To experience all endings in Starfield, you must complete the main story multiple times, making different key choices during the “One Giant Leap” mission, which significantly alter the game’s conclusion.
Exploring the vast cosmos of Starfield is an incredible journey, but did you know its narrative branches into several unique conclusions? Many players wonder about Starfield how to unlock all endings, and it involves more than just playing through the main quest once. You must replay the final mission, “One Giant Leap,” choosing various paths.
These key decisions during the final stage drastically change the narrative’s conclusion, opening up different outcomes. It makes replayability a core part of experiencing all the narrative possibilities within Starfield.
Starfield How to Unlock All Endings
Starfield, the massive space exploration game by Bethesda, lets you chart your own course through the stars. And just like your choices shape your journey, they also determine which of the multiple endings you’ll see. Instead of one simple path, Starfield has different ways your story can wrap up. It’s not just about winning or losing; it’s about what you believe and how you interact with the world and the people in it. So, how do you see all these different conclusions? Let’s break it down, step by step, making it easy to understand.
Understanding the Core Choices
Before we jump into specific endings, it’s important to understand the core choices that influence them. Think of Starfield as a giant branching tree. Each main quest, and sometimes even side quests, will present you with decisions. These choices affect your relationships, your view of the universe, and, of course, the ending you get. The main story revolves around the Artifacts, the Starborn, and the Unity. It is with these that your core choices will lie. There are four main choices to make that will determine the path to your final destination.
The Main Factions: Your Allies or Obstacles
In Starfield, you’ll meet different groups, or factions, each with their own goals and beliefs. The main factions you’ll encounter are:
Constellation: This is the group you join at the very beginning of the game. They are interested in the mystery of the artifacts and the Unity. This is the default main quest path.
The United Colonies: This is a powerful political and military faction. Joining them can lead you down a more ordered path of the game.
Freestar Collective: This faction is more akin to a group of frontier settlers. They have a more rugged and individualistic view of the world.
Crimson Fleet: This is a group of pirates and outlaws. You have the option to side with the Fleet or with law and order.
House Va’ruun: This is the most mysterious group in the game, worshiping a giant serpent. They are very religious and you’ll mostly encounter them as enemies. You can decide to join them as well, at a later point in the game.
How you interact with these factions, and which ones you choose to support, will impact not just your experience, but also some of the endings that are available to you. Supporting one will often mean disagreeing with another, so choose carefully.
The Artifacts and the Unity
The Artifacts are strange objects that you’ll begin to gather early in the game. They are tied to a mysterious power source, the Unity. The Unity is the core of all endings. What you do with the artifacts and how you feel about the Unity will greatly affect your final destination in the game. These choices are not always very clear at first, but as the game progresses, you’ll realize the importance of each one.
The Starborn
The Starborn are a mysterious group of beings that travel through the Unity, going from one universe to another. They are powerful and often seek out the artifacts as well. Throughout the game, you’ll encounter them, sometimes as allies and sometimes as enemies. How you interact with them and what you learn about them will affect your perspective on the Unity, and it will ultimately impact the ending.
The Different Endings Explained
Now, let’s get into the different endings that are available to you. It’s important to note that these aren’t always drastically different, but they’ll offer you distinct experiences and conclusions to your journey.
The Default Ending: Entering the Unity
This is the ending you’ll likely reach if you simply follow the main quest line with Constellation and the search for the artifacts. You gather all of the artifacts, learn more about the Unity, and are finally presented with the choice to either enter it or not.
What Happens: In this ending, your character takes all they’ve collected and enters the Unity, a mysterious nexus point between universes. When you do this, you become a Starborn and begin a new life in a new universe. The world changes drastically. You are stronger and more experienced.
Key Choices: The main choice is whether or not to enter the Unity. Following the main quests with Constellation is required to reach this point.
How to Reach It:
Follow the main quest line, focusing on the artifact gathering.
Complete quests for Constellation.
Make decisions that align with the goals of Constellation.
When the time comes, decide if you are ready to enter the Unity.
This ending can feel bittersweet. You essentially leave behind everything you have earned and the people you have met to start over in a new universe, but with more power and knowledge.
The Alternate Ending: Refusing the Unity
This is the path you’ll choose when, at the end of the game, you decline to enter the Unity. It’s an ending that prioritizes the relationships and the world you have built instead of venturing into the unknown.
What Happens: Instead of becoming Starborn, your character chooses to remain in their current universe. They continue their life, focusing on building relationships, helping others, and making their universe a better place. It is a more traditional way to wrap up your story.
Key Choices: Declining to enter the Unity is the single most important choice here.
How to Reach It:
Follow the main quest line.
Get to the point where you can enter the Unity.
Choose not to enter it, staying in the universe you know.
This is a good option for players who like stability and want to see their character continue living in the same world and make a better place out of it, not having to sacrifice all relationships and progress made so far.
The Secret Ending: Skipping the Main Quest Line
There is a third ending that doesn’t involve either entering or refusing the Unity, that can be accessed at the beginning of the game if you know how to do it. It is a very secret ending that very few people will experience. This ending is very similar to the original entering Unity ending, but there are significant differences that can make it appealing for people that like to have a more secret approach to the game.
What Happens: Instead of the long process of collecting all the artifacts and the game trying to make you travel through the Unity, you can actually travel through it at the very beginning of the game. This secret approach lets you skip the story all together and move directly to NG+ at the very beginning. This ending gives you the unique opportunity to collect everything at the very beginning of your gameplay and start with all of the main story equipment and powers.
Key Choices: The main choice you need to make in this scenario is not to begin the main quest line at all.
How to Reach It:
You must find an artifact without following the mission at the beginning. It can be done by visiting the planet where the artifact is through a random landing, and it must be done before starting the “Into the Unknown” mission.
You must find the coordinates to the place where the artifacts are stored without talking to Constellation first, you can do this by finding the coordinates written in the data slate during the mission “Power From Beyond”. This mission is not from the main story but from the exploration quests.
Once you have the coordinates you need to travel to the place using the data slate and when you arrive, the game will trigger the original ending, skipping the main story line all together.
At that point you can decide to travel through the unity or not.
This is an ending that will give you a distinct experience when compared to other endings and is particularly good for those players who wish to make a second run at the game with all of the equipment available since the start.
Faction Choices and Their Effects on Endings
Your faction choices in Starfield also play a significant role in how your game concludes, though not necessarily in a separate ending, they will be a big part of your personal story. Let’s see how they will affect your gameplay.
Supporting Constellation
As you’ve seen, supporting Constellation is the key to the main story and the traditional entering the Unity ending. Your choices within Constellation will mostly focus on the artifacts, but they will also affect the other main factions as well.
Impact on Story: Following this path will give you a good understanding of the overall story and the Unity.
Key Choices: Decisions within Constellation, particularly with how to deal with the Starborn, will be important.
Joining the United Colonies
Joining the UC gives you a more law-and-order focused story.
Impact on Story: You’ll see the game through a more structured lens.
Key Choices: These will revolve around your commitment to the UC’s ideals. Choosing to side with them against the Freestar Collective might cause a few altercations down the line.
Joining the Freestar Collective
This choice puts you into a more free and individualistic path, with a rugged way of thinking.
Impact on Story: You will see the game from a very different angle from the UC path.
Key Choices: You’ll be making decisions about freedom, independence, and the value of every man or woman.
Siding with the Crimson Fleet
You can choose to be a pirate and experience a much more morally grey approach to the game.
Impact on Story: You’ll engage with a more rebellious and criminal side of the game.
Key Choices: These will relate to your own moral code as a pirate. Choosing to side with the Crimson Fleet against law enforcement will have ramifications later in the game.
House Va’ruun and Their Effect
House Va’ruun is the most mysterious group of the game. Though it is difficult to join them during normal gameplay, there are ways of joining them if you go out of your way.
Impact on Story: You’ll enter a completely different angle on the game with their very extreme religious beliefs and their worship of a giant serpent.
Key Choices: Decisions you make while playing with Va’ruun will be very significant and will impact how people perceive you in the world.
These faction choices influence your overall experience, and how you see the world, but you can still get the same endings, no matter which one you decide to support. The main difference will be the experience that you’ll have along the way.
Tips for Exploring All Endings
Now that you know the different endings and factors that affect them, here are some tips on how to see everything in Starfield:
Save Often: Make use of the manual save option often. This is important, especially before making major decisions that will affect your ending. It allows you to go back and try different choices.
Explore All Questlines: Don’t just focus on the main story. Take your time to do the side quests as well. They provide valuable lore, different perspectives, and offer unique opportunities.
Talk to Everyone: Interact with all non-playable characters (NPCs) as much as possible. They sometimes give you clues or information that can affect your choices and provide you with different points of view that you would have missed otherwise.
Reflect on Your Choices: Before choosing an ending, think about what’s important to you in the game. Do you prioritize personal connections, power, or the pursuit of knowledge? What are your feelings regarding the Unity?
Consider New Game Plus (NG+): Starfield includes an NG+ feature that allows you to keep some of your skills and powers while restarting the game, in a parallel universe, to experience all endings. You can even skip the main story, as mentioned before, or approach the story in a different way.
Making Your Own Decisions
The beauty of Starfield is that there is no one way to play it. The best ending for you is the one that makes you feel satisfied with the choices you’ve made. It’s not about getting the “best” conclusion, but experiencing the journey the way you want. Be open to all options and let your curiosity lead the way. Take your time, explore, and make choices that align with your idea of a perfect Starfield experience. The game is about your own personal journey through the stars, not just the conclusion. Remember that the best way to play Starfield is to do it your way.
Starfield presents a truly unique experience for every player, and the journey is just as important, if not more, than the destination. By exploring all the possibilities, making your own decisions, and learning as much as you can, you’ll find yourself lost in the beauty of this great game.
Starfield – Story & All Endings Explained
Final Thoughts
Understanding the choices within Starfield dictates your ending. Each decision regarding the main quest affects which path becomes available. Therefore, carefully consider your actions.
To experience every conclusion, players must replay the game with different choices. Exploring all quest branches presents all possible scenarios. ‘Starfield how to unlock all endings’ requires multiple playthroughs.
