Starfield is full of narrative choices and moral dilemmas. One such situation arises when you reach the mission Unearthed. During this mission, you must visit the Sol system and solve the mystery of Earth and its moon, Luna. Near the end of the mission, you will come across two Starborns and must choose one or none. It is a tough choice that can lead to various outcomes. But fret not, we are here to help you guide you to choose between either the Emissary or the Hunter in Starfield.
Starfield Emissary or Hunter choice
Once you solve the Unity ancient ruins puzzle, you will gain access to the Unearthed main quest. This allows you to learn the real origin of Starborn. They are basically humans who have managed to reach the Unity. In your quest to become one, you will be encountered by not one but two of them.
The Hunter and the Emissary will confront you and force you to make a choice between them. The Hunter represents chaos as he believes in might is right. If you are powerful enough and hold all the artifacts, you can go to the Unity according to his beliefs. It doesn’t matter if you are good or evil, you just need to be powerful.
Contrary to the Hunter’s beliefs, The Emissary believes in what is right. Only the wisest and purest have the right to set foot inside unity according to his ideals. At this point, you will get three options.
- Side with the Emissary
- Side with the Hunter
- Don’t side with anyone
Choosing between either Hunter or the Emissary in Starfield doesn’t change the outcome of the quest. It only changes how the final sequence of the game “Revelation” will play out.
If you decide to go with the Hunter, he will help you through the Buried Temple and help you kill Emissary in the final boss battle. If you’re unsure of what side to choose, both parties present their arguments during the mission ‘In Their Footsteps’ be sure to listen to each side so you can make an informed decision.
Feeling confident in yourself? You can always go with the third option. However, this will make your life a lot more difficult. Not only do you have to complete the Buried Temple alone, but you will also face both Starborns as your final opponents. Defeating one is difficult but facing both is a nightmare.
It all depends on your narrative choice to select what you want to do. There is no wrong choice between the Hunter and the Emissary in Starfield. The only difference is the rewards.
What happens if you side with the Emissary?
If you side with the Emissary, you’ll engage in battle with the Hunter to protect the Unity and prevent anyone who is not worthy from accessing it. You won’t have to kill the Hunter there and then but later on in a mission called ‘Revelation’. The Emissary becomes your ally and will aid you along key story beats.
Siding with the Emissary also slightly changes the ending and they continue to seek out Starborn who can access the Unity which would not be the case had you made a different choice. When you confront the Hunter at the end of ‘Revelation’, choose to kill him to get his weapon.
Emissary Rewards: Siding with the Emissary nets you the Hunter’s weapon, an extremely powerful particle weapon called the Unmitigated Violence that not only does double damage to enemies at full health but also afflicts them with both radiation and frenzy damage. If you side with the Emissary and kill the Hunter you can acquire the Starborn Spacesuit Venator armor.
What happens if you side with the Hunter?
When you side with the Hunter, you will immediately get another mission; Infinity’s End where you have to kill an NPC named Aquilis. When you reach the mission ‘Revelation’, you’ll confront the Emissary and you’ll have a choice to either kill him or persuade him to stand down. If you decide to Kill him, you can get his weapon.
Hunter Rewards: Siding with the Hunter and killing the Emissary nets you the latter’s weapon, Eternity’s Gate. This weapon fires two projectiles after every fourth shot to considerably increase your damage output. You can also loot the Emissary’s armor, Starborn Spacesuit Gravitas after completing the mission.
What happens if you side with neither?
You can choose not to side with either of the two. This effectively turns both the Emissary and the Hunter hostile and later on you’ll have to kill both of them solo.
Fighting both can be quite tough but in the end, you are able to acquire both weapons Unmitigated Violence and Eternity’s Gate (which is impossible to do otherwise). If you choose not to fight them, you’ll miss out on both rewards.
Should you pick the Emissary or the Hunter in Starfield?
This decision falls squarely on you and what ending you want to see play out in addition to which weapon seems like the better option for you. If the latter is not a concern for you, try siding with neither but if you want to see a specific ending play out choose either to side with the Hunter or the Emissary. It is important to note that the rewards do not carry over to NG+ in Starfield.
Hunter and Emissary in New Game+
During your NG+ playthrough, you’ll come across the Hunter and the Emissary once again, and like before, your choice will determine the outcome for the end of the game.
Here, you can decide to go a different route and choose the opposite of what you did during your first playthrough. However, you do get a unique dialogue option since you faced them before where you can convince them to hand over the Artifact.
