an Uzi-packing soldier-ette.
Alright, kiddies, here's a modern solution file to that three year-old adventure game called Wasteland. This game is one of the best games EVER created. The great variety of skills you can put into your characters, the smooth interface and the rock-solid (well, almost) plot is reason enough to put this among the classics. And if you haven't bought the game, yet, do.
This solve covers many of the main points to the Wasteland scenario, but I hope I didn't miss too many nuances. There are many parts to this file: the basic solution, an essay on character creation and a list of all the armor, weapons and equipment you'll find in the game. There's also a section on general hints and some unknowns.
Oh, by the way, if you really want to thank me, send me the solution put out by Origin. I never managed to get a copy of that.
If you have any other problems or updates, you can reach me at Caesar's Palace: (213) 398-1224, node @4 for most WWIV nets.
You start out at Ranger Center in the southern part of the Wasteland. Go west to the kids' camp of Highpool. Try and enter all the various buildings. Complete the dog quest. (There is no way to avoid killing Rex.) Rescue Jackie in the hidden cave on the west side (by talking to the boy; use Perceptionto find the cave). Find the building with the bed and junk. You'll find a secret cache under the bed. Use perception on the pump beside the bed. Your first quest will be to find an engine.
Go to Quartz, a four-square city to the northwest. There is an ammo shop at the southwestern end. Pawn some items/sell excess equipment until you have $500. (Re-supply whenever needed.) Travel to the Nomads' Camp, which is a square with tents to the east, on the north side of the desert. Buy an engine. See the brakeman.
Return to Highpool. Fix the pump by U)sing the Engine on the pump. Wow… dinero and some armor.
Travel to the Agricultural Center to the west to earn some easily-acquired experience. The final quest will be to kill Harry the Bunnymaster, who lies in the southern section of the farm, in the northwestern fields. You also might want to venture into a cave in the southwest part of the fields.
Head on over to Quartz. Take the back entrance to Scott's Bar in the southeast section of town. Enter the Men's Room around the corner and question the boy. Hmm…another quest? Find the Head Crusher and give him the Visa card. (You can go get the stuff later on.) You can also "CHAT" with him about the Muty Cuties. Go to the riddler in the northwestern section of the bar. The answers are "TOAST" and "R." The last answer you can find yourself. Cute, huh? Ellen can be reached on one of the central bar seats on the west end of the bar.
The Stagecoach Inn is in the center of town. Find Room #18 and get what you need. Explore if you want. Enter the Courthouse via the secret entrance on the northeastern end. Climb the vines up each level. Blow up hard to open doors with TNT if you can't pick them. The rest is up to you…go in the front door if you want. Password is "MUERTE."
Little known fact #1: Dan Citrin is the key to $1000. He's on the second floor. Once you rescue him, he'll tell you about how he and his father hid money right under Ugly's nose. His father is on the third floor, in the same cell block as the mayor. Rescue him and you get the cash.
Once you have rescued Mayor Pedros (and Dan Citrin, if you did), then you can hit the Hideout in the northeast part of town. You can enter by a secret entrance on the space directly to the southwest of the Hideout. Use rope to climb up the wall. The glass wall is a good place to raise Perception levels; just walk along the wall. Break the glass with a crowbar, get down and party. There is a safe behind the map of Quartz in Ugly's office. Crack it, or use the combo: 27-11-16. Ugly is to the east. Rescue Felicia.
You can drop Felicia, Mayor Pedros or Dan Citrin. They are not crucial to the game. Find Ace via a secret passageway in the officer's lounge. You need him for the game.
Go to the jeep north of Quartz. Ace will fix it. He's the only useful character; he drives you around. (Be like me: use extra characters as slave-burdens and decoys.)
Now you're in Needles. It's on a real map, if you want to
check. Explore the town, being careful of the radioactive dump
site on the northwest section of the town. Look through
Downtown. You'll find things ranging from yummy hobo dogs to
three-legged prostitutes. Important places: the gang meeting
behind some rubble, the bloodstaff tester, the ammo shop, the
howitzer. There is also a locked room for gambling; the password
in is "ACAPULCO." Use the howitzer to load up shells (found
later in the game) to increase your Demolitions and AT Weapons
skill. You can also find Christina,
an Uzi-packing soldier-ette.
Remember that you'll find lots of bloodstaffs, but there is only one real one.
To the southwest of Downtown, you'll find a toxic waste dump (actually a missile silo). Bring plenty of TNT.
To the northeast of Downtown, you can find an ammo dump, a police building and a library. Go down the ammo dump to find a ruby ring. Get some equipment, too. Enter the police building and explore. Get the ruby ring to the priest in southeastern Needles. Drop the ruby ring after he sees it.
There are a bunch of sand dunes on the southern end of Needles. Use them to improve Climbing skill. On top of one dune is a note.
Now you should be ready for the Temple of Blood, which is in northwest Needles. There is a radioactive field to the southeast, so I suggest walking along the edges. Once inside, explore around until you find the chess game. Here are the keys: U-L-L-L-L-U-U-R-R-R-R-R-D-R-R-U-U-U-U-L-L-D-L-L-L-L-U-U-R-R. That's thirty steps.
Swim north across the moat and get the one, true bloodstaff. Be careful about the pressure pad. Now, here is where you want to get the power packs and the LAW rockets; you'll need them later in the game. Try and make sure you get two LAWs or five power packs whenever you can. If not, just restore and try again. (Read the Miscellaneous section for more info.)
After you get the bloodstaff, head back south into the rocket. The launch code is "MOTEKIM." Return to the priest in southeastern Needles and give him the real bloodstaff. Use the engine to fix the jeep. You're off to Las Vegas!
There's no way to avoid losing the jeep. You won't need it
anyway. Important sites in Las Vegas: the library in the
southeast corner, casinos on the west strip (Spade's Casino and
Fat Freddy's Place), a scorpitron (an almost invicible enemy)
in the center and a jail in the northeast. Las Vegas is also a
hotbed of killer robots, so be careful. You'll also find many
rockets from these robots. Collect as many LAWs and RPG-7s as
you can; you're going to blow Guardian Citadel soon. By the
way, there is a secret stash of equipment on the northern part
of the golf course. It's between four flags. Make sure you
pick up the sonic key with it. You can also find a sonic key
from 10 cyborg commandos in the northeast.
First off, step to the library and see if you can find any new skills. Second, find a building with a beggar in it. It's just west of the library. You'll learn about Covenant, Max, Fat Freddy and Faran Brygo. Rescue Covenant at the Jail.
Third, you should see Fat Freddy. The password is "BIRD." He'll ask you to kill Faran Brygo and bring back his onyx ring. However, there are TWO rings in the game. One is held by Faran, the other is in the Guardian Citadel. In other words, you don't have to kill Faran to get the $10K reward.
Fourth, you should go to Spade's Casino. Explore, but make sure you step up to the bar. You'll also notice that there's a path to the basement from the 2nd floor of the casino. Use a rope, and you'll find a rock and pebble hill to the northwest. This is a good place to improve your Climbing skill. Faran Brygo's place is in the center of town, just east of the scorpitron. There's no way to get to Faran Brygo without getting past the scorpitron, and there's no getting past the scorpitron without getting blown to bits. So, hold off on that task for now.
Finally, you should head over to the Temple of the Servants of the Mushroom Cloud. It's on the east side of Las Vegas, a building with a little nuclear explosion on it. Get in with "OPPENHEIMER" or "EINSTEIN," and explore. There's a doctor in there that will join you. You can also find a library and a hospital. There's a secret door on the west side of the temple that you use to get to the sewers. You can either use the sonic key to open it, or talk to Charmaine, who'll give you an alternate solution. Tell her "FARAN BRYGO" sent you.
Before you head into the sewers, you have one monumental task ahead of you: beseiging the Guardian Citadel. By now, you should have collected about 15 LAW rockets and 10 RPG-7s. Arm your best shots with rockets and raid the Guardian Citadel. The Guardian Citadel is filled with fanatical xenophobics, which is not at all harmless; however, these guys are armed with energy weapons and power armor (rating 14), which make these monks lethal.
First thing you should do is enter, and then SAVE. Scout around a bit, trying not to use too many restores; get to know the positions of each enemy. Brother Goliath blocks the only entrance to the Citadel. He only has a melee weapon, and he won't move, so he won't be a problem. The two bunkers on the left and the right are inaccessible, so don't bother with them. First target: Brother David, who is just east of Goliath. Take him out with one rocket. (Don't waste rockets!) Next, are the two sisters to the left of Goliath. You might have to take a few steps up, but don't get within range of Goliath. Last, you can waste Goliath. Approach him at 20', and execute him in whatever style you prefer. Pick up his pulsar key. There are four keys you can get from this place; you'll need all of them to end of the game.
Enter the Guardian Citadel by way of the brick wall just before the big gate. Blow up the brick wall with some TNT and take the side door in. Notice that there are some rooms to the northwest, one of which is a vault. That is your first objective. Blow away anything that gets in front of you up to the vault. Crack the vault--you better be able to--and take everything BUT one power pack. Trust me. (Well, go ahead if you want.) You'll pick up the meson canon, one of the most powerful weapons in the game. From then on, you can just autofire anything that gets in your way. Watch your ammo, though.
Finish through the rest of the northwestern rooms. Your next objective will be the power armor buried deep within the Guardian Citadel. Go east and then north through the main chamber. You'll enter the Outer Sanctum. Blow away everything (using some strategy) until you get to the steps on the northern side of the chamber. Enter the side door to the west (since the gate will be locked) and turn the winch. Now, you can exit the winch room and climb up to the Inner Sanctum of the Citadel. First thing you see is a locked vault. Password is "ROSEBUD." Take EVERYTHING. Try and get six power packs from each stack.
Everything is pretty simple once you have power armor. Clean up. Important sites: a library, a helicopter, a place to fix broken toasters, cells. Make sure you find all four keys. You should also have found secpass B. Pick up the grazer bat fetish and make sure to give that to the Junk Master in Savage Village. The password for the village is "REDHAWK." You can also bring Redhawk instead of the fetish if you want. The Junk Master will put Base Cochise on the map, which you'll get to later. Pick up the onyx ring and give that to Fat Freddy. Kill the scorpitron and talk to Faran Brigo. Enter the sewers through the Temple of the Servants of the Mushroom Cloud.
The object of the sewers is to find and repair Max. You'll find plenty of parts, e.g., rom boards, fusion cells, servo motors and power converters, strewn about the locale. Don't lose them. Use ropes to get across the rivers and chasms. Dig (with a shovel) through the weak walls and passageways. Finally, find the assembly room and unlock the door with your sonic key. Stick Max together again, and get out. You should have some extra parts; don't drop them.
Since you have rescued Max, you'll now be able to access Sleeper Base, which is in the northeastern part of the Wasteland map. Go there. The next three bases where you'll be exploring will be operated by security passes, or SecPasses. You'll find them in this order: 1, 3, A, 7, B. Secpass 1 is in the northwestern room; secpass 3 is somewhere in the center. Secpass A is on the second floor. Secpass 7 will be on the third. There are two secpass Bs, you only need one. You should have one from the Guardian Citadel. Secpass B is used to open the armory on the second floor. To get past the glass wall, use TNT or plastic explosives. There is a chopper simulator on the third floor. This is where you can learn how to fly the chopper at the Guardian Citadel. Use one of the extra ROM boards you got from the sewers to fix it. Also, there is a secret door in the same room where you got secpass 7. The problem is, the secret passage has an electric current going through it. Disband one character to the northeastern room, where the power is controlled. Switch views to turn on the power to open each door, and to turn off the power to walk across the passageways. At the end of the secret passage, you should find some parts you'll need for the last stage of the game.
You can also have some fun creating clones. All you need is Clone Tech skill and a jug. You can create an interesting party that way…at least you don't get any of their stubborness when you trade items.
That's about it for Sleeper Base. Next stop is Darwin Base to the south. Go there. You'll find some sick characters in the bar. You'll need to make some antitoxin in the town lab. You need some fruit, and some chemicals (which you found at Ugly's hideout in Quartz, right?). Hire them and see what they're like.
From there, head south to the actual research center. You need secpass 7 that you got from Sleeper Base to get through all the doors. You'll eventually need to use the elevator to get anywhere. Go to the Upper Level and meet Finster. Note where the one-person cyborg room is. Go back down to Ground Level. (Don't go to the Lower Level.) Exit to the southwest into the primaeval scene. Your objective here is to get to an opening on the far east side of the field. You can have some fun with the animals if you want; it's good experience. Once you get to the east room, open up the door and someone'll tell you Finster's a robot. Take the elevator back to the Upper Level, meet Finster, blow him away and take his head. Use the head and Cyborg Tech skill in the cyborg room. Make sure you bring plenty of TNT.
You are now in Finster's electronic brain. The answers to the first three questions are 32, 512 and 20. The fourth test is kind of tricky. Walk around until you get stuck in the upper-left corner. Then, use your IQ on that space (Use, IQ, space bar) several times until you can walk freely to the testing space. The answer is "FINSTER." The next box will have "Walls of Deceit." Use IQ or some other attribute to destroy them. The answer for the testing space is "NOTHING." Save the game, and try and score on the bases. Silent Movement skill will be used when stealing. If you get caught, then try using luck or charisma to get you out of the showers. If none of this works, just restore and try again.
The fifth test is real hard. You are held back by two web-like walls; you can only use strength or explosives to get through. Kill the two fake Finsters. The second will have a jug; picking it up will open up the next test. Go north. Kill three more Finsters and solve another riddle with "ICEBERG." For the next test, take the left path. Use your IQ to fool the android. Head southwest to kill the final Finster, Finster Leviathon. Take secpass B (and open up that armory in Sleeper Base if you haven't already).
Now you can stock up on all those power packs that you want to use, 'cause you only have one more base to go before you win the game. Stock up on your equipment and head for the Guardian Citadel. Take the chopper and head for Base Cochise. (You can go on foot to Base Cochise, but I don't advise it.) Make sure you bring some rope and some rockets with you.
When you land on the roof, the computer should have destroyed all the ground-based robots around you. Pick up any equipment lying around on the roof, and blow open one of the gun turrets with TNT. Use rope to slide down.
Go north and talk to the computer if you want. (Don't say "BREAK!") Afterwards, head east and discover a secret door in the wall. Use TNT to open it up. Enter the chute.
North of you is a ladder down and an energy field to get
outside. Disregard those for now. To the southwest should be a
radioactive pool and a retracted bridge. Three xenon laser
cannons should be guarding it. They are very tough, so autofire
those meson cannons to dispense of them. Extend the bridge,
cross it, and you should find yourself filled in a room with
computer consoles. Go to an active one on the left, and enter
"RUN." Choose an administration robot, which will cough up VAX.
He's an excellent NPC, so take him. You can continue southeast,
following the passage (which will eventually lead up to a stash
of rockets and power packs), but I recommend against it, as it
is heavily guarded.
Instead, go back to the starting point and take the ladder going down. The level is divided into a number of compartments, each with its own vault door and testing site. (You have to finish the testing site to open up the next vault door.) For the first one, just disband a character across the oily pipes and open the door. The second one should be just as easy. Your Perception should bring out all the land mines to the open. The fourth test involves a set of tumultous weather conditions. Send in your luckiest character (who should be VAX) to open up the next vault. The fifth test is a bit trickier. You are put in a combat simulator, guarded by xenon laser cannons mounted on the wall. I suggest taking a southern route, but it doesn't really matter. After you open the last vault door, climb down the next ladder.
Open up the sealed room with secpass B, and blow away the gatlin' guns. This level is composed of four rooms, one in the NW, NE, SE and SW. Each room also has a little compartment with a self-destruct mechanism, a cylinder. Head for the NW room, first. You have to blow away the doors with a rocket; none of the cards will work. (Will Visa cards work? I don't know.) Equip one guy with a RAD suit, a rocket, a power coupler and the blackstar key. Send him to the lower-right corner first to breach the glass wall and fix the machine with the power coupler. Have him or her use the blackstar key in the northwestern cylinder
Head toward the NE room, next. You'll have to break a machine on the upper-left to stop the conveyor belt. Use the nova key on the cylinder.
For the SE room, fiddle around with the gadgets with Electronics skill. Make sure you fix the southernmost computer, as it controls the cylinder closing system. The correct key is the pulsar key.
For the SW room, just stroll through all the wrestlers and enter the final compartment. The quasar key is the correct key.
The program will then ask you if you want to start the destruct sequence by pressing a buttong. Press escape. First, disband three characters to the other cylinder compartments. Select the NW character and start the sequence with red, then SE with yellow, then SW with green, then NE with blue.
You now have one hour before the place blows. The escape pod is just north of where you started from in this level. Group your characters in the most efficient time-saving method and enter the pod as a group. You emerge where the main computer WAS. You can't escape from the same way you came in, so head south to the left escalator. Exit the building and use secpass B to get through the first door. Picklock the second door and run like hell.
Congrats…you've solved Wasteland.
Nope, that's not it. Another little known fact: radio HQ and they'll tell you some more.
This is the most important part of the game, as the attributes you have in the beginning will either make you or break you in both the beginning and climax of the game. Here are some guidelines:
Have high intelligence (14-18). IQ translates into skill points. In the future, every character MUST have Energy Weapons skill, which has a minimum 23 IQ rating. Starting out with high IQ early will also allow you to buff up some of your combat abilities.
Start with high dexterity (15-18). This is a must have. 95% of the time you'll be fighting with some type of projectile weapon. Your "thieves" should start out with very high dexterity.
For the rest of the abilities, there is not that much importance. Strength and agility are good for close-in fighting. You can bash up lotsa people with multiple attacks if you have Brawling skill. You can really whip the armored-enemies when you find chainsaws and the Proton Axe. Luck is supposed to be good for hand-to-hand, according to the rule book, but I've seen no great effect from it. Luck is good also for lock-picking and disarming bombs. Charisma…neah…you can be as ugly as hell and still kick the sh*t out of enemies. Speed is also pretty much useless.
Generally, you should have at least two characters with starting Medic skills. All should be skilled in the various arts of weaponry (including hand-to-hand and projectile). You NEED a lock-picker and a bomb specialist.
Generally, you need only level 1 abilities when you start out. Using the abilities will actually increase your skill level occassionally WITHOUT subtracting from your available skill points. I've found that using a skill against an especially tough problem (like shooting an armored Cyborg with an AK-97) and then succeeding (by scoring really heavily on the robot) has a very good chance of getting a skill upgrade. However, if you're up against an impossible problem (like hitting an xenon laser cannon with a crowbar), you don't have much chance at all at raising your skill. Here are the skills according to IQ level:
(Those preceded by a "*" indicate all characters should have this. Those preceded by a "#" indicate at least one should.)
Ammo is limited! There comes a point when trading stations run out of 7.62mm, 9mm and .45 caliber ammo. Conserve it wisely. Here is a list of all acquireable weapons according to damage effect.
Armor varies from plain clothing (rating 0) to power armor (rating 14). There is no way your armor can be damaged or destroyed. Here is a list, with armor ratings in parentheses:
Some items are useless, some not. You should either drop or sell anything useless. Here is a list in alphabetical order:
Here is some general information:
Here are a few things you could try: (Remember to save the game!)
I have no idea what these things do, but I have a feeling they do do SOMETHING. If you find out about them, tell me:
("So this is why we lost AcaDec!")