Starfield: Should You Save Rafael or Director Patel and Maria?

There are a few moral choices to make in Starfield. However, deciding the fate of Nishina Research Station’s staff in the Entangled mission is one of the more important ones. The choice comes down to saving Rafael, the one remaining victim of an experiment gone wrong, or Director Patel, Maria, and ultimately the station itself. Whoever you pick will reward you for your efforts. Here’s whether you should save Rafael or Director Patel and Maria in Starfield.

Should You Save Director Patel and Maria or Rafael in Starfield?

Director Patel, Maria, Rafael, and the entire Nishin Research Station are trapped in a localized set of parallel realities. Both realities exist atop the other. As the outside observer, you‘re the only one who can choose which will persist. You’re presented with this choice at the end of the Entangled mission. Removing the Artifact that caused the superposition in one reality destroys the other.

If You Save Rafael

If you save Rafael, you’ll damn dozens of staff members in the Nishina facility that can properly disseminate research data on the Artifact. Rafael is the sole survivor in a reality where Nishina’s experiments with the Artifact caused a massive explosion. It killed everyone but him and filled the ruins with corrupted bio-matter. You’ll get roughly 12,000 credits and some crafting materials.

If you Save Director Patel and Maria

If you save Director Patel and Maria, not only will you save them and the station, you’ll also be choosing the more pragmatic choice. The reward I received for doing so was better than for saving Rafael. It was a legendary space suit, a low-rarity helmet, and almost 15,000 credits.

Making the decision “easier” for me was one key point. Rafael was already dead in his universe, so invalidating the other’s existence was a simpler choice.

That you get less from Rafael makes sense, given all he has to work with are ruined scraps and scorpion-thing poo. The real questions you have to ask in this situation are actually much larger. Can the scientists of Nishina Research Station be trusted not to make the same mistakes again? Will Rafael’s story of horror and survival serve to keep similar disasters from occurring in the future?

Which outcome you choose on the second matter is purely a flavor one. If you’re in it purely for what you can get out of the quest, save the Director, Maria, and the rest of Nishina. Just be sure you can live with what you decide.

That answers whether you should save Rafael or Director Patel and Maria in Starfield. For more on the game’s many other quests, items, and systems, check out our guides on whether you should take the bribe from Ron Hope, how to romance Sarah Morgan, and more in our Starfield guides hub.