Should you pay, kill, or persuade Shaw during “The Empty Nest”? Keep reading to find out!
Persuasion is a vital skill in Starfield. At many points in the game, this skill comes in handy. It can save your life and credit. However, persuading an enemy is easier said than done.
Players with Diplomatic, Industrialist, or Space Scoundrel backgrounds will have this skill from the beginning and are likelier to persuade an enemy.
There are no specific dialogue choices in Starfield for Persuasion. It entirely depends on the set of dialogues you are choosing. During “The Empty Nest” mission, you must go to the Shaw Gang Hideout to retrieve the second artifact piece.
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Eventually, you will encounter Shaw, who will not be happy with you trespassing in their base. She will ask you to pay her some credits. While you can surely refuse, doing so will start a fight, or you can try to persuade Shaw to let you leave the place peacefully. Which one should you choose? Let’s find out.
Kill or Persuade Shaw?
Each of the choices will have a different consequence for you. While Persuasion might be the easiest and best way out, you still have to be smart with your dialogues. You will need to get 6 persuasion points to be able to persuade Shaw successfully. As mentioned earlier, there are no guaranteed dialogue choices. Here is the dialogue we picked to persuade Shaw:
- [Persuade] We can work this out. There is no need for violence.
- [+6] We got what we came for. You let us go, you never have to see us again. (Failed)
- [+4] We got past all your crew before. You fight us, you’ll lose.
- [+3] It’s about to get really ugly for you.
If you successfully persuade Shaw, you can later help her to defend the camp against Ashtas. Helping her defend her camp will reward you with a Modified Razorback, so it’s worth it.
If you fail to Persuade Shaw, a fight will break out between you and Shaw’s gang. You will have to defeat all the gang members to make it out of there.
Though the fight itself isn’t that hard, it can lower Sam Coe’s affinity for your character, which might eventually hamper your relationship with him if you plan to romance him later. After all, nobody wants unnecessary bloodshed, so trying to persuade Shaw is the best choice in this quest.
And another option is to pay off Shaw with 4000 Credits. Know that you should only select this option if you fail to persuade but still want to dissolve the situation amicably.
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