Carl's Fallout 4 Guide
for PC, Xbox One, and PS4

I'm writing a Guide to Nuka World, piece by piece. Here are the newest/most popular pages:
See a full list of guides on the Nuka World page. I've written over a dozen in just a week and plan to continue. There is much more to this DLC, it will just take time to write it all. Check back for more. Comment on the appropriate page if you have a tip to share with other readers.

Fallout 4: Minutemen Main Quest Finale

Defend the Castle and The Nuclear Option Ending - as Spoiler-Free as Possible

The Nuclear Option Quest in Fallout 4 So you killed WHO??? If you've declined to work with, or have been kicked out of the Institute, you can finish Fallout 4 in 2 ways that i now of. Also, I've got help if you're stuck in the Institute after starting a fight with them, since you can't fast travel out.

Stop reading now if you don't want to know anything about the end-game quests in Fallout 4. I'm going to try to avoid Spoilers, I think most people finding this page have got themselves into a spot and made enemies with the institute, or else declined to work with Father. If you've killed some Institute, got kicked out, and are stuck in the Institute and want to escape, head to the top floor using the elevator and run back to the room where you first teleported in. Just outside, there is a computer. Look to the right of the Terminal for a panic button, which will teleport you out.

One last Chance to Switch Factions for the Ending

Burning Cover
This quest opportunity only comes up if you have made an enemy of the Institution. Should you WANT to finish the game with the minutemen, I think you have to get kicked out of the Institute. Another quest may appear if you weren't working with the Railroad Faction. If you were working with the Railroad, they are now useless to you because you had the means of getting Synths out and ruined it by blowing your chance to deceive the Institute. Now you're presented with two options, as you SHOULD get the Burning Cover Quest, or another that leads to Preston Garvey. There are now only two options to complete the game. You can either:

Ronnie of the Minutemen in Fallout 4 Defending the Castle requires speaking to Ronnie to start the fight.

Quest: Defend the Castle
You'll speak to Preston, then head to the Castle if it's ready. Talk to Ronnie, and she'll indicate Synths have been spotted in the area. Be prepared for the hardest fight you've had thus far, and be sure to have plenty of healing items, possibly some drugs, and your best weapons and armor. It's worth using Power Armor for this, though on Hard I did it with Combat Armor and Ballistic Weave from working with the Railroad (fatigues and hat can give another 200 armor over your Combat Armor!).

Institute Coursers are the toughest challenge in the Defend the Castle Quest All enemies are leveled, so this will be a tough fight no matter how strong you are, though you should know to take out the easy targets first to eliminate their damage coming in. The minutemen are assembled and ready to help, and you can use artillery - just don't cause any friendly fire incidents!

Energy damage is most prevalent. You can use artillery in the distance to hit any Institute teleporting in, back around where you first test fired it. Coursers will attack at times, and use Stealth Boys. Weapons that ignite enemies can help you spot them, as can the fire of others - look for their beams coming out, and the Minutemen firing on them. The stealth only lasts so long, so go for head shots then. These guys are TOUGH, though the majority of Synths attacking are trash and go down with a few hits, there are also a few other types of high-level Synth that may take some punishment before being defeated. You may gain enough XP from this one battle to gain a level, and it is possible for Legendary Synths to attack.

The Nuclear Option

Minutemen Ending Steps
Talk to Sturges and he'll give you notice of a means to get into the Institute. This is the Minutemen version of this quest, the Railroad has something similar but not quite the same, because you should be friendly to the Institute and still have access to them if working Railroad.

Enter the pipe by jumping in the water here You'll have to jump into radiated water and deal with a lot of radiation until you're inside the Institute. Power armor is the best option, given there are a number of enemies inside.

You must gain access to the Institute via a sewer pipe - as far as I can tell, this requires either Expert Hacking or Locksmith, take your pick. This means power armor, or else a hazmat suit as there is a ton of radiation. The Power armor is a much safer alternative. You may have multiple sets - if you don't really want to fight in it, you could take one to leave once you're done with the radiation portion. I cast my misgivings aside and gave my Power Armor a Winterized Coating in order to boost Energy resistance, as that seems to be the main Institute damage type.

Approaching the pipe will seem weird. You tag this , yet you're going far from the Institute. Follow the marker on your compass, and jump into the water when you're clearly at the right spot. You'll find the Public Works Access Tunnel.

Enter another pipe for the Minutemen last quest in Fallout 4 Enter another pipe once you get in this room.

Breaking into the Institute
Now that you're out of the water, you can use the keypad to open the door, or else hack it with your Advanced or higher skill. This is just for some loot. You can go back into the water, into another pipe.

Laser Turrets on the way to the Institute 'back door' Some hard-hitting turrets are in this tunnel - be warned.

Once you're at the bottom, watch out for the nasty laser turrets. Seriously, the hardest hitting I'd ever encountered, even with over 1200 energy resistance. Sheesh. You may fare much better if you're higher level - I did this on my main at level 38.

A hatch allows access, the most low-tech things guarding the Institute eggheads. It reminds me of the Death Star's weak point.

Find the hatch in the wall toward the end of the pipe. You'll face some monsters along the way - the pipe has an arrow pointing you in the right direction.... and they thought the Institute was smart. Anyway, you'll come across an Expert Terminal you can hack, but if you go a bit further there is another entrance for people who can't hack. The alternative is go to around and pick the expert lock - so do whichever your character is capable of.

These Synths' conversation just goes on and on. Kill them to stop it, and enter an opening in the pipe, with the arrows guiding your way.

You'll encounter a pair of Synths. Kill them, then enter the pipe from the side after going down the ramp. The arrows continue to lead the way, but back into the radioactive water with you. Thankfully, that's it for this annoying, stinky sewer and you can finally run into their main complex. You're now free to take on the Institute!

You're now officially inside the Institute, but things are about to get a lot more dangerous.

Look for a hatch to your right near the end of the pipe. You're now very near your objective, and it's about to be time to see the Minutemen shine... or else die in a blaze of glory. I highly suggest you save here. Use the terminal conveniently located, and load the Institute Relay Targeting Sequence Holotape onto it. Start the sequence, and your friends can teleport inside the complex. Now, speak to Preston Garvey.

Load this holotape to let the Minutemen inside the Institute Load this holotape to let the Minutemen into the Institute to fight with you. It's required, because you don't have the bomb. Fusion Pulse Charge for the Institute Reactor Garvey gives you the Fusion Pulse Charge, which is what we can use to bring down the Institute - hence The Nuclear Option.

Plant the Device and Issue an Evacuation Order (Optional)
Unless you want the Railroad to hate you, you'd better initiate that evacuation order. They don't give a damn about the humans in the Institute, they will just be miffed you offed a lot of Synths. You do this when you get to Father's office and his Terminal. Anyway, that's just a word of warning.. moving on!

Hack to deactivate the Turrets Taking this Terminal will allow you to disable 2 Turrets, protecting yourself and the Minutemen

In the next area, there's a terminal you can hack to disable a turret, which will free your guys to focus on the Synths inside the next room. If you don't have the skill, charge in guns blazing and you'll likely get what you want, a big battle. Not as bad as Defending the Castle.

Sentry Guardian in Fallout 4 is available from this Terminal. Activate the Prototype Sequence to have an ally (or another enemy once it handles the Synths. Regardless, it's a three-way fight and I recommend it. Just stay away when it's almost dead, the explosion is powerful.

Make Laser Turrets your top priority - their damage is high compared to the Synths, who could barely scratch my T-60 Armor. In the next area, you can use a Terminal to activate a prototype guardian sentry, which will make short work of the Synths or at least weaken them. When it's done killing, you can either finish it or actually just use the terminal again to shut it down! Please be aware these blow up in a spectacular explosion when destroyed.

Now you're inside Institute Bioscience Inside Institute Bioscience, now things are more familiar. The scientists don't really want to fight your squad.

Inside the Institute Main Building
Now, you're in Institute Bioscience and things should look MUCH more familiar. Fight your way to the main entrance (near the elevator), where an even bigger firefight will ensue. Thankfully, many of the civilians want to avoid combat, or else it'd be overwhelming (trust me I tried killing them all by myself, kind of reminded me of Skyrim). Anyway, the marker is clear - you need to get to Advanced systems, but it's locked.

Give the evacuation order in the Nuclear Option Give the evacuation order, disable the security override, and shut down a few synths using Father's terminal.

Use the elevator, which will go down this time. Push the button and press on. You will reach Father's quarters, where you can possibly talk to him if he's alive, put a bullet in his head, up to you. Point is the terminal. You've got three choices there - do all 3 if you want things perfect. Issue the evacuation order, disable the security override, and shut down synths - thankfully, just the security Synths.

Advanced Systems inside the Institute during the Nuclear Option quest for the Minutemen ending The fight inside Advanced Systems can be tough, with 2 Legendary Synths and scientists/turrets shooting at you and the team.

This makes the rest of the mission go much more smoothly, though the fighting's not done yet. Head into Advanced Systems, slowly chewing through the Synths that continue to fight. Once you reach the reactor area, watch for a row of nasty turrets and hit them in VATS to make short work of them. Inside, you can at last plant the charge, but first must deal with scientists, and a couple of legendary Synths. Be sure to loot them! They have the password.

Kill the legendary Synths to get the Reactor Terminal Passowrd Kill the Legendary Synths to get the Reactor Terminal password, then use it and finally plant the bomb. Unlimited Gauss Rifle in Fallout 4 from Legendary Synth This was a pretty lucky drop, or else everyone get it. Let me know!

A good strategy is to get the scientists and turrets killed early so that you reduce incoming firepower. You must kill the legendaries in order to get the terminal password, which is near the reactor. Once that's done, there's no further pressure., because there is no timer - the bomb is activated remotely.

The Nuclear Option - ending the game with the minutemen finishes the main quest of Fallout 4 Finishing Fallout 4's Nuclear Option quest this way gives you the Minutemen Ending, but you are now free to go piss off factions or supermax your character without worrying about the main quest.

Get the Minutemen Ending
Just one loose end to tie up. Before teleporting, you're faced with a choice. It will not have a bearing on your standing with Factions, though it does change things a bit. Preston will hate it if you decline, if you care.. I will leave that up to you. If you issued the evacuation, the Railroad won't hate you - the Brotherhood are ignorant of it, so you're free to work for these factions for the foreseeable future and max out your character as much as you like.

But What's Next for You in Quests?
If you at any point get kicked out of the Brotherhood, you could seek the help of the Railroad or Minutemen to take them on. The same likely applies to the Railroad, although the Brotherhood are probably the only ones to help. These have their own unique, interesting quests that you can undertake so once you're sure which factions deserve to stay in the Commonwealth, consider getting yourself removed from someone (save first) and seek help of the others to remove them and get the rewards and loot that come with that.

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Share Tips and FAQs (4)

Red
I stopped reading once I got to the part about the sewer because I'm not there. But I seem stuck prior to this point and had a question.

I got thrown out of the Institute because of my conversation after Bunker Hill, and I thought I'd be ok with that. But then Preston tells me to proceed I have to get an intel report back from Proctor Ingram to give to Sturges. But this holodisk is "held hostage" on the Prydwen because it's impossible to talk to Ingram or even steal from her without being forced into conversation with Kells, and he forces me into hostility with the Railroad no matter what I do.

I don't need anything from the Railroad, but I didn't want to end up hostile with them. Plus I really want to keep Deacon as a companion option. I can keep them friendly and get the holodisk by just murdering BOS to get to Ingram, and I don't truly care about keeping BOS friendly, except that it seems Danse doesn't approve of this despite his current state with them. Killing the BOS doesn't make Danse hostile to me, but it does seem to make him no longer a companion, just a guy that helps defend the last home town I assigned him to.

I really want to keep both Danse and Deacon as companions. How can I advance the Minuteman path with that holodisk trapped behind Kells??
10th July 2016 12:26pm
Red
After more searching, I learned of someone who successfully pick pocketed the holotape off Ingram. And yes, with sufficiently stacked stealth, it's possible to get past Kells and re-hide, closer to Ingram than him. He'll say something like "get back here" but doesn't pursue and force the conversation continuation. Then I inched toward Ingram, snagged the holotape, and ran out of there with Kells yelling at me again. His quest didn't update, so I have the holotape for Sturges and am still friendly with Railroad.

I saw no other suggestions in my research that didn't invovle stealth and pick pocket. Luckily I had already invested in both of them.
10th July 2016 9:13pm
Jeff
AFAIK, you cannot complete "Burning Cover" if you've ticked off Preston by going raider in Nukaworld. The quest marker is on him, but all he'll do is blow you off, even if you've given him lots of time. You CAN complete "The Nuclear Option" with the Minutemen, you just can't complete "Burning Cover".
10th February 2017 12:27pm
JB
I'm in a neverending loop of Minutemen assignments. The Institute was destroyed, as was the Railroad and the Brotherhood of Steel. But now the game just goes on and on with me doing missions for Garvey. I keep waiting for something new and wiping out Raiders, Mutants, and the C's but it never ends... is that all there is?
22nd March 2017 3:40pm
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Far Harbor DLC Guides

See my Far Harbor Guide for new features in the DLC. There, you can also watch the trailer and view new weapons that can be found. The area is massive, so we can expect plenty of quests and exploration in a foggy, rugged area with new and challenging creatures to battle.

Pleae note there are different endings for this DLC, something we all wanted! It's like the actual end-game of FO4 in that you can choose the outcome.

Walkthroughs
Islander's Almanac Magazine Locations
Far From Home: Quest 1
Walk in the Park: Quest 2
Where you Belong: Quest 3
Best Left Forgotten: Quest 4
Ware's Brew Quest New
The Striker New

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Robots in Automatron New
Mechanist's Lair, Eyebots, and Rogue Robots covers what happens after the Mechanist story is complete.

Perks & Bobbleheads

Now that I've written about all Perks in Fallout 4, I've put them all in a list, with how they work, what you can expect, and my own opinions on them. Hope this is handy! I've also compiled map shots of all Bobblehead Locations in the game. You can choose to explore the locations on your own or read descriptions for those I've taken notes about.

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