Throughout your journey in Starfield, you’ll be collecting plenty of mysterious artifacts for Constellation; It’s kinda the whole point of the game. Yet as you progress, you’ll quickly learn that it’s not always as simple as just stumbling upon one in some desecrated ruins or trading a few credits with an oblivious merchant. The main quest “No Sudden Moves” is one such example of a misadventure in Starfield, and while it’s an essential story to complete, there are enough ways to navigate it that some players have expressed confusion regarding the optimal route. Not to worry, we’ve prepared a comprehensive breakdown of everything you need to know about completing the “No Sudden Moves” questline in Starfield.
How to Start “No Sudden Moves” in Starfield
To begin your intergalactic heist, you’ll first need to finish up the quest “Short Sighted” and chat with Vladimir Sall, that daring ex-Crimson Fleet pirate who can be found waiting around for you on The Eye. After a brief catch-up, he’ll inform you that the next artifact Constellation wants is in the possession of one Captain Petrov, a dubious collector of rare antiquities and items who calls the ship known as The Scow home. Weird name for a starship, but go off, King. Now, Petrov isn’t known as someone who parts with his wares very easily, if ever. It becomes clear from the onset that obtaining the next artifact might require some… illegal activities. For the good of science!
Head over to the Procyon-A system and you’ll quickly identify The Scow floating around Procyon 5-B, so approach the ship and hail it with a friendly greeting. DO NOT instantly open fire, The Scow is significantly more powerful than your ship and while you can defeat it in combat it’ll be a lengthy battle and there are much easier ways to get this done. Once you’ve established comms, you can have a quick conversation with the crew that can go multiple ways.
If you’ve created a character with a silver tongue, simply Persuade The Scow that you’re extremely wealthy and would like to peruse Captain Petrov’s stock. If you’re more of the strong, silent type then let one of your Companions do the talking but do be aware that this can backfire. I haven’t tried for every companion, but I know for a fact that Barrett completely butchers your opportunity to peacefully dock with The Scow. I’ve also seen other players say that Sam successfully convinces the radio crew that you mean no harm, so your mileage may vary.
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Once you’ve docked with The Scow, you can walk around and chat with some of the ship’s crew. It’s probable that the first important character you come across is named Tao Xun who shares some insight on Petrov and drops a major clue that the captain keeps the artifact hidden in a highly-protected vault that can only be unlocked with a special key. Keep walking around and you’ll end up in the main hall where you can talk to three more characters, Bull, Erin, and Raptor. While initially not all that friendly to you, they can be bribed for some interesting nuggets of information. They tell you about a collection of caged animals that could be released to cause a distraction, a secret passage to a cuttable wall behind the vault that’s perfect for sneaking in undetected, and their final solution is to simply pay them more so the trio will act as a back up if you want to light the place up. Your choice, really.
How to Complete “No Sudden Moves”
The sneakiest method is to simply break into the vault without even talking to Captain Petrov. If your sneaking skills are high and you don’t mind exploring a bit more, you’ll want to look for one of Starfield‘s recognizable Cuttable Doors. The Scow is large with plenty of twists and turns so take some time to really poke around the area. When you find a conveyor belt on one of the upper floors, then you’re in the right place. Cut through this wall and deal with the especially weak enemies inside before slicing through another door and dropping down into Captain Petrov’s vault with no one the wiser.
Now, releasing the animals is also a fun idea but they don’t necessarily make it easier to steal the actual artifact. Instead, they just help you escape the ship by posing a threat to the security team, soaking up bullets, and dishing out attacks of their own. It’s a fun time but don’t expect them to have a major effect on how you approach this quest.
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Of course, there’s also the option of simply talking to Captain Petrov himself, which I recommend because he’s delightful in the worst possible way. Finding him in his lavishly decked-out office, you can begin negotiations by simply approaching him and asking about the artifact. Of course, an item of its rarity isn’t easily bought you’ll need to work him over a bit with a Persuasion mini-game. Flatter him profusely and he’ll melt like butter, even offering to take you inside his vault to show off the item in question.
Once you follow him inside, you can offer to buy it from him, which he vehemently declines. Since that didn’t work, you can try to appeal to his sense of honor by telling him the power in those artifacts is too great for any one man. He doesn’t like that either. Finally, you can just attack him and take the artifact.
Honestly, whatever option you go with will result in a blood bath. The entire ship will turn hostile. If you manage to knock down Petrov before the rest of his crew, you can order him to call off his guards and make returning to your ship a whole lot easier. Oh, I also want to point out that you can pickpocket the vault key off Petrov, but I highly recommend avoiding this approach. Unless your stealth skills are through the roof, and you’re prepared to ride the quick-load button like the bus to school, it’s highly likely that someone in his crew won’t clock you and instantly become hostile.
Once you’ve made it back to your ship all you need to do to complete “No Sudden Moves” in Starfield is arrive back at The Lodge and hand over the artifact. Just another day in the life of being Space Robin Hood But for Science Not Anti-Capitalism.
If you’re looking for more on the game, check out how to easily get High-Tensile Spidroins in Starfield.
