Raven Rock

Raven Rock, known as Site R before the Great War, is the Enclave's main base of operations for the East Coast in the Capital Wasteland. It is also a former American military base and fallout shelter located in a mountainous region of Pennsylvania built before the Great War.

Background
Raven Rock was designed at the beginning of the Cold War as a shelter for top military officials from the effects of a possible nuclear attack on the nation. Although the exact date of instillation is unknown, a ZAX unit (later known as John Henry Eden), was implanted in the site to help automate its various systems and to act as a relay between other installations around the country. All the while acquiring, analyzing and storing data.

Within the decades following the Great War, this ZAX watched as remnants of the government retreated to the west coast. As its hunger for knowledge and understanding grew, it pored over its data on great leaders of the past. Developing a personality that was an amalgam of many of America's greatest Presidents, from George Washington to Dick Richardson.

This facility's manufacturing capacity was capable of producing Vertibirds, weapons, and robots with ease.Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.41: "The Enclave In the recent past, the Enclave—the remains of the United States government—were evacuated to an oil rig off the coast of California. Little is known about what happened to these forces, although the country has a new commander-in-chief: President John Henry Eden. However, recent reports and chatter have pinpointed the resurgence of the Enclave, with their base centered on a secure underground facility known as Raven Rock. Initial contact was made there 35 years ago. ''During this time, the new President Eden has been slowly rebuilding his resources, thanks in part to the technology already available at the Raven Rock military base. Vertibirds, weapons, and robots were easy to construct, but human followers were more difficult to find. The answer was to rely on Colonel Autumn, who controls the Enclave soldier forces, as well as creating a propaganda-spewing series of Eyebots sent to roam the Wasteland, spreading hope. Eden could spout his pro-government rhetoric, and promise a return of the pre-war America of legend: a land of white picket fences, baseball, apple pie, and good, old-fashioned American global supremacy. President Eden's secretive plan all along has been to rule over an America of the "pure," free from any mutation. He has learned of a ridiculously ambitious experiment known as Project Purity, and knew the time to strike had come: His Enclave forces would "reclaim" the Jefferson Memorial. By controlling the purified water, Eden would control the Capital Wasteland, and the rest of the country eventually. What better way to administer modified F.E.V.- which kills anyone infected with any form of mutation-than through the water supply?"'' (Fallout 3 Official Game Guide faction profiles)

Layout
Raven Rock has three levels, indicated by a number and a letter. Level three is the bottom and level one is the top. Raven Rock can be confusing to navigate, with its many corridors, rooms, and open areas being very similar to each other with few distinguishing differences.

Cells
This area starts in the holding cells. There are a total of 6 cells, in a U-shaped corridor. Some of these holding cells currently hold prisoners, like Nathan Vargas and Anna Holt. Upon exiting this corridor through either end, you will enter another, straighter corridor. In the middle of the corridor is the entrance to the bio lab and at the end of the corridor are two flights of steps leading to the mess hall.

Bio-Lab
The bio-lab is where Domestication Units are attached to deathclaws, captured by units like Fauna Detail Charlie. It also holds "biopods" containing creatures such as a super mutants and ghouls for study. The lower area is rectangular with small rooms at each corner. The upper area also has the four corner rooms with small walkways connecting them. One of the rooms stores computer equipment while the other three hold medical equipment. One of the upper rooms has a door leading to level 2.

Mess Hall
The mess hall is a simple room filled with tables. Opposite from the entrance is more stairs leading up to level 2. On the side, is a small kitchen area, containing pre-War food and a staircase leading underneath the mess hall's floor, where quite a few utensils can be found.

Cryo/Tech-Lab
Those entering from the bio-lab will start in the upper area of the tech-lab, while those entering from the mess hall will enter a small room connecting the cryo-lab to the tech lab. Both labs are identical layout-wise to the bio-lab. The tech lab contains various pods with eyebots inside, while the cryo-lab also contains pods with more animals, including a deathclaw and a yao guai. The tech-lab's exit leads into a square room with several columns which then leads into the following corridor, while the cryo-lab exits directly into the corridor.

Storage/Quarters
The corridor is T-shaped, with the tech-lab exiting at one end and the cryo-lab exiting near another. At multiple points, there are staircases leading under the floor, with laser tripwires down there. The end of the corridor by the cryo-lab exit is a room with a few empty deathclaw cages, as well as many lockers. There are also two rooms, containing a few beds. One of these rooms has a barrier with three containers behind it, to disable the barrier you have to hack an Average locked terminal (requires a Science skill of 50).

At the final end of the corridor, to the left is Colonel Autumn's room. This room too contains a barrier blocking three crates, requiring hacking an Average terminal to disable it. There is also the Energy Weapons Bobblehead on the desk, as well as the ZAX destruct sequence in the footlocker at the foot of the bed. Opposite of Autumn's room is the stairs leading to the war room, a circular room with a map at its center and the entrance leading to the next section.

Control room
This section will start in a room with friendly sentry bots attacking Enclave members. After walking through a small corridor, you will enter a very tall room, with stairs in the middle leading up. At the top is President John Henry Eden who will not allow you to exit the room until agreeing to his request.

Hangar/Deliveries
You will enter a straight corridor with enemies in it. You will have to turn into another corridor which leads to the exit. At the middle of the corridor, you can see Vertibirds taking off and can also find a deathclaw in a cage, which can be released with the nearby Average locked terminal. There will also be more friendly sentry bots here helping you fight the Enclave. At the end of the corridor is the exit to the Capital Wasteland. However, upon exiting you can not re-enter.

Notable loot

 * The Energy Weapons Bobblehead is located near the end of Sector 2C in Colonel Autumn's room, along with the ZAX destruct sequence. If you miss it during your visit to Raven Rock you will be unable to retrieve it later. After opening one of the large metal doors on the second floor, the player will be confronted with two doors, one with two enemies behind it. The bobblehead is behind the western door. The player should not enter the Control Room before retrieving the bobblehead, as the doors will lock permanently.

Related quests

 * Finding the Garden of Eden
 * The American Dream

Appearances
Raven Rock only appears in Fallout 3 and is mentioned in a pre-War Boston Bugle article in Fallout 4.

Behind the scenes

 * Raven Rock Mountain Complex is a real-world government facility located just north of Pennsylvania's southern border. However, the design of Raven Rock's entrance is visually similar to the Mount Weather complex, another nuclear bunker, which is about 50 miles northwest of Washington DC. Mount Weather is designed to be the President's personal fallout shelter, while Raven Rock is meant more for important Pentagon employees. Raven Rock is located in the upper left-hand corner of the map in Fallout 3, roughly in the area of Travilah, Maryland, and relatively close to Mount Weather.

Bugs

 * The outer hatch can be blown off from the outside by small arms fire (but not grenades). If you enter the complex (before The Waters of Life quest), you will be blocked from further entry by an invisible wall. When you leave, you will trigger the event where Colonel Autumn's Vertibirds flee the compound. If you go back and exit one more time, the Vertibirds will be stuck to the ground on top of Raven Rock. Just climb up there and you can study them closely. But you can not do anything to them. They still, of course, blow up if a sufficient amount of damage is dealt.
 * There is a glitch where if you convinced Eden to self-destruct and you fast travel back to Raven Rock with Fawkes as a follower at a later time, Fawkes will get stuck under the level. You can solve this by moving away until he starts following you and he will re-glitch back onto the surface. This glitch can also occur with Dogmeat, but if you try to re-glitch he will die.
 * After the base has been destroyed, Enclave troopers will spawn close to Raven Rock and will flee.
 * After the base has been destroyed, from the hatch, go left and around the mountain. When you get to the top, there is a bunch of hovering flames. They cannot be interacted with.
 * Your companions seem to be lost after you are captured. Make sure to dismiss them before taking the G.E.C.K.
 * It is possible to become stuck under the stair wells.