Anyone who has been involved in the gaming world knows that one of the industry’s biggest franchises is none other than Fallout. The franchise explores an alternate reality of our own world, in which pop culture and everyday life never advanced past the era of the 40s and 50s, but technology surpassed us long ago to the point that robots, power armor, and destruction are par for the course.
In this reality, a war broke out, and the world as we know it was bathed in fallout. In the wake of the war, the survivors both on the surface and in the underground bunkers known as Vaults emerged to rebuild some semblance of a society. This is the franchise that has captured the hearts and minds of gamers everywhere. Heck, we’ve covered this game several times over the last couple of years. You can find a couple of my articles on the game here and here.
Yet despite all of the love and admiration, the gamers have given this game and even the major fandom that has grown in response to it, there are several missions or quests in this franchise that are not so great. Particularly in the most recent release in the franchise, Fallout 4. Today we are going to dive head first into some of the most pointless, unrewarding quests in the game. These are the 25 quests that everyone does in Fallout 4 even though they have the absolute worst and pointless rewards. Enjoy…
25 Best Left Forgotten: Travel Inside A Synth's Head ... Get 500 XP
This first completely useless and unnecessary quest can be found in the Fallout 4 DLC Far Harbor.
While in this coastal town, you come across a major synth related quest featuring the Synth leader DiMA and lost memories within his mind.
You must travel inside the synth’s head much like you do for Nick Valentine and Kellog’s memory implant, but you are given very little direction to accomplishing this goal and your only reward is 500 XP.
24 The Great Hunt: A Fearsome Beast Turns Out To Be A Mirelurk... Real Intimating
A part of the side quests found in the Far Harbor DLC, you are told by The Mariner that a fearsome beast that has sunk several ships along the coast roams the waters and small island near Far Harbor. The harbor’s leader Avery warns you that it’s only a myth and dangerous to put yourself at risk, but you can join The Mariner in their hunt for the monster. However, upon arriving at the island you find the monster is nothing more than a miniature Mirelurk, with glowing red eyes. It’s a complete waste of time.
23 Kid In Fridge: Find A Kid Whose Been Missing For 200 Years... Get Some Caps (And Karma, I Guess)
Near the south of University Point, you’ll hear a faint call from someone nearby asking for help. You’ll find a locked fridge, whereupon opening it you’ll find a little ghoul boy who survived the bombs falling over 200 years earlier.
He’ll ask for help finding his parents, and you’ll have to take him to the outskirts of Quincy, where you’ll reunite him with his ghoul parents.
However local raiders will start harassing the family, so you’ll have quite a powerful fight against these seasoned raiders. For all your trouble, you’ll only gain a few caps. Perhaps some good karma personally as well, but nothing to help in your other quests.
22 Order Up: Save Diner — The Merchant Abandons It And Join Your Settlement
A random encounter at Drumlin Diner will showcase a standoff between a mother/son diner owner pair and two raiders and chem dealers. You’ll have to decide whether to ignore the confrontation, help the chem dealers get their money or end the lives of the chem dealers and save the family inside. You can also make a compromise with the right charisma. For all of your trouble, however, you’ll only get a few caps and a new merchant to work with.
21 Devil's Due: Rumors Of A Haunted Mansion — Turns Out It's Just A Deathclaw
Upon learning of the Museum of Witchcraft from random conversations in Diamond City, you’ll find bodies strewn about the museum grounds.
Upon finding an open entrance, you’ll discover a horror-filled setting.
The Museum itself is filled with bodies, tight corridors, and monstrous howls building the tensions around you. It seems prime for a scary confrontation, but the beast waiting inside is none other than an ordinary Deathclaw, the beasts roaming the wasteland anyway. Quite the let down.
20 Minutemen Settlement Quests: Needy Settlers And Little XP
One thing that is a constant in the game is the amount of help the Minutemen need. Being made their general by the surviving soldier Preston Garvey, you’re constantly being bombarded with quests by him. While some are cool, like retaking the Minutemen fort The Castle, you mostly have to go around helping various settlements. You’ll have to rescue settlers who were taken, end threats to the settlements and find and build new settlements. Worst of all these quests can pop up at random times, and if you don’t get there in a certain amount of time you fail the quest. It’s quite annoying.
19 Sanctuary: Rebuild Your Home With Zero Help
One of the first tasks that is actually something you have to do throughout all the game is to rebuild your home neighborhood from before the war.
Called Sanctuary now, you have to help Preston and his group of survivors make it a home.
You’re constantly having to get rid of debris, build homes, resources, defenses, and no one in the settlement can do anything until you assign them. Once in a while, it would just be nice if the NPC’s took the initiative to assign themselves a task while you are away, rather than starve to death even though a field of corn is right next to them.
18 Lynn Woods Siren: Lots Of Enemies, Zero Rewards.
Near the Lynn Woods raider camps, you will find a massive tower. If you decide to scale that tower, you’ll find it empty except for one lone button to push. If you are curious and push that button, a loud horn will sound, attracting two powerful Deathclaws and waking up the raider camps nearby. You’ll have to fight for your life against these monsters and the raider army below, and you’ll get no reward for all your trouble.
17 The Sight: Sad Ending For Pointless Visions
This quest refers to the visions Mama Murphy receives if you supply her with Jet, a chem used in the game.
If you do this throughout the game she will give you up to five visions, (all dependent on the path you choose in the game), and then she will sadly pass away from the chem use.
However doing this not only ends this elderly woman’s life, but the “visions” are all things you will find out for yourself anyway if you just play the main missions of the game, and so a waste of your time and an unnecessary end for this character.
16 Feeding The Troops: Steal Food For 100 XP? Really?
When you are aligned with or working with the Brotherhood of Steel, you can speak with Proctor Teagan and ask if he has anything he needs from you. He’ll direct you to go to a specified settlement and ask for all of their food supplies, and to acquire them by any means necessary. This means either convincing the settlement or eliminating the settlers and claiming it for the Brotherhood. For all this trouble you’ll receive 100 XP.
15 Leading By Example: Train Kids, Get 300 XP And Wasted Ammo
At some point in the game, Lancer Captain Kells will ask you to let a Brotherhood of Steel squire accompany you on a mission to eliminate a threat in the Commonwealth, training them and showing them how to fight and survive in the harsh reality of the wasteland.
The squire is never able to be hurt during the mission, so there’s no risk of failing the mission that way.
However, for all your trouble training this kid to become a warrior, you get a measly 300 XP.
14 High Ground: Waste Time Fighting Brotherhood For 75 XP? Yikes
If you decided to side with the Railroad or align with them in any way during the campaign, you will have made an enemy of the Brotherhood of Steel. After destroying the Prydwen and ending the majority of the Brotherhood, the remaining members of the faction will be scattered across the Commonwealth. PAM will send you to stop Brotherhood patrols and vertibirds, and for all the fighting you do to stop them you will only get 75 XP.
13 Weathervane: Clear Skies And Little XP
During your time with the Railroad, you’ll discover a quest by Tinker Tom, in which he asks you to go to high points throughout the commonwealth and place devices he calls MILA’s to help gather evidence that the Institute is terraforming the planet.
Be sure to do this quest before the final confrontation with the Institute, as it will not be available afterwards unless you convince the Railroad, BoS and Minutemen to work together, a rare feat indeed.
For all your trouble you get 100 XP and depleted ammo stores.
12 Banished From The Institute: Ruin Saving Commonwealth for 300 XP
This is a really lame, waste of a mission if you ask me. This starts if you refuse to work with the Institute the first time you meet Father, end him or an Institute scientist upon arrival, or disrespect Father at any point while working with him. He’ll call you an enemy of the Institute and warn you he will have you taken out if they cross paths. This fails your undercover part of the main story and makes all other quests more difficult, and all you receive in return is 300 XP.
11 Dependency: Kick The Chems, Gain Settler And 75 XP. Yay?
This is a small quest in Vault 81, in which you have to help Tina De Luca convince her brother Bobby to get help for his Jet addiction.
This confrontation with Bobby results in either the player giving him more Jet, getting into a fight that ends Bobby’s life and fails the quest (unless you pass a hard speech check afterward), or you convince him to see Rachel for a treatment plan. If you manage to convince him, see Tina first to convince her to join a settlement, and then finish the quest by visiting Rachel. This intervention will gain you 75 XP and nothing more.
10 In Sheep’s Clothing: Negotiate, End Threat, 150 XP?
At the onset of this quest, you may think it’s an interesting story. It’s revealed that Mayor McDonough of Diamond City is a synth sent by the Institute after the Mayor attacks guard Danny Sullivan. He takes his secretary hostage, forcing you to break into his office and confront the mayor. You must convince him to let the secretary go, then you must choose to let him leave and go free, end him or tell him to face trial, which results in him making a last stand. For all this intrigue and hostage negotiating, you get 150 XP.
9 The Disappearing Act: Missing Person Equals Less Caps
This quest takes on a noir-style mystery, with a man missing and you tasked with finding him. Upon searching for Earl Sterling you discover a link to the Mega Surgery Center in Diamond City.
Whether you convince Doc Sun or pick your way into the cellar, you’ll discover Earl at his end after a botched surgery job, with Doc Crocker as the culprit.
You either get into a confrontation with the doctor or convince him to do the right thing, which ends with the doctor taking his life. For all this investigating you’ll get 250 XP and 200 caps.
8 The Memory Den: Bad Trip Down Memory Lane For 150 XP
If you visit Goodneighbor and the Memory Den before meeting Nick Valentine, you may be able to convince Irma with enough Charisma to let you use the memory lounger. However, this leads to you reliving the moment your spouse was ended and Shaun taken from you by Kellog. The memory leads to a vow of revenge against Kellog and Irma apologizing for making you relive that memory. The only reward is 150 XP, although she mentions seeing Nick in Diamond City to help with her case.
7 Vault 75: Worst Middle School Ever And 200 XP
This is a minor quest found exploring the basement of Malden Middle School. You’d think the average middle school would be filled with old desks and books and nothing more.
There you’ll discover a hidden Vault, where you’ll find a Bobblehead, a Grognak comic and 200 XP waiting for you when you explore the vault. You’ll have to deal with Gunners while you’re down there, but otherwise, it’s a simple exploration mission with little to no rewards save what I mentioned before.
6 Diamond City’s Most Wanted: Bounty Hunting For XP
While some quests come during the natural course of the story of the game or by exploring the wasteland, sometimes quests happen upon you by chance. This is a chance quest activated by reading wanted posters either inside the Dugout Inn or near Swatters, or you can ask Geneva for work. This will lead to enemies being marked somewhere on the map and you being tasked with taking them out. This hunt and destroy style mission leads to you gaining anywhere from 100 to 400 XP.