So I've done everything the overseer has asked of me except for finally destroying the master. I brough him a water chip and I've destroyed the Military Base. The Master seems a whole new level of difficulty all together. I've gone through his vault a few times, attempted to kill him, and I've discovered that nuke. Reading walkthroughs I know I can set the nuke to detonate after so long and run like hell to the exit just like with the militay base. I've gone to the nuke but everytime I try to detonate it it tells me I'm not skilled enough to bypass. I don't have the key and assumable it's been destroyed with the rest of mariposa. I'd like to know what skills I need and how high they need to be for me to detonate this nuke without ever having to speak to the master. I thought it was 70 lockpick at first and my lockpick is at 73. I think it's probably science I need to bring up, and if I'm right, what level does it need to be at. Right now my science is 53.

To set it off, use Science (70% needed), Lockpick (70% Repair needed, though the skill check is for Lockpick) or the Key from the Military Base on the console. Needless to say, tampering with the computer will disturb the guards, and using Sneak doesn't seem to help. Once you arm the bomb you have four minutes to leave the cathedral - just keep your Robes on and no one will disturb you.

Well I can easily handle two nightkin sentrys, and my repair is over 100 and my lockpick is 73, so all I need to do is increase my science to 70? Doesn't sound too hard. Anybody know where I can get a lot of expierence? I can't seem to find many quests and so far the best I got is just wandering the wastes waiting for random raiders.

Deathclaw Playground (unless you killed Momma Claw) in LA.

You could also try visiting your local library (located at the HUB) and buying a few points that way. Mentants will increase your IN, and thereore your Science.

As a matter of fact I haven't killed any Momma Claw's and didn't even know where one was. Now I got some expierence and a new little adventure to do. Thanks for that info.

EDIT: Okay, something seems wrong here. I got my science to 71, and it still sais I don't have the skills to bypass the security system, and the master and his goonies always kill me in one or two rounds if I try to fight them. My science is 71, Lockpick is 73, and Repair is 102, I got all the way to the bomb and killed the two nightkin guarding it and used my science on the computer the bombs hooked to, the cables, and the bomb itself. Nothing works, regardless of which skill I use them on. What's going on?

Deathclaw Playground is just between the Blades, and the Gun Runners in the BoneyYard. The Deathclaw Mother is down some stairs on that map (the stairs can be a bit hard to find). You can keep coming back to the top screen and it will update with 2-3 Deathclaw every so often as long as you don't kill the Deathclaw Mother, and the eggs nearby her.

Killing the Deathclaw mother IIRC gets you a lot of XP, but killing a few claw every now and then can be a good way of earning a few XP

I wanna say 50 or so.

Have you been to the Brotherhood? Talked to a scribe named Vree?

EDIT: You should also consider getting Hardened Power Armor. Just a hint, you can get it from Adytum.

I've joined the Brotherhood and have Power Armor. I get the Hardened version in Adytum from the Boneyard? I killed all the regulators, I don't know if that'll effect it.

EDIT: I managed to detonate the bomb about 20 minutes ago. I had to cheat to a degree by setting the game diffuculty to easy in preferences which shot all my skills up 20 points, giving me 90+ science and lockpick, but I finished the game. Great game too. I can see why everyone loved it. Can't wait to start Fallout 2.