Where to find NPC's?

Well, to all of you out there that are wondering where the heck to find all those NPC characters in Fallout, and how to get them to join you and what to do with them, this page is for you. After realizing that people don't really want to read through all the walkthrough for just the NPC blurbs I decided that I should give you the details on a separate page.

The care and feeding of NPC's.

First of all when giving things to NPC characters don't ever give them a burst weapon to use. This includes the SMG for Ian or Katja and the Super Shotgun for Tycho as they have a habit of using the burst mode at the most inopportune times, like when you are in between them and the enemy. One of the best ways to use your NPC's is as pack horses, they can carry a large amount of stuff. The way to give and take from your NPC's is just to use your Steal skill on them (once they have joined you of course). They don't mind and you can basically set them up with whatever weapons that you want them to use or dump equipment on them that you can't carry. It is always easier to pick up these NPC's if your Charisma is high, they will more naturally gravitate towards joining you. NPC's will not use certain weapons, usually they will tell you what weapons they like to use if you ask them. NPC's will not wear armor that you give them. NPC's will use Stim Packs (Super or Regular) if you give them to them.

NPC Listings

1. Ian

Ian can be located in Shady Sands. He is in the building on the right of the entrance to Shady Sands. He has just recovered from an injury and is ready to head out on more adventures, be sympathetic to his plight and he will come along with you. If you have a really crappy Barter skill or your Charisma is real low you might have to pay him to come along. Ian can be especially useful in the Radscorpion caves as he is a very good shot with a pistol. The best weapon to give Ian would have to be the .223 pistol that you acquire in the Hub. It is by far the most powerful weapon the Ian can use and the safest since it has no burst mode.

2. Dogmeat

Your next NPC will be Dogmeat (the dog for those that have not gotten that far), whom you meet up with in Junktown, he is terrorizing a guy and won't let him get into his house. If you are wearing the Leather Jacket armor (a la Road Warrior) he will automatically join up with you. If you don't have the Leather Jacket then you can use the Iguana on a Stick to attract Dogmeat to you. Dogmeat cannot be dismissed like the other characters, so unless he takes a bullet for you (or from you), you are stuck with him.

3. Tycho

Right after you find Dogmeat you can head up to the Skum Pitt bar to the north next to Gizmo's casino in Junktown, there you will find Tycho on the left side of the bar lounging around. If you talk with Tycho and don't insult him you can ask him to help you clean up the town and he will join you. If you killed Killian, or are not helping him Tycho won't join up with you. Tycho's best weapon would be the Red Ryder LE BB Gun if you find it in a random encounter, otherwise let him use the regular Shotgun, the Super Shotgun is just too dicey in his hands.

4. Katja

The next of your NPC acquisitions and the last will be Katja. You will find her in the Boneyard at the Followers of the Apocalypse which is located to the west of the Blades area there. Talk to Katja for a while and eventually if you are intelligent enough you should get a dialogue that allows you to acquire her services. If you are having a hard time doing this either your Speech skill stinks, your Intelligence stinks, your Charisma stinks or a combination of the these. Katja will use most pistols, so either hand her the .223 or the 14mm, I don't know if Katja is better than Ian with a pistol, but either way you aren't doing too bad.

5. Tandi,

The reason I mention Tandi last is because she is technically not meant to be tooling around the wasteland with you. You can, after you rescue her from the Raiders, not return her to Shady Sands and she will follow you around like the other NPCs, but it is not a good idea. For one thing she sucks with any weapon and for another it is better to get the experience from returning her to Shady Sands and be on your merry way.

Well, that is about it for the NPC's. For the most part they are only useful till you have to take out the Cathedral and Military Base, they are more of a hindrance than anything in those areas. If you want to keep them out of danger you can tell all of them (except for Dogmeat) to leave you at anytime and they will stand there looking stupid until you come back and ask them to join you again.