Vault 81 - Fallout 4 Guide - IGN (2024)

The area known as Vault 81 is a Vault Location in central area of The Commonwealth. It is located to the South of Oberland Station along the train tracks, and just West of Chestnut Hillock Reservoir.

There are 2 Magazines, 1 Bobblehead, and 1 Companion in this location.

Vault 81 Layout

Upon entering the cave towards Vault 81, you will see a small radio comlink that can be used to open the vault. By opening up your Pip Boy at the entrance, you can initiate a conversation with Officer Edwards and the Overseer through the comlink. If you have a high enough Charisma stat, you can emphasize your status as a fellow Vault Dweller in the conversation and convince the Overseer to open the door.

Once inside, you will find the Overseer, Officer Edwards, and various other Vault Dwellers roaming around. There are tables with junk items that can be stolen, but doing so will provoke the Dwellers to attack you. The hallway to the back leads down a path towards Officer Edwards' office and an elevator that goes deeper into the vault.

The lower section of the Vault has more Vault Dwellers in the area, including Austin who will give you a tour of the area for a charge of 5 CAPS (can be convinced to do it for free). Down the hall is the Overseer's room, which has a terminal that you can hack to see various information. There is a variety of items you can steal, but do so at your own risk.

Back in the main hall of the floor, the downstairs area has many NPCs to speak to and some vendors that sell food and recovery items. You can change your hairstyle at Horatio's Barber on the South side of the floor and visit Dr. Penske's lab across from there. Penske's lab has many food items you can harvest, including corn and tatos. There is also a terminal that has research notes about Penske's work.

There is a pathway on section of the bottom floor that leads to Katy's Classroom and Residential rooms. Each of the rooms contain various junk, health, and ammo items that can be stolen, but doing so will provoke the entire floor of security towards your position. Speaking to Katy will open up a small quest to speak with the Vault children about the Commonwealth.

Down the hall of this area leads to a ramp to the bottom Residenial area rooms and Dr. Forsythe's lab. In the lab, you can heal yourself by speaking with Rachel. There is a terminal on Rachels desk that has various medical information on it. You can steal recovery items on the tables in the lab, such as Stimpacks and RadAway.

Vault 81 Notable Loot

• Medicine Bobblehead (Found with Curie in secret vault)
• Taboo Tattoos Magazine (Found in lower level downstairs in Horatio's room, South side of area.)
• Grognak the Barbarian Book (Reward from Katy for completing Short Stories quest in classroom)
• Overseer's Guardian weapon and armor from Combes' Comissary shop
• Vault 81 Tech Password (In the secret vault) that unlocks the secure access terminal
• Steamer Trunk (In the secret vault)

Related Quests

• Vault 81
• Vault 81 Tour
• Maitenence Man
• Fertilizer Woman
• Dependency
• Short Stories
• Here Kitty Kitty
• Holein the Wall

Allies

• Curie
• Overseer McNara
• Combes Family
• Miranda
• Neil
• Calvin
• Officer Edwards
• De Luca Twins
• Austin Engill
• Summerset Family
• Horatio
• Dr. Penske
• Dr. Forsythe
• Katy
• Rachel

Enemies

• Molerats (In secret Vault)
• Turrets (In secret Vault)
• Protectron (In secret Vault)

The Secret of Vault 81

After completing the side quest Here Kitty Kitty, you'll find that a child was bitten by a molerat carrying a deadly disease. Through this you'll learn of a hidden passage to a different vault built to monitor Vault 81 by Vault Tec scientists, who planned to study the effects of diseases and cures cultivated through molerats.

Unbeknownst to the current dwellers of Vault 81, most of the scientists in the secret vault were prepared to unleash pathogens, when the molerats escaped and overwhelmed the staff, entombing them for nearly two centuries alongside their counterparts. The only survivor was a modified Handy robot named Curie, who continued her work on cultivating cures based on the pathogens raised in the molerats - but was unable to leave her lab.