Game addiction is a terrible thing, and unfortunately Bethesda Softworks has played into the addict’s hands by making Fallout 3, its latest RPG game world, so expansive and immersive that there is no shortage of unmarked side-quests to take on, powerful weapons to discover and locations to explore.
It’s possible to complete all of the game’s marked quests without unlocking half of the cool content available to you, and books could be written on all the extraneous quests, enemies and locations you can seek out after completing the main quest.
But easily the coolest thing to do in Fallout 3 is kill a Super Mutant Behemoth in one shot. One, terrible, explosive, radioactive shot. To do this, you’re going to need the Experimental MIRV, which is the most powerful of the game’s many unique weapons.
There are almost 40 unique weapons, but many of them are closely held by NPCs and can only be acquired through nefarious means, such as pickpocketing or murder. Many more can be found through diligent exploration, cunning misdirection or the completion of side-quests.
For example, the Terrible Shotgun, handy for close encounters, belongs to Smiling Jack, the friendly Raider trader from Evergreen Mills Bazaar. The only way you’re going to get this out of his hands is through violence or theft.
If Big Guns are more your thing, you have no excuse not to hunt down Vengeance, the unique Gatling Laser gun. This awesome piece of machinery can be found lying around on the floor inside the Deathclaw Sanctuary, a marked location in the northwest quadrant of the map. The caves are full of Deathclaws, so you’ll be up against a tough fight, but it’s worth the risk for the most powerful Big Gun in the game.
But even with Vengeance, a Behemoth will take a while to take down. For the one-shot solution, you’re going to need Experimental MIRV launcher, a unique version of the Fat Man that launches up to eight mini-nukes in one shot. Best used from a distance.
It can be found behind a locked door inside the National Guard Depot at the eastern edge of the map. The lock requires a special code, unfortunately, and cannot be picked or hacked, so you’ll have to find your way in the hard way.
This means finding all five of the Keller Family Transcripts, data recordings made by different members of a doomed pre-war family. Their dad, we learn by listening to the tapes, had the door code to a secret bunker, and each transcript contains one digit of it. Find all five tapes and the depot door will open at your command.
The transcripts can be looted at these locations: inside one of the buildings of the VAPL-58 Power Station complex; inside the church at Hallowed Moors Cemetery; out back at Grisly Diner; a tent north of Anchorage Memorial; and a shack on a hill west of Rockbreaker’s Last Gas.
Once you have all five tapes, head to the National Guard Depot to open the locked door and claim your reward: the most powerful piece of destructive gear in the game.
With the MIRV and at least eight mini-nukes in your inventory, seek out the location of a Behemoth, stand well back, take aim, and let rip. Super Mutant Behemoth or not, he’s going down in one shot. One glorious, thermonuclear shot. Have fun!