Gobstopped at Hollywood. Please help.

[Gonzo]

(Spoilers prolly.) Please help me progress through Hollywood (and Griffith Park.) I don't know if I'm glitched or just really impatient, but am looking to wrap up this 1st playthru and am a little frustrated. In Hollywood and I've done this:

1.) I accidently spoke with Brown Crown first and I am wondering if that is causing a glitch. Officer Lan at the time was unresponsive and I don't have the right "♥♥♥" skill for him.

2.) Helped at graveyard. Spoke to digger guy. Killed animals for him. Chatted with hippies.

2.5) I couldn't resist running to griffith park to grab that combat shooting skill book. Then back to Hollywood.

3.) Spoke with Flo at the diner.

4.) Spoke with Veronica at the Hideaway. (Honestly I am not sure whether I spoke with Flo or Veronica first. Whichever was the recommended one I saw in an older steam post or elsewhere.)

5.) Met Veronica at the graveyard.

6.) Went down to the sewer. I killed the guys. I can't completely free the prisoners as my demolition skill isn't high enough. (And this is a legit complaint I have about this game. The stats I put in hard-♥♥♥ i should have put in demolitions. Seems like the game rewards all or nothing with noncombat skills too often.)

7.) Went back to Flo's. Kicked Schwag's door down and killed him.

8.) This is where I think the glitches may start. I spoke with Veronica accidentally next. Then I went back to speak with Flo. Exhausted conversation with her. Then I went back to Veronica. Isn't this where she is suppose to give me some assignment or something? She isn't

I even went through all the embarrassing ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ conversations with Veronica to see if that may unlock progression. "Oh, really? Big Jim can **** me really good, huh? Oh, that's great."

9.) Then I reported the crimes to Officer Lan but that hasn't done much either. He just says thanks.

What next? I am at the 200 hour mark in WL2 and am ready to put this puppy to bed. Please help. Thank you.

[Gonzo]

Hello? How do I unlock more story, please, to progress? Is there anything obvious I'm leaving out in the above steps? I tried two different guides before posting here but those actions didn't unlock more Veronica.

Did I screw up by going to Brown Crown first? I mean, she was right there.

Is there a way around Veronica through another contact that isn't too sleazy? I'd rather not aid anyone connected to slaving nor those people at Griffith Park (as McDade's room freaked us the h*ll out.)

[analog_relic]

I haven't gotten that far yet mate. Can't help. AR

[Gonzo]

Perhaps there is some confusion as to what I mean by gobstopped. I am muddied up. Bottlenecked. At an impasse. Dare i say I am clusterf*cked. Gummied up. Bogged down even. In a quagmire. Dear sir, I am stymied.

[Sentient_Toaster]

Have you tried visiting the Bastion and talking to folks there?

[Gonzo]

Thanks, sentient toaster for responding. Is Bastion Griffith Park in the secret tunnel? At one point I did yes. I haven't spoke to them since doing some of these tasks in Hollywood, however.

Also, why the heck (spoiler) with what I see when walking through that tunnel in McDade's office? Why shouldn't I just start blasting?

McDade has men in cages with allusions to sexual assault. Yet, we are just suppose to run around talking to people offering help? Is this like some kind of joke or test? To see if we will just do what we've been trained to do like a Stanley Parable thing?

That is what holds this game back. The game really should reward you for just killing McDade but instead you just knoooooooow they want you to keep skulking around offering help and talk talk talk. Read read read. Click click click.

As much as I like RPGs AND -- more recently -- turned-base combat, I am really missing Xcom's base-management then fight. Base management then fight. Base management then fight. All this talking and skills that stop just short of helping is going to make me scream.

I really like the writing of this game but the unity engine and all the talk, talk, talk is wearing me down. Oh, and Scotchmo died who was my safe-cracking guy so I won't be able to just pull the zeolite out of the safe. Nope. I will be forced to wander, wander, wander. Talk talk talk. Man, I want to like this game but it is time to finish this. Thanks and sorry if I'm complaining. I am getting a little frustrated.

[Gregorovitch]

If you talk to Veronica you should be able to ask her about Heidi. She won't say much but you should then get an option for HCC. Select that and you should get some stuff about God's Militia and the Bastion to ask her. Going through these should get you to the Broken Man (because Veronica known her bloke isn't from Hollywood so she suspects he hails from the Bastion). People get stymied by this becasue it's a very roundabout way to get to Veronica's quest.

That should unlock things. Note you have to get the evidence for slavery for her first, and I am not sure if your trip to get the combat shooting skill book has screwed things. You are supposed to get the Broken Man quest before you venture up there (in terms of narrative timeline).

[Gonzo]

I didn't talk to anyone at Griffith Park. I just grabbed t he book. I even "stealthed" past the vendor who confronts you with that "obey" sh*t. Another reason why I am not sure we shouldn't just kill these zealots but don't want to break the story. So, I didn't talk to anyone. Just grabbed the book.

[Gregorovitch]

OK i would try Veronica as i suggested. You want the Broken Man quest to get the story proper started.

[Gonzo]

Okay. I am going to scream. I just looked up broken man and "after some hardassing and asskissing". I don't have every fricking skill maxed out. Okay? I just don't. This is an RPG after all. I have smart ass maxed out but here is a second issue of why i am getting pissed:
* I can't free the prisoners in the sewer because I don't have explosions maxed out.
* I can't get the zeolite out of the safe because I don't have safecracking maxed out.
* I can't do numerous hardass things with Officer Lam, Veronica, etc because I ONLY have smart ass maxwed out.

I think it's cool that Wasgteland 2 isn't exactly like Fallout 1 and 2 but it seems part of what made FO1 and 2 good was that you could use different skills to approach situations differently with varying degrees of reward or payback. Wasteland 2 the use of skills isn't that broadly applied across a degree of options. Meh. Sorry to b*tch. I am just getting burnt out since hitting California.

I will hit Bastion and try to find this Broken Man. Thanksd for your help and sorry if I am compliaining. I am getting a little burnt out.

[Gregorovitch]

You do not need any a$$ skills to get the Broken Man quest going. You just need to ask her about heidi ansd then HCC and you will get there. The safe with the extra Zeolite is only a 65% chance on max safecracking anyway. Several bags are just lying there.

[Gonzo]

Still not working. My perception is very high. Could it be that I didn't free the prisoners in the sewer? I don't have high enough demolitions.

[Gonzo]

Oh, and the reason I haven't just gone back to a previous save n' try the sequence again is I would have to go all the way back to (SPOILER) end of Arizona when the robots attack citadel. That seems meh. Perhaps I will just do it. I can't spend $40 and not complete this thing.

[Gregorovitch]

Originally posted by rainmaker:

Still not working. My perception is very high. Could it be that I didn't free the prisoners in the sewer? I don't have high enough demolitions.

That may be the problem. There is evidence against Swifty in a safe or chest in one of the rooms where the prisoners/slaves are. You are supposed to get this and show it to Veronica. Then there is the concluisve proof you find in Shwag's safe, but I do not know if that overrides not getting the first bit of evidence.

Originally posted by rainmaker:

Oh, and the reason I haven't just gone back to a previous save n' try the sequence again is I would have to go all the way back to (SPOILER) end of Arizona when the robots attack citadel. That seems meh. Perhaps I will just do it. I can't spend $40 and not complete this thing.

You should have auto-saves? How come you have no saves throughout the whole of CA so far?

There is a trinket that gives certainly +2 and possibly +3 to demolition skill that you can reasonably easily get hold of in Hollywood. I believe it might be available from tjhe merchant in the middle area (Los somethingorother, i can never remember it's name). That should enable you to at least save scum the traps on the prisoners doors.

[cschock]

If you are stuck and think there is no way to proceed on the quest in Hollywood you always have a failsafe resolution. Here is how to get out of any mess you may have made in Hollywood and still proceed on the main quest line of the game.

The following is a SPOILER! SPOILER ALERT! PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!


Head to Griffith. It does not matter how. When you get there you want to go speak to Fealty Mayweather. She is the wife of the leader of the group. Tell her you want to join her branch of the group. After you do so her husband will walk in, treat her like crap, and ask to talk to you.

You can talk to him if you want, but the key you need to get to the radio tower is on him. So, fire up your Assualt Rifles and gun him down and loot the key. Sadly this will make everyone at the Bastion turn hostile, but you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, right?

Once you've brushed aside all resistance, head outside, kill everyone there minus the entrapped slaves who you can free, and open the gate and head up the hill. THere are more bad guys there, but no worries. At the top you can plug into the radio tower AND get a bunch of the stuff you need for the upgraded rad suits and then wash your hands of the place.

[Gonzo]

Thank you CSShock. That did work. I just had to step away, clear my head, and try the ending of Wasteland 2 one more time. It was nice watching all the narratives on what happened as a result of my actions.