Players will be asked to make an awful lot of decisions during a standard Starfield playthrough, but the vast majority of them end up being fairly inconsequential. Sure, their active companion might not always like what they decide to do and may even dismiss themselves in some extreme cases, but most of the time, the player's choices will have no lasting consequences. However, this isn't always the case.
The biggest decisions in Starfield can have a pretty big impact on a playthrough, either by killing off certain characters or depriving the player of an important interaction, weapon, or experience. As such, players may want to familiarize themselves with Starfield's most important choices to avoid doing something that may later come to regret or having to save and reload the game to find out each possible outcome for themselves.
Warning: This guide contains major story spoilers for Starfield.
This list of the most important Starfield decisions is presented in the order in which players will need to make them in order to avoid unnecessary spoilers.
1 Should You Defend the Lodge or Go to the Eye? (High Price to Pay)
The first big decision in Starfield comes during the High Price to Pay main story mission, and it's one that more than lives up to the mission's harrowing title. After receiving a distress signal from their comrades, players are given the choice to stay and defend the Lodge or go to the eye. Whichever option they choose leads to death.
If players decide to stay then one of their companions at the Eye will die, while leaving the Lodge will lead to somebody there being killed instead. The four characters who can die during this mission are Sarah, Sam, Barrett, and Andreja, with two being stationed at each location. Somewhat sadistically, of the two Starfield companions at the location that players don't choose, the one with whom players have the highest bond will be killed.
2 Which Version of Reality Should You Save? (Entangled)
At a glance, deciding whether or not to save a single man or an entire research facility full of people may seem like an easy choice, but there's much more to the Entangled decision than first meets the eye. For starters, that one man has already gone through an awful lot over the past few years and is only in his current predicament due to the actions of those at the facility. Then there are the lasting consequences.
If players choose to save the version of reality with the research facility still intact, they'll get a Legendary spacesuit and helmet. If they decide to go with Rafael's version of reality, they'll be able to recruit him to their crew, bringing the total number of Starfield companions up by one. Given that Legendary gear is fairly easy to come by in the game, most will probably opt to save Rafael.
Since this article was first written it has been discovered that players can actually save everybody during the Entangled mission of Starfield. To do so, they'll need to follow the steps detailed here.
3 Should You Choose the Hunter or the Emissary? (Unearthed)
The game first hints at players having to make a choice between the Hunter and the Emissary during the Unity main story mission, but they won't actually have to make any kind of decision until they've learned the truth about what happened to Starfield's version of Earth by exploring the old NASA Launch Tower in Cape Canaveral. As it happens, there are actually three options here.
Choosing either of the two Starborn generals will lead to them serving as the player's active companion as they traverse the final area of the game and helping them out in an epic final boss fight against the one that they didn't choose. Alternatively, players can choose neither, brave the Buried Temple alone, and face both the Hunter and the Emissary in the final boss battle.
4 Should You Skip the Final Boss Fight? (Revelation)
Starfield's Persuasion skill allows players to talk their way out of trouble and can even be used to skip the final boss fight. The Emissary seems to be the easiest to persuade due to their past relationship with the player, but it's also possible to avoid a fight with the Hunter with the right prompts. The real question here though is whether this is a fight that should be skipped.
Starborn boasts one of the best video game boss fights in recent memory, with players being teleported to various locations from the game's main story. Both the Hunter and the Emissary drop unique weapons too, meaning that those hoping to get their hands on some of the best guns in Starfield will probably want to take them on rather than skip the fight using Persuasion.
5 Should You Walk into the Light at the Unity? (One Giant Leap)
It may seem a little ridiculous to suggest that whether or not to finish the main story is one of the biggest decisions in Starfield, but there is a certain amount of logic behind this apparent madness. This is because by walking into the light at the Unity, players will officially complete the game, which, after the credits, will automatically trigger a New Game Plus playthrough of Starfield.
Although the player's skills and level will carry over into a New Game+ run of Starfield, everything else that they've worked hard for will be lost, including their resources and side quest progress as well as any outposts and relationships that they may happen to have built. As such, players should take some time to wrap up any loose ends before walking into the light at the Unity or be prepared to start again from scratch.
Starfield is available now for PC and Xbox Series X|S.