Starfield The Empty Nest Walkthrough: Full guide, objectives, rewards, and more

The Empty Nest is one of Starfield's main story missions. In the end, you can recruit Sam Coe to join your crew. As a part of this mission, you’ll be locating one of the artifacts the Constellation seeks, but it will take some doing. Thankfully, we’re here to go over all the important parts of this particular in-game quest for the Constellation. As one of the major factions, you’ll be working with them over the course of the whole game.

From start to end, here’s everything you need to know about The Empty Nest mission in Starfield. It shouldn’t take more than a half hour or so to complete, as it’s not a very lengthy story mission.

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Completing The Empty Nest Mission in Starfield

The Empty Nest objectives

• Talk to Sam Coe
• Travel to Akila City and talk to Sam
• Complete Job Gone Wrong
• Go to Galbank Vault
• Talk to Jacob & Get the Maps
• Travel to the Empty Nest
• Get the Artifact
• Deal with Shaw
• Return to the Lodge

Mission rewards

• 350 XP
• 7,200 Credits
• .27 Caliber ammo x30
• Modified Calibrated Rattler x1

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1) Talk to Sam Coe

Sam Coe gets this all kicked off in The Empty Nest (Image via Bethesda)

First, to get things kicked off, you need to return to The Lounge and speak to Sam Coe. You can’t miss him in Starfield as he looks like a typical space cowboy, down to the hat and jacket.

He has a lead on one of the artifacts, but you’re going to have to put in some elbow grease to help him. Get through the conversation, and get ready to move out.

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2) Travel to Akila City & talk to Sam

Get to Akila City by space travel, and get ready to put in some work (Image via Bethesda)

The next step for The Empty Nest in Starfield is different, depending on what exploration you’ve done. If you’ve already been to Akila City in the Cheyenne System, this will be a breeze. However, if not, you’ll have to do a little bit of work. Look at the system in your charts - if it’s red, you haven’t been here yet.

Hopefully, you won’t have to deal with any space pirates along the way. Follow the red line until it turns white, and jump to Olympus System - the closest one to your destination.

From here, it’s a simple Grav Jump to Akila City. Have another chat with Sam, and he’ll become your companion - at least for a little while. The next step is to complete “Job Gone Wrong”.

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3) Complete Job Gone Wrong

Whether violence or persuasion, stop the Shaw Gang (Image via Bethesda)

When you get to Akila City, you’ll be informed that there are bank robbers running amok. As any good hero would, offer to help and then head to the destination on your map. You can either fight them or do what we tend to do best - Persuade them. As Diplomat is my favorite class, this isn’t a hard mission to solve in Starfield.

The Persuade checks aren’t easy, though. If you succeed, you draw out the robbers, and there’s no need for bloodshed. Thankfully, you get a few chances to succeed. If you’ve stored up a Persuade autocomplete, now’s a great time to take advantage of it.

Barring that, make your way to the backside of the bank, head in, and slaughter the bank robbers. Don’t let a single member of the Shaw Gang escape.

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4) Head into the Galbank in Akila City

This will lead you to Sam's family member, Jacob (Image via Bethesda)`

After you complete the “Job Gone Wrong” quest, it’s time to head into the bank. You’ll want to go to Sam’s Vault and search through the lockers that you are told to. The Note for Sam item is important, so take it to Sam Coe himself.

This is when you learn about Jacob Coe. After your conversation with Sam, you’ll need to head to Jacob Coe and have a chat with him.

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5) Talk to Jacob Coe & Get the Maps

You can persuade or steal from Jacob Coe (Image via Bethesda)

You’ll have a destination on your map to follow in this Starfield Mission, so head there and watch as things quickly spiral out of control. You have the option to defend Sam from Jacob’s barbs, or you can just let it play out - that’s entirely up to you.

Thankfully, there are options. You can Persuade Jacob, you can use Sam as a distraction and go steal them, or you can ask Cora for help. Frankly, the easiest one, provided you have Persuasion, is to get Jacob’s help directly.

It’s not a hard check (4 pips), and he’ll let you into the office if you succeed. Otherwise, prepare to do some lockpicking before you leave Jacob Coe’s house. Once you have the maps, it’s time to go to The Empty Nest.

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6) Travel to The Empty Nest

Leave nobody standing before going into the cave in this Starfield mission (Image via Bethesda)

You have another waypoint to head to, this time to a cave known as The Empty Nest. Feel free to get into some mischief on the way if you’re in need of some extra XP or perhaps item drops. Either way, head to the Empty Nest.

Before you can explore the mine, you’ll have to go through a village which is run by the Shaw Gang. If that's not enough, you also have Ashta to deal with.

Take care around the Shaw Gang’s turrets. They have powerful turrets to blast you and Sam, so be careful. The mine itself isn’t challenging - head to the end and scoop up the Artifact. However, when you leave, you’ll have more trouble in the form of The Shaw Gang.

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7) Deal with Shaw

You don't have to talk your way through all your problems in Starfield (Image via Bethesda)

You can Persuade your way through this, but it might be fun to get into a hectic gunfight. You can also pay her off if you have money (4,000 credits). It’ll be better to have her help to deal with the Ashta. Just remember, if you hit any Shaw Gang with even the slightest amount of damage, they will turn on you.

If you didn’t talk your way through this Starfield mission objective, prepare for a violent gunfight. That's way more exciting, anyway.

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8) Get the Artifact and return to The Lodge

You can have Sam go along with you if you'd like (Image via Bethesda)

This is the easiest part of The Empty Nest in Starfield. Return to The Lodge at New Atlantis and deposit the Artifact. You’ll have some dialogue to get through, and Sam Coe will offer to join you. He’s an excellent crew member for your ship.

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From here, the next quest is Into the Unknown.

Starfield is now available on PCs and Xbox Consoles, as well as Samsung TVs. You can learn more about the game in our review of the game. Check out our Starfield lockpicking guide & get to know about how to Digipick locks in Starfield.