In Starfield, numerous missions advance the main plot. They are joined by various side missions that establish lore and add depth to the adventure. One such mission, First Contact, explores what happens when two different groups have eyes on the same prize. Here is our guide explaining how to complete First Contact in Starfield.
Starfield – how to complete First Contact
You have a lot of leeway when you attempt missions such as First Contact. You can try to find a peaceful solution, or you can shoot at everything that moves, or somewhere in between. To complete First Contact, you must manage the conflict that develops between two groups of settlers with legitimate claims to the same planet.
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Speak with Chief Sugiyama
The mission begins with a call to visit Porrima II in the Porrima system. The main attraction on that planet is the huge hotel resort, Paradiso. You meet with Chief Sugiyama in an office on the ground floor. Start by advising him that, ‘I’m here about the distress call you sent.‘
Sugiyama insists on discretion. Answer, ‘Understood. I swear it. Let me know what you need me to do.‘ He then tells you about an enormous ship that has appeared in the atmosphere near the planet. Its arrival is creating issues, and attempts to contact the crew members have gone nowhere. Talk to him about the situation and earn his trust, until the mission updates with your next objective.
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Hail the unidentified ship
Fast travel to outer space. The blue beacon directs you to the right area. When you appear, make your approach. The target ship drifts in the air between you and Porrima.
When you approach the vessel, press the button or key indicated to Hail as usual. Try each of the four available dialog options. None of them produce a response other than beeping, clicks, and sound distortions. At that point, you have some additional options. I chose, ‘I don’t think this is working. I’m going to attempt a docking procedure and we can talk on board.‘
Going with that answer advances the mission to the next (very brief) step.
Dock with the ship and enter
Dock with the ship, as directed. This process shouldn’t take long. You just need to be near enough that the Dock option appears. For me, my ship kept trying to target lock as I drifted slowly closer to the other ship. If necessary, press a button or key to cancel the target lock and then quickly dock.
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Speak with the ship’s captain
Now that you have docked, find the captain on board the vessel. The blue mission beacon leads the way, as usual. Travel along a hallway, climb some stairs, pass through the door, and meet with the waiting crew members. I’m not sure what you answer when conversation begins matters much, but I went with ‘Human? I didn’t know there were other options.‘
If you ask, ‘What is this ship?‘, you will learn you are on board the Earth Colony Ship Constant. It has a backstory that the captain shares. Then you can decide how to answer. I replied, ‘Wait, don’t tell me: you’re going to ask me for some sort of huge favor.‘ The available responses are all pretty similar and should lead to about the same outcome. I was able to keep things moving to the next objective when I selected, ‘You know, those ‘others’ are human beings, and they were here first.‘
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Follow Captain Brackenridge
With the opening conversation resolved to everyone’s satisfaction, follow the captain as she leads you to the Command Bay. She fills you in as she walks, but I suggest paying attention to your surroundings so you can find your way back to your ship later. I find that it’s easy to get lost in the Earth Colony Ship Constant. At the end of the tour, it’s time to talk some more.
Speak with Captain Brackenridge
You can get more backstory here if you like. When you’re ready to advance, select, ‘It sounds like you could use some help with your situation here.‘ Then follow that up with, ‘The people in Paradiso want the same. I’ll help.‘ Get more backstory if you like, but the answer to keep things moving is, ‘I’ll try, but diplomacy may require compromise.‘
Although the captain hears what you’re saying, she doesn’t feel like giving up anything unless she must. You have a few options, but the one that seems to move things along is, ‘Okay, but no promises I’ll be able to convince them.‘ This leads to the next phase in the mission.
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Negotiate with Oliver Campbell
Return to Paradiso to speak with the man in charge. This part of the mission took me a long while, because I kept getting lost and wandering in circles. Remember that you’re looking for a hatch on the lower level, but not in the cafeteria.
Once you return to your ship and warp to Paradiso, enter the main building and head to the elevator. Choose the Executive Floor and meet with the person behind the reception desk. This appears briefly as a new sub-objective: Speak with Keavy. Simply tell them, ‘I kind of do. You have a problem with a ship in orbit, and I’m here to help.‘ That response generates additional possible responses. Ask for details if you like, and then answer, ‘I’m ready to go into the board room.‘
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In the board room, meet the three executives. Their names are Balam, Oliver, and Sima. If you approach, you can listen to their takes on current issues. Talk to Balam. The line that worked for me was, ‘I understand you’re the man I need to talk to about the strange ship in orbit.‘
When you’re done getting details, say, ‘Let’s just get to the matter at hand.‘ Balam wants to know how you view the situation. I believe the answer here may actually matter and influence any negotiations, but I’m not entirely sure. I do know I reached a satisfactory end result by replying, ‘Old Earth colonists, desperate to settle after 200 years. I’m sure you can exploit that.‘
More discussion follows among the board members. They propose multiple solutions. When you get to respond, say, ‘Wait, why do I have to buy the Grav Drive?‘ You can explore other dialog options if you wish. Then you should say, ‘I think I’ve made up my mind.‘
You have several options now, relevant to the various options the board considered. I chose, ‘I’ll buy the Grav Drive and convince them to settle elsewhere.‘ Making that selection led to the next mission objective. Also, in my case: ‘Andreja liked that.‘ I was almost certain she would.
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Go to Hopetech
To proceed with the mission, you must acquire a Grav Drive at HopeTech. Your point of contact is a man named Bennu St. James. Fortunately, you can likely warp directly to that planet, or simply activate a few points on your Starmap along the way. I went to HopeTech a few times after I figured out how to join the Freestar Collective Rangers.
When you arrive at HopeTech, enter the main building and head upstairs. The blue beacon directs you capably. You’ll find Bennu waiting in his office, and it’s time for another conversation.
Your opening line should be, ‘I hear you’re an expert with Grav Drives and other ship parts. I need to ask for a favor.‘ Then say, ‘Oliver Campbell sent me. I’m here about a Grav Drive for an old colony ship.‘ He proposes that you buy the drive for 40000 credits. That’s a lot. Use the Persuade option to talk him down a bit. I was successful after going with the following choices:
- You’ve had that old part for how long? And no one has yet offered to buy it.
- I know you’d like to help me if you could.
- I’m glad you’re starting to come around to my point of view.
Your character skills could impact your own success. At the end of a successful negotiation, you should arrange for the part to be delivered to the Earth Colony Ship Constant. Then you need to return to the vessel yourself.
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Speak with Amin
Amin is the science officer aboard the Earth Colony Ship Constant. Fast travel to the ship and dock. Then follow the mission beacon and signage to find Amin Kazemi upstairs in the Engineering area.
Let Amin nerd out for a bit. If you have learned the Astrophysics skill, as I had, answer with that dialog option. It seems to accomplish nothing. Eventually, tell Amin there’s something else you need to talk about. You can answer more questions, and finally say, ‘That’s all the question and answer time I have for now.‘ Next, let him know you’re supposed to help him prep the ship for the Grav Drive.
At this point, say you’re ready and Amin should outline very specific steps you need to follow:
- Reroute the power from the port turbopump to the auxiliary cryogenic radiator.
- Turn the plasma run-off inhibitor function to 5 percent.
- Decouple the magnetic flange pipe enclosures from the auxiliary module assembly.
This all sounds like a bit much. It’s the trickiest part of the mission, even.
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Prepare the ship for the Grav Drive
Contrary to what the instructions suggest, you can perform the three tasks Amin outlined in any order. Additionally, the game accepts the individual tasks as you get them right, but it rejects the tasks you don’t finish correctly. Try as often as proves necessary. You simply need to visit the three blue mission nodes in the small chamber and perform the exact actions required.
The only difficult step to follow is the one you complete while accessing the Engineering Control Computer Alpha. The first screen presents you with four visible options. None of the four options that appear on the screen at first are correct. You must scroll down to reveal additional options. Choose Turbopump – Port and then select Cryogenic Radiator – Auxiliary on the next screen. It took me several attempts to figure this out.
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Speak with Captain Brackenridge
Once you complete the three steps, you receive your next mission objective. Once again, speak with Captain Brackenridge. This requires you to wander around the ship some more. Ultimately, you can find her in the Captains Quarters area, behind a closed door.
Talk to Captain Brackenridge and fill her in on your progress by telling her that, ‘The Grav Drive is installed. You should be all set now.‘ You can proceed however you like from there. I chose, ‘Where will you go now?‘ and then, ‘No problem at all. Glad it worked out!‘
With the mission now complete, you receive your reward. That worked out to 300 XP, the Caliper ACP (7) ammo, the Modified XM-2311, and some antique sports memorabilia and a piggy bank from Earth. It’s not much, but at least it’s something.
Starfield is available to purchase on Steam and the Microsoft Store.
