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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteFallout 76’s Steel Dawn questline begins automatically at level 20 and contains nine main quests, starting with Welcome to the Neighborhood and ending with The Best Defense. You do not need to complete Fallout 76’s original Brotherhood, Enclave, or other main quests first. This walkthrough gives the complete quest order, start instructions, objectives, dialogue choices, optional outcomes, and the known Disarming Discovery progression problem.
Warning: This guide contains major story spoilers, including the Steel Dawn faction decision.
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Steel Dawn quest order
- Welcome to the Neighborhood
- Forging Trust
- Mother of Invention
- Field Testing
- Disarming Discovery
- Property Rights
- Supplying Demands
- Over and Out
- The Best Defense
The Best Defense is the final Steel Dawn quest. The Brotherhood story continues afterward in Steel Reign, which begins with A Knight’s Penance once a level-20-or-higher character has completed The Best Defense. Steel Dawn launched as free quest content in Update 1.5.0.19 on November 24, 2020; it is not a separately required paid expansion. Bethesda’s update notes confirm the release details.
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You need a character at level 20 or higher. No earlier Fallout 76 questline is required. On an eligible character, Welcome to the Neighborhood starts automatically. Bethesda’s Steel Dawn start guide confirms these requirements.
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- Open the Pip-Boy.
- Open the Radio tab.
- Select Brotherhood of Steel Welcome Broadcast.
- Listen to the broadcast.
- Travel to Fort Atlas in the Savage Divide.
Fort Atlas was formerly called ATLAS Observatory. Fast travel there is free. If you discovered ATLAS Observatory before the November 24, 2020 update, its old map marker may not appear. Revisit the location to rediscover Fort Atlas and restore the marker.
1. Welcome to the Neighborhood
The opening quest is brief: listen to the Brotherhood broadcast through Pip-Boy → Radio, then travel to Fort Atlas. Reaching Fort Atlas completes the quest and starts Forging Trust.
2. Forging Trust
- Speak to Russell Dorsey at Fort Atlas.
- Choose “I’d like to speak to someone in charge.”
- Find Knight Shin and wait for his conversation with Paladin Rahmani to finish.
- Speak to Shin and select the following dialogue options:
- “Russell Dorsey sent me to talk to you.”
- “Dorsey thought I might be able to help out.”
- “I want to join the Brotherhood.”
- “Sure, I can do that.”
- Speak to the four petitioners: Shawn Hockman, Art Knapp, Doctor Blackburn, and Tally Lang.
- Report back to Knight Shin.
- Activate the scanner to complete the quest.
3. Mother of Invention
- Speak to Scribe Valdez and tell her you want to join the Brotherhood.
- Enter the Fort Atlas substructure through the red door.
- Follow Valdez downstairs and wait until she stops before speaking to her.
- Collect the three ATLAS Decommission Reports:
- Report #01: on a console desk.
- Report #02: near a corpse and lunch pail.
- Report #03: on a cart.
- Return the reports to Valdez.
- Run a diagnostics check from the Atlas Diagnostics Terminal.
- Turn the release valve.
- Examine the Wire Box and defeat the attacking mole rats.
- Extract the Ion Focus.
- Extract the CPU through Atlas Central Processing Terminal → CPU Management.
- Extract the induction coil from the ATLAS machine core.
- Examine and extract the mysterious component.
- Defeat the ATLAS security robots.
- Return to Valdez. She removes the components from your inventory and completes the quest.
4. Field Testing
- Speak to Paladin Rahmani in the upstairs command center at Fort Atlas.
- Travel to Lewis & Sons Farming Supply.
- Enter the Putnam residence and speak to Carol Putnam after the family lowers its weapons.
- Ask Carol about the ghoul attacks.
- For the optional recruitment objective, speak to Marty or Colin Putnam. Choose:
- “It’s a big decision, Marty/Colin. Are you sure you want to join the Brotherhood?”
- “You’re my pick, Marty/Colin. I want you to come with me.”
- Go to Orwell Orchards, north of the Giant Teapot.
- Find the bunker entrance inside the correct house.
- If you recruited Marty or Colin, speak to him inside the bunker.
- Clear all the ghouls.
- Speak to the recruited brother and tell him to return to Fort Atlas.
- Report to Rahmani.
5. Disarming Discovery
- Speak to Rahmani at Fort Atlas.
- Travel to The Retreat and speak to Jennie Brown.
- Speak to the three villagers marked with yellow quest markers about Dagger.
- Return to Jennie.
- Travel southwest to Dagger’s Den, the Blood Eagle hideout.
- Defeat the Blood Eagles.
- Find the Throne Room Key inside a desk.
- Defeat Dagger’s Lieutenant and use the key to enter Dagger’s Throne Room.
- Speak to Dagger. You can attack her or attempt to convince her to surrender the Brotherhood property and the villagers’ supplies.
- Use Dagger’s Key to open the Brotherhood crate and take the BOS Weapons Cache.
- Take the Retreat’s supplies from the wooden crate at the foot of a bed.
- Return to Jennie and choose one of these options:
- “Here’s your supplies” keeps the weapon for you.
- “I have your supplies…and this weapon. Use it to protect your people.” gives Jennie a weapon from the cache.
- Return to Rahmani and wait for her conversation with Knight Shin to finish before speaking to her.
Disarming Discovery bug warning
Bethesda documents a progression problem in which players may be unable to recover the Weapons Cache or Retreat Supplies. The official support article acknowledges the issue but does not provide a player-side command or guaranteed workaround. If either objective will not complete, avoid assuming that a console command can fix it: Bethesda’s current support material specifies no such command.
6. Property Rights
- Speak to Knight Shin and choose “I’ll secure the storeroom.”
- Enter the Makeshift Vault.
- Resolve the Raider confrontation through dialogue, a skill check, negotiation, or combat.
- Speak to Shin afterward.
- At The Crater, enter the Crater War Room and speak to Pierce.
- Speak to Sheena. She gives you Sheena’s Holotape in exchange for Brotherhood information.
Choose how to handle Sheena’s information request
Betrayal route: Return to Fort Atlas, load the holotape into a Brotherhood terminal, and select Download Terminal Data.
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Non-betrayal route:
- Speak to Scribe Valdez.
- Select “I need your help with a situation involving the Raiders.”
- Select “They have some important information, but are asking for information about us in return.”
- Use Valdez’s terminal password.
- Load Sheena’s holotape.
- Select Download Terminal Data: Dummy Files.
Whichever route you take, return to Sheena and choose “Here it is, loaded with the Brotherhood intel.” Then return to Fort Atlas and report to Knight Shin.
7. Supplying Demands
- Report to Rahmani about Foundation.
- At Foundation, go to the Supply Room and speak to Gloria Chance. Speaking to Knight Shin first is optional.
- Tell Gloria the truth about the Brotherhood, or accept 2,500 caps.
- Travel to East Mountain Lookout, the weapon-testing site.
- Find and listen to the Weapon Demonstration holotape.
- Search Mike’s bag for the password holotape.
- At the nearby terminal, select “Seecrut! Keep out!”, then “Entry 03 – Kerwood Mine.”
- Enter Kerwood Mine and speak to Mike Tiller after clearing the nearby enemies.
Optional cave-diving suit
You can take the Cave Diving Suit from a Diving Gear Crate. It provides water breathing and immunity to water radiation and diseases, making it useful for the mine section.
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- Find the Kerwood Back Tunnel Key in a file cabinet.
- Use it on the Back Tunnel Door.
- Speak to Mike and choose how to resolve the encounter. Available outcomes include attacking him, sending him back to Foundation with the weapons, taking the weapons, or telling him to run away.
- If you take the weapons, Mike gives you the BOS Weapons Key.
- Use the key on the steamer trunk and take the BOS Weapons Cache.
- Return to Gloria at Foundation.
- Report to Rahmani at Fort Atlas.
8. Over and Out
- Speak to Scribe Valdez and listen to her report.
- Select “I will find the transmitter.”
- Travel to Transmission Station 1AT-U03, north of Vault 76 and south of Tyler County Fairgrounds.
- Search the Enclave corpse behind the building and take the Urgent Request note.
- Open the power-system lid and activate the circuit breaker.
- Return to the front door and use the hand scanner.
Inside the Enclave Research Facility
- Use the level-0 terminal near decontamination.
- Select Remote Door Control → Open Door.
- Lockpick the next door or use the available route.
- Defeat the Scorched and other creatures.
- Search the Enclave corpse for the Holding Cell Keycard.
- Use the keycard on the ID-card reader.
- Clear the Scorched scientists and officers.
- Hack the terminal to open the next door.
- In the auditorium, use the transmission console and select Control Station ENCLAVE.
- In the administration office, reset the communications system and select Register user for the mainframe access.
- Activate the hand scanner to register your handprint.
- Return to the lobby and use the hand scanner on the door left of SODUS.
- Defeat SODUS/XB-55 with Rahmani and Shin.
- Speak to Rahmani and install the Ultracite battery cell.
- At the final dialogue, select “I understand. I’m ready to make a choice.”
Steel Dawn’s faction choice
You must choose between:
- “Knight Shin understands something you don’t. I stand with him.”
- “I’m loyal to you, Paladin. Let’s destroy the transmitter.”
Choosing Rahmani’s side causes Rahmani to destroy the transmitter. This decision occurs near the end of Over and Out; it does not change the fact that The Best Defense is the final Steel Dawn quest.
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9. The Best Defense
The Best Defense concludes the Steel Dawn Brotherhood of Steel storyline. After completing it, Steel Reign becomes the continuation of the Brotherhood arc. Steel Reign requires a level-20-or-higher character who has completed The Best Defense, and begins with A Knight’s Penance. Bethesda’s Steel Reign update information confirms this eligibility requirement.
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Common Steel Dawn questions and mistakes
Do I have to complete the original Brotherhood questline first?
No. Level 20 is the key requirement. Steel Dawn can begin without completing the original Brotherhood, Enclave, or other Fallout 76 main quests.
Why can’t I find ATLAS Observatory?
Look for Fort Atlas. ATLAS Observatory is the former name of the location. If you discovered it before the Steel Dawn update, revisit it to restore the map marker.
Why did the quest not advance after I spoke to a character?
Some objectives require an NPC conversation to finish first. In particular, wait for Rahmani and Shin to finish talking before interacting with Rahmani during Disarming Discovery. In Mother of Invention, wait for Valdez to stop downstairs before speaking to her.
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Bethesda’s current Steel Dawn support walkthroughs do not specify a console, chat, or command-line syntax for repairing quest progress. The documented Disarming Discovery cache problem has no guaranteed player-side workaround in the cited support article.
Quick Recap
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