1. How many do I need?
2. Where are they?
3. Is their a NPC that could help me pin point more specific places to find em?

You need 50.
Around the world.
Unlikely.

1. 50
2. Everywhere
3. No.

You also randomly get star caps when you drink Sunset Sarsparilla. Collect all the SS you come across and stash it in a safehouse if you don't need it (it's a very helpful HP boost, but you find a ton and the weight can add up quickly). If you're getting near the end of the game and you're still short on star caps, go to the safehouse, save, and drink all the SS you have. Since it's random, if you end up a little short, you can reload the save and try again. I went through 120+ bottles of SS with 38 star caps and only ended up with 43; I reloaded and ended with 53 on the next try.

Also, if you collect a boatload and you're playing hardcoe, make sure you drink water between piles of SS so you don't kill yourself accidentally through dehydration.

i know the guy that tells you about the caps (and says he doesnt collect them) has like 6 on him, ****ing liar lol

Word of advice. Don't waste your time finding them.

I agree, they're not worth actively searching them out, the reward is actually kind of paltry.

I will say one thing: Keep an eye out for empty sunset sarsasparilla bottles left *standing up*. They're usually a sure sign that the star cap is sitting right next to it.

You get about one star cap to 10-20 sarsasparillas. You'll need to find and drink truckload of them just to get a handful, though they are good for healing early to mid game.

There is also a random encounter where you meet a guy (forgot his name) who has a star cap neckless made of 16 caps. I don't know if you need the wild wasteland trait but I was fortunate enough to meet him

Actually, it's only 6 or 7 Star caps.. but still a useful boost.
I always run into him (and the girl who attacks him) at Nipton

That's right, it's not a random encounter, it's scripted to happen as you approach Nipton.

For one, you're all underselling this fun quest.
You do need the 50 and the reward is an achievement (legend of the blue star) as well as you get approx 3000 caps , the pew pew (basically the most powerful energy pistol in the game) and a cool side story about the sarsaparilla soda.
Wiki the specifics but you can find A LOT in the sarsparilla plant and nipton, but once you begin looking for them you'll know the signs of
and find them much easier.

This quest was so disappointing to me that I took Annabelle back to the factory and introduced her to Festus. This is a quest that had so much potential and turned out to be very disappointing.

If I could find that old dude that actually began the quest I'd fix his wagon as well.

Meh, personally I find achievements pretty empty excuses to do anything extra in a game except for the ones Valve come up with - they tend to be creative and actually fun to collect as it requires you to build up to a short but unique game experience each time you go for an achievement...

The story was...okay. Didn't feel like it was worth scrounging around for that many caps though.

3000 caps? I got closer to around 1000-1500, even then by the time I collected enough star caps I was neck-deep in caps already.

Pew pew only worth it if you play energy weapons - even then you'd be better off with a two handed plasma. The cost for selling it is, again, pretty much moot by the time you qualifiy for the reward.

the guy that tells u abpout the star cap quest i think his name is elijah....which is interesting. but he says something about someone will attack u for the caps does that ever happen?

The girl you meet up with at Nipton who mentions them will attack you, so yes.
In theory there's another, though I've never come across anyone but her.

i have a tendancy to instigate these types if things...i love being attacked by people/monsters cus i loooooove exp

Take it from me, the hardest to find are the last two......been stuck on 48 for what seems like hours now. I have not tried the drink myself to 50 but may resort to that soon..

The guy he mentions is the same corpse you find Pew Pew on at the factory.

He is in the Aera u go to pick up Pew Pew. already dead,

In the Sunset Sarsaprilla factory there are about two hundred unopened bottles; drinking all of these in one visit helped me boost my star cap collection a fair bit. Though I don't recommend doing this in hardcoe mode, unless you fancy dying of dehydration.

Yeah I don't mean to argue, but why would anyone NOT want to explore everything, get achievements, find all the special weapons, and generally speaking get the most out of your money? I did most of my challenges during my 1st playthrough while on hardcoe, and since then each subsequent playthrough I have been able to play through every quest line and option. Right now I am finishing render under Caesar and I'm down to my last four achievements. (I still haven't truly understood caravan...I wish there was an in game tutorial as every other card game I am aces [already banned from ALL casinos= 45,000 caps in my current inventory]).
It just makes me laugh to see people comment on portions of the game that aren't worth doing but still finding the time to flame on forums.

Ps. You get approx 1500 caps as a reward for legend of the blue star but there is an additional 300-500 caps in the factory itself (make sure to check crates even after you activate the maintenance robot).

Outside of nipton you'll encounter a girl and also a guy that are fighting over 6-9 caps. Some other good spots are around lake mead (underwater and floating docks 3-4) drivethrough outside of (and in) primm (3), and from Elijah himself (6).

I personally liked being neck deep in caps because you an refrain from looting/losing karma and have better chances getting Cass as a companion (she's such a byatch if you don't have high karma) and it makes repairs easier by buying doubles of special weapons ( sniper rifle).

Time is precious, too precious to be spent doing tedious things in the name of "achievements". Think what you could actually achieve in that time!

Just saying, no offence meant.

But I'm unemployed. I have nothing better to do but sink 200+ hours in this game (not counting CoD and the slew of other games I'm delaying).
There are so many bugs in this game that I've decided it's an Easter egg mode that is much more difficult to play through than hardcoe mode.

And for what it's worth, I do try to travel/loot/explore as economically as possible so I'm not scowering every inch of the map. (am I the only one who turns the brightness way up in game settings just to see indoors?)

Huh.

I went to the factory and never saw a Festus.

Im pretty thorough too. Guess I'll be headin back tonight...

I used to want to find everything and scruntize every inch of the map with a magnifying glass. But then I got a job and what you call non-negotiable bedtimes. You do the math. I find there's little gain in enjoyment between completing the majority of the game and completing ALL of it for the ridiculous amounts of time you spend chasing these contrivances.

Edit: Just replied without seeing you saying that you were unemployed. Sorry I didn't mean to sound like a [censored], but the point stands, there are far more fulfilling pursuits than chasing down game achievements that don't give you any more than surface satisfaction.

I didn't flame the quest and I am certainly not flaming you, I just advised the OP and anyone else reading and thinking of doing it that it probably isn't worth the time. You know, trying to be a nice guy. Is it really that funny?

The 300-500 caps you find from the factory isn't really part of the reward for completing the quest. I found the factory easily enough just stumbling across the wastes.

I like being neck deep in caps too. Hence why I didn't care about the 1500 caps you get for this quest - I already *was* neck deep. It's another 1500 caps that I didn't need but spent a disproportionate length of the game looking for.

Hint: He's not a person.