Back to Basic is a main quest in Fallout 76. This quest can be started immediately after leaving Vault 76, but it will not lead to the next quest until One of Us has been completed. Same for completing Recruitment Blues to join the Brotherhood of Steel and proceed on to Belly of the Beast.
Quick walkthrough[]
- Talk to Master Sergeant Gutsy.
- Equip a set of military fatigues and an Army helmet.
- May be obtained by retrieving Pvt. Archibald's uniform voucher from the barracks and giving it to Quartermaster Gutsy.
- Talk to Master Sergeant Gutsy.
- Complete the quests Marksmanship Course, Agility Course, and Patriotism Training.
- Complete the quest Live Fire Training Exercise.
- Talk to Master Sergeant Gutsy.
Detailed walkthrough[]
This quest can be started autonomously any time after leaving Vault 76, but the player character is prompted to begin it when they encounter the locked elevator in Fort Defiance which requires a military ID card to access during Recruitment Blues, or completing One of Us with MODUS to join the Enclave, where he will mention going to Camp McClintock to join the Army before he would grant full access to the Whitespring bunker's military wing and the promotion system necessary to gain access to the Appalachian Automated Launch System. The player character must first become a member of the U.S. military by completing the training regimen at Camp McClintock before they are able to obtain a military ID card and MODUS lets them into the military wing to begin Officer on Deck.
Travel to Camp McClintock and speak to the Master Sergeant Gutsy. The Master Sergeant will not permit the player character to begin their training without being appropriately dressed in military fatigues and an Army helmet (or any other item with the EN05_MilitaryFatigueKeyword
, such as Brotherhood fatigues). If wearing them before speaking with the Master Sergeant, it is immediately impressed to see a new recruit already in uniform before speaking to it, bypassing the step to get the outfit to placate the Master Sergeant.
Otherwise, these items of clothing can be found throughout Appalachia and obtained in the main building of the Camp from the Quartermaster Gutsy. To receive them, the player has to obtain a uniform voucher, which can be tracked down by consulting the uniform disbursement log on the quartermaster's desk, which states that Cadet Archibald lost his in the barracks. The player character can search the barracks for the voucher and return with it to the Quartermaster who will provide them with the required uniform, while also commenting on the uniform dispenser still working after being inactive for so long.
Once the uniform is equipped, speak with the Master Sergeant again to begin the training regimen. This consists of three training courses on marksmanship, agility and patriotism which can be completed in any order (specific details on each of the subquests can be found on their respective pages).
- Marksmanship Course: Shoot all the targets before time runs out.
- Agility Course: Complete an obstacle course before time runs out.
- Patriotism Training: Investigate three suspicious boys to find evidence and determine which of them might be a Communist sympathizer.
Report back to the Master Sergeant after completing the three training courses. The player character will then be asked to take part in a final Live Fire Training Exercise. This exercise involves facing off against three waves of Communist robots: (Comrade Eyebots, Communist sympathizer Protectrons and Communist trooper Mister Gutsies).
Upon completing the exercise, return to the Master Sergeant and graduate as a fully-fledged member of the U.S. military. This grants the player character access to the military wing of the Whitespring bunker after completing One of Us and also enables them to obtain a military ID card from the Charleston DMV as part of Recruitment Blues.