Overview:
Estimated achievement difficulty: 6/10
Offline: 50 [1000]
Online: 0
Approximate amount of time to 1000: 40-60 hours [Depends largely on how much you focus on only trying for achievements]
Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 1 [three if you don't plan]
Number of missable achievements: "Scientific Pursuits", "The G.O.A.T. Whisperer", "The Wasteland Survival Guide", "Strictly Business", "Vault-Tec C.E.O."
Glitched achievements: None!
Do cheat codes disable achievements?: No Cheats
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Operation Anchorage DLC
- Difficulty: 2/10
-
Time to 250
: 3 Hours
- Unobtainable: None
-
The Pitt DLC
- Difficulty: 2/10
-
Time to 250
: 2-4 Hours
- Unobtainable: None
-
Broken Arrow DLC
- Difficulty: 2/10
-
Time to 250
: 5-7 Hours
- Unobtainable: None
-
Point Lookout DLC
- Difficulty: 3/10
-
Time to 250
: 3-5+ Hours
- Unobtainable: None
-
Mothership Zeta DLC
- Difficulty: 3/10
-
Time to 250
: 2-4+ Hours
- Unobtainable: None
Many of you will find this game strikingly similar to Bethesda's previous masterpiece, Oblivion. Like Oblivion, the game is tremendously fun, but not too difficult to get 1000 achievement points. If at anytime the game gets too hard for you, just move the difficulty slider down.
Introduction
Welcome to Fallout 3. This game has a total of 50 achievements and requires only one playthrough to get 1000. Of the achievements, 11 are unlocked simply by playing through the story and will give you 220
. The remaining 39 achievements will require you to perform certain acts, collect items and reach certain levels with a specific karma.
At the time of writing this road map, there are a few glitches that occur within the game. One of them is that sometimes, NPCs in Megaton will fall to their deaths randomly. This can be very annoying if you're not looking for it. Another one occurs after the quest in Big Town. Often times, when you volunteer to fix the robots the robots will not be there. To avoid this just choose one of the other options. Although there are other reported glitches out there, none of them are that common and as such should be discussed on a case by case basis.
The following is a list of the missable quest achievements and how to avoid missing them:
"Scientific Pursuits": Don't talk to Dr. Li in Rivet City or explore Vault 112 before the story takes you there.
"The G.O.A.T. Whisperer": Don't play sick when you're a teenager and your Dad tells you it's time to take the G.O.A.T.
"The Wasteland Survival Guide": Don't blow up Megaton or else you kill this quest's giver.
"Strictly Business": Careful not to charge guns balzing into Paradise Falls. If you kill Grouse, you lose this quest.
"Vault-Tec C.E.O.": Make sure to grab the medicine bobblehead while you're in Vault 101 and the Energy Weapons bobblehead from Raven Rock. These two locations seal shut once you leave.
Step #1: Prepare For Your Playthrough
Before beginning your playthrough, the following is a list of useful links that you will most likely want to use at least once during your playthrough:
Sidequest Guide
Unique Weapons Guide
Character Creation Guide
Tips/Tricks
FAQ
Some of you may notice that there are no walkthroughs linked. This is because they aren't necessary. For the most part the game gives you a marker to the next location required to progress your current quest.
Step #2: Time to Actually Play the Game
Be sure not to rush through the main story, because it is actually somewhat short. Most of the achievements are for doing side-quests, so go through all those when they are available, then make sure to get the miscellaneous achievements like collecting bobbleheads, making weapons, killing enemies, hacking terminals and picking locks. After all that, you should just have to finish the main story.
Operation Anchorage
In order to start this DLC up, you'll need to wait until you get an alert that reads: "A new radio broadcast has been heard across the Capital Wasteland. It sounds like a distress call, but seems meant for certain ears only..." This is the beginning of Operation: Anchorage.
Step 1: Story Playthrough:
All four achievements are tied to the Operation Anchorage storyline and cannot be missed. The first achievement you will unlock is "Aiding The Outcasts." For this achievement, all you have to do is locate the Outcast Outpost in the Capital Wasteland. Once inside, you will speak to a number of people and enter a simulation machine. The achievement will unlock here. For a map detailing the location of the Outcast Outpost, refer to the Guide below.
After completing the first quest of this DLC by destroying the three giant guns overlooking the cliffside, you will unlock "The Guns of Anchorage." Soon after speaking to Morgan and assembling your squad, you will need to destroy two fuel tanks and take over the Listening Post for the next quest. Completing this quest will unlock "Paving the Way." The last achievement you will obtain in this DLC will be "Operation Anchorage." This will unlock after the final mission where you are required to eliminate the Chinese Communist leader by force or use of speech skills.
The Pitt
Step 1: Story Playthrough:
The Pitt offers three achievements that can be obtained through natural progression of the storyline. By simply starting up the DLC and entering the Pittsburg location, you will unlock "Into The Pitt." After completing the first quest in this DLC, you will eventually unlock "Unsafe Working Conditions" after collecting 10 steel ingots for the Pitt guards and meeting up with Midea at her house. After completing the last quest in this DLC, which tasks you with choosing an important decision for the future of the Pitt, you will finally unlock "Free Labor."
Step 2: Mill Worker (Should be obtained during the quest "Unsafe Working Conditions"):
In order to unlock "Mill Worker," you will need to collect a total of 100 steel ingots in the steel yard area. This area is very large, and the ingots are hidden away in spots that you wouldn't necessarily think of searching. While one of the main quests requires you with only collecting ten ingots, you should attempt to collect all 100 during that quest. You can refer to the Guide below for a useful map of the 100 collectibles.
Broken Steel
The story in Broken Steel picks up at the end of the main quest in Fallout 3. This DLC lifts the level cap and offers some new weapons and armor to toy around with. In addition to all these goodies, there's also six new achievements to be earned, three which are story related, and three which are Karma-leveled related.
Step 1: Story Playthrough:
A single playthrough of this DLC storyline will unlock "Death From Above," "Shock Value," and "Who Dares Wins." "Death From Above" will unlock after you fight a lengthly battle with Liberty Prime and Paladin Tristan immediately after the quest, "Take It Back!" The "Shock Value" quest tasks you with retrieving a Telsa Coil from a Deathclaw infested power plant. Lastly, "Who Dares Wins" is the last quest in this DLC and will require to fight through a dark metro, reactivate and ride a train to the Enclave Air Force Base, and destroy the Air Base using Brother of Steel technology. These achievements cannot be missed and will net you a total of 90.
Step 2: Utilize one Save File for 3 Karma Achievements:
Be aware of your level while playing through this DLC. When you are close to reaching level 29, be sure to make a separate save file. In order to unlock "Messiah," you will need to reach level 30 with Good Karma. For "Devil," it requires Evil Karma, and "True Mortal" requires Neutral Karma. You can refer to the Guide below for a great method of how to get all three achievements with ease.
Point Lookout
Step 1: Story Playthrough:
While completing the storyline of the Point Lookout DLC, you will be able to unlock three out of the four achievements for a total of 60. "The Local Favor" will unlock as soon as you complete the very first quest given to you. During this quest, you'll need to help a Ghoul defend his mansion. After completing this mission, you will eventually have to venture off into the Sacred Bog for another favor. Completing this quest will unlock "Walking With Spirits." After a series of quests, you will finally unlock "Meeting of the Minds" once the final quest is complete.
Step 2: Discover all locations in Point Lookout:
In order to unlock "Bog Walker," you'll need to simply discover every location in Point Lookout. There are a total of 29 locations and most will come naturally by the time you complete all the quests. If you've yet to unlock the achievement by the end of the storyline, you can find a helpful map below that displays all the locations.
Mothership Zeta
Step 1: Story Playthrough:
There are three achievements that are related to the main storyline of Mothership Zeta. By the end of the DLC, you will have unlocked 80 by simply completing all the quests. "Not of This World" will unlock after escaping the holding cells with Somah and Sally and thawing out four additional captives in the ship. After destroying three generators throughout the ship and activating panels on the outside of the ship, you will unlock "Among the Stars." Lastly, "This Galaxy Ain't Big Enough..." will unlock after the final quest when you've killed the Alien Captain and destroyed the hostile Alien Cruiser.
Step 2: Collect all Alien Recordings (while completing the storyline):
There are a total of 25 collectibles in the form of Alien Recordings that must be recovered in order to obtain "Alien Archivist." You can find these recordings around the spaceship as you complete various quests. You MUST collect the first 19 before you go on the space walk during the quest "Among the Stars." If you don't, you'll have to replay the entire DLC. You can refer to the Guide below for a video detailing the locations of all the collectibles.
Conclusion
If you are missing achievements at this point you should hopefully have a previous save to load up and use to get whatever achievement you're missing. If not then I hope you enjoyed the game because it's time to start over.
[XBA would like to thank Method for this Roadmap]
[XBA would like to thank BiggD for all five DLC Roadmaps]