Going Platinum: Fallout 3 trophy guide

Welcome, one and all, to Going Platinum. In this series, we’ll be culminating the best tips and tricks to achieve all trophies in various Playstation games. Trophies range in difficulty, from bronze to silver and finally gold, all in the pursuit of the ominous platinum trophy, which is only bestowed to those who have obtained all else.

The series will tackle any trophy above bronze that is not automatically obtained through the main story of a game. They will range from older PS3 titles (post trophy inclusion), to the newest AAA PS4 titles to hit the shelves.

In honor of Bethesda’s upcoming Fallout 4, which officially releases November 10th, we’re starting out strong with the game that brought the Fallout series back to life and introduced it to the massive fan base it has today: Fallout 3.

Note: This series will only be covering the necessary trophies to earn Platinum status. DLC added afterward with trophy compatibility is not included.

Scourge of Humanity – Silver: Reach level 20 with Bad Karma.

Paradigm of Humanity – Silver: Reach level 20 with Neutral Karma.

Last, Best Hope of Humanity – Silver: Reach level 20 with Good Karma.

These three are easily done in the same playthrough by simply saving just before turning level 20 and altering the player’s karma to match each trophy.

Weaponsmith – Silver: Make one of every custom weapon. Schematics are scattered throughout the wasteland but the easiest way to earn this trophy is to simply save it for the end of your playthrough. There exists a perk that will instantly grant you the ability to make any custom weapon without schematics. Then it’s simply a matter of obtaining basic ingredients to make each one.

Silver-Tongued Devil – Silver: Win 50 speech challenges. Easily done by heading to Little Lamplight and speaking with Knock-Knock. When he tells the player a joke, a high enough speech skill allows them to lie and say it was funny. This becomes a loop that players can exploit to reach their 50 speech challenges in minutes.

Data Miner – Silver: Hacked 50 terminals. No fast track to this one but Fallout 3 has a ton of hackable computers that should make this trophy easily obtainable. The best tip to not get locked out of a computer while hacking it: back out before running out of password attempts. Simply exiting the screen and going back in refills the number of attempts and allows players to infinitely try until they succeed.

Keys are for Cowards – Silver: Picked 50 locks. Also pretty much a give away as players will find themselves lock picking their way to this trophy naturally through the progression fo the game.

One-Man Scouting Party – Silver: Discovered 100 locations. Easiest way to get this trophy is to choose the Explorer perk upon reaching level 20. This will show all the locations on the map. From there simply walk to each one until the trophy appears.

The Bigger They Are – Gold: Kill all the Super Mutant Behemoths. This trophy isn’t as hard as it originally sounds. Super Mutant Behemoths aren’t impossible to kill and can usually be taken down quickly with the right weapons. Their locations are the GNR Plaza (which players should reach through the main story), Evergreen Mills in a cage, West of Jury Street Metro Station, the rotunda of the Capital Building, and between Takoma Park and Takoma Industrial.

Yes, I Play With Dolls- Silver: Collect 10 Vault-Tec Bobbleheads. This one is just a matter of doing some footwork:

• Strength – Lucas Simms’ House in Megaton.
• Perception – The Republic of Dave.
• Endurance – Deathclaw Sanctuary.
• Charisma – Vault 108.
• Intelligence – Rivet City science lab.
• Agility – Greener Pastures Disposal Site.
• Luck – Arlington cemetery in the basement with the creepy shrine.
• Barter – Evergreen Mills Bazaar.
• Big Guns – Fort Constantine’s CO Quarters.
• Energy Weapons – Raven Rock just before reaching Colonel Autumn. THIS ONE IS MISSABLE. SAVE BEFORE EXITING THE BASE.
• Explosives – WKML Broadcast Station.
• Lockpick – Bethesda Ruins.
• Medicine – Dad’s desk in Vault 101. Players that miss it at the start can go back while doing the mission that brings them back into the vault for one last time.
• Melee Weapons – Dunwich Building.
• Repair – Evan King’s house in Arefu.
• Science – Vault 106.
• Small Guns – National Guard Depot.
• Sneak – Yao Guai Tunnels.
• Speech – Paradise Falls in Eulogy Jones’ Pad.
• Unarmed – Unmarked area called Rockopolis. Look for the banner strung atop some rocks just West of Smith Casey’s Garage.

Vault-Tec CEO – Gold: See above.

And that just about covers things over here. Play smart and everything here can be obtained in a single play through. Fallout 3 is a long game, and this platinum will still take players quite a while to get, but that just means that they’re all the more rewarding to display on a PSN account. 

Stay tuned, because next up in Going Platinum, we’ll be heading to the Nevada Desert for more post-apocalyptic trophy hunting.