Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is a former quarantine zone now run by hunters who ambush anyone passing through. Joel and Ellie spend two chapters here, Pittsburgh and The Suburbs, and meet the brothers Henry and Sam. Expect heavy human combat and the largest pile of collectibles in the game.
- Type
- Region
- Region
- Pittsburgh
Good to know
- Pittsburgh has four sections: Alone and Forsaken, Hotel Lobby, Financial District and Escape the City.
- The Suburbs has two sections: Sewers and Suburbs.
- The Pittsburgh chapter holds 28 collectibles and The Suburbs holds 18.
- Landmarks include the Hotel Grand, Spenzur Architecture, Fort Duquesne Bridge and Waverly Township.
- Hunters call outsiders tourists and lure them in by faking an injury.
- Factions met here: hunters and infected, with stalkers in the old sewer settlement.
How the hunters took over
FEDRA ran the city under Captain Mastros. After soldiers killed people protesting ration shortages, the Fireflies stirred a revolt that lasted 14 months and drove the military out. The winners then turned on the Fireflies too, and as food ran out they began robbing and killing travelers.
What you do here
A detour off the jammed highway ends in a bus ambush that crashes your truck into a store. You fight through the streets to the Hotel Grand, out through the Financial District where a hunter Humvee patrols, then meet Henry and Sam and cross the bridge at night when only a skeleton crew guards it.
Below and beyond the city
Under the city lies the sewer home that a fisherman named Ish built for about 50 people from the suburbs, complete with a school and rain catchers. It fell to the infected years before you arrive. Past it, hunters with a sniper rifle and the Humvee wait in the suburbs.
- Main storyThe main story of The Last of Us Part I follows Joel, a smuggler in the Boston quarantine zone, as he escorts Ellie, a teenage girl who is immune to the Cordyceps infection, across the United States to the Fireflies. It runs 12 chapters, from Austin on the night of the outbreak in 2013 to the spring of 2034.
- PittsburghPittsburgh is the chapter where hunters take over: armed locals who drove out the military and now ambush anyone passing through. Joel and Ellie are forced off the road downtown, fight through the Hotel Grand and the Financial District, and join brothers Henry and Sam to reach the bridge out of the city.
- The SuburbsThe Suburbs picks up on a riverbank outside Pittsburgh, with Joel, Ellie, Henry and Sam heading for a radio tower where Henry hopes to meet his group. You cross a flooded sewer that was once home to a community of survivors, then fight hunters and their Humvee on a quiet street in Waverly Township.
- 2x4The 2x4 is a plank of lumber and the most common melee weapon in the game, especially in Boston and Pittsburgh. It reaches farther than your fists, stuns a human with one hit and lasts four swings before it breaks.
- HatchetThe hatchet is a one-handed camp axe that kills any enemy except a bloater in one hit. It is the last bladed weapon you find, first turning up just after you leave Ish's abandoned settlement in the Pittsburgh sewers during The Suburbs.
- MacheteThe machete kills in one hit and swings faster than the hatchet, but breaks after three uses. The first one is in Ish's settlement in the Pittsburgh sewers during The Suburbs.
- Military sniperThe military sniper is a tripod-mounted bolt-action rifle you only use once, in The Suburbs. A hunter uses it to pin Joel, Ellie, Henry and Sam down in the street; once Joel reaches the house and kills him, you man the rifle to cover the others.
- ShortyThe Shorty is a one-handed sawed-off shotgun that sits in your pistol slot. You find it in the Pittsburgh sewers during The Suburbs, on a bench to the left just after you set off the first sound trap.
- Smoke bombThe smoke bomb is a crafted sack of sugar and explosive that blinds and stuns enemies instead of hurting them. You first come across it in Pittsburgh, and it is your best escape tool when a fight goes wrong.
- Abandon Zone NoteThe Abandon Zone Note sits on the desk in the office at the far left end of the bookstore's first floor in Pittsburgh.
- AccretionAccretion, issue 6 of Savage Starlight, sits on a coffee table in a lounge on the second floor of the Hotel Grand, during the Hotel Lobby section of Pittsburgh.
- Ambush MapThe Ambush Map is pinned to the wall of the room at the end of the hallway. Leave the stairs in the room with the two dead bodies, follow the corridor to its end and look on the wall.
- AntiparticlesAntiparticles, issue 11 of Savage Starlight, lies on the console in the bridge of the wrecked fishing boat on the beach at the start of The Suburbs.
- Applicant ChecklistThe Applicant Checklist is under the stairs on the far left of the bookstore's ground floor in Pittsburgh.
- Boat noteThe Boat note is an optional artifact on the bridge of the beached fishing boat at the very start of The Suburbs. Climb onto the deck, step into the wheelhouse and grab it from the console beside the Antiparticles comic.
- Bomb: ContainmentBomb: Containment is a training manual on a shelf in the sewers of The Suburbs. It makes nail bomb blasts 1.5 times wider.
- Cornered noteThe Cornered note is an optional artifact behind a door near the sewer ambush site in The Suburbs. After the runner and clicker attack, climb the stairs, go through the door on the left and find it on a bench by the bodies in the corner.
- Deep PhaseDeep Phase, issue 10 of Savage Starlight, waits in a child's bedroom behind a shiv door in the building where you meet Henry and Sam, in the Financial District section of Pittsburgh.
- Father's noteThe Father's note is an optional artifact in the brick house on the second street of the Pittsburgh suburbs. Go up to the second floor, enter the left bedroom and pick it up from the dresser.
- Final Attack NoteThe Final Attack Note is on the floor by a desk chair in an office in the Financial District. After the cutscene where a Humvee guns down two civilians, go upstairs and deal with the two patrolling hunters.
- Fireflies NoteThe Fireflies Note is inside the refrigerator of the sandwich shop in the corner beside the coffee shop, in Pittsburgh's Financial District.
- Force CarrierForce Carrier, issue 3 of Savage Starlight, is the one comic you cannot miss: Ellie swipes it from Bill's safehouse, and it lands in your collection automatically when Pittsburgh begins.
- Fuentes's Firefly PendantFuentes's Firefly pendant is underwater next to a sunken car in the Sewers section of The Suburbs. It belonged to Eddie Fuentes, and you have to dive for it.
- Health: SplintingHealth: Splinting is a training manual in the hunters' building early in Pittsburgh. It makes crafted health kits 33% stronger.
- Hotel KeycardThe Hotel Keycard is in the security room in the basement of the Hotel Grand, on the desk by the monitors. You need it to open the door out of the basement.
- Kid's drawingThe Kid's drawing is an optional artifact in the sewer nursery in The Suburbs. As you pass through the classroom area with Sam, search the bookcase beside the easel on the right.
- Looting noteThe Looting note is an optional artifact in the first brick house you reach after leaving the sewers in The Suburbs. Go upstairs to the back bedroom on the left and take it from the bedside table by the lamp.
- Lost Areas MapThe Lost Areas Map is behind a locked door on the bookstore's second floor, in the room next to the coffee shop. You need a shiv to open it.
- Lost Hill NoteThe Lost Hill Note is in the far-left booth just past the bus you jump over into the Pittsburgh quarantine zone. It is written in a blue FEDRA notebook.
- MatchbookGo to the third floor and take it from the computer desk at the top of the stairs, then use its code on the safe in a bedroom one floor down.
- Melee: KnotsMelee: Knots is a training manual on a wooden table near the exit of the Hotel Grand in Pittsburgh. It lets a modified melee weapon land one more one-hit kill before the upgrade wears off.
- Melee: TechniquesMelee: Techniques is a training manual Ellie fetches from an attic in the Suburbs section of The Suburbs. It gives modified melee weapons one more one-hit kill and stacks with Melee: Knots.
- Messenger ParticleMessenger Particle, issue 2 of Savage Starlight, is in an upstairs bathroom of the last house on the street in the Suburbs section of The Suburbs.
- Mob Attack NoteThe Mob Attack Note is behind a desk in a back room on the second floor of a building in the Financial District, in the area crowded with hunters just after the Final Attack Note.
- Molotov: ConstructionMolotov: Construction is a training manual on the kitchen counter of the apartment where you meet Henry and Sam in Pittsburgh. It widens a Molotov's fire radius to 1.5 times normal.
- Mother's LetterThe Mother's Letter lies on a white armchair behind a door marked with a red X, right beside the blue truck as you enter the area before the hotel in Pittsburgh. The door is locked, so bring a shiv.
- Note to StaffThe Note to Staff is in a suitcase on the floor at the corner of a hallway in the Hotel Grand. After climbing the ladder, go right and shimmy across the collapsed stairs to reach it.
- Rain catcher noteThe Rain catcher note is an optional artifact in a sewer utility room in The Suburbs. After runners and a clicker ambush the group, enter the room on the right and check the table at the back, next to the rain-catching barrels.
- Reed's Firefly PendantReed's Firefly pendant is on the floor of a stall in the women's restroom of the Hotel Grand, during the Hotel Lobby section of Pittsburgh. It belonged to Colby Reed.
- Righetti's Firefly PendantRighetti's Firefly pendant lies in shallow water inside a small duct just past the sewer entrance in The Suburbs. It belonged to Robert Righetti.
- Rios's Firefly PendantRios's Firefly pendant sits on a toilet in a second-floor bathroom in the Financial District section of Pittsburgh. It belonged to Lucas Rios.
- Risk's Firefly PendantRisk's Firefly pendant lies at the end of an alley beside the bookstore in the Alone and Forsaken section of Pittsburgh. It belonged to Kazden Risk.
- Scheffler's Firefly PendantScheffler's Firefly pendant is inside a wrecked fishing boat at the start of The Suburbs, in the Sewers section. It belonged to Josh Scheffler.
- Sewers noteThe Sewers note is an optional artifact in the storage room Ellie opens by crawling through a vent in The Suburbs. Once she unlocks the door, head to the far left corner and take it from the table.
- Shiv: ReinforcementShiv: Reinforcement is a training manual locked in the safe in the Hotel Grand lobby in Pittsburgh. It adds another hit to every shiv you craft.
- Siphon HoseThe Siphon Hose is waiting in Joel's backpack when the Pittsburgh chapter begins, so you collect it without doing anything.
- Stash NoteThe Stash Note is on a counter near the far end of the second floor of the coffee shop where the hunters build their bridge, just before you enter the hotel in Pittsburgh.
- Survivors noteThe Survivors note is an optional artifact in the last house of the Pittsburgh suburbs. Climb to the second floor, enter the first bedroom on the left and check the computer desk.
- Termination ShockTermination Shock, issue 1 of Savage Starlight, lies at the back of an empty bus just outside the hunters' building in the Alone and Forsaken section of Pittsburgh.
- Tourists ManifestThe Tourists Manifest lies on an overturned cart in the garage with two dead bodies, early in the Alone and Forsaken section of Pittsburgh.
- Trading noteThe Trading note is an optional artifact in the sewer room with two clickers in The Suburbs. After you knock the pallet into the water, open the nearby door and look beside the mattress at the back of the room.
- Traitors FlyerThe Traitors Flyer is posted on the wall on your entry side at the end of the long checkpoint tent in Pittsburgh's quarantine zone.
- Trial NoteThe Trial Note is on the floor in the corner of a boardroom in the Escape the City section of Pittsburgh. After Henry opens the first door on the way to his safehouse in the old architecture office, the boardroom is straight ahead.
- Truck NoteThe Truck Note is in the ration depot just before the ladder that climbs to the military preparatory school area of Pittsburgh's Financial District.
- White's Firefly PendantWhite's Firefly pendant hangs in a tree over a backyard swing set in the Suburbs section of The Suburbs. It belonged to Matthew White and must be knocked down.
BloaterBloaters are stage four infected covered in armor-like fungus. They are slow and blind but kill you instantly if they grab you, and they throw bursting sacks of mycotoxin from range. Fire is the way to beat them.- ClickerClickers are blind stage three infected that find you by the clicking sound they make. Their grab kills instantly unless you carry a shiv and have the Shiv Master upgrade, so most players deal with them quietly or with fire.
- FEDRAFEDRA, the Federal Disaster Response Agency, is the military government that runs the Boston quarantine zone. Its soldiers are the best-equipped enemies in the first chapters, and you fight them while smuggling Ellie out of Boston.
- FirefliesThe Fireflies are the militia fighting FEDRA's rule and searching for a cure, led by Marlene. Their slogan, look for the light, is painted across the ruins, and their deal with Joel and Tess to smuggle Ellie out of Boston starts the story.
- HuntersHunters are the armed civilians who took Pittsburgh from FEDRA and now ambush anyone passing through to strip them of supplies. You fight them through the Pittsburgh and The Suburbs chapters.
- InfectedThe Infected are people taken over by a mutant Cordyceps fungus, and they are the main threat between every human fight in The Last of Us Part I. In Part I and Left Behind you meet four stages: runners, stalkers, clickers and bloaters, each harder to kill than the last.
- StalkerStalkers are stage two infected that hide, circle you and strike from cover. They keep a runner's sight and speed but fight harder, and in Part I they are rare: two main encounters for Joel and one in Left Behind for Ellie.
- DannyDanny is one of the two guards of Ish's community in the Pittsburgh sewers. You learn about him from the Kid's drawing, found in the sewer nursery during The Suburbs.
- HenryHenry is a young survivor from Hartford who is trying to get his little brother Sam out of hunter-held Pittsburgh. He and Joel get off to a bad start in a brawl, then team up to escape the city, and he fights beside you through the end of Pittsburgh and The Suburbs.
- IshIsh is a survivor you never meet in person: you learn his story from a trail of notes in The Suburbs, from his wrecked fishing boat on the riverbank to the sewer camp he built under Pittsburgh. Picking up his notes in order tells how one lonely man built, and lost, a community.
- JeremyJeremy is a FEDRA soldier in Pittsburgh, mentioned in the Lost Hill note you can find in the Pittsburgh chapter. A squadmate writes that Jeremy and a soldier named Pam were left behind when the hunters took Troy Hill.
- KyleKyle is a father from the Pittsburgh suburbs who joined Ish's community in the sewers. In The Suburbs you learn his story from the Looting note and the Cornered note, and Ish mentions him in the Rain catcher note.
- MastrosCaptain Mastros is the senior FEDRA officer left in the Pittsburgh quarantine zone. He appears only in two artifacts from the Pittsburgh chapter: the Abandon zone note he wrote and the Mob attack note about him.
- SamSam is Henry's 13-year-old brother, a quiet, anxious kid who becomes Ellie's first friend her own age on the road. You travel with him from the hideout in Pittsburgh through the sewers and suburbs in The Suburbs.
- SusanSusan is Kyle's wife and one of the founding families of Ish's sewer community under Pittsburgh. In The Suburbs she appears only in notes: the Rain catcher note written to her and the Survivors note written about her.
- Fort Duquesne BridgeThe Fort Duquesne Bridge is the hunter-guarded crossing out of Pittsburgh that Joel, Ellie, Henry and Sam try to slip across at night in the Escape the City section of the Pittsburgh chapter. Its broken middle span forces a jump into the river below.
- Spenzür ArchitectureSpenzür Architecture is a Pittsburgh office and apartment building where Henry and Sam are hiding when Joel and Ellie meet them. The four rest here and plan their night escape over the bridge.
- The Hotel GrandThe Hotel Grand is a ruined luxury hotel in Pittsburgh that gives the Hotel Lobby section its name. Hunters hold the upper floors and infected lurk in the basement, and the lobby hides a safe worth opening.
- Waverly TownshipWaverly Township is the Pittsburgh suburb that Joel, Ellie, Henry and Sam reach after escaping through the sewers, and the setting of the Suburbs section of The Suburbs chapter. Hunters with a sniper rifle and a Humvee are waiting.
Related places
- Region
Boston
Boston, Massachusetts is the first region after the time skip and the city where Ellie grew up. You play The Quarantine Zone and The Outskirts here, and Left Behind's flashbacks with Riley take place in the same city. FEDRA holds the North End as one of the last working quarantine zones in the country.
- Region
Lincoln
Lincoln is a small Massachusetts town a few miles from Boston and the setting of Bill's Town, the fourth chapter. Joel and Ellie come here to call in a favor from Bill, a paranoid survivor who has rigged the whole town with traps, because they need a working vehicle.
- Region
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, Utah is the last stop on Joel and Ellie's search for the Fireflies. It is an abandoned quarantine zone where the Fireflies hold Saint Mary's Hospital, and you play the Bus Depot and The Firefly Lab chapters here in spring 2034.
- Region
Jackson
Jackson, Wyoming is the home of Tommy's community and covers both the town and the wider Jackson County, including the hydroelectric dam and the Hidden Pines Corral ranch. You visit it twice: in Tommy's Dam and in the short closing chapter, Jackson. It is the one safe, working settlement in Part I.