10 Side Missions With Compelling Storylines

Bethesda’s space RPG Starfield has been out for over a month now, and while some players have already put the game aside, many are still heading out into the cosmos to explore new planets and uncover mysteries. During their time exploring, players are likely to find that Starfield has a lot more stories to tell than just its main narrative.

Starfield certainly doesn’t hold back when it comes to storytelling. Its main narrative is comprised of a compelling story and plenty of opportunities for player choice to affect the outcome. It doesn’t stop there, however, as many of the sci-fi RPG’s side missions tell some of the game’s best stories using a cast of memorable characters all in unique situations.

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10 “Leader of the Pack”

Starfield‘s “Leader of the Pack” mission is one that players have the opportunity to accept upon visiting the game’s Fallout-esque city of Akila City. It’s technically the third mission in a series that begins with the “Defensive Measures” mission, but it tells a worthwhile story that can end rather dismally, should players not be strong enough to save Davis when the moment presents itself.

“Leader of the Pack” follows a rivalry between Davis and a younger individual by the name of Keoni. Davis wants certain things to stay the same, but Keoni has some ideas for technological advances that she believes can help. By the end of the series, if Davis survives, the two will have reached an agreement and actually become friends.

“First Contact” is one of Starfield‘s many missions that provide multiple paths for players to take. After encountering a ship orbiting Porimma II, the planet home of the Paradiso resort, players discover a group of space explorers who apparently traveled from Earth in search of a habitable planet, as it was predicted Earth would eventually die.

As it turns out, they were right about Earth’s future. Now, they’ve found Porimma II, which they consider to be the planet most like the Earth they once knew. Unfortunately, it is already inhabited by the people of Paradiso. Players are then tasked with organizing a deal between Paradiso and the explorers so that either one group can dominate the planet or they can both work together in peace.

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8 The “Red Tape” Missions

Starfield‘s “Red Tape” missions make up one of the game’s lengthier storylines, but they tell a worthwhile story that’s easy to miss if players don’t speak to the right person. Almost every mission in this storyline provides players with an opportunity to make choices that inevitably affect the outcome of the narrative.

The “Red Tape” storyline begins with a simple request for help in retrieving some mining equipment for the miners in Cydonia. However, as the story progresses, players receive an opportunity to either help or expose a corrupt politician, as well as confront a thieving criminal and attempt to persuade him to turn himself in.

7 “Failure to Communicate”

“Failure to Communicate” is a rather lengthy side mission in Starfield, but it boasts one of the game’s most memorable stories. After receiving a distress call above the moon Indum I-A, players meet an NPC by the name of Alban, who needs help defeating Spacers and repairing satellites so that can communicate with other “families” in the system that LIST once helped set up stakes in the system.

From there, “Failure to Communicate” becomes a story about reuniting people for a common purpose. It ends with a raid on a space station that is not only exciting but also rewarding. By its end, Alban gives the player a heartwarming “thank you” and invites them to come back if they’re ever in the system.

6 “Mantis”

“Mantis” is known as one of Starfield‘s most lucrative missions, because it rewards players with a useful ship and set of armor very early on in the game, but it also has one of the game’s best stories when it comes to side missions. Upon acquiring a data slate called “Secret Outpost!,” players are encouraged to seek out a hidden Spacer base on the moon Denebola I-b.

On Denebola I-b, players will learn that the Mantis mantle has been passed down from one vigilante to another for over a century until it is handed down to a woman named Doriane Voclaine. After some time, she had a son, to whom she eventually left the mantle of the Mantis. Unfortunately, as he navigated the Lair of the Mantis to retrieve his inheritance, he was killed by the lair’s traps.

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5 “Juno’s Gambit”

“Juno’s Gambit” is one of Starfield‘s most interesting quests, as it confronts players with a major ethical dilemma. After boarding a mysterious ship, players encounter two Ryujin Industries employees who have been tasked with disposing of a “rogue AI” named Juno. However, Juno doesn’t see itself as rogue and attempts to convince the player to let it live.

Interestingly enough, “Juno’s Gambit” seems to be a reference to a real NASA space probe that is currently orbiting Jupiter, collecting data on the gas giant’s environment, its moons, and its rings. Starfield’s Juno may be the same Juno NASA launched to study Jupiter in the real world, only much later in the future.

4 Ebbside Strikers Storyline

During their time exploring the rain-soaked streets of Neon, players will eventually be approached by an NPC who mentions a group of gangsters called the “Ebbside Strikers,” which starts the Ebbside Strikers storyline. Upon speaking with their leader, Briggs, players are then thrown into the middle of a war between the Strikers and a rival gang, the Disciples.

The Ebbside Strikers represent one of Starfield‘s secondary factions, in that they aren’t considered a faction, but their story plays out like one. Players are given the choice to help the Ebbside Strikers or join the Disciples in the end, but if they stick with the Strikers and help them successfully complete their mission, the Strikers eventually join local law enforcement.

3 Freestar Rangers Storyline

The Freestar Rangers are Starfield‘s law enforcement faction, and their storyline is one of the game’s best. Upon their initial arrival to Akila City, players will be tasked with assisting the town’s Marshal with a hostage situation at the local GalBank. From there, they are given the opportunity to join the Freestar Rangers and protect the universe.

Like many of Starfield‘s best stories, the Freestar Rangers storyline is one fueled by corruption and deception. By the end of it, a major plot twist reveals a once-respectable individual to be corrupted by the love of money and power—a person that players spend the majority of their time assisting throughout the faction’s storyline.

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2 Ryujin Industries Storyline

It could be argued that Starfield‘s Ryujin Industries storyline ties with the UC Vanguard storyline for the best narrative in the game, as it provides players with more lasting choices to make than almost any other series of missions. Also, once again, this story will uncover a corrupt individual who seeks to overthrow their boss for an opportunity to control one of Neon’s most powerful organizations.

The Ryujin Industries missions could be likened to Skyrim‘s Thieves’ Guild missions, simply because they require players to use stealth and deception in order to complete them without a hitch. However, if players achieve the “good” ending, they’ll have made a few friends along the way and their very own office in the Ryujin Industries tower.

1 UC Vanguard Storyline

The UC Vanguard storyline in Starfield is arguably the most thrilling narrative in the game, apart from the main story. It’s a rather lengthy faction story, but it boasts some of the game’s most memorable characters and most challenging missions, along with a bit of horror to go with it.

Players have the opportunity to start the UC Vanguard storyline shortly after the game’s introduction. From there, they will uncover the story about the game’s mysterious monsters known as Terrormorphs, and they’ll be tasked with eliminating the Terrormorph threat and saving the universe from a terrible fate.