Skip to content
The Rivet City Run: Getting Started In The Wasteland
Fallout 3

The Rivet City Run: Getting Started In The Wasteland

Your Fallout 3 guide to reaching Rivet City. Learn the best routes, tips for survival, and essential items to find on your journey through the Capital Wasteland.

By ···10 min read·Multi-source verified
1 reading this guide  

Your Fallout 3 guide to reaching Rivet City. Learn the best routes, tips for survival, and essential items to find on your journey through the Capital Wasteland.

Walkthrough
  1. 1
    From the start, head east towards the Sewer Waystation. Avoid going too far north (Super-Duper Mart) or south (highway).
  2. 2
    Continue east from the Sewer Waystation to Wilhelm's Wharf. Sell junk to Grandma Sparkle, but keep essential items like your Baseball Bat, 10mm Pistols, Grognak, chems, Nuka-Cola, and Purified Water. Avoid Fire Ants. If you encounter Bryan Wilks, attempt two Speech challenges to get extra loot, or reload if caught.
  3. 3
    Head south-east down the road along the Potomac River, past the "Anchorage War Memorial" sign. Avoid the bridge due to Frag Mines.
  4. 4
    Continue down the road. If you find a Scavenger on a dock, you can attempt to rob them for loot, though it's not essential.
  5. 5
    Continue south to the Citadel. Take the road up to the intact portion of the ruined bridge, staying west away from the river to avoid Raiders. Jump down onto rubble and head towards the building with the crane.
  6. 6
    Go up the stairs to the building's foundation, search garbage cans, and discover the Citadel.
  7. 7
    Head to the front of the Citadel, opposite Paladin Bael's gate. Go down by the coast to a dock with crates and locked footlockers.
  8. 8
    Dive into the water by the sunken ship. Search the cabin for RadAway, Rad-X, a Stimpak, Caps, and the Captain's Key. Find 8 .44 Magnum Rounds in a submerged ammo box.
  9. 9
    Use the Captain's Key to open the personal footlockers. The left contains 8 10mm Rounds, 4 Caps, a Chinese Pistol, and a Power Fist. The right contains 9 Caps and another Power Fist. Keep both Power Fists.
Tips
  • Use the Sneak skill to avoid fights. Pay attention to the HUD indicators: [HIDDEN], [CAUTION], [DANGER]. Higher Perception and Sneak improve avoidance.
  • Keep multiple save slots to backtrack if necessary, especially before random encounters like Deathclaws.
  • Healing is expensive (Stimpaks cost 25 caps) or comes with Rads (food/water). Doctor visits (100 caps) can cure Rads. Use Stimpaks in combat if needed.
  • When fighting, use V.A.T.S. (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System) for melee attacks, then retreat to regain Action Points. Repeat this process.
  • Periodically use V.A.T.S. while exploring to detect hidden enemies like Vicious Dogs, Mole Rats, and Bloat Flies.
  • Save your game frequently and rotate save slots to prevent data loss from crashes, corruption, or mistakes.

100% Human-Written. AI Fact-Checked. Community Verified. Learn how AntMag verifies content