You’ve probably been scouring your quest log for hours. You’re looking for "Witch Hunt." It sounds like exactly the kind of thing Bethesda would put in a game set in Massachusetts, right? Salem is right there on the map. It has a museum. It has a vibe. But here is the thing: if you are looking for a vanilla quest with that exact name in Fallout 4, you aren't going to find it.
It doesn't exist. Not in the base game.
That hasn't stopped the term from becoming a massive point of confusion for players. Between the "Salem Volunteer Militia" and the general paranoia of the Commonwealth, people keep searching for a witch hunt that isn't technically there—at least, not by that name. Honestly, it's one of those Mandela Effect things where players conflate the Museum of Witchcraft with the actual mechanics of the game. Or, more likely, they’re thinking of the very real "Witch Hunt" quest that exists in the Far Harbor DLC.
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The Far Harbor Connection: The Real Witch Hunt
If you have the Far Harbor expansion, you’ve likely met the Children of Atom. They are weird. They love radiation. They also have a quest literally titled Witch Hunt.
This isn't about burning people at the stake in the 1690s sense. It’s a classic "find the traitor" mission given to you by High Confessor Tektus. He’s convinced there’s a heretic in the Nucleus. He gives you a note, tells you to plant it, and wants you to spy on Sister Aubert. It’s a dirty piece of business. You end up sneaking into her bunk, finding her private logs, and realizing she’s just... a person with doubts.
The fallout of this specific mission is where the roleplaying actually kicks in. You can be a total narc. You can hand over the evidence to Tektus and watch Aubert get "cleansed," which is basically a death sentence. Or, you can lie. You can tell her to run. You can even confront her and take a bribe. It’s one of the few times in the game where you feel like a genuine secret agent in a cult, rather than just a guy with a Gauss rifle.
Why Everyone Thinks Salem Has a Witch Hunt
The confusion usually starts at the Museum of Witchcraft. When you approach that building in the northeast corner of the map, the music gets tense. There are bodies everywhere. You find a holotape from a private named Hart. It sounds like a horror movie.
But the "witch" is just a Deathclaw.
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Specifically, a Savage Deathclaw that moved into the attic. The quest is actually called The Devil's Due. It’s a great quest, don't get me wrong. You have to decide whether to return a pristine Deathclaw egg to its nest or sell it to a robot in Diamond City for some caps and a recipe. But it isn't a witch hunt. It’s just a delivery job with a lizard.
Players often get frustrated because Salem feels... empty. Aside from Barney Rook and his "Reba II" sniper rifle, there isn't much there. You’d think the site of the actual historical witch trials would have a massive, branching storyline about the Institute and Synths. Synths are the modern witches of the Commonwealth, after all. People are paranoid. They are pointing fingers. They are killing their own brothers in the streets of Diamond City because they "look like a Synth."
That is a witch hunt. It just isn't a quest titled "Witch Hunt."
The "Human Error" Quest: The Closest Thing to a Real Hunt
If you want the experience of a witch hunt Fallout 4 players often talk about in forums, you have to go to Covenant.
Covenant is that creepy, pristine pre-war style village behind the walls. Everyone is too nice. Everyone is smiling. They give you a "test" at the gate—the SAFE test. It’s a direct reference to the GOAT from Fallout 3, but with a darker purpose.
This is where the game actually explores the "witch hunt" theme. The residents of Covenant are hunting Synths. They use psychological profiling and torture to try and weed out "infiltrators." When you investigate the nearby Secret Lab, you find out they are killing a lot of innocent humans just to find one potential Synth. It’s messy. It’s morally gray. It’s exactly what people expect when they search for a witch hunt in the wasteland.
Modding the Hunt
Since Bethesda didn't lean into the Salem history as much as fans wanted, the modding community stepped in. If you are on PC or Xbox, you've probably seen mods like "The Salem Experiment" or various "Witch Hunter" armor sets.
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There are even quest mods that overhaul the entire Salem area to add—you guessed it—a literal witch hunt involving rogue psykers or Institute remnants. This is likely where the search traffic comes from. People see a YouTube thumbnail of a modded playthrough and assume it's part of the $60 game they bought.
It isn't.
What You Should Actually Do
If you are currently stuck or looking for this content, stop looking for a quest marker in Salem. Instead:
- Check your DLC. If you don't have Far Harbor, you don't have the "Witch Hunt" quest. It’s arguably the best DLC Bethesda has ever made, so it’s worth picking up just for the atmosphere.
- Go to Covenant. If you want the "paranoia and persecution" vibe, start the quest Human Error. Talk to Honest Dan. He’s leaning against a wall outside the gate or hanging out by the beds.
- Visit the Museum of Witchcraft. Even if it’s just a Deathclaw, it’s one of the best-scripted encounters in the game. Bring a shotgun.
- Embrace the "Synth" Paranoia. The entire main plot of Fallout 4 is a systemic witch hunt. The Brotherhood of Steel are the inquisitors. The Institute are the "demons" in the dark. The Railroad are the underground sympathizers.
The game doesn't need a quest titled "Witch Hunt" in the base game because the entire 100-hour experience is one. You're constantly deciding who is "human" and who deserves to be burned.
If you've already finished Far Harbor and you're still craving that specific flavor of gameplay, your best bet is to look into the "Tales from the Commonwealth" mod. It adds several encounters that deal with the fallout of the Commonwealth's hysteria in a way that feels way more "Witch Trial-esque" than the vanilla game ever did.
Otherwise, just head to the Nucleus. Talk to Tektus. Be the inquisitor he wants you to be. Just don't expect it to be easy on your conscience.