Starfield: Darkest Side Quests

Some of Starfield‘s main quests have some memorable dark moments, encounters, and pivotal choices. While Starfield may not always delve into darker moral themes as much as some players might like and often makes it more challenging with primarily good companions, there are some side quests that explore some darker themes or give players the opportunity for a more evil or morally questionable playthrough.

Some of Starfield‘s darkest side quests lean closer to sci-fi horror, explore dark or immoral themes, or give players the option to make or perform morally ambiguous choices or activities. Players should be aware some side quest plot-related spoilers follow.

9 Due In Full

Galbank Debt Recovery Side Quest

Players looking to role-play as a space-faring debt collector with a dark twist should check out Starfield‘s Due In Full side quest line. Players act as a representative of Galbank through several debt-collection missions, but while Galbank’s Landry Hollifield NPC claims violence should be a last resort against the delinquent targets, it’s evident he doesn’t really care how players get the job done.

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Some of Due in Full’s dialogue options let players try to reason with their targets, but plenty of more morally questionable options slide in the direction of plain bounty-hunting killing for cash.

8 Grunt Work

UC Vanguard Side Questline

Starfield‘s Grunt Work side quest is the first side mission when players join the UC Vanguard Faction as a probationary, opening quest after completing space combat training. A visit to a colony on Tau Ceti 2 takes a creepy, sci-fi horror-style turn when players learn a massive Terramorph is stalking the grounds.

A beeping radar is reminiscent of the motion tracker from the Alien franchise, as players must power up a series of security switches while avoiding the incoming deadly creature before defeating it in one of Starfield’s stand-out sci-fi horror-themed side quests. Grunt Work is a must for anyone wanting to learn more about the origins of the Terramorph threat, leading to some morally complex later missions.

7 Back To The Grind

Ryujin Industries Questline

In the Back To The Grind side quest gives players a flavor of what a job working for Ryujin Industries really involves, as a simple coffee run task on the surface that leads to an escalated encounter with a former employee. While players can save Tomo, players can also use deadly force against the disgruntled former worker, depending on their moral preferences.

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The entire Ryuin Industries questline is bursting with opportunities for players to experience the forefront of corporate espionage and backstabbing, corporate theft, and planting evidence on rival companies. At times, there is also the option to kill anyone who gets in the way and even have a say in the future of a dangerous mind control device.

6 Crimson Fleet Piracy Mission Boards

Crimson Fleet Questline

Players wanting to roleplay as a space pirate and swindle or kill other NPCs for their goods while acting as a double agent between two factions should check out Starfield‘s Crimson Fleet questline. Once players complete the Rook Meets King quest, they can gain access to The Key, where they can pick up pirate-themed side missions via the Crimson Fleet faction mission board.

Pirate missions vary from stealing specific items on planets or raiding the cargo holds of other ships, with players given the freedom to decide whether to bribe NPCs for the loot or kill them.

5 Loose Ends

Neon Side Quest

The Loose Ends side quest introduces players to Neon City’s illegal substance underworld, as players gain access to the Aurora Black market after players deliver a mysterious package to Yannick Legrande on behalf of a prisoner named Neshar who still wants to prove his loyalty to Yannick.

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Despite Neshar’s misplaced gesture, Yannick offers players Neshar’s job and wants him out of the picture. Players can either deal with him peacefully or they can assassinate him and take his job, much to the disapproval of companions as the more sinister option.

4 Fishy Business/Supply Line

Neon Side Quests

Fishy Business continues the story from Loose Ends, as players continue to help Yannick Legrande drive his off-shoot Blend business. Players then don a hazmat suit to learn how to manufacture the illegal substance Aurora.

Once Benjamin Bayu discovers what’s going on players can either blame Yannick or persuade Bayu of Blend’s business value. The latter triggers the Supply Line side quest where players continue their involvement in Neon’s seedy substance trade, learning to craft and sell Starfield’s Aurora at any research lab station as contraband, making it potentially the start of an even darker path for some players.

Paradiso Moral Choice Side Quest

Starfield‘s First Contact mission is another choice-driven side quest with questionable outcomes. Players act as a negotiator between Paradiso and the mysterious ECS Constant ship, which turns out to be other humans simply looking for a new planet to call home, choosing between the best moral choice, a less desirable immoral compromise, and a decision rooted in pure evil.

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Rather than peacefully settle the problem, players can optionally overload the ship’s reactor by stealing a key card and hacking into the system. After escaping, the ship and its entire crew population, who have traveled through space for 200 years, are obliterated. Paradiso Manager Oliver Campbell doesn’t care, rewarding players with 6,500 credits and unlimited free access to stays at the hotel.

2 The Colander

Secret Side Activity

While not strictly a side quest, Starfield‘s The Colander is more of a hidden side activity where players can explore a seemingly empty spaceship called The Colander. It’s another activity tinged with Alien-style sci-fi horror and Easter Eggs, as players explore the dark, creepy vessel while they work out what happened to the crew until the answer appears in the form of the Imposter.

Some players also felt the quest features similarities to the game Among Us, with players ultimately tracking down the mysterious ship’s murderer responsible for the crew’s grisly end.

1 The Hammer Falls

Freestar Collective Questline

The Hammer Falls is the final quest in the Freestar Collective Faction questline that includes some dark themes, as players decide how to bring HopeTech CEO Ron Hope to justice for his appalling actions against the local citizens. Hope has been exploiting the land to drive people from their homes, causing sickness, or even killing those who refuse to leave.

Players can either side with Ron letting his activities continue or kill him to bring him to justice, giving players some tricky moral choices and dark themes to contend with.

Starfield

Platform(s)

PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S

Released

September 6, 2023

Developer(s)

Bethesda

Publisher(s)

Bethesda