Wasteland 3: Yuma County, Liberty Buchanan, and King Cordite

Conclusion: What to do with Liberty Buchanan

Dealing with Steel-Trap and/or the Dorseys

With Cordite: You have all the dirt you need against Steel-Trap. Go ahead and speak with him to initiate the challenge.

You’ll do battle against Steel-Trap and several Scar Collector mobs in the demolition derby arena. They also brought their trucks and war machines.

Ah, but you’ve got your Kodiak with you as well, so make good use of its capabilities.

When all is said and done, Ironclad Cordite becomes King Cordite, the leader of all the Eastern Plains gangs.

Because of this, Emogene Dorsey allows you to enter Liberty Buchanan’s lair and you can speak with her.

Without Cordite: When you return to Yuma County Speedway, you’ll realize that everything’s gone haywire. The Godfishers and Payasos are killing each other and the Scar Collectors have their own civil war. Lots of corpses litter the streets. Still, Liberty Buchanan has only the Dorseys left as her personal guard. Enter via the Slave Pens and take out the remaining Dorseys here (including the turrets at the main gate). When you’re done, head to the main base and eliminate Emogene Dorsey and the remaining soldiers.

Important: Whichever path you took, make sure to save before entering Liberty Buchanan’s chamber. The game will even warn you that confronting her will lock you out of doing additional sidequests in other areas. Think of this as Wasteland 3‘s “point of no return.”

Liberty Buchanan

You’ll have a conversation with a very irate Liberty Buchanan who’ll goad and taunt you. You’re then provided several means of responding:

(1) Hard Ass 10 – Liberty is automatically arrested.

(2) Kiss Ass 10 – Team November suggests that the squad could become Liberty’s personal army. For this to work, you must not have Cordite, Lucia, or Vic in your party. This will automatically lead to an ending.

Note: For more about this Wasteland 3 outcome, check out our endings and epilogues guide.

(3) Nerd Stuff 10 – You’ll stun Liberty’s warbots and the battle will commence. Oh, and the other dialogue options besides the ones I mentioned above will lead to a fight, minus this unique advantage.

When you drop Liberty to less than 50% health, she’ll surrender and you have the chance to arrest her. Alternatively, you could go ahead and kill her which will continue the battle until she’s dead.

Don’t forget to pick up the loot in various containers. One of the lockers on the walkway (Explosives 8) even has the Hyper Heather creepy doll. It will likely be the last creepy doll you’ll obtain in Wasteland 3 to complete the collection and obtain the “My Pretties” achievement.

With Cordite: If Ironclad Cordite is with you after you’ve taken out Liberty Buchanan, he’ll gladly bring the might of the united Eastern Plains gangs for the upcoming conflict against the Patriarch. However, you’re told that the gangs can run amok and casualties will be insurmountable. If you persist, “goody-two-shoes” characters like Lucia or Marshal Kwon could leave your squad for good.

Percival Wesson

There’s one more loose end that needs to get tied up (literally and figuratively). It’s Percival Wesson, Lucia’s father. If you completed the sidequest to eliminate Nelius Dorsey in the Snowed Inn Resort, you’ll know that Percival committed mass murder against the entire Dorsey family to protect the Patriarch’s iron grip on Colorado.

If you bring Lucia along, she’ll confront her father and you have a few choices:

• Exile – Percival will be told to leave Colorado and never return.
• Forgive – Percival will just go home and let bygones be bygones.
• Trial – Percival will be told to await his trial.
• Execute – Lucia won’t like this decision if she’s with you. If you persist, you’ll have no choice but to kill her as well.

Note: Remember Satoshi, the mysterious fella you met in Sans Luxe Apartments? He’ll ask you to return his Mysterious Case. If you still have it, you’ll get a full set of Nucular Armor.

Anyway, make sure to save before you leave Yuma County and head back to the world map. That’s because dealing with Liberty Buchanan and Percival Wesson aren’t the only issues you’ll need to think through.

There’s another major dilemma and it’s how you’ll tackle Wasteland 3‘s final chapter. Let’s go ahead and commence the Battle for Colorado.