Entangled Walkthrough - Starfield Guide - IGN (2024)

Entangled is the seventeenth mission in Starfield and involves a major choice with multiple solutions. Along the way, we'll show you where you can pick up key items, find collectibles, and any opportunities to snag some additional loot as you investigate the distress signal coming from the Nishina Research Station.

If you only need to know Tap to Reveal Click or tap here to jump to the Entangled's major choices and consequences.

Investigate the Distress Signal

When you investigate the distress signal coming from the Satellite, it will be broken but you’ll be able to pinpoint that it’s coming from the Nishina Research Station on Freya III. Land on Freya III, then approach the Nishina Research Station in the east. If you take the stairs up to it, rather than the elevator, you'll come to a camp filled with crates and boxes. On the right, in the southwest side of the camp, you can find a Weapon Rack and spacesuit to collect.

When you speak to the security guard over the intercom, he’ll tell you that no distress signal has been sent from the lab. Whether you say you're from Constellation or that you're investigating a distress signal, he'll tell you that the director will see you -- but your companion needs to wait outside.

Enter Nishina Research Station

Step inside the Nishina Research Station and speak to Ethan. He'll do some quick security checks then ask you to follow him.

Follow Ethan

As you start to follow Ethan, you'll go through Storage and the room around you will start to disappear. You’ll be transported to an alternate universe that shows the lab completely destroyed.

Explore the Ruins

Now that you're in the ruins, you'll have a chance to explore, but if you head for the door, you'll go back to the alternate universe where the lab is intact. When you're transported to the ruins, turn around and look for the Weapons Case and Storage Crate behind to find some goodies.

You'll be attacked by Cataxi as you start to move towards the door for the Work Room -- you can either fight them, or just go straight toward the door to go back to following Ethan.

As you make your way to the Work Room following Ethan, look left to see a Storage Crate. When walking through the Work Room, you'll be transported to the ruins again.

Explore the Ruins

As you approach the desk in the ruins, Rafael will appear and explain to you what happened. He'll reference a metallic object he was working with, which seems to be connected to the destruction that's occurred.

Speak to Rafael

During the conversation, you'll shift back to the intact Nishina Research Station and Ethan will be talking to Director Patel over the intercom. He'll open the door to the hall and you'll be told to go left and up to the Director's Office to speak to the Director yourself.

As soon as you make that move to turn left, you'll be back in the ruins, with the new objective to find the Director's Office.

Find the Director's Office

Head northeast down the corridor, and take the door to the left first. Inside, Cataxi will appear as soon as you step foot inside. Look to the left of the door to find a First Aid Kit. You'll also see a Pharmaceutical Lab further down to the left.

As you enter, you might notice a skeleton on the western side of the room, sitting in a chair. Go over to it to find a journal by its hand.

Dr. Barakova's Journal

If you go over to the room in the north, you can find a Pharmaceutical Kit as well. When you're done scouting the area, go over to the southeast and through to Emergency.

Go up the stairs to the left, then you'll be transported back to the intact lab and be following Ethan once again. Just up ahead, you can find the Director's Office.

Speak to Director Patel

Here you can talk to Director Patel and Maria about the alternate universes, the Artifact, and how it's the source of the distortions. Director Patel will believe the story much quicker than Maria will, but it won't be long before they agree to let you take a look around and try to help.

Follow Maria

Start to follow Maria down to Fabrication, and as you do, you'll be thrown back into the destroyed universe.

Get to the Lab

Now you'll be tasked with the new objective of getting to the Lab. Turn around and head northwest, then go through the first door on your left to get into the Director's Office. You'll see a skeleton sitting at the desk here too. Check the right side of the desk, to find the Incident Report log.

Director's Incident Report

The door in the northwest of the Director's Office will also be open for you to explore. Go left as you walk through the door and look to the sofa. There's a safe here that can be unlocked (Advanced Level) next to it.

Leave the Director's Office, then go northeast and through the room to Emergency on the left. You then want to go southwest, and drop down the hole in the floor in the next room. This will take you back to the room where Rafael is.

Speak to Rafael

Explain to Rafael what happened and how you disappeared again, and then you'll start to make your way toward the lab in this destroyed universe. Rafael will give you a Nishina Pantry Keycard that will allow you to open doors now.

Before you depart, take a look around Rafael's office to find Ammo Cases and other useful loot.

Get to the Lab

Go south towards the door with the white divine to open it up with the Nishina Pantry Keycard. Follow this through to Emergency and you'll warp back to the intact lab. Go southeast through the door to the Main Hall, and you'll be transported back to the destroyed lab.

Take the door in the southwest, and turn left to get through the wreckage. Then, speak to Rafael again.

Speak to Ethan

As you go through to the marker, you'll be thrown back into the intact lab and be in the Security room with Ethan. Talk to him, and you have a chance here to get hold of a rare weapon.

Once you've spoken to Ethan, exit the security room and go through the Main Hall in the northeast. You'll shift back to the destroyed lab as you get towards the end.

Go northeast and pick up any Aid from the First Aid Kit to the right of the door, then go through the door on the left. As you come into the bigger room, make your way to the southeast side to go through the door marked Emergency. Go up the stairs and you'll shift to the intact lab.

Here, you'll be on the stairs leading to the Fabrication Lab and the Director's Office. When you reach the top of the stairs, go in the first door on the left to enter the Fabrication Lab.

Speak to Maria

Maria will be inside waiting for you, and ready to start testing.

Assist Maria

While Maria tinkers with the equipment, this will eventually lead to a distortion appearing in the lab. To test it, Maria will ask you to stand in the distortion.

Stand in the Distortion

When you first step inside it, nothing will happen. After Maria makes some adjustments, you'll be thrown back into the destroyed lab.

Find a Probe Control Unit

To be able to interact with the distortions and manipulate them yourself, you'll need a Probe Control Unit. Thankfully, where you're sent as you step into the distortion is into a room that has a Probe Control Unit just in the east. You'll find it next to a Storage Box.

Recalibrate Distortion

Once you have it, step back through the distortion that will appear in the northwest corner of the room.

Speak to Maria

Now that the experiment has been successful, you can talk to Maria about the distortions. She'll direct you to the Director's Office once more, and as you make your way there, you'll notice that distortions have appeared across the lab.

You are now free to use the Probe Control Unit to go in and out of distortions, allowing you to explore the lab's parallel universe entirely.

Speak to Director Patel

Make your way to the Director's Office and let her know you're all set to go. Before you go, she'll tell you what happens when you get down to the Artifact. To avoid spoilers, we've explained this further down on the page. But, if you want to know what you're getting yourself into, jump down to Outcome Of Your Decision.

If you head downstairs to the Clinic, you can speak to Dr. Tatiana Barakova and get some free medical supplies before you go. If you collected Dr. Barakova's Journal earlier on, you can also give this to her for some additional free supplies. She's also available to purchase aid from, so stock up well.

Take the Elevator

When you're all set, make your way to the Elevator and enter the distortion to continue. You'll then be able to step inside the Elevator and take it down. to start your journey to finding the lab.

Get to the Lab

As soon as you step out of the elevator, look for the distortion on the left. This is the first one you'll want to go through to access the lab and begin overriding the lockdown.

Override the Lockdown in the Facilities Section

Head northeast and take the distortion that's just in front of the door. You'll now be able to go north into the burnout room and pick up the Nishina Particle Lab Keycard from the office.

Once you've got it, go back out the door and take the distortion to the left of the lockers. You'll now be able to use the Nishina Particle Lab Keycard to unlock the door in the universe with the intact lab.

From now on, you'll need to be careful how you approach each room if you want to avoid Turrets and Robots. In the next room, you'll see two doors opposite as you walk in. There are two Robots in here who will attack if you're spotted by the security camera. The camera can be found in the east of the room, up on the wall near the ceiling.

Once you've cleared the room or disabled the camera, go through the locked door at the far right corner (in the south). Go down the stairs and turn right. Watch out for another security camera at the end of the corridor, next to the turret.

Go in the door to the right, and through the distortion in the right corner near the cupboards.

Once you're in the destroyed lab, go northwest through to the now-open room. Head to the northern side of the room, and take the distortion to get back into the intact lab.

Be careful as you move toward the computer to override the lockdown, as a security camera hangs above it to the left. Go to the computer and interact with it to complete the override, and to the left of it, you can see a Weapons Case and First Aid Kit.

Get to the Lab

You can now go through the door to the west. Turn right and go through the corridor that's marked Particle Accelerator. Halfway down the corridor, on the left, you can find the next distortion you need to go through.

Override the Lockdown in the Accelerator Section

Continue down the corridor towards Emergency now you're in the destroyed lab, and go left down the stairs. As soon as you get down that first flight of stairs, you'll come to another distortion. Go inside this one, to get through the blocked passage at the bottom of the stairs.

Make your way east down these stairs, and be prepared. You're about to enter a room that is filled with security cameras, Turrets, and Robots. There are two cameras on the pillars straight ahead on the eastern side of the room.

Then as you enter the room, look up, turn, and face back towards the door. You'll be able to see another camera directly above you. Look right and another one sits on the beam just by the stairs.

Go up these stairs to go to the next level and toward your next objective. Go to the northeast corner and into the distortion just before the Accelerator Robotics room.

Go through the Emergency door in the northwest corner of the room, then drop down towards the objective marker. Pick up the Nishina Utility Closet Keyward, then turn and face the east to use the distortion to get back to the intact lab.

Walk up the stairs and take the distortion that's by the Secure Access door at the top. As you land up back in the destroyed lab, go to the south and into the distortion in the corner.

Take the stairs down to the east, and turn right at the bottom of them to go into the Utility Closet. Step into the distortion inside, and you'll see the burnt-out room with the computer. You'll need to go to the southeast corner and take the distortion between the equipment to get back into the intact room and interact with the override lock.

Be careful as you do this, as there's a security camera just by the door. Use the Accelerator Mainframe Computer and unlock the doors, then go over to the southwest corner of the room and back through the distortion.

Go back inside the Utility Closet and through the distortion in here. Exit the Utility Closet and go up the stairs and over to the other side of the room. As you approach the door to the Accelerator Control, be careful as there's another Security Camera inside.

Use the Accelerator Control Room Computer and override the locks.

Get to the Lab

Go back to the South side of the room and down the stairs. Head down the corridor to the east, and through the Access Tunnel. Take the distortion that's halfway down this corridor, then continue east and go right into the cave.

As you go into the room, you'll have plenty of Cataxi to face, so fight these then make your way up to the slope that will take you over to the broken ledge above and in the east. Go through the distortion on this ledge, to return to the lab.

Take the door in the west that brings you to the corridor to Storage, Access Tunnel, and High Energy Research Lab. Enter the room on the left, and be careful of the Security Camera on the right side of the room.

Go to the distortion near the Security Camera, on the eastern side of the room. Take the door in the east to follow the cave, until you go up a slope and end up in a room with a hole in the ground. This will also show a sign pointing to Access Tunnel, Storage, and High Energy Research Lab. Drop down here to continue.

Make your way around to the room with the objective marker and jump into the next distortion.

Override the Lockdown in the Storage Section

Interact with the Storage Room Computer, then take the door in the west and go into the next room. As you do, look to the immediate left to see a camera on the wall.

Take the ramp in the east up to the Access Tunnel and High Energy Research lab. Look out for the Security camera that sits just above here on the southeast wall.

As you get to the top of this ramp, head south and toward the stairs. Take the distortion to the left of the start of the stairs. Now make your way up the stairs, and through the door marked Emergency. Get to the very top and go through the western door to enter the room where you'll need to disengage the power interlocks or switch universes.

Disengage Power Interlocks or Switch Universes

Now you've reached the main room, you'll be prompted to disengage the power interlocks or switch universes. There are three different choices you can make during this mission, which will impact how it ends. Here's what those choices are:

• Choice 1: Save Rafael
  • Consequence: Tap to Reveal
• Choice 2: Save the Research Station
  • Consequence: Tap to Reveal
• Choice 3: Save Everyone
  • Consequence: Tap to Reveal

Click or tap one of the links above to jump to a particular outcome.

Choice 1: Disengage the 7 Locks in the Destroyed Lab

While you're in the destroyed lab, you'll have to fight off the Cataxi as you do while in this alternate reality. Once you've disengaged the power, you can choose to power down the machine and stay in this universe. If you decide to disengage the power interlocks in the broken world, you'll save Rafael but everyone else will die. The biggest benefit to this choice is that you'll be able to recruit Rafael as part of your crew after you take him from Freya III and drop him off at New Atlantis.

Choice 2: Disengage the 7 Locks in the Intact Lab

To reach the intact lab, just head through any of the distortions that are around the room and be transported to the intact lab. For this one, you'll have to deal with Security Cameras, Turrets, and lots of Robots. If you choose to disengage the locks in this reality and turn off the power, you'll remain in the intact universe. If you decide to switch universes and save the facility, letting Rafael die, you'll be rewarded with a Legendary spacesuit from Director Patel.

If you make either of these choices, once you've disengaged the locks, you'll have to shut down the probe that's on the right-hand side of the Artifact.

Shut Down the Probe

When you've made your decision, you can shut down the probe in the reality you're deciding to go with.

Take the Artifact

After that, all that's left to do is take the probe from the wall.

Artifact Lambda

Choice 3: How to Save Everyone in the Nishina Research Lab

Yes, it is possible to save everyone in the Nishina Research Lab, and here's how to do it. In the intact lab, you can find Rafael's body at the bottom in the northern corner. It's located next to a Distortion and close to Power Lock #7.

Loot his body and you'll collect the Probe Calibration Protocol.

This explains that you need to make sure that all the Power Locks are engaged and go through Degaussing. To find the Lab Control Computer, head for the stairs closest to Rafael's body, and into the control room above.

If you're first entering the room, you'll want to turn right. You'll see the control room protruding out, overlooking the experiment.

In BOTH realities, you need to find the Lab Control Computer and attempt to start Degaussing. You won't be able to, and instead, you'll be shown the numbers of the Power Locks that you'll need to disengage and re-engage to get them working.

If you hover near each Power Lock, you'll be able to see what number it is. The locks that you're told to fix appear to be different on each playthrough. Once you've fixed the Power Locks in both realities, you'll then need to initiate the Degaussing process in both as well.

After this, you'll need to calibrate the frequency and get the desired output so that the system changes from staying UNSTABLE to STABLE. You can achieve this by setting the frequency to 40 Hz in the Intact Lab and 24 Hz in the Destroyed Lab.

The Primary Calibration Control will now be ready for activation in BOTH universes. You can find it on the left side of the Artifact. Activate it on both sides to unite the universes and save everyone in the lab.

Rewards for Completing Entangled