fallout's most useful companions,butpersonal losses have made him bitter and hardened to most around him.

A retired NCR military1st Recon Sharpshooter, Boone resides in the town of Novac as a guard assigned to the night shift. He used to live there with his wife, but she was kidnapped by members of Caesar's Legion with the help of a Novac resident. After helping him to identify the traitor and getting justice, players will have the option of recruiting him on your journey by suggesting they go after the Legion.

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In order to start Boone’s companion quest, “I Forgot to Remember to Forget,” you’ll need to accumulate five history points when traveling with Boone. These points can be gained mainly by attacking Legion forces and leaders, as well as helping prisoners and slaves. Keep in mind that if you’ve already done all of these actions before recruiting Boone, it’ll be impossible to start the quest without using console commands.

The first action that can be taken is to kill Vulpes Inculta, the leader of the Legion’s Frumentarii division. He will first appear at Nipton with an entourage of legionaries but will appear again in the New Vegas Strip and at Caesar’s side in Fort. Killing Vulpes nets one history point, and if done on the Strip, the Securitrons will not become hostile. At the Legion-held settlement of Nelson, three NCR soldiers are being crucified that you can either mercy kill or free. Killing the hostages will give you one point while freeing them will reward two points. If you prefer to free the hostages, it's best to aid the NCR and their side quest “Restoring Hope,” in which NCR soldiers will assist in the attack on Nelson, making the rescue easier.

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At the Legion stronghold of Cottonwood Cove to the south-east, completing the NCR quest “Eye for an Eye” and killing every Legion soldier in the camp will reward two points. At Camp McCarran, players can gain one point during the quest “I Put a Spell on You” by either killing the Legion spy in the act or disarming the bomb for the monorail. You can also gain a point by killing a captured Legion prisoner of war. Two points can be gained at a location marked the Legion Raiding Camp by freeing two captive powder gangers intended as slaves. And if you’re feeling brave, players can also decide to kill Caesar at the Fort with Boone present, which rewards two points.

After some of these events, depending on how you handle them, Boone will initiate dialogue that affects their disposition towards the Courier. It’ll also give players a glimpse into his tragic past, including his guilt for taking part in the Bitter Springs Massacre and his mercy killing of his own wife after she was sold into slavery. For Boone to initiate dialogue about Bitter Springs, the Courier must have both gained Boone's loyalty and talked to either Manny Vargas in Novac or Bitter-Root at Camp McCarran. After passing a Speech check of 30 or better, the Courier may suggest going back to Bitter Springs to face his demons. Boone will initially refuse, but after a while, will approach the Courier, saying he’s reconsidered about revisiting the area.

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Bitter Springs is found in the north-eastern section of the map and is now a refugee center controlled by the NCR. Once players arrive with Boone, he’ll suggest making their way to Coyote Ridge, where he and his squad were positioned and fired on the Great Khan civilians fleeing the NCR’s attack. He’ll then ask if they can spend the night camped at the Ridge.

A few in-game hours will pass until Boone wakes you up, alarmed. A Legion raiding party is making its way to attack Bitter Springs that you’ll need to help defend. The attacking forces will come in three waves and largely consist of recruits and mongrels. Friendly fire might be a problem with NCR soldiers and refugees all over the camp, so make sure not to use explosive weapons and try to take out most Legionaries before they get close to the camp. If you complete the local side quest “No, Not Much,” more NCR soldiers will be present to help defend the camp.

Once all three waves have been eradicated, Boone will speak to the player, surprised and frustrated that he survived the battle. Near the end of the conversation, players can choose between two dialogue options that either give Boone his 1st Recon Survival Armor or his 1st Recon Assault Armor, though the only difference is their cosmetics. Your choice will also decide Boone’s ending slides after finishing the game, with him either making amends for his actions or becoming vengeful.

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