Starfield Starborn Walkthrough: Full guide, objectives, rewards, and more

Starborn is one of the main story quests in Starfield, and it takes place immediately after All That Money Can Buy. An emotional mission, it leaves the players with one of the artifacts they’ve been desperately seeking. However, it won’t be long before a mysterious ship shows up and demands you hand over the artifact you just put in so much work to get. There are two choices, and it's up to you to decide what to do.

While they don’t affect the game in a titanic way, you do have an important decision to make, nonetheless. Do you opt to surrender the artifact before returning to The Lodge in Starfield or do you prefer to flee with it, or perhaps even fight back, during the Starborn quest? The choice is up to you, but we’ll arm you with all the information you need.

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Starfield’s Starborn objectives and rewards

Objectives:

• Surrender the Artifact OR
• Escape with the Artifact

Rewards:

• 300 EXP
• Calibrated Constellation Space Helmet

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1) Option 1: Surrender the Artifact

They won't have it forever. (Image via Bethesda)

The easiest, safest option is to give the artifact up. This enemy is level 30 and is likely far ahead of you in starship improvements. This space battle in Starfield is likely to go very badly unless you’re overwhelmingly powerful - perhaps in New Game+. Even then, you don’t start with all your resources.

If you’re playing on the easiest difficulty, that might be an option. However, the safer choice is to just jettison the artifact out into space to solve the Starborn mission. The cutscene back at The Lodge will reveal you had the item stolen, and you can move on with the game.

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2) Option 2: Escape with the Artifact/Fight the mysterious ship

Escape may not go as planned - but it is an option. (Image via Bethesda)

You can also try to escape with the artifact. Depending on how much power you have to assign to Grav Jump, you may be able to escape before the mysterious stranger lights your ship up. Remember that it is a powerful foe, so escape, while possible, can be dangerous.

If you do this, Grav Jump to Alpha Centauri, and return to The Lodge. You’ll want to speak to Noel and tell her what occurred. The meeting will then go on as normal at The Lodge, and you can add the artifact to your collection. It is dangerous to do this, but with enough speed, you can avoid having to re-collect the prize.

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Which choice should you make?

No matter what you do, the meeting occurs and the reward is given. The only difference is if you have the artifact. (Image via Bethesda)

What choice you make is entirely dependent on what situation you find yourself in. On an easier difficulty, you should be able to survive making the jump to Alpha Centauri and not giving up the artifact during the Starborn mission.

However, you may not be up for the challenge. You can try to fight or escape, but it’s much faster to just give up the artifact, and recover it later in Starfield. Ultimately, the choice is yours. I’d prefer to save, and try to escape. Failing that, give it up. It’s not like you won’t recover it later.

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Upon completion of Starborn in Starfield, you can then take on Further into the Unknown, as the next major story mission as a part of the Constellation faction. If you want to see our full review of the game, you can read it here.