The Key Ingredient in Starfield is a high-level faction mission for Ryujin Industries. It is a pretty straightforward mission where you take down a group of mercenaries and work towards fixing the old gripe with Infinity LTD.
After completing the Guilty Parties mission, you will now be helping Masako in building the Neuroamp. The production is one step away from completion but a core component, Rothicite, is missing.
After retrieving the lost shipment for Masako, you will be rewarded 250 XP, 4800 Credits, three Heal Paste and Med Packs, and the consumable CQB-X.
How to complete The Key Ingredient in Starfield
To complete The Key Ingredient mission, you need to first meet up with Masako. She will be in the R&D Department of Ryujin Tower in Neon City on Volii Alpha, Volii.
Masako tasks you with investigating and recovering the Rothicite shipment that Ryujin lost. To scope out the situation, you need to head out to Carinae III-A. It is a moon of Carinae in the Eta Cassiopeia Star System where the mining station, CM Station RC-1, is located.
Before heading out, Masako will give you the keycard for accessing the mines and reaching the control tower.
Investigate the CM Station RC-1 Mine
Fortunately, the mining station is next to the landing site. Take the stairs on the right to reach the entrance of the Consolidated Mining building. The area is guarded by Ecliptic mercenaries who you need to clear out first.
Pick up the keycard in the storage box on the table before the stairs. Then use the lower-level access elevator in the next room to reach the mining site. Just mind the turrets littered around the area.
Head deeper into the Research station and clear out the Ecliptic Agents in your way. Take the elevator at the end of your path and head up to the CM Station RC-1 Computer. Check the shipments folder and click on Ryujin Industries. You will come to know that an anonymous person has canceled the Starfield Rothicite shipment.
Read the Contract
You will be ambushed shortly after entering the room. Kill the Ecliptic Specialists and loot the Contract Orders from one of the bodies.
Read the contract to find the man who hired these mercenaries, Lucas Drexier. You will find it under the Notes Tab in your Inventory.
Use the Secure Access door on your right to exit out of the Research Center. Your next destination in The Key Ingredient is The Clinic in Narion System.
After docking, head right from the reception to the Secure Wing. The guard outside will stop you from entering so you will need to find a way inside.
Deal with the Freestar Guard in The Clinic
There are three ways you can get past the guard outside the secured wing of The Clinic during The Key Ingredient in Starfield.
The first way is to pay the guard 15350 Credits.
If you don’t want to pay, you can choose to persuade the guard instead. To pass the persuasion check select the +3 Orange option and then follow it with 2 green options. He will issue you an Access Card Key to unlock the door.
You can also skip both of these steps and distract the guard to sneak inside. Talk to the guy wearing the pink shirt, Ari Miller, and then return to the guard. Tell him that Dr. Osian is calling him. You will need to lockpick the door to enter the restricted area.
Secure the Rothicite shipment
In the restricted area, you will find two medics conversing inside a nearby office. The Rothicite shipment you need to retrieve during The Key Ingredient is on the table inside that office.
When you step inside the room, Sean McAfee will stop and inquire how you got into the area. Lie to him about being an Infinity LTD representative who is here for an update. Then speak with Dr. Lane and lie to him about your designation as well.
If you choose the Security dialogue route, Dr. Lane will leave to check on his patient. While choosing to be from Infinity LTD will make him reveal details about the gruesome experiments he and Infinity were carrying out.
Either way, get evidence against Infinity LTD and grab the Rothicite shipment on your way out without any consequences.
Alternatively, you can wait for the medics to leave the room before heading inside. It can take a while but it’s great if you want to avoid confrontation. You can then just hack Dr. Lane’s computer and steal the Rothicite.
Report back to Masako
With the Rothicite in your possession, take your ship and report back to Veena Klara and Masako at the R&D Department in Ryujin Tower.
Hand over the Rothicite to Veena for making the alloy and the evidence incriminating Lucas to Masako. This report will conclude your mission The Key Ingredient for Ryujin Industries faction in Starfield.
The Key Ingredient mission bugs and fixes
There is a bug in Starfield where the game does not progress after completing The Key Ingredient faction mission. This can occur when the mission is not registered as completed by the game, even after finishing it.
It is mostly common for players who choose to kill Ularu, spare Imogene, and side with Masako.
You can fix this by using console commands but it requires you to replay the Sabotage mission (an old Ryujin faction mission). This works on the PC, both on the Steam version and GamePass. Simply use the ~ key to bring up the console and enter the following commands:
- SetStage 0018b718 100
Complete the Sabotage quest and leave the Volii star system. This is because you need to be away from the Ryujin Tower for the next command to work.
- SetStage 0018b717 200
This will force the game to register the mission as complete and you can progress the storyline as normal.
