Starfield side-quest rescue ends in tragedy for one trigger-happy player

Starfield
(Image credit: Bethesda)

A Starfield player's trigger-happy ways turned what should have been a heroic side-mission rescue into a full-on tragedy.

As you travel across the many planets and systems Starfield offers, you'll find an endless supply of activities to do outside of the main quest, including taking down troublesome threats and aiding NPCs. Usually, helping out leaves you feeling pretty good about yourself, but that was definitely not the case for Starfield fan sprinklep0p.

Over on the Starfield subreddit, the player recounted their tragic tale, explaining that they'd stumbled upon a radio tower that was under attack. After rescuing an NPC, they were then tasked with helping him get to his ship. According to sprinklep0p, the transport was not "close by" like the NPC suggested, but instead involved plodding along in the snow for 10 minutes straight.

As the video below shows, after reaching the spacecraft, sprinklep0p attempts to converse with the NPC, but the pair are interrupted by a Hunting Shieldshell. The player then whips out their gun and starts to fire at the enemy. But just as the bullets start flying, the NPC walks right into their crosshairs. Before they can react, the poor fellow is killed by a bullet straight to the head.

Found a radio tower that was attacked. A survive asked me to help him get to his ship that was “close by”. 10IRL min of walking later this happens… from r/Starfield

Technically, sprinklep0p did manage to bring the NPC to his ship; he just didn't manage to board it. Though, that may be of little consolation to the player now. Still, at least their tale can serve as a warning to the rest of us to be extremely careful firing a gun in Starfield when there are NPCs around.

In decidedly better news, it turns out you don't have to go through the menu in Starfield every time you want to remove your spacesuit, as there's an option you can toggle that will do it automatically.

For more space-based adventure and sprawling RPGs, check out our games like Starfield.

Anne-Marie Ostler
Freelance Writer

Originally from Ireland, I moved to the UK in 2014 to pursue a Games Journalism and PR degree at Staffordshire University. Following that, I've freelanced for GamesMaster, Games TM, Official PlayStation Magazine and, more recently, Play and 12DOVE. My love of gaming sprang from successfully defeating that first Goomba in Super Mario Bros on the NES. These days, PlayStation is my jam. When not gaming or writing, I can usually be found scouring the internet for anything Tomb Raider related to add to my out of control memorabilia collection.