Fallout: New Vegas’s Lonesome Road DLC has a total of 4 endings. Each one of them provides you with a different set of rewards or unlocks. In this guide, I’ll go over the upsides and downsides of every ending, in addition to explaining how to get each one.

NOTE: THIS GUIDE CONTAINS MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR THE ALL ENDINGS OF FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS’S LONESOME ROAD DLC.

Ending Preparation

To get any of the endings mentioned below, you must get to the end of the quest “The Courier”, the semifinal quest of the DLC, where you start and finish the final fight.

At the end of the quest, you’ll be prompted to interact with a nuclear missile launch console. Here, you’ll be prompted to pick one of 4 different options. Selecting one of these options will trigger that choice’s ending. 

Note that to get the last ending on the list requires you to make certain choices throughout the DLC. Those will be detailed in that ending’s chapter.

Ending 1: Nuke The NCR

Your first option is to accelerate the launch of the missiles and direct them at the NCR. 

Upsides: 

• Caesar’s Legion Fame
• Long 15 location unlock
  • This location contains the unique Great Bear Grenade Rifle and the Scorched Sierra Power Armor.

Downsides:

• NCR Infamy
• Can’t access the Dry Wells location, permanently preventing you from obtaining the Red Victory Grenade Rifle and the Armor Of The 87th Tribe.

Ending 2: Nuke The Legion

Your other option is to nuke the Legion. This ending is basically the opposite of Ending 1.

Upsides: 

• NCR Fame
• Unlocks the Dry Wells location
  • This location contains the unique Red Victory Grenade Rifle and the Armor Of The 87th Tribe.

Downsides:

• Caesar’s Legion Infamy.
• Permanently prevents you from exploring the Long 15, rendering the Great Bear Grenade Rifle and the Scorched Sierra Power Armor unobtainable.

Ending 3: Nuke Both Factions

This ending allows you to get the material benefits of both of the previous endings, but at the cost of Infamy with two of the game’s main factions.

Upsides:

• Boomers and Powder Gangers Fame.
• Unlocks both the Dry Wells and the Long 15 Locations.
  • This allows you to get all 4 of the unique pieces of gear: the Great Bear Grenade Rifle, the Scorched Sierra Power Armor, the Red Victory Grenade Rifle, and the Armor Of The 87th Tribe.

Downsides:

• Caesar’s Legion and NCR Infamy.

Ending 4: Secret Ending – Terminate The Launch

This final ending is a bit trickier to get, as it’s the only ending that requires you to do something prior to confronting Ulysses. 

After entering Ulysses’ Temple, you’ll eventually come across a terminal that the game will instruct you to interact with to open the corridor to the launch platform.

In this same terminal, select the “Access Eyebot Maintenance Area”.

Then click on “Yes.”

There are two doors, one to the left of the terminal, and one to the right. Go through either one and clear out of the room you enter. It’s integral that you kill all of the robots that are in that room.

There is another terminal in that room. Interact with it.

Select “Open Repair Pod 2 – OCCUPIED”.

This will open the pod where ED-E is housed, and he’ll rejoin you. 

Now you’ll be able to select the “Attempt to cancel the launch.” option when interacting with the launch console. 

ED-E will offer to cancel the launch for you after you select the option. Agree to let him cancel the launch to get this ending.

Upsides:

• Positive Karma.
• Followers Of The Apocalypse and Brotherhood Of Steel Fame
  • Getting this ending and all of the Brotherhood Of Steel quests is the only way to get the Idolozed reputation with the Brotherhood Of Steel.

Downsides:

• Permanently prevents you from exploring the Long 15 and Dry Wells. This prevents you from getting all of the unique gear stored inside these locations: the Great Bear Grenade Rifle, the Scorched Sierra Power Armor, the Red Victory Grenade Rifle, and the Armor Of The 87th Tribe.
• Due to the necessity to rescue ED-E, you’ll be prevented from getting the Lonesome Road perk.

Final Notes

• Due to a bug, launching the missiles at either faction won’t make them hostile to you, as long as they weren’t hostile to you prior to launching the missiles.
• Finishing the Lonesome Road DLC will always give you a free S.P.E.C.I.A.L. point.
• Additionally, just as you finish the DLC, you’ll spawn in front of a rewards chest, which contains several unique items:
  • Old Glory
  • Red Glare (one of only 3 copies)
  • Ulysses’ Mask
  • Ulysses’ Duster
  • Courier Duster (One of 4 versions: NCR, Independent, Caesar’s Legion, Mr.House; The faction will be picked depending on which faction you have the highest reputation with and which one’s main quest you progressed the farthest in)