First off I want to say I got this game yesterday and already enjoy it a hundred times more than Fallout 3 (which I have played somewhat a lot). My goal is to get the NCR Ranger armor and Helmet (the cover character) and modify this Hunting Rifle I found into a sniper rifle. In doing this I need to get NCR reputation to 'liked' status.

I am on the "I Put a Spell on You" Quest, and as most of you know there is a bug here that prevents me from going into the monorail to defuse the bomb. Now I have a save from earlier that I can access to BEFORE Curtis enters the tower. But right now I am on a separate save where Curtis is in the Tower and all I have to do is sneak in and eavesdrop.

However I do not have sufficient skills to defuse the bomb WITHOUT the activation code. In other words, I need to kill Curtis. But I think that has something to do with the monorail not letting me in... I need to eavesdrop on him first so the game registers that I know about the bomb.

The problem is that when I enter the tower Curtis isn't saying anything. Only when I move around will he start saying something, but even then he detects me and tries to fight me, so I can't 'learn' about the bomb.

Any workarounds for this? I am on PS3, fully updated.

Also, I wasn't able to find that hunting rifle scope at any of the shops earlier, do I need to be a higher level for it to appear?

All you need to do is climb up about 3 or 4 steps, while sneaking, in the tower to get the quest stage update to go disarm the bomb. If you go running in there, of course he is going to see you and want to fight. Even then, it is a way to complete the quest.

I think you can pickpocket the code off of him after you eavesdrop on his plan if you don't have the explosive skill. Do you have a magazine to boost your explosive skill(+10 explosives skill for a minute)? or something to boost your perception like mentats (+1 perception equals +2 explosives)

Are you in sneak mode (squatting) when you're eavesdropping? do you have a skill magazine or something to boost your sneak?

As for the hunting rifle scope- I'm not sure when they start appearing in vendors' stocks, but every ~3 days their inventories change. Gun Runners would be the best place to look as they have the most weapon mods.

I climbed up the first 4 steps and he still didn't say anything. And yes, I am in sneak mode. Only when it says 'Caution' will he start talking, but then he just tries to find me.

If I kill him and get the code, it won't let me go into the monorail then.

EDiT: Nope, no magazines either.

I usually touch the first step or two then shuffle back down by the door. If you don't have the silent running perk then moving around too much will get you noticed.

Well of course, if you have the code, just turn that in to Hsu to complete the quest. As long as you killed Curtiss after you are confronted by him, and not before.

Now, back to the part that is messing up for you. Are you entering the tower after 2AM? If not, he may not talk about the bombing right away. However, I have never been detected by this guy unless I wanted him to be.

EDIT Stop reading the Wiki to see how a quest is supposed to turn out, instead do the quest and follow your journal and do the quest the way that you want to. Most quests have multiple ways to conclude them.

No no. You see, I enter the tower sneaking, nothing happens. Go up a few stairs, I get the "Completed" sign for the questmarker, but he still says nothing. I waited for several minutes, still nothing. However if I go up just a little bit and stop, he starts talking, but he starts to search for me. It is impossible for me to stay hidden and him talk at the same time.

Also CCNA, if I give HSU the code he tells me to go to the monorail and stop the bomb, but the monorail takes off when I get there and blows up.

I am entering around midnight to 1:40 like the wiki says. I will try to go in after 2 AM.

Found my problem:

I told Curtis about the lead... [censored] this dude... I'm going to restart now.

Weird, because I have talked to Curtis about that lead before, just this last playthrough. Most of the time I do not. Must have been done in a patch somewhere.