NOVAC at level 1. Safest and fastest (5 min.) way to reach NOVAC.

- - - SPOILER ALERT - - -

This guide is for players who already completed one main-quest playrun and want to skip the "official" route to reach Novac asap.

New Vegas main quest is designed to (naturally) arrive to Novac via: Primm-Nipton-Mojave Outpost-Nipton-Camp-Novac while solving diverse quests. It's recommended that new players follow at least once the "official course" to complete the game.

The route works in Very Hard/Hardcore, so It have to work for everyone at any level.



Why Novac?
Novac is the most popular city for permanent housing.
In Novac lives the most recruited companion (Boone).
Most generous trader in NV (Cliff) lives in Novac.
From Novac we access to some cool side quests.
Some OP (for level 1) items can be easily taken in Novac: That Gun, Andy's Carbine, 2xHunting Rifles, 1st Recon Beret, Medicine skill-book...
From Novac we can easily reach many VIP locations of NV: Freeside, The Strip, 188, McCarran, Gun Runners, Clinic New Vegas, Boulder City...


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0.
Leave the Dr. Mitchel House. (pic 01)

00. (OPTIONAL)
This step is needed only if your lockpick is under 25, and your science skill is under 15.
Go to the Saloon and talk to Sunny Smiles.
Follow the dialog: "I am a little short on caps. I don't suppose there is any work available." (pic 02)
She will give us some bob-pins and one Locksmith Reader magazine (+10 lockpicking skill).
Skip the other tests Sunny offers to us (bottles, geckos, campfire...)

1.
Go to the School of Gooodsprings, the only pink building in the town. (pic 03)
Open the Safe with lockpick 25 or science 25.
There are five skill-magazines in the school, two of them are "Programmers Digest" that it raises science skill +10.
Take the Stealth Boy. (pic 04)

2.
Go to the South of Goodsprings and follow the general Road.

3.
You will arrive at Jean Sky Diving (pic 05). Don't fight or anything, just ignore the guys around. Take care of possible mines. Cross the highway and reach the train tracks. (pic 06)

4.
Follow the train tracks until you reach "Emergency Service Railyard". (pic 07)

5.
Turn left, climb the hills and you will find the Primm Pass. (pic 08)

6.
Recommneded: SAVE GAME here, just in case... ;-)
SNEAK as you enter in the passagge.
Green "HIDDEN" status must show.
Advance carefully across the passage.
There is a dead follower in the middle of the passage (pic 09), close to a rock. Behind the rock there is a blind deathclaw*. (pic 10)
Don't underestimate it. Strangely, "blind deathclaws" have higher PERception than normal deathclaws and same STRength.
It's time to use the Stealth Boy.
Cross the rest of the passage trying to gain the back of the deathclaw, and staying as far away from it as possible. Usually climbing a bit, in the right side, is the best way to cross.

7.
As you leave the blind deathclaw's site, you will see the roof of a shack, Harper's Shack. (pic 11)
Go down, get the landmark, and follow by the left, staying "HIDDEN", stuck to the mountains.
There are four deathclaws, at the right. Just don't do anything silly and they will ignore you. (pic 12)

8.
Continue advancing, stuck to the mountains.
You will find a tunnel and a camp, with six vipers. (pic 13)
Just avoid them, leaving them behind you, as you reach the road.

9.
Follow the road.
You will arrive at "Ranger Station Charlie" (pic 14)
This road/area has a lot of "action" because there are all kinds of groups around: NCR troops, Legion men, Vipers, fire geckos, merchants... so being wise, it's a good place to loot corpses after their battles.
Follow the road... and you will finally see Novac! (pic 15)
:-)

Feel free to ask anything.

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[Uncle_J]

@DIRTSMOKER3000 After some careful exploration, and with some trial and error, i found a safer way to get from Goodsprings to Novac. I only had to kill two bad guys close to the Ranger station on my way to Novac. No other conflict. I took a different route than the author of this guide suggests. My route keeps you out of detection range of Deathclaws, Vipers and all but the two bad guys i mentioned.

[DIRTSMOKER3000]

@Uncle_J get good, you just have to sneak and try to kill more enemies without getting hurt, also loot way more stuff, sell way more stuff for better loot etc. vanilla new vegas even on very hard isnt that difficult

[Uncle_J]

I just started playing Fallout NV a few days ago. You recommend a first time player to do the "Official" route. I have "hit a wall" in Primm, trying to complete a quest to save the deputy that is being held in Bison Steve's. I have tried multiple times, using my best weapons and donning my leather armor. And i keep dying. Sorry, but i don't have the patience for this crap. I'm going to follow your directions and go to Novac, and do the 200,000 caps at level 1 thing. And find the best armor and weapons i can find, then i will return to Primm and continue my quests.

[i-i-iconic]

Thanks my man

[B.O.S.]

Zashiki, the "VIper Gang Pass" between Primm and Nipton is part of the normal route of the main quest guideline to reach Novac: Goodsprings > Primm > Mojave Outpost > Nipton > Novac.

The point of the guide is to show an alternative way to reach Novac, faster, reliable and safe, not a variant of the normal route... or any other suicide routes.

[Lord Tyrian]

The route I meant was once you get to Emergency Service Railyard, just keep following the railway. You'll end up behind Nipton. It's faster than taking the normal highway route through Primm. The only threat is the Viper gang past Nipton; some of them wield grenade launchers. But you have to get past those guys anyway if you were to take the default route, and it's still less risky than most alternative routes (cazadores or giant radscorpions are a death sentence).

But on a second thought, since your guide was written for a level 1 character on Very Hard, you're probably too weak to fight the Viper gang at such a low level. So you are indeed forced to use the Stealth Boy through Primm Pass instead. Still, following the whole railroad until you reach the eastern side of Nipton counts as an alternate path, by definition. It's just that I don't know exactly how difficult it is to fight the Vipers at lvl 1 on VH, I haven't tried that, so you tell me.

[B.O.S.]

Zashiki Warashi No. the other alternative routes to Novac are more random, hard and unsafe.... unless you are playing in easy levels (<VH) or cheating with the console or abusing saves.

btw, In my knowledge, other alternatives routes to Novac are:

1. The Radscorpions pass is a mortal trap for level 1 characters in VH, there are like 20 of them, no way to avoid them all.

2. The train-yard road (Sloan - Quary Junction) can randomly work, but when it does not work, you are just defenceless vs.multiple Deathclaws.

3. The Goodspring's Graveyard road route to the North is full of Cazadors and more threads, it is a pain and not a real shortcut.

4. There is another way to reach Novac, using a pass between Neil's Shack and Black Mountain, but it has some complications too...

[Lord Tyrian]

Wait a minute. Why not just follow the railway all the way until you get to behind Novac? It's much safer while still being a nice alternative to the ordinary Primm > Outpost > Nipton path. Along the railroad will be some coyotes (and sometimes giant rats IIRC) but nothing serious. It sure beats having to sneak past a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ deathclaw. Or worse, the people who dare venture into that pit with the radscorpions. Don't you people realize there's a much safer way, that doesn't force you to use a Stealth Boy?

[vmr]

I got lucky with no deathclaw

[CBlade]

it takes me a hour to get the start i want, right out of doc mitchels place i run off to the boomers location, steal some armors to sell, go to the gunrunners kiosk with the robot,sell the crap, then go to novac, by then i would have a stealthboy, then i go to the giant rat cave and get the ratslayer, and bam super easy game rest of the way