Overview
A [SPOILER FREE] list of every skill book avaliable in the Dead Money DLC in the order which they can be acquired. Tired of keeping track of all those annoying giant skill book lists? This is for you!
Introduction
So you’re one of those people who love to colllect the famous skill books, right? I mean, who wouldn’t? Free skill points with no downsides? Sign me in!
There’s only one problem, though. While most skill books can be acquired at any time, some of them are missable, like the ones in the Dead Money DLC, for example, since once you finish it, you can’t go back. And you know what that means, kiddo: You better get them all while you’re there, or they’re a goner.
There’s a total of 13 skill books in Dead Money, and while they’re all present in any guide or wiki list out there in the internet, it can be a bit confusing to keep track of them all, specially if you’ve never played this DLC before, and you don’t even know in what order to get them (which is what happened to me, causing me to almost miss 2 or 3 books). Not to mention that they’re all organized alongside every other skill book in the game, divided into skill trees, which is even more confusing if you just want the Dead Money ones alone.
So I decided to put up a comprehensive list of every skill book avaliable in this DLC, in the order which they can be found. Oh, and also, I will try to keep this as spoiler-free as possible, so if this is your first time following the Sierra Madre broadcast signal, don’t worry!
PS: There are certain moments in the DLC when certain books can be acquired in whatever order you wish, however, despite that, I went for the most convenient one. Okay? Okay.
Skill Books Avaliable
As I mentioned before, there’s a total of 13 skill books avaliable throughout this dlc, which will probably leave you thinking: “Well, if there’s 13 skill books, and New Vegas has 13 skills, that must mean that the DLC has one book for each skill, right?”
Wrong. There’s isn’t any Wasteland Survival Guide in Dead Money, which means no extra survival skill points for you, champ. But to compensate that, at least they added an extra copy of Dean’s Electronics (+ repair). So, you like duct-taping stuff together? You better.
(Also, you know, if we consider where the Wasteland Survival Guide came from, it wouldn’t make sense to have one in a place frozen in time since the bombs dropped)
Anyways, without further ado… Here we go! (no italian accents intended)
Abandoned Brotherhood of Steel Bunker
The Abandoned BoS Bunker is where you start Dead Money, and despite what I said, this one actually isn’t missable, you can enter the bunker anytime you want, even before you actually start the DLC or after finishing it. Once you enter, go down the stairs and turn left (and don’t worry about the game warning you that you can’t go back and blablabla, the DLC itself only starts if you get near that radio at the end of the hallway. By the way, don’t. Not right now, at least). Once there, there’s a door locked by an Average Terminal (50 Science required). Unlock it, and the book will be in the metal sill, opposite to the reloading bench.
The Villa – Fountain
As soon as the dialogue with the crazy old man on a screen is over, walk forward past the hologram, and the book should be on the ground, just behind the fountain. And… That’s it. Moving on.
Police Station
Once inside the Police Station, you’ll have to go into the basement to free Dog/God out of his cage. Once in the basement, go to the north-west corner of the map (check your Pip-Boy local map if needed), and the book will be on the ground, in front of some filing cabinets.
Villa Clinic
Follow your quest marker to reach “Collar 12” (Christine). Just like it was with the previous one, you’ll have to go to the Clinic’s basement in order to proceed the main storyline. Once there, the book is in a tool cabinet next to some fire extinguishers.
Residential District
Follow the map marker to reach “Collar 14” (Dean), and once you get to the room where he is, the book will be right behind him, on a bed.
HOWEVER, this book is known to be very glitchy and will almost always fall through the bed and stay under it. There are some solutions to this:
• If you have the Unofficial Patch[www.nexusmods.com] installed (which is what I recommend), the book simply won’t be glitched, and will either be on the bed, as intended, or right in front of it, on the floor, and yes, this will work even if you install the patch after getting to this location.
• You can throw some explosives under the bed in order to push the book forward. This can be a bit tricky and will probably blow your legs off, so make a quick save just in case. Also, check by whitelunick.
• If you’re ok with using Console Commands, type ~ in your keyboard to open up the console (or ‘ depending on your keyboard type) type in “tcl”, and press enter, then close the console. You’re now no-clipping! Go under the bed and grab the tiny bastard. Then, just go back to the floor like a normal person, and disable no-clipping using “tcl” again.
“But Vecchio, using Console Commands disables achievements! What do I do?!”
Simple. If you have the JIP LN NVSE Plugin[www.nexusmods.com] installed, using the Console will not prevent achievements from unlocking anymore, ever. And if you don’t, its pretty simple: After getting the book, save your game, quit to desktop, then open it up again and continue playing normally.
Salida del Sol South
When leading Dog/God to his spot, you’ll have to go to Salida del Sol South. There, there’ll be a door that leads you to a new area called Salida del Sol House. Go to that door, but don’t enter it. Right behind it, there’s a balcony that leads to a hole in the wall into another building. The book will be there, on a shelf.
Puesta del Sol Switching Station
In the southernmost part of the map, there’s a terminal that controls the nearby speakers, with a mutilated corpse near it. The book is lying on the ground, next to the terminal, but be careful! There’s a tripwire right before it that drops some grenades behind you, so be sure to deactivate it!
After turning on the ventilation system and clearing the station of “the Cloud”, you can then move on to the next part of the area. As soon as you do, go right on the catwalk and jump between the small gap. Keep moving forward until you reach that large machine in front of you. The book is on the catwalk, to the left of said machine.
Sierra Madre Casino
As soon as you enter the casino (not to be confused with the lobby, where you start after the Gala Event), keep moving forward until you see a terminal to your right, and use it to change the routine of the security hologram in front of you, then keep moving forward (or just ignore the terminal and run past the hologram if you’re brave enough), and go left up some stairs to the second floor, and from there, jump onto the support beams. From the beams, jump down into the cashier’s caged area. The book is on the floor behind the cashier’s desk.
Take the stairs to the third floor of the casino, right after a patrolling hologram, and enter the room at the end of the hallway, the one with an Auto-Doc and a radio. The book is ON TOP of a Tool Cabinet (NOT inside it), in the corner of the room.
The Tampico
When dealing with Dean in The Tampico, you’ll eventually have to get to a holotape projector in order to play a tape and start the show, causing the backstage door to open. The book is right behind the projector, on a shelf.
Executive Suites
Once you reach Vera’s room in the Executive Suites, turn left, and the book will be on a bookshelf, alongside other pre-war books.
Final Area
I left the area name out with this one because its supposed to be a surprise. Kinda. Anyways, right before you enter the “big iron door” (aka the vault), turn back and jump onto a pipe below you. There’s a skeleton (named “The Founder’s Remains”) and a duffle bag. The book is inside the bag. The only way up from there is to turn left and jump on a valve. Voilá, you’re done!
Final Considerations
First of all, thank you for using this guide! I know its simple, but I’ve put a lot of effort into making it look good and clean, and I really hope it helps you with finding all of the books in what is, in my opinion, the second best DLC for New Vegas!
This is also one of my first guides of any game ever, so if you’d like to suggest an improvement or maybe point out a mistake or typo, please let me know in the comments!
Also, if you’re going to repost this somewhere else, please notify me and give me the credits. I created the guide icon and every skill book icon you see in this guide (with the exception of the book images themselves, of course, those came from the wiki), and I also photoshopped the vault-boy image at the beginning to make him hold skill books and the one with the Wasteland Survival Guide (yeah, I know, terrible editing skills, but still). The images I used to create said edits all belong to Bethesda, of course.
(also, please kill Dean Domino when confronted with the choice, I don’t see any reason to spare that motherf*cker)