You’re wandering the Mojave, maybe just trying to get to New Vegas in one piece, when you stumble upon the NCR Correctional Facility. It’s a mess. Smoke, concrete, and guys in powder-blue jumpsuits carrying dynamite. This is where you pick up I Fought the Law in New Vegas, one of the most mechanically telling quests in the entire game. It’s not just about shooting some escaped convicts; it’s a crash course in how Obsidian handles choice, consequence, and that grey area where "good" and "bad" start to blur into "whoever pays me more."
Eddie is the guy in charge. He’s sitting in the back of the administration building, acting like a king in a throne room made of scrap metal. If you want to work with the Powder Gangers—or if you’re planning to gut them from the inside—you have to talk to him.
Most people mess this up. They rush in, guns blazing, because the Powder Gangers are, let’s be honest, kind of jerks. But if you do that, you miss out on one of the best ways to manipulate the NCR early on. This quest is a litmus test for your character build. Are you a thug? A double agent? Or just someone looking for some easy caps?
The Hook: Why This Quest Matters More Than You Think
Usually, quests are "go here, kill that." I Fought the Law in New Vegas is different because it forces you to decide which side of the law you actually stand on before you even see the bright lights of the Strip. You’ve got the NCR, who are spread too thin and arguably incompetent, and you’ve got the Powder Gangers, who are essentially a violent union strike that went way too far.
Eddie gives you three main tasks. First, you deal with a rival named Chavez. Then, you head over to Jean Sky Diving to see about a suspicious merchant. Finally, you’re sent to Primm to see what the NCR is planning. It sounds simple. It isn't.
If you have a high enough Intelligence or Speech skill, you can navigate these interactions without firing a single shot until the very end. That's the beauty of Fallout: New Vegas. The game doesn't care if you're a pacifist or a monster, but it does care if you're smart about it.
Dealing with Chavez and the Merchant
Chavez is camped out near the facility. He's a splinter cell, basically. Eddie wants him gone. You can kill him, sure. That’s the easy way. But if you’ve got a Speech skill of 30, you can just tell him to scram. He leaves, Eddie is happy, and your karma stays relatively intact.
Then there’s the merchant at Jean Sky Diving. This is where the quest gets suspicious. The "merchant" is actually a bounty hunter or an NCR plant, depending on how you read the situation. If you look at his gear, it's a bit too nice for a desert drifter. You can kill him, or if your Intelligence is high (6+), you can call him out on his nonsense. It’s a small detail, but it’s these little stat checks that make I Fought the Law in New Vegas feel like a real RPG rather than a shooting gallery.
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The Turning Point: To Betray or Not to Betray?
Once you finish the first two tasks, Eddie sends you to Primm. He’s paranoid. He wants to know if the NCR is planning to retake the prison. This is the "fork in the road" moment.
If you go to Hayes, the NCR sergeant in the tent at Primm, you can choose to rat out Eddie. This is the "good" path, or at least the law-abiding one. Hayes will tell you they’ve been waiting for an opening. This triggers a massive assault on the prison.
But wait.
If you actually like having the Powder Gangers as an ally—maybe you’re doing a "bad" run—you can just lie to Eddie or finish the quest for him. Honestly, the rewards for siding with the NCR are usually better for your long-term reputation, especially if you want to use the NCR's monorail or get help at Hoover Dam later. But if you side with Eddie, you get a decent chunk of caps and some infamy with the Republic.
The Battle for the Correctional Facility
If you choose to help the NCR, things get loud. You’ll meet a strike team outside the prison. My advice? Don't run in first. The Powder Gangers love dynamite. If you’re playing on Hardcore mode, one well-placed stick of dynamite will end your run or blow your companions' limbs off.
Let the NCR troopers soak up the initial blast. Use a long-range weapon—a Varmint Rifle with a scope or a Cowboy Repeater—to pick off the guys on the towers. Once the yard is clear, you head into the cell blocks. Eddie is in the administration building with his bodyguards.
It’s a cramped fight. If you have grenades, use them. If you’re a melee build, God help you, because those hallways are narrow and the Powder Gangers will backpedal while tossing explosives.
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Why People Get This Quest Wrong
A common mistake is doing the quest "Ghost Town Gunfight" in Goodsprings first and killing all the Powder Gangers there. If you do that, your reputation with them drops to "Shunned" or "Hated."
If you’re "Hated," the guards at the Correctional Facility will shoot you on sight. You won't even get to talk to Eddie. You’ve basically locked yourself out of I Fought the Law in New Vegas unless you wear a Powder Ganger uniform as a disguise.
Disguises are tricky in New Vegas. Even with the outfit on, dogs and high-ranking NPCs (like the guys with names) can often see through you. If you want to experience the full questline, it’s actually better to play nice in Goodsprings—or at least stay neutral—until you’ve finished Eddie’s chores.
The Rewards: Caps, Karma, and Chaos
So, what do you actually get?
If you side with Eddie and finish the quest for him, you get some caps and a boost to your Powder Ganger rep. However, shortly after you finish, the NCR will attack anyway. Eddie’s victory is short-lived. This is a very "New Vegas" outcome—sometimes there is no winning move for the faction you choose.
If you side with the NCR and kill Eddie:
- You get a nice boost to NCR fame.
- You can loot Eddie’s body for his unique clothes and key.
- You clear out a major raider threat from the 1-15 highway.
Most players find the NCR route more satisfying because the Powder Gangers don't offer much in the late game. They’re a starter faction. They’re the "tutorial" villains.
Technical Tips for Success
If you're playing a high-luck build, this quest is a gold mine. The Powder Gangers carry a lot of dynamite and low-tier armor that you can repair and sell.
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Also, check the desks in the admin building. You can find "Milsurp Review" or other skill magazines. New Vegas is a game of margins; every +10 to a skill for 60 seconds matters when you're trying to hack a terminal or pick a lock in the middle of a firefight.
One weird bug to watch out for: sometimes the NCR troopers will get stuck on the terrain during the final raid. If the quest doesn't progress, check the rocks near the entrance. Usually, one guy is running into a wall, preventing the script from firing.
The Moral Weight of Dynamite
Think about the Powder Gangers for a second. They were prisoners forced into slave labor by the NCR to build the railroads. They revolted. It doesn't justify them shaking down traders or terrorizing Goodsprings, but it gives them more depth than your average "Raider" in Fallout 3 or 4.
When you play I Fought the Law in New Vegas, you're participating in the first real political conflict of the game. It’s a micro-version of the Battle of Hoover Dam. You have a tired, bureaucratic superpower trying to reclaim its property from a group of violent rebels who just want to be left alone to blow things up.
Actionable Steps for Your Playthrough
To get the most out of this quest, follow this specific order:
- Don't kill Joe Cobb immediately. If you want to see Eddie’s side, resolve the Goodsprings conflict peacefully or just ignore it for a while.
- Wear a disguise if needed. If you’ve already pissed off the gang, grab a jumpsuit from a dead member near Primm.
- Talk to Meyer. If you’re looking for a new Sheriff for Primm, this quest ties in geographically. You can do both at the same time.
- Save your explosives. Use the Powder Gangers' own dynamite against them. It’s poetic, and it saves your expensive 5.56mm ammo.
- Check the back rooms. After the fight, the NCR doesn't care if you loot the place. There’s a decent amount of food, water, and ammo scattered in the cells.
This quest isn't just a side mission; it’s the moment you realize that in the Mojave, the "law" is whoever has the most guns. Whether you’re wearing the star of the NCR or the rags of a convict, you’re the one who decides who gets to stay in the prison and who ends up in a shallow grave in the desert.
Once you finish up here, your next move should be heading south toward Nipton. Just... be prepared for what you find there. If you thought the Powder Gangers were bad, the Legion is a whole different league of nightmare. Pack some Med-X. You're going to need it.
Final Insights for the Mojave Wanderer
The best way to experience this quest is to lean into the roleplay. Don't just look at the quest markers. Read the terminal entries in the prison. You'll find out about the prison break and how organized these guys actually were. It makes the final assault feel much more earned. If you’re going for a 100% completion run, remember that killing Eddie before getting the quest from him will permanently lock you out of these rewards. Always talk first, shoot later. It’s the golden rule of New Vegas.