Hacking is an important skill in Capitol Wasteland in Fallout 3 because the terminal can give you access to everything from stories to rare items. The terminal can control the turret weapon, and is essential for completing some quests (tasks). Although some terminals are already open and can be used by anyone, many terminals are locked and must be hacked. If your Science skills are sufficient to hack the terminal, you can try opening it to find out the secrets inside.
Step
Step 1. Raise your Science level
The Science level determines which terminals can be hacked. You can add points to your Science status as you level up, and can use Mentats to gain temporary upgrades. The scientist's labcoat item from the "Those" quest will increase Science level by +10 when worn. You can put up to 100 points in Science, and there are 5 different tiers (classes) of hacking difficulty. You can't try to hack the terminal if the points don't meet the requirements:
- Very Easy (very easy) - 0
- Easy (easy) - 25
- Average (average) - 50
- Hard (hard) - 75
- Very Hard (very hard) - 100
Step 2. Familiarize yourself with the hacking interface
The hacking screen will appear when the character interacts with the terminal to be hacked. The top of the screen will show the number of trials remaining. The bottom of the screen contains a lot of random characters, and you'll be able to make different words across these characters. These words can be passwords, and you'll have to guess the right word before the trial runs out. Words can continue to the next line, and all words are the same length.
Step 3. Make the first guess
Try choosing words that have lots of unique letters to make it easier for you to narrow down your search for the right word. If you are lucky and immediately choose the right word, please continue. If it's still not correct, a number will appear.
High Science skills will reduce the number of words to choose from
Step 4. Determine the right number of characters
When the password fails, the screen will display an inscription telling you the number of characters and the exact position. For example, 4/9 means that the selected word has the correct 4 letters in the correct positions. Even if there are other correct letters in the word, they are invalid if they are not positioned correctly.
Step 5. Select the next word
Compare the selected word with the remaining words on the screen, and try to narrow the search. For example, if you have 3/12, and the selected word is CONSTRUCTION, it means that the correct word has 3 letters in the same place. Most likely, this word ends in ION because it is a common ending in English. Choose the next word that you think fits the result.
Step 6. Use the bracket trick before moving on to the third word
One of the keys to hacking successfully is using the "bracket" trick. If the terminal has bracket pairs, deleting them will get rid of the wrong choices or restore the trial quota. This is why brackets are best kept until you've made a few guesses so you don't waste retries. Bracket pairs appear randomly, although the chance of spawning is greater if the character has a high Science skill level.
- Brackets are {}, ,, and (). Between pairs of brackets can contain any number or character.
- The easiest way to find bracket pairs is to move the cursor slowly over all the characters on the terminal screen. Bracket pairs and all characters in between will be automatically highlighted.
- You can even save 1-2 bracket pairs in case you need it as a last resort.
Step 7. Select the third word
If brackets don't help and you pick the wrong word on the first two occasions, you should be able to guess the letters in the right places. Compare the results of the two selected words and see if you can pinpoint the right letter in its correct position. Use comparison as to select the next word.
Step 8. Try not to do the fourth try right away
If your fourth try goes wrong, the terminal will be locked completely. The only way to open a locked terminal is to find an item that has a password, which not all computers have. There are several steps you can try before reaching the fourth try:
- Use the remaining bracket trick. If you saved bracket, use it now to increase your trial run, or remove options so you know which word to choose.
- Exit terminal and try again. When you leave the terminal by clicking the power button, the process can be reset. The word will be shuffled and you start over from scratch, but you get all retry rates and are unlocked.
- Try to guess the fourth word by default. This step is rarely recommended because you can get locked out easily. You're better off logging out and trying to log back in.
Tips
- A quick save before you try to hack just in case it gets locked.
- When guessing a password, think about the word on the screen that is relevant to the hack, such as "breaching", "entering" or "clearing". Usually, you can ignore irrelevant words like " history " and " mountains ".
- When three attempts have failed, exit to reset the trial ration.
