Forum:An alternative to Flak and Shrapnel's?

In my last game, I played as a Good Guy. I didn't do any of the somewhat evil quests, like the Tenpenny tower version of "The Power Of The Atom" or "Strictly Business"

Now, I wanna play as a Neutral Character. But, here's the problem:

In Strictly Business, you enslave Flak. According to what i have read, Flak and Shrapnel's become a somewhat limited store after this, because of Flak being gone. Is this true?

Because, I always stocked up at Flak and Shrapnel's my previous file. It was one of my TOP 5 STORES, dammit!

So, what I am asking is: What happens to Flak and Shrapnel's? And is there a similar store which sells roughly the same gear as they do, as an alternative?

AngryNorwegianDude 14:51, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

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♠ Once you enslave Flak, Shrapnel starts to wander off into the wasteland. Whether this is an attempt to find his missing partner is up for debate. The point is, he does wander, and once he does, Flak & Shrapnel's will be pretty much empty. There are a few which can compete with their stock. I would suggest the wandering merchants, in particular Crow and Lucky Harith, of course. If you want another reliable source, there's always Tulip in Underworld (and Sydney, if you did the Stealing Independence quest and shared the reward with her, as well as ensured that she survived the trip from Rivet City to Underworld). Neither Tulip nor Sydney will have the same gear as Flak & Shrapnel's though, and only Crow and Lucky Harith could top them (once you've invested in them first at Canterbury Commons, of course). Hope that helps. Magnum101 15:19, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

BTW: There's also Smiling Jack in Evergreen Mills Bazaar. I'm not to familiar with his inventory though, since the one and only time I got to Smiling Jack I sold him some extra stuff before feeding him a shotgun pellet sandwich. Might be looking into, if you're so inclined to run through that raider-infested rathole just to get one more merchant. Didn't seem worth it to me, though, so I iced him. :) Magnum101 15:23, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

damn so he just wonders off,i did the strictly business quest,and have no more flak and shrapnels!!!such a shame couldave done with the mini nuke supply,and this is the character im using for all future dlc,grrrr,if you find him can you still trade,its been a while,god knows where he is --Bluemax 16:25, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

Thanks guys Too bad about Flak and Shrapnel's, but I just read about Lock and Load in Paradise Falls. Is it even worth giving Pronto 20 Chinese Assault Rifles?It seems Pronto's stock has big similarities to F&S's stock. In short: Can Lock and Load replace Flak and Shrapnel's? Answer, please! (If you have a good answer, that is). I appreciate the help! Again, thanks for all the answers... Keep em' coming! :D AngryNorwegianDude 19:01, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

♠ Truthfully, I found Shrapnel once while heading west from Fort Independence. The option to trade never came up. Although to be fair, I WAS in a hurry so I didn't really take the time to carefully check. The option to repair did come up, if I'm not mistaken. I've also been told that he CAN return to the shop and you can trade then, but he doesn't stay long and wanders off again after a day. Don't know if that's a spawning issue or he's really meant to return every once in a while. As for Pronto in Lock and Load, I'll have to experiment. In most of my games I'm pretty far advanced, and I usually wipe out Paradise Falls after rescuing the little brats, so for many of my games Pronto is usually dead. :P I'll have to do some research later on how good his inventory can get. Magnum101 00:06, 8 February 2009 (UTC)


 * To get a win win situation out of this, just finish Strictly Business. That will lower your karma out of neutral, but you can make up for it by clearing out Paradise after you're done with the quest.  Then with the slavers gone you can release the slaves and you get Flak & Shrapnel back and your karma will raise back to neutral.  Pronto has a pretty sorry selection even after you get him all those guns and only a few hundred caps.  I think you're better off keeping those chinese rifles for future Xuanlong repairs and to sell to Lucky Hairth.  Smilin Jack is about the same way, I just kill him everytime.--JiNX Bloodfang 08:36, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

OK, a stockpile of good answers here... Can anyone confirm what JiNX Bloodfang says(No Offense, dude, i just need to know)? If his approach is working correctly, then I should:


 * Do "Strictly Business" the way I want (Enslave all except Arkansas, maybe some extra Raiders and Brock)
 * Wipe out Paradise Falls while I do "Rescue from Paradise" (Doing "the Kid-Kidnapper" unmarked quest is out of the question, I don't have the stomach to enslave children)
 * Free all the slaves, including the ones I have captured (Flak, Red and Susan Lancaster). Apparently Arkansas starts shooting slaves when he is freed, and I want none of that mumbo-jumbo, so i just kill him when on the Wasteland Survival Guide. (BTW, is there a Science Check on the Collars?)
 * After this, everything returns to normal. Flak and Shrapnel are back in Rivet City, and they have their favorite customer (me) buying and selling guns.

If this approach is bulletproof, I will have Flak and Shrapnel's back, and a stockpile of weapons and armor from Paradise Falls. Can anyone confirm? Seems like a pretty economical and steady approach if it works...

Thanks again for all the answers, I never knew this thread would give so much comments. (just started using the forum a couple of days ago). Keep 'em coming :D AngryNorwegianDude 10:48, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

♠ What Jinx suggested sounds like a good plan. Just keep a saved game handy in case things go sour. Best to also check if wiping out Paradise Falls will affect the Little Lamplight quest. Don't know if MacCready will let you in if you've already rescued the little kids. Oh, and for your question about the collars: there seems to be a random element here (meaning the check is not absolute). So just save before attempting to disarm and reload when necessary, and you should be fine. And Yes, Arkansas does kill everyone in sight as soon as you free him, so you're better off icing the old coot when you first meet him in Minefield anyway. Cheers! :) Magnum101 13:38, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

OK, it seems that "nå er alt bænkers" ("Everything is clear" in Norwegian dialect). So far, all questions have been splendidly answered, and the "Betray Flak then free him"-approach works well, in theory. But still, there are some inconsistencies in the articles. Can anyone tell me:
 * What happens when you try to "De-Collar" a slave, say, in this case, Flak? Is there anything I should take into notice? Magnum101 mentioned something about a "random element". What is that all about? Random head-popping?
 * Will Flak, Red and Susan return to their original places, able to do what they could do before? And what would happen if I took the "Convincing everyone to let the Ghouls in to the tower"-approach on "Tenpenny Tower"? Will Susan get her butt chewed on if she returns, or will she stay away?
 * Lastly, What NPC's, both friendly and enemies, are mezzable? One article talks about enslaving Raiders as if it were gold mine, other recommend enslaving Brock and some woman from Rivet City. Anyone have a clue?

Yours sincerely double-crossing mercenary, AngryNorwegianDude 18:13, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

Ok,here ssomething weird,once i had enslaved flak i went to paradise falls for some "business",once i was done i decided to pay the slaves a visit,when i saw shrapnel standing aginst a wall,talking like he was in rivet city,infact,him and bleak engaged in a conversation regarding "that immigrant that died of radiaton poisoning last week",i was confused to see this,but never the less,i talked to shrapnel and use dthe infamous shop repair glitch,which also serves as a dupe glitch if you know how to use it Werewolfhell 18:17, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

♠ Okay, let's take them one at a time. #1) the random element I mentioned is when failing to remove a collar, the head will explode. I think you're more likely to succeed if the slave you got is a named NPC, but just to be sure, I encourage saving before trying. #2) in theory, yes, any NPC's that you free from their slave collars should return to their normal routine. Be advised though that they will no longer be susceptible to the slave collar again once freed. #3) Finally, raiders are mezzable, but you have a 1 in 3 chance (roughly), and there are reports that it is easier to enslave female raiders if your character is male, and vice versa if your character is female. There are a few NPC's known to be susceptible to the mesmetron: Angela Staley/Christie Young from Rivet City, and both of Dukov's female companions (Cherry and Fantasia). I don't know of any other named NPC's. Hope that helps. PS: Don't know about Susan returning to Tenpenny Tower once the ghouls take over, since I've never done it. Will have to research and see. Cheers! Magnum101 01:14, 9 February 2009 (UTC)


 * According to the Mesmetron article, collars are removed with a successful science or explosives skill check. I have never released anyone I enslaved, that just wouldn't be very evil of me. It's similar to the random encounter with the wastelander who runs up to you, informs you that raiders have put a bomb on them and then you have the option to remove it provided your skill is high enough.  Also in R.C. you can mezz/enslave Mae Wong, the escaped slave as well as the suicidal old man(can't remember the name)who goes to the top of the bridge tower every afternoon.  You can also re-enslave all the Temple of the Union escapees.--JiNX Bloodfang 09:22, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

♠ I'll say it again though, the check is NOT absolute and has a random element. Meaning even at 100 science/explosives, there is a chance the collared slave will get his head blown off. Meaning if you quicksave before the attempt and the head explodes, reloading the save and attempting again might result in success. I've had a level 20 character with 100 in BOTH science and explosives fail at the check while a level 9 character with only 40 or so in each succeed. Just to warn you. Cheers. Magnum101 09:35, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

Okay, that's good answers from everyone! Seems that this strategy works well. (in theory,that is, my PS3 is at the repair shop so I haven't started testing it yet). I'll drop you a line when I know it works, or maybe one if you can do it if you feel like testing this strategy? If it works, maybe it should be listed as a way of doing both "Rescue from Paradise" and "Strictly Business" in the respective articles?

Cheers, and a special thanks to everyone who has contributed! AngryNorwegianDude 14:55, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

♠ To be honest Flak & Shrapnel's is probably the second best weapon dealer in the Wasteland. If you want to enslave Flak then you should set aside a container in your house for the sings you want to sell and then upgrade Lucky Harith to there highest inventory. He will then start to sell things like Fat Men and Mini-Nukes. The down-side is that he only passes by each city once every few days, thats the purpose of the container where you sell things so you can garb it all at once and sell.

In my game they are the only ones that sell mininukes, so I'd say if you can get him back with no problems (make sure you save first) go for it, otherwise it's not worth it.

Besides changing your Karma level is ridiculously easy. For making your karma go up stock up on purified water, either from collecting, Wadsworth or both (or donate to the churches, but I'm not much for giving my hard earned caps to wack jobs like Confessor Cromwell). For going down, find a computer terminal that you aren't supposed to access (I use the one next to Shakes in the Federalist lounge in Tenpenny tower) and repeatedly click to open it, but then don't actually hack it, and repeat as necessary. It takes away very little karma, so it makes it very useful for controlling it precisely. I use it when doing the unlimited followers glitch, so I just barely go evil to get an evil character, then barely go neutral to get RL-3 back, etc. Cavesloth 04:23, 31 March 2009 (UTC)Cavesloth

Note that once you enslave Flak and then free him, he won't sell to you. He'll just say, "You saved me from those bastards. I won't ever forget it."