Starfield The Old Neighborhood – Walkthrough and Choices

The Old Neighborhood Mission Overview

Mission type: Main story mission, the second mission in the Constellation questline
Prerequisite: One Small Step
Starts: Automatically at The Lodge, by talking to Sarah Morgan
Completed at: The Lodge, New Atlantis
Rewards: 8,000 credits, 400 XP, and Sarah Morgan as your first permanent companion
Unlocks: Into the Unknown, Back to Vectera and The Empty Nest

There is combat at the Nova Galactic Staryard and on Moara’s ship, but no puzzle. Two moments are worth reading before you get there: the bartender in Cydonia can cost you 2,500 credits if you handle him badly, and the fight at Venus is skippable entirely.

1 – Talk to Sarah

Mission Text:
“Sarah wanted to talk to me about my first mission.”

Talk to Sarah in the Lodge. She locks in as your companion for the whole mission, so anything you say to her from here counts toward her affinity.

2 – Talk to Sarah’s Contact

Mission Text:
“Sarah is coming with me on my first mission. I need to speak to her contact in the UC Vanguard about a possible lead on an Artifact.”

Follow the mission marker to the central UC MAST building, where you can talk to Commander John Tuala. He also offers to sign you up for the UC Vanguard, which starts the faction mission Supra et Ultra. You can take it or leave it, but you have to pick the Constellation dialogue option to move this mission along.

3 – Ask About Moara in Cydonia

Mission Text:
“We need to find Vanguard Moara, who might be in possession of an Artifact. He was last seen patrolling the Sol System.”

Travel to Cydonia on Mars in the Sol System. Your ship gets scanned for contraband on the way in.

Ask about Moara in the Broken Spear bar and talk to barkeeper Jack. He claims Moara ran up a tab and wants 2,500 credits before he says anything. You have three ways out of it: pay the 2,500, let Sarah answer and she calls his bluff down to 1,000 credits, or persuade him and pay nothing. The persuasion check gives you three turns to reach 4 points, and the line about every minute putting Moara in more danger is worth 4 on its own. Either way Jack tells you Moara was heading for Venus.

4 – Go to Venus

Mission Text:
“We need to find Vanguard Moara, who might be in possession of an Artifact. He was last seen patrolling the Sol System.”

Travel to Venus in the Sol System. Va’ruun Zealot ships are in orbit, and you get an optional objective to use minimal power to avoid detection. To do it, drop every system to zero except one or two bars in your engines and give the Zealots a wide berth. If you would rather fight, destroy them first and the satellite is still there afterward. Target the satellite with E, get within 500m and press R to activate it. The beacon tells you Moara headed for the Nova Galactic Staryard.

5 – Go to Nova Galactic Staryard

Mission Text:
“We need to find Vanguard Moara, who might be in possession of an Artifact. He was last seen patrolling the Sol System.”

The Nova Galactic Staryard is the abandoned space station in orbit of Luna, not to be confused with the Deimos Staryard around Mars. Grav jump to Earth, select the Staryard, dock and board. It is a live combat zone with Ecliptic mercenaries and Spacers already fighting each other, so let them thin themselves out before you push in.

6 – Find Any Clues About Moara

Mission Text:
“We need to find Vanguard Moara, who might be in possession of an Artifact. He was last seen patrolling the Sol System.”

Follow the mission marker through the Staryard, clearing Ecliptic and Spacers as you go. Search every body you drop. One of them carries a note called “Secret Outpost!”, and picking it up starts the Mantis mission, which leads to the Razorleaf ship and the Mantis spacesuit. It is easy to walk past and there is no marker for it.

Deep in the lower levels of the Staryard there is a grounded ship that will not fly. Drop down below the catwalk in the middle of the station to reach it. Vanguard Moara’s Slate is on the table inside. Pick it up and listen to it, and you learn Moara is in trouble at Neptune.

7 – Go to Neptune

Mission Text:
“We need to find Vanguard Moara, who might be in the possession of an Artifact. He was last seen patrolling the Sol System.”

Travel to Neptune in the Sol System. Moara’s ship is drifting there and turns hostile as you approach. You cannot destroy it, so damage it enough to disable it, then dock and board.

Ecliptic hijackers have taken the ship. When you board, turn around and take the room behind the ladder, since the room in front of it is a dead end. Clear the hostiles and loot Moara’s Ship Key from one of the bodies, then use it on the locked cockpit door and talk to Moara.

Keep the conversation friendly. Being rude or dismissive makes him harder to deal with, while acknowledging how long he has been out on patrol gets him to hand the Artifact over willingly. Looting the rest of his ship afterward will not turn him hostile.

Take the Artifact from beside the cockpit window.

8 – Return to the Lodge

Mission Text:
“We have the Artifact! Now we just need to add it to the collection back at the Lodge.”

Return to the Lodge and place the Artifact with the others in the middle of the library. Sarah and Noel talk it through with you, and this is your best early chance to build Sarah’s affinity: telling her it is an honour to be part of this, and agreeing to get back out there, both land well with her. You get 8,000 credits, 400 XP and Sarah as a companion you can take anywhere. Three new missions start at the same time: Into the Unknown, Back to Vectera and The Empty Nest.

Known Issues With The Old Neighborhood

A few bugs have been reported on this mission.

The most common one leaves you unable to talk to Moara after boarding his ship, and Bethesda’s own advice is to reload a save from before you docked.

If Sarah’s dialogue is stuck because you signed up with the Vanguard before speaking to her, keep going with the mission anyway, since placing the Artifact at the Lodge overwrites the stuck conversation.

If the Lodge doors will not open, that is usually the door being locked during another mission rather than a bug, so try one of the other entrances.