Fallout: New Vegas
75 Achievements
1655 XP
60-80h
Arizona Killer
Complete Arizona Killer.
20 XP
0.4%
How to unlock the Arizona Killer achievement in Fallout: New Vegas - Definitive Guide
Upon receiving the quest from Caesar, you are told to meet up with Cato, who can be found just west of Hoover Dam. Go to the waypoint on your map, speak with Cato and he will have you wait until the next day.
Upon waking up, speak with him and tell him you are ready. He will then give you a NCR disguise to put on, do so and follow him to the Dam. When you get to the Dam, avoid the Ranger patrols at all costs, as they will immediately see through you disguise and start shooting at you. Instead, sneak around them and speak to Cato in the crowd.
You will now have several options to perform the assassination:
50 Explosives - Speak with Cato about rigging a bomb on the Vertibird
50 Science - Shoot the aircraft down as it arrives, with Cato's help
50 Repair - Rig the AA gun to explode via the terminal just east of the Visitor Center door.
lobsterparty adds:
If you want to either use the 50 science or 50 repair you have to use the electronic box up the stairs.
Or you can always just shoot him in the head and make a break for it, likely to survive only on the easier difficulties however.
After the president is killed, run from the Hoover Damn until you are able to fast travel back to The Fort to talk to Caesar.
Credit to Chunder Dragon for pointing this out:
BE SURE TO TAKE OFF YOUR DISGUISE BEFORE ENTERING THE FORT!
Quest Complete!
I found the easiest way of killing the President without needing any high skills or needing to go near the Ranger patrols at all was by way of the sniper's tower. If you've played the mission to save Kimball for the NCR, then you know that one of the primary threats is a Legion sniper in the nearest service tower who dons Ranger armor after taking out the guard. When Cato nears Hoover Dam, just break left, and stay far away from all of the crowd, and prepare a silenced or melee weapon. When you are nearing the tower, there will be a spot to hop the high wall, and make your way toward the tower, sneaking, and climb to the top. If you go through the inside, you're safer, but it takes a bit longer. If you go by ladder, the Ranger atop will spot you, but this won't alert anyone on the ground, you just have to fight an aggressive Ranger.
After a few seconds, Kimball will arrive in his Vertibird, and make his way toward the stage. Prepare your best ranged weapon, and be sure that it is something that you can handle (something without a lot of drift on the pin). Crouch for better accuracy, take aim on Kimball's head, and take the shot. One shot should do him in, and then back away from the wall, head down the hatch, and wait in the tower until you work yourself down from danger. The shot alerts the ground troops, so you get a [DANGER] status, but they won't ever move toward you, so you'll lose this pretty quickly. When you return to [HIDDEN], remove your NCR disquise, and you should be able to immediately fast travel to the Fort, as the NCR troops are far away.
The video below shows two ways to kill the President. The first is just the "traditional" sniper assassination.
The second way (starting at 2:00 minutes) shows how it's done by programming the anti-aircraft (You need 50 science to do that).
(credits for the video go to youtube channel DarkSoldierPT1993)
This quest is the inverse to You'll Know It When It Happens; here you have to kill the president. I would suggest simply sniping the President when he lands, but here you can find some more stealthy approaches.
This is a main quest mission, and only available if you are on the Caesar's Legion ending path. This trophy and You'll Know It When It Happens are mutually exclusive.
The mission is to assassinate President Kimball while he's making his speech at Hoover Dam, depicting the opposite side of "You'll Know It When It Happens". You're given a NCR Trooper uniform and told to infiltrate the crowd. Avoid any NCR Rangers or officers who will see through your disguise if you approach too closely. Depending on your character's build, there are several options available to assassinate President Kimball (aside from shooting him yourself).
My recommendation for this trophy is to hack the terminal in the Visitor's Center (Science 50) and update the vertibird control settings. Once the President takes off, Bear Force One will crash and look like an accident if you're maintained your cover. You can watch from the safety of the crowd, then disperse once the vertibird goes down.
Other options include:
- Explosives 50 - When Cato informs you of the plan, you can ask if there's anything you can do to help. The option will come up for you to plant the bomb on the vertibird instead.
- Explosives 50 - If you have some C4 and a detonator, you can approach Pvt Watson near the stage and help him find his helmet. It's on a table near the bottom of the stairs to the observation deck. Plant the explosives on the helmet and bring it back to him.
- Science 50 - On the observation deck near the radio is a set of gun controls which you can use to reactivate the gun and set it to shoot down the vertibird.
- Direct assault (not recommended).