Talk:Springvale School

General Comments
Hi there- I did easily manage to find both the hunting rifle AND the first aid box in the radioactive, fenced-in area, and my difficulty was on "normal" mode. So I edited out the little line saying they don't appear in normal mode. They were both in plain sight from the fenced-in area's gate... lying against the rubble heap.

Greetings - Under the heading "notable loot," there are directions to find a book of sheet music.

"Sheet Music Book - In the room with the students' desks, immediately to the right when you enter the school on the teacher's upturned desk. Make sure you look, as it's not immediately in view."

The directions to the sheet music book are ambiguous. I looked for at least a half an hour but could not find it. Also there are four different entrances to the school. . . two on the upper level of the shattered floors, on entrance on the basement floor, and the main school entrance on the south side of the school. Entering at any one of the four entrances there are no desks immediately visible. Directions which are more specific to finding this book of sheet music would be helpful.

Picking the look on the gate to the rear of the school does gain entry to a barrel with Rad Away which cannot be picked up; however, where is the Hunting Rifle and the First Aid box?

If these two corrections to this article are made it would be perfect. Even with these two minor discrepancies, it is a great page on Springvale School.

However, after some thought I made some major additions regarding tactics in assaulting the building.

TDurden1937 15:20, 24 December 2008 (UTC)TDurden1937

Is the only way to the tunnel through the Very Hard locked door? --Last Face 03:05, 19 January 2009 (UTC)
 * I suggest you read the introduction paragraph of this article. --Sp3lly 17:01, 19 January 2009 (UTC)

Regarding the comment that Springvale may be a reference to the Simpsons, more likely it's related to the town of Springfield, VA which is in Fairfax County. --anon 18:51, 31 May 2009 (UTC)

———

Does anyone else find it a bit disturbing that there are child-sized skeletons inside of the cages in the lobby and the cage near the 1st/2nd floor staircase? Hopefully the cages weren't a feature before the war, although in alternative history, they may have served as punishment :P. BY THE WAY, I also found our sheet music book. Enter through the front door, and immediately go right. Across the hall is a small classroom, and in the back right-hand side is a flipped over desk. Go behind it and the book is lying on the lowest point, it's very visible. Hope that solves our issues of finding it. LJ Carrion 14:04, 14 March 2009 (UTC)


 * I was wondering about those skeletons too. They look very old, and are blackened, so I suppose they were hit by the nuclear blast in 2077. But why the cages in the first place? - Redmess 17:09, 22 April 2009 (UTC)

The cages are probably raiders but i dont see why they would need caged-up child skeletons 69.66.166.176 21:42, April 6, 2011 (UTC)


 * The Timeline page states that make-shift detention areas were put into use before the war. Perhaps the school was just one of them. Great Mara 21:45, April 6, 2011 (UTC)

I find it slightly more disturbing that there are decapitated/dismembered, obviously tortured bodies hung from hooks all over the building personally. 24.36.110.61

Page Format
The intro section to this page is really long. Maybe the tactics part should be put into its own heading?--Niksilp 02:45, 10 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Agreed. I got critted by the Wall O' Text when I was just looking for "Notable Loot". I'm going to go through it and compartmentalize the info: put general, go down to specific. Move "Tactics" to its own heading - although none of the other "place" pages have one. It's pretty much run & gun, so no need. It's too specific to how one's method of playing, but I respect the contribution. ChaIsADumpStat 10 January 2009 (UTC)


 * I was also going to say yeah, I agree. The page contained a wealth of information but with little formatting. Even the paragraphs seemed way too long. But now with the re-write the page looks fantastic and reads a lot easier. And thanks for the "massive overhaul" of the page. It looks fantastic! --Sp3lly 16:34, 10 January 2009 (UTC)

Beginner's Strategy Section
Not sure it belongs in there. The few Raiders posted there are not that big of a problem anyway. I suggest removal of it. I'll toss it into the discussion page if nobody protests. TearsOfBlood 08:47, 4 May 2009 (UTC)


 * I think a small bit of strategy doesn't hurt. It doesn't have to be a step by step guide, but info on things such as number of enemies, what kind, weapons and loot. This would give a good indication of what to expect. On a side note, isnt't there some guideline on what should and should not be in this wiki? - Redmess 07:40, 5 May 2009 (UTC)

I agree that the raiders deserve mention, but I think the strategies themselves are long winded, repetitive, and unnecessary. They'd be better for a page dedicated to combat strategies. So, does anyone want to help me in making a page dedicated to such strategies? TearsOfBlood 07:47, 5 May 2009 (UTC)


 * You can certainly mention the raiders. However, their weapons and loot are random so it's really not that useful to list. Detailed strategies belong on talk pages as they are subjective. -- Porter21 (talk) 07:52, 5 May 2009 (UTC)

Beginner's Strategy
Springvale Elementary is a great first place to start killing. Tactically, a good way to approach this building is by sneaking up to the south side of the school with the main entrance, two wooden doors. It's easy to remain hidden if you approach from the southeast. At the southwest corner of the partially destroyed west wall, beware the two raiders who roam the area. There is also a raider inside the ruins to the north, on the second floor who can snipe you. The exterior and interior have no traps or frag mines, however there is one guard dog inside the school.

If you are decent in unarmed or melee combat, the southwest corner is a good place to sucker a raider into approaching you around the edge of the corner. If you have gathered some frag mines, lay them just at the corner to cripple a raider as he/she comes around the corner. Early in the game at the harder levels, crippling opponents with mines is advantageous. Be careful you do not expose yourself to the raider on the second floor. Alternately, you can use a small arm in V.A.T.S. as they round the corner. A couple shotgun blasts to the head is usually enough to take a raider out in a lower difficulty level. Repeat as necessary. It is possible that two raiders could come at you at once, so be aware.

Once the grounds are clear, the easiest way to dispatch the second floor raider is from a distance. Just south of the school, the land rises to Springvale. This makes for a good sniper blind, as the second floor raider patrols back and forth. If correctly positioned they will never see you. Kill them with a hunting rifle if you have one - it may take several shots. If you only have a pistol, you will have to fight at closer range - you might want to avoid this fight until you have a hunting rifle or an assault rifle. Alternately, you could approach from the north side of the building and lob a few grenades through the upper floor windows to waste the raider.

Once clear, you can enter the blasted-out wall on the west side of the school unmolested. There may be one raider on the exterior of the building roaming what was the basement floor of the school. If you sneak you should not be detected. Avoid descending, and stick to the first floor to the left as you enter the school from the southwest corner where the old school desks still occupy the small area. Having the advantage of height this last exterior raider should be an easy kill. A frag mine or grenade is an elegant kill of this last exterior raider. At this point the exterior of the school is free of raiders - loot at will.

The interior of the school is accessible by three routes: the second floor door, the basement door, and the main school entrance, a double door on the south side. The second floor door is in the exposed interior of the ruins and can be accessed from the collapsed west wall via several flights of stairs. The basement door is accessed by the same collapsed west wall, except immediately descend to the basement floor, hang a left and the basement door is to the right. Due to a collapsed staircase inside, the second floor is only accessible by the collapsed west wall route. I find it quickest to clear the floors from the top down since you will need a key from the raider gang leader who hangs out on the second floor. This key is needed to open a door (locked hard) which gives access to the tunnel the gang is digging. From the second floor you can easily jump to a cage in the foyer just inside the main doors on the first floor to get a Nuka-Cola Quantum. From there drop to the 1st floor and continue clearing the raiders. Access the basement level by staircase.

Crouched, approach the corners and the doors cautiously. Try and sucker the raiders into coming after you one at a time so you can pick them off. Hang back just around the corner and wait for them to expose themselves, at which point you can use VATS to blast them or smash them with your melee weapon or fists. Always try to avoid two raiders coming at you at once unless you don't mind getting hurt.

After you clear all three floors, you can loot the bodies and gather up any other items you choose. If you find yourself overburdened, you can place non-essential items in a container (or even a corpse) for later retrieval. Stuff can be dumped on the ground -- outside the doors for more convenient retrieval. Take as long as you want, the loot isn't going anywhere if you stay in the vicinity (loot put into a locker may disappear.) Don't expect stuff to remain dropped or stashed to remain after long absences to other areas of the map. Mattresses are available at several places throughout the building to sleep on and heal.

The tunnel in the basement itself is well lit and rather short. Soon after descending, the tunnel splits. An ant could be roaming in the right tunnel, and may sneak up on you. The ants you encounter along the main tunnel to the left will come at you singly or in two's. Be warned, they are deceptively fast. Note also that shooting an ant in the antenna will cause it to "frenzy" and turn on anything in its vicinity. A good strategy is to draw ants toward the tunnel entrance and then shoot one in the antenna; it will then turn back and fight nearby ants. Be careful, as it is easy to get caught in a blind corner with no escape especially when backing up, and the ants will swarm you and put a serious hurt to you. Inside there are several Ant Refuse Piles, good sources for finding Ant Nectar. When you reach the end of the tunnel, many ants will cascade from a ledge above you. Laying mines before you reach this ledge might be a good idea. Run back the way you came and the ants will get some serious hurt from the mines.