Wasteland 2 - Central Basement, poison, Eastern Fields, serum, Western Fields, skills
How to safely explore Central Basement, reach the Eastern Fields, survive a series of onslaughts, then track down Kathy's cure in the caves.
Once you're inside the AG Center lobby, make your way through the central corridor that's just north of the entrance. Watch out for any pods lurking around nearby, and kill as many as you can from distance to prevent being damaged and infected. Keep heading down this corridor until you come to the Central Basement.
Central Basement
When you get to the basement itself, get a Ranger with Computer Science to interact with the big computer that's on one side. If the skill is high enough, this should open all airlocks - otherwise you'll have to come back and unlock them one at a time as you move through each section.
Before entering the tunnel, have someone with Lockpicking open up the first door to your right as you look down the hall. If you don't have that skill, send Angela Deth in to Brute Force the door open - just be aware that she'll take damage by doing so. Make sure you enter Solo mode when doing this as well, so you don't drag your whole group into the poison!
Now the door's open, enter and then interact with the final switch on the wall, near the opposite door. When the fan's been shut down, send a character with Brute Force into the tunnel, then smash the open door shut. Now go back down the tunnel, turn the rest of the switches on, and carry on through the newly-opened door.
Carry on down the hall, go around the corner, and keep heading towards the closed door. Open it and use a weapon to remove the vines on the final fan. Now activate all of the remaining fans in order to clear the eastern corridor.
Before making your way through it, make sure you have a good rummage around in the room that's on the other side from the switches. You'll need to deal with some enemies and be able to bypass traps to get all the goodies in here.
When you're done looting items, carry on down the eastern tunnel with your entire group, go around the corner, then climb the ladder when you reach it to enter the Eastern Fields.
Eastern Fields
This next zone is packed full of pods and enemies, so be on your toes. First of all, exit the building you're in and take out the enemies on your right. When they're dead, head north and kill any pods you encounter. Travel past the wrecked car and head up the ramp in front of you. If one of your team has Outdoorsman or Surgeon, you can cut the trapped researcher free. If you try to talk to the victim, or you Critically Fail the rescue attempt, they'll die.
Go to the opposite side of the platform and look for a person who's trapped in a fence. Kill the enemies below to free Ryan, then talk to him about Doctor Larsen. When the conversation ends, leave via the nearby gate.
Heads north-west of Ryan's position, and look for some boxes in a corner. Clear the nearby enemies, then use Perception on the boxes to ensure they're not trapped. Loot them for any goodies hidden inside, then head back to where you spoke to Ryan.
Head east, passing through fences, until you come to a field of cows that are being attacked by gigantic rabbits. When the cut-scene finishes, kill all the rabbits, loot everything you can, then keep heading through the field.
Eventually you'll come to a building with a dead man outside and some unreadable bloody text nearby. Use your Perception skill on him, and then on the box to his right to discover any traps. Loot what you can and then make your way into the building.
Doctor Larsen is lying on the ground, threatened by creatures. Kill them all, then use Perception on the corpses outside. Make sure your party is at full health before speaking with Dr Larsen, as you'll fight him when the conversation ends.
After killing him, you'll get instructions from Kathy to close the valve and carry on towards the fields to the west. Shut the valve off by interacting with it, then make your way back to the Central Basement.
Find the Serum
Speak with Kathy back in the lab, and she'll ask you to track down a serum from the mushroom cave. Go back to the basement and open up the airlock to the cave (assuming your Computer Science skill didn't open them all earlier). Go inside, make sure your entire party is at maximum health, and be very careful when engaging the enemies - picking a fight with one will invite the rest to join in!
When they're all dead, go along the eastern wall as you face the cave from the entrance until you come to a door. Go through, take the weapon from one of the corpses - if it's an upgrade for anyone - then interact with door to start talking to Skinner.
He'll let you in if you tell him you're Rangers. Keep talking to him, then accept his offer of help. Use Brute Force or Lockpick to access the the storage room nearby. Take the Fungicide back to Kathy, loot the office after Matt gives you the key, then return to the Central Basement.
Travelling to the Western Fields
Just like the eastern tunnel, this western hallway is full of poisonous gas. Send everyone through the door on the right-hand side of the tunnel, then get someone with Computer Science to open the safe at the rear of this area.
Ideally, you should next send a party member with Computer Science into the gas, so they can activate the robot and clear out the vines. If that skill isn't available to you, you're going to need to send someone to Brute Force or attack the cracked wall.
Brute Force - If you use this method you'll have to clear out the enemies lurking in the cave. Get your whole party in there, smash up the other cracked wall, turn on the fan to clear out the poison, then leg it to the Western Fields ladder.
Computer Science - If you use Computer Science, activate the robot, then send your party racing through the gas to switch the fan on, then climb up the ladder.
Western Fields
After entering the fields, Kathy will give you a little bit of back-story. When she's done, cut the vines from the door and then head outside. This will trigger a cut-scene. When you're back in charge of the gang, go towards the man nearby and talk to him. He'll tell you where to find the irrigation controls, but you'll need a few parts to get the job done. When you leave he'll join your party.
Now's a good time to check your Rangers are fighting-fit. If any of them look as though they're falling behind, use your radio's Call option to report back and get some handy skill points. Distribute them as you see fit, then make your way to the door that's to the south-east of your current position.
Get this door open with either Lockpicking or Brute Force, then use Perception on the boxes on the other side of it to spot any traps. Take what you can, then go outside and make your way past the bunker where the old guy was shooting rabbits. Go forwards and open the next door to locate the generator. You've got two options now.
Computer Science - If you have the Computer Science skill handy, try hacking the panel to switch the generator off. This will save you a lot of time, but will also mean you miss out on some looting opportunities.
Spare Parts - If you choose to hunt down these items, leave the building and head towards the west side of the zone where a pair of boxes lie. Check they're not trapped before you open them, then head further into the area and kill the rabbits you encounter. Check the boxes by the western fence, then go south-east until you come to the door you entered after the old man joined your party. You'll find the Flow Regulator inside. Now head back to the generator to fix things up.
Central Complex
Before taking the main story mission any further, we're going to wrap up a couple of side-missions that you pick up in the AG Center zone.
Go down the eastern corridor towards the area the researchers ran to after rescuing them in the greenhouse. You can talk to Ryan about recent events, and use Smart Ass to trigger a special conversation with him.
Next, go to the lab and speak with Kathy who'll task you with adding the serum she's created to the reservoir. You have two choices when it comes to the doses you're given:
- - Use the serums on yourself and forget about the reservoir.
- - Put one of them in the reservoir and hang onto the rest for yourself.
We went with the second option. To do this, simply go beyond the area where Ryan is, then carry on through the airlock until you get to a bunch of vines blocking the door ahead. Get rid of them all, then go inside, open the chest and the safe inside, then empty the serum into the reservoir.
Once you've finished tying up these loose ends, it's time to return to the main quest. Go along the eastern corridor, beyond the centre of the zone. Carry on down the western hall and enter the greenhouse. You'll find a radio dish in the south-east corner. Put the Repeater Unit on the dish to destroy the vines and finish up this section.
Finally, heal everyone up, head back to the AG Center and interact with the World Map.
All of our Wasteland 2 tips can be found via the index page of this walkthrough.