The Nuclear Option

Talk to Elder Maxson in the Relay Room. He will give you a “Fusion Pulse Charge” and instruct you to head to the Reactor Room to destroy the Institute. Ingram will stay behind to operate the relay.

Head towards the objective into “Old Robotics”. Maxson will accompany you.

Use the Terminal [Advanced] to turn off turrets.

Engage Synth Resistance. A tip for robots: shoot off their Right Arms to make them drop their guns.

Continue downstairs, targeting any remaining turrets. Be prepared for Synth Striders or stronger enemies; use grenades to help.

In a room on the left, hack another Terminal [Advanced] to turn off more turrets. Loot the First Aid Box nearby.

In the room across the way, find an Explosives Box.

Continue down and enter the bathroom on the right for a First Aid Box.

Interact with the “Prototype Sequence” terminal. This will release a hostile Sentry Bot that will attack the Synths in the area.

Let the Sentry Bot and Synths fight. Sneak into the room on the right.

As you advance, two more Synths will appear, providing more distraction for the Sentry Bot. Focus on the Sentry Bot and defeat it, then eliminate any remaining enemies.

Follow the path on the right to a hatch. Open it and drop down to a lower room.

Pull a Fusion Core from the machine.

Continue following the path, looting the Explosives Box on the left, until you reach the “Institute Bioscience” room.

In the main Bioscience room, kill the scientists (level 1).

Be prepared for a variety of enemies: turrets on the ceiling, Synth enemies, scientists, and caged Gorillas that will be released.

Prioritize destroying the turrets (two on each side) while circling the room.

Eliminate all threats and proceed to “The Institute” proper.

Fight your way to the elevator, dealing with Coursers and other leveled Synth enemies. You may encounter the legendary enemy “XPN-20A”.

After clearing the area, Proctor Ingram will announce over the speaker that you need to head to Advanced Systems.

Use the Director’s Terminal to undo the lockdown.

Take the elevator to Father’s room. Go upstairs and put on your Charisma gear.

Talk to Father. After dialogue, you have a moderate speech check to ask him to help you.

If successful, you will face another moderate speech check. Pass it to receive the Synth turn-down code: 9003.

Use the terminal to activate the evacuation notice, turn off the lockdown, and shut down some Synths using the code 9003.

Exit through the nearby door and head down the stairs towards the large room where fighting is occurring.

Make your way to Advanced Systems.

In the initial Advanced Systems area, take down any hostile scientists, including T.S. Wallace.

Fight your way to the reactor.

Once in the reactor area, turn right and head up the hallway, destroying three Laser Turrets.

Continue to the bottom and enter the reactor room. You will face two named Legendary Enemies: Z4K-97B and A-2018.

Deal with Z4K-97B first, firing on him from outside the room if possible.

Clear out the bottom of the room and any low-level enemies.

To defeat A-2018, sneak up the right side stairs and perform a sneak attack.

Loot both Z4K-97B and A-2018 for their legendary gear. Find one of the two “Reactor Terminal Password” items.

Use the terminal to shut down the reactor.

Interact with the reactor and place the Fusion Core.

Talk to Elder Maxson to be warped back to the relay.