Fallout: New Vegas walkthrough

This article contains basic information on how to progress through the main plot of Fallout: New Vegas. For a detailed explanation see Fallout: New Vegas quests.

Ain't That A Kick in the Head & Back in the Saddle
After being "killed", you will discover the town of Goodsprings, and the name of your attackers. These two quests serve as a tutorial, and an introduction to gameplay mechanics. You end up in the local doctor's house where he asks you questions which determines your looks, name and also skills.

They Went That-a-Way
During this quest, you will attempt to track your attackers through several towns. Note that you are not required to complete all steps of the quest. You can go directly to Boulder City and deal with the Great Khan situation. Any side missions the above steps wants you to perform can still be done by talking to the appropriate non-player character.
 * 1) First you're told they went south to Primm. Escaped prisoners from the NCR Correctional Facility have overrun the town, killed the sheriff, and kidnapped the deputy. The deputy knows where your attackers went and will tell you once rescued. ED-E, a damaged eye-bot and possible companion, can be found at the Mojave Express here.
 * 2) Nipton, a small community southeast of Primm is your next stop. You arrive to find the city on fire, dead bodies, makeshift fortifications and a group from Caesar's Legion that doesn't even deny it. They won't attack you, they want you to spread word of the massacre and the Legion's coming. You can still attack them, but it can be a difficult fight on the lower levels. It is best to just agree and leave without a fight.
 * 3) Novac is the next settlement, the town is guarded by two ex-NCR snipers, Manny Vargas and Craig Boone. Manny knows the next destination and Boone is a possible companion. There are Three ways to get the information. Either go into Manny's motel room and use his computer to read his personal journal. If you have the Confirmed Bachelor Perk you can convince him to tell you where they went. Or complete the quest Come Fly With Me, the REPCONN Test Site west of Novac is crawling with feral ghouls and Manny wants you to clear them out, but it turns out not all are feral.
 * 4) You will discover that Benny, the leader of the group that attacked you left his Great Khan assistants at Boulder City and betrayed them. When you get to the center of Boulder City, an NCR officer will tell you the Great Khans took some prisoners and there are three ways for you to resolve the situation. Kill the Khans for the NCR, help the Khans to kill the NCR or find a peaceful solution (requires 45+ speech). Either way you'll learn Benny went to New Vegas; more specifically, a casino called "The Tops".

Ring-a-Ding-Ding!

 * Report to Mr House or go after Benny directly.

You catch up with Benny in the Tops Casino. There are 4 ways of completing this quest:
 * Speech: Use your Charisma to convince the manager of the hotel to delay Benny, sneak into his room and find information.
 * Be violent: Kill Benny either in his room, in the presidential suite, or straight away in the hall, and then take the Platinum Chip.
 * Hard: Try to Negotiate with Benny, he will betray you and flee. You are ambushed by some of his henchmen while he escapes to The Legion. This will require you to track him down all the way to The Fort. With a high speech skill level, you are able to convince Benny to give you some chips/caps and flee to the fort without setting his henchmen on you.
 * Use the Black Widow / Confirmed Bachelor perk to seduce Benny. Either kill him in his room, sleep with him and kill him in his sleep, or sleep with him and let him go.

Who Will Rule New Vegas
You will then need to make the decision on who you want to help rule New Vegas. Each path has a different ending:
 * Benny's plan for an independent New Vegas. (The Wild Card quests given by Yes Man)
 * Secure the aid of, or neutralize the Boomers, Great Khans, Brotherhood of Steel, the White Glove Society and the Omertas.
 * Kill or disable Mr. House and Secure the Platinum Chip.
 * Activate or Destroy the Securitrons at Fortification Hill.
 * Oversee the visit of the NCR's President.
 * (Optional) Enlist the aid of the Followers of the Apocalypse.
 * Install override chip at El Dorado Substation.

or
 * A New Vegas ruled by Mr. House. (The House Always Wins quest line)
 * Confront Benny and secure the Platinum Chip.
 * Activate the Securitrons at Fortification Hill.
 * Secure the aid of the Boomers, or wipe them out.
 * Investigate the Omertas.
 * Destroy the Brotherhood of Steel at Hidden Valley.
 * Oversee the visit of the NCR's president.
 * Install override chip at El Dorado Substation.

or
 * A New Vegas ruled by the New California Republic. (Starts with Things That Go Boom)
 * Secure the aid of the Boomers, or wipe them out.
 * Make the Kings ally with the NCR, or wipe them out.
 * Prevent the Great Khans from assisting Caesar's Legion, by persuasion or force.
 * Investigate the Omertas.
 * Kill Mr. House.
 * Destroy the Brotherhood of Steel, or make them sign a peace treaty.
 * Oversee the visit of the NCR's president.
 * Fight your way to the Legion Camp.
 * Kill Legate Lanius and his guards.

or
 * A New Vegas ruled by Caesar's Legion. (Starts with Render Unto Caesar)
 * Destroy the Securitrons at Fortification Hill.
 * Kill Mr House
 * Secure the aid of the Boomers, or wipe them out.
 * Secure the aid of the White Glove Society.
 * Destroy the Brotherhood of Steel at Hidden valley.
 * Caesar is sick, cure him. Or intentionally fail the operation.
 * Assassinate the president of the NCR.
 * Fight your way through the Hoover Dam.
 * Kill General Oliver and his guards.

Right after exiting the Tops Casino, you will be approached by representatives of Caesar's Legion and the NCR. Each of them will propose to you an amnesty in exchange for your help in the coming struggle.