I'm currently at lv. 10 and I've destroyed the mutant base. I'm currently having some problems defeating the master. I tried fighting him, I tried showing him the data that talks about how mutants are sterile. But so far I'm not getting anywhere.

So I'm planning on going out to do some grinding and side quests. Which leads to my next question: Does destroying the mutant base affect how long it takes for the mutants to find my vault? Because I'm a little worried I might not have enough time to do grind and defeat the Master.

Thanks.

IIRC high speech and charisma are required to persuade the Master, as well as having the autopsy report and picking the right options.

My character was level 14 when I beat the Master, I probably could have done it sooner. The only catch part was that sometimes an enemy would score a critical hit and kill me instantly, I just had to save efter every round.

Read afterwards that you can kill him easier with Pulse Grenades and that you can set of a Nuke somewhere in the Cathedral. Couldn't find it though.

Actually the mutants finding your vault was patched out of game.
So unless you added it back you have all the time.

And I think you could use cover when fighting the master,
so step forward, shoot once, step back.

There's a way to handle the cathedral without ever seeing the master.

Well thanks for replying guys, but I've already beaten the Master. Twice in fact. Once through convincing him that his plan is doomed to fail (thank goodness for robes and mentats), and the second time using the turbo plasma rifle.

Thanks anyway.

True. One of the great things about Fallout: multiple solutions to problems.

Technically it wasn't completely patched out. I think the timer was increased to 13 in-game years. So it can still happen, but you pretty much need to be intentionally trying to cause it to happen.