Starfield: First Contact All Options & Outcomes

It’s a massive galaxy in Starfield, and some people feel like they are at the center of the universe. While exploring the many worlds you can check out, for those who head over to Porrima, you’ll receive a mission called First Contact. You’ll need to work with Chief Sugiyama to check out an unknown ship that has appeared in orbit.

When you arrive on the ship, you’ll discover a crew who is surprised to find out they’re not the only humans left in the galaxy. They’re bewildered by this development and request your character’s help with an important decision that will decide how they take things moving forward. This guide covers all options and outcomes for the First Contact mission in Starfield.

How to Get the First Contact Mission in Starfield

This mission will not organically appear for you. Instead, you’ll need to enter a specific area of Starfield called the Porrima system and head over to Porrima II. You can find this system south of Kryx to the northwest of the Volii system. When you arrive, you’ll receive a transmission from Chief Sugiyama, or you can directly find the ship in orbit above Porrima II and dock with it. You’ll then speak with the ship’s captain, Captain Brackenridge, who will explain the situation.

The crew of the ship believed that Earth had become inhabitable, and they were the last humans left in the galaxy due to the extinction-level events that their ancestors thought had occurred in 2100, in Starfield’s timeline. It turns out that the crew on the ship wants you to go to the surface and speak to the colonists there. They want you to tell the colonists to leave, so they can settle there. You’ll need to figure out a proper solution for these two parties, and there are several outcomes that you can go with, but these all have different ramifications and outcomes.

Every First Contact Option & Outcome in Starfield

You can make three unique choices when speaking with the head of the board members at the resort. It comes down to going with a settlement deal, buying a Grav Drive so they can settle elsewhere, or making their ship go away.

Should You Have Them Take the Settlement Deal in Starfield?

The first option is for you to return to Captain Brackenridge and report a settlement deal. This deal might not seem too beneficial for them, as they will have to “pay” to find refuge on this resort planet, and they’ll need to work off this “payment” by serving as a workforce for the executive board of the planet. This is not why Brackenridge reached out to you to create a serviceable deal for them, but it’s an offer you can take back for your Starfield playthrough.

Should you make this decision and bring it back to Brackenridge. This was not the deal they had planned for us to make, but Brackenridge is fine. She will ask if there’s anything else you need from them, and you have the option to Persuade her to provide additional resources to make it easier for them to relocate to the planet below. Otherwise, your Starfield character will be expected to bring all the resources to relocate everyone properly.

Should you succeed, Brackenridge will send you to speak with Daisuke to see what they can spare. He’ll offer a handful of these resources but not all of them. For this option to work, you will need to track down 10 Lithium, 80 Iron, 20 Sealand, and 40 Fibers. You’ll need to find the rest while playing Starfield to relocate them to the planet below properly. Thankfully, you can find all of the required resources on the earth, but it will take some time to gather them up. I recommend landing somewhere away from Paradiso and searching the Tropical Forest. The only thing you can’t find is Iron.

The last task you must do is bring the colonists back down to Paradiso and give them a safe trip down. You and your Starfield crew will need to follow them off the ship, but after speaking with Brackenridge for a final time, you’ll wrap up the mission.

Should You Buy a Grav Drive so They Can Settle Elsewhere in Starfield?

Alternatively, you can have the colonists of the Constant settle elsewhere in the galaxy. This brings them away from Paradiso, and because they’re an older ship, they might not know too much about Grav Drive, giving them a chance to settle elsewhere in the galaxy. You’ll speak with the HopeTech engineer to figure out a Grav Drive that works for an older ship. The Hope Tech Engineer will be off-world; you can find them at the Valo system, west of your current location.

This is one of the more accessible routes to take, as you’ll give the colonists a second chance to find a better way of life outside of Paradiso. However, it does feel like the most costly choice. The Grav Drive and labor to add it to the ship can add up to 40,000 credits, which come directly out of your pocket. However, your Starfield character might be able to convince the engineer to lower the price to 25,000 credits.

When you return to the ship, you’ll need to assist with getting it ready for the Grav Drive. Your Starfield character must do: Reroute the power from the port turbopump to the auxiliary cryogenic radiator, turn the plasma run-off inhibitor function to 5%, and then decouple the magnetic flange pip enclosures from the auxiliary module assembly. After that, you’ll be good to go.

Should You Make the Ship Go Away in Starfield?

The final option presented to you by Paradiso is for the ship to merely “go away,” which is a more polite term for blowing it up. You’ll get an objective to overload the reactor, causing it to explode and killing everyone on board the shuttle. This is likely the most straightforward way of dealing with the colonists for your Starfield character, but it is easily the most brutal, and many of your companions will object to this. For this to work, you’ll need to return to the colonist ship and steal the key to the terminal from Amin.

After you have the key, make your way over to the reactor terminal, and overload it. You’ll then have to hack into the Captain’s computer on the bridge to confirm the order. For my playthrough, the entire ship became hostile to me, and I ran straight to my ship to get off it before the reactor blew up, leaving the colonists to their horrid fate.

The Best First Contact Quest Choice in Starfield

I feel that getting the colonists a Grav Drive is probably the best option of the options. It gives them a chance to explore the galaxy far more than they’ve had the opportunity to do in Starfield, and they can find somewhere else to live. Letting them work at Paradiso is an okay idea as a secondary option, but it’s not the best. Leaving them to work for the executive board that will likely abuse the overall relationship feels like a poor one to make. You’ll receive the same rewards regardless of which one you choose between these two.

Blowing them up, however, is likely the worst choice. You only receive 6,000 Credits for your work for the Paradiso executives, and the colonists don’t receive a fit ending. It’s probably the most unfortunate choice you can make in Starfield.