Starfield High Price to Pay Guide | Go to the Eye or Protect the Artifacts?

Last Updated: September 4, 2023 1:01 PM /

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Disassembled Artifacts On the Table In The Lodge Starfield

Starfield is a game that's full of decisions that can impact your playthrough, such as Last Will and Testament, Entangled, and more. In this Starfield High Price to Pay guide - we'll detail what happens if you choose to Defend the Lodge or Go to the Eye!

Both of these decisions have an impact on the story and who you'll be able to continue adventuring with - so you'll need to choose the right decision for how you want to play Starfield.

We played through both options, and below, we'll detail what happens for each decisions so you can plan your own choice accordingly.

Note on who will be hurt at The Eye: When I played, Sarah (who I had traveled with the most) was the one mentioned by Vladimir, but for our other writer Isaac Todd, it was Sam Coe for him. It would seem that who is at the Eye is impacted by who you travel with the most, making the choice of who to save be between your favorite companion and Barrett.

Image of the Hunter Warping In New Atlantis

Starfield High Price to Pay - Go to The Eye or Protect The Lodge?

Shortly after completing "No Sudden Moves" in which you'll make your way to The Scow to talk a scavenger Captain into giving you one more artifact, you'll return to The Lodge in order to place this artifact down to join the others.

Moments after you do so, Noel will have trouble contacting The Eye and Vladimir, only to find out it's been attacked and Valdimir and one of your companions are in rough shape. The Hunter (who you can find at random bars before now) will come on Comms and let you know he's coming for the artifacts.

Vladimir Explaining That Sarah Is Hurt On The Eye During High Price to Pay Mission

    This is where you have to make a decision. Do you stay at the Lodge and protect the artifacts, or do you go to The Eye and save Sarah and Vlad? Here's what happens if you do either option.

    High Price to Pay Decision - Stay at The Lodge (Specific Companion Dies)

    If you decide to defend the lodge, a minute or two later Walter will be briefly taken hostage by The Hunter, and a fight will break out as the others run to safety. You can't kill The Hunter, but you can do enough damage that he'll disappear for a bit. You can also just run for it.

    Take that opportunity to run down to the basement and into the Well, where you'll fight him again, and then escape once more to the Starport, where you can run to your ship and go into orbit.

    If you downed The Hunter at least once, he'll tell you he was impressed and that he'll leave you alone - giving you a weapon in the process, shown below:

    Image of the Weapon Reward for Beating The Hunter At Least Once

    After a brief chat - he'll head off, and you can head to The Eye to try and help your companions.

    This is where the note above about companions comes in - for me, Sarah was mentioned as hurt badly, and I found her dead just inside, with no way to save her. Sam and Andreja, who I traveled with the second most - were hurt but not dead.

    Talk to Vladimir, and he'll get up and let you know he's okay.

    What happens if you choose to defend the Lodge: You'll lose a companion (who dies depends on who you travelled with the most) for the rest of your current playthrough, but the Artifacts will be safe. You may have lost this Companion for now, but if you do New Game Plus, you'll be able to travel with them again.

    High Price to Pay Decision - Go to The Eye (Barrett Dies)

    If you want to save your companions at The Eye, you'll want to quickly make your way to the door to exit The Lodge. In doing so, Barrett will approach you and let you know that he's going to stay behind and barricade the door.

    Fast travel to Orbit of Jemison, and head over to The Eye and dock with it. Head inside to find three of your companions hurt, but alive, as well as Vladimir.

    Image of Sam Coe Hurt at The Eye but alive

    Next, you'll fast travel to The Lodge, and head inside to find Barrett dead and some of the other companions hurt - but Noel managed to escape with the Artifacts. Follow her into the Well, and speak with her, which is where The Hunter will find you.

    Similar to the first option, you can fight The Hunter until he disappears to escape, or simply just run with Noel to your ship, and take off into Orbit.

    You'll bump into The Hunter in orbit, and he's going to let you keep the artifacts as well as give you a weapon if you bested him in combat. After which, you'll want to head to The Eye again and talk to Vladimir.

    What happens if you choose to go to the Eye: You'll lose Barrett specifically for the rest of your current playthrough, but the Artifacts will be safe.

    High Price to Pay - Building the Armillary

    After making your way through one of the options above, and talking to Vladimir - you'll talk to Noel, who will give you the Artifacts to keep safe in one of two places:

    • Your ship - near where ship storage is.
    • One of your Outposts, as the Armillary blueprint will be unlocked and usable to keep the Artifacts.
    Image of the details about the Armillary in Starfield

    You can pick which one you'd prefer, and once you've built it head back to New Atlantis, to find the Starport in bad shape after your fight with The Hunter, so you'll have to take the NAT to get over to The Lodge.

    Head inside and talk to Matteo to complete High Price to Pay for 800 Exp and 13,300 Credits.

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    Rutledge Daugette
    | CEO and Founder

    Rutledge Daugette is the Guides Editor & Founder of TechRaptor. Rutledge's degree in Game Programming ultimately led him to found the site in 2013, with… More about Rutledge

    More Info About This Game
    Learn more about Starfield
    Game Page Starfield
    Publisher
    Bethesda Softworks
    Platforms
    PC, Xbox Series X|S
    Release Date
    September 6, 2023 (Calendar)
    Genre
    Action, RPG