When you finish the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, you complete the courier's tale.
"Fallout: New Vegas" is a game of choices. Throughout your journeys, you'll face difficult decisions with significant impact, sometimes meaning life or death for people or even entire factions. At the game's end, you have four choices for your alignment in the Second Battle of Hoover Dam. You can support Mr. House and his continued hold over Vegas and attempted control of the dam; you can support the NCR and their control of the dam and desire for Vegas; you can fight for an independent Vegas; or you can support the Legion and their battle to take the dam. You must escape Hoover Dam during the battle if you're fighting for House, the NCR or independence. Beware: spoilers abound.
Instructions
House Supporter
1. Exit the Control Room in the Hoover Dam Offices level and turn left to leave. The Control Room is the room where you just installed the override for Mr. House as part of the "All or Nothing" quest, and this is where your escape begins. Your enemies ahead depend on your actions throughout the game. The Legion is certainly gunning for you, but the NCR may not be; if you've been on good terms with them and you convinced the Heavy Troopers at the Control Room door to leave, you can still be on good terms with the faction, though that won't last much longer.
2. Continue working your way east until you reach a door to one section housing the generators in the dam; you'll be standing on a balcony overlooking the large machinery. Along the way you'll likely fight numerous enemies, so exercise caution.
3. Turn right after you enter the door to the balcony and flip the electrical switch you find. This reroutes electricity to the Fort location and powers up the Securitron army.
4. Return down the hallway the way you came and take your first right into the kitchenette room and exit to the Hoover Dam Tower on the far side. This door has been inaccessible to you until this point in the game.
5. Exit the door to your left in the tower; you're now on top of Hoover Dam. Turn right to begin battling your way across the dam itself. You'll have Securitrons aiding you, and you'll have opportunity to duck behind sandbag walls as you fight. Watch out for the powerful Centurions and Legionaries. Many will have Thermic Lances, Super Sledges or even Anti-Material Rifles, so you've got a tough fight ahead of you.
6. Continue fighting across Hoover Dam until you reach the far side, where you can take the ruins of a road to your left. At the end of the road is the entrance to the Legate's Camp and the final stage of the Second Battle of Hoover Dam.
NCR Supporter
7. Speak to Mike Lawson after General Oliver finishes briefing you as part of the "Eureka!" final quest. This dialogue begins automatically, and if you want you can ask him how you can help stop the invading Legion soldiers. He'll tell you that if you divert some of the water going through the dam, you can wash many of the Legion troops into the turbines, killing them. This is entirely optional, but it will reduce the Legion forces you're up against.
8. Fight your way out of Power Plant 04 and into the Power Plant 03 location on the far side of the room. You'll be battling many Centurions and Legionaries until the end of the game, so plan and fight accordingly. In Power Plant 03 you have the choice to continue forward to the top of the dam or head upstairs to a control panel, where you can begin diverting water as Mike Lawson recommended you do. If you choose to divert the water, you'll have to activate the control panel in Power Plant 03 and then follow your Pip-Boy's location indicator back to Power Plant 04, then upstairs to an exit to Hoover Dam. Here you'll use a release valve to actually divert the water, and then you can backtrack to Power Plant 03 and continue fighting through the Legion.
9. Fight through each of the main power plant locations: Power Plant 03, Power Plant 02 and Power Plant 01. The Legion will dog you every step of the way, so keep a sharp eye out for them.
10. Enter the doors to the Visitor Center at the end of the Power Plant 01 location and then exit the Visitor Center to the top of the dam.
11. Battle across Hoover Dam with the support of NCR Troopers. The backup helps, and you can duck behind the sandbag walls along the way, but the fight ahead will be challenging. Eventually you'll reach the Hoover Dam Checkpoint building. Depending on how you resolved the "Oh My Papa" quest, the Great Khans may show up and help you fight the Legion, though the Khans won't last long.
12. Enter the checkpoint and take a moment to prepare. You will not face any enemies in this small building. You can apply stims, repair weapons and loot everything in sight without fear of attack or reprisal.
13. Exit the building and meet with Alpha Squad, a group of elite Ranger Veterans. These four powerful allies will accompany you across the bridge, and they ask for your directions in the advance. With a high enough speech skill, you can tell them to pave the way for you, which means some of them may die but you'll have less fighting to deal with. Or you can simply order them to cover you by sniping, fight enemies alongside you or not to bother helping you at all, in which case they leave.
14. Battle your way across the dam until you reach the far side and take the broken-up road you see to your left, which leads to the Legate's Camp. The final moments of the Second Battle of Hoover Dam will happen there.
Independent
15. Exit the Control Room on the Hoover Dam Offices level to continue the "No Gods, No Masters" quest. The Control Room is the location where you installed the override for Yes Man, and it's where your escape begins. You need to turn left if you told Yes Man you were going to power up the Securitron army, and you need to turn right if you told him you would blow up the generators at the dam.
16. Fight your way to the switch you need to accomplish your mission. If you chose to power up the Securitron army, you'll continue down the hallway east of the Control Room until you reach the Power Plant location, where you turn on the switch you see on your right. If you chose to blow up the generators, you'll continue down the hallway west of the Control Room until you reach the Power Plant 01 location, where the switch you need is on your left. Regardless, you'll face enemies the whole way. The Legion will shoot on sight, you, but the NCR may still be friendly; if you've been on good terms with them and you convinced the Heavy Troopers to leave the Control Room door, they may still be friendly, though they'll become hostile soon enough.
17.Exit by the guard tower. You must backtrack a bit to find it. If you powered up the Securitron army, backtrack just a little way down the hallway until you find the kitchenette on your right and the exit you need on the far side of the room. If you blew up the generators, backtrack all the way past the Control Room and follow the hallway left until you can finally enter the kitchenette, which is on your left; the exit you need is on the far side of the room. You can always look at your Pip-Boy's map indicator to find your way.
18. Battle your way across Hoover Dam until you reach the far side, where you can take the ruins of a road to your left. You'll encounter the impressive Centurions and their supporting Legionaries. They all have very powerful weapons, so you may want to rely on your Securitron escort for help. There are also plenty of sandbag walls you can duck behind as you fight. At the end of the road is the entrance to the Legate's Camp and the final stage of the Second Battle of Hoover Dam.
Tags: Control Room, Power Plant, until reach, your left, Battle Hoover, Second Battle, Second Battle Hoover