The Outer Worlds "The City in the Stars" Quest Guide | Board ID & Dimethyl Sulfoxide
After a whole game’s-worth of build-up, it’s finally time to travel to the golden city of Byzantium, Terra-2’s bourgeois capital, and take on “The City in the Stars” quest in The Outer Worlds. This is a long and difficult quest with many different paths to consider, as well as the biggest moral choice since near the beginning of the game.
Throughout this guide we’ll try to detail the different options available to you, but we’ve gone most in-depth with the path of least resistance. For example, it is completely possible to sneak into the restricted areas in this quest, but is very hard. This is how you get around those sections.
The City in the Stars quest guide
After your exploits in Radio Free Monarch, you'll get a Navkey for Byzantium.
To start, as you dock in Byzantium Ellie will speak to you inside The Unreliable and give you her Follower quest, but to continue with the matter at hand leave you ship and speak to Carmen to your right.
Exhaust the dialogue options with her and she tells you that some of Minster Clarke’s guards are off shift at the pub and could be leveraged for information.
Go through the hangar, then over to the right and up the lift to get to the main city. The guard is in the House of Inebriation in the centre of the city.
Before you speak to him, buy three spectrum vodka from the robot bartender, then speak to a sloshed Guard Mayfield at the counter.
Say: “Didn’t know i was talking to such a big shot”, “what’s so important about guarding him”, “congrats”, “buy you a drink”, then offer him a vodka, and another, until you get a persuade 40 or medical 40 to offer a third. If you need a boost bring Parvati or Felix along.
After three skinfulls of the devil’s water he walks off to the bathroom, has a lovely sit down and dies. Grab his key and abscond into the night.
Getting into Minister Clarke’s house
If you enjoy having a bad time, you can now sneak around the back of Minister Clarke’s house, through all the guards inside and upstairs to his office without killing anyone - but it is very, very hard. Save right at the start if you attempt it.
To do so, peek around the corner to the right and wait for the guard there to turn around. Walk forward and through the door to your right through the kitchen, then through the dining room on the other side. There’s a door on the left, open it then wait for the three guards to your left, right, and in front of you to give you a clear shot at the stairs. Walk up the stairs and around to the right, using the banister as cover from the two guards on the left, then hide behind the curtain to your left to get around the patrolling guard. Now make your way to the other side of the landing, through the door and speak to Minister Clarke.
To avoid all of this anguish, speak to the guard outside the front door of the house.
He’ll spill that the Minister is waiting for a delivery. Go to the back entrance of the Halcyon Parcel Service, which in the centre of the city next to the maintenance tunnels.
Inside - it’s not a restricted area - pick the Lockpicking 60 lock when the guard is just around the corner. Bring Parvati and Felix if you need a boost to Lockpicking, and pick up the parcel inside.
Now return to the house and speak to the Guard. Say you have a delivery for the minister, and that he can see it. You’re now allowed through the front door.
Go up the stairs and over to the left, then speak to Minister Clarke.
Say: “I’m here for the gas”, “I have records…”, “Step back and tell me what you’re talking about”, then “I’ll have to deal with him”, “Tell me how to get there”, and “Once I get in…”. He then gives you a data cartridge to send to earth and a keycard.
Getting into the HHC Building
You can then either go through the tunnels next to the parcel service entrance, but it’s much easier to bribe your way through with a Persuade 40 check and 2520 bits - chump change by now, go up the stairs to the HHC building.
Inside, go to the guard checkpoint and talk to Guard Bachmeyer.
Show him the access card, then say: “You’d better be joking”, “How about you save us both some trouble”, and “Mighty fine of you”, then go up the lift after the checkpoint.
At the top, use the minister’s HHC card on the door on the left.
Walk through the big hole in the wall then use the terminal in the office, send Minister’s message to Earth, then view the priority message. Now print a ministry keycard.
Return to the foyer, lying to Percival Platt on the way (both options work).
Getting a Board ID in The Outer Worlds
Go back down the lift and out of the HHC building. After you transition back out into Byzantium, turn left and go to the Ministry of Accuracy and Morale.
Here you need to grab a Board ID card to explore unimpeded and without a fight. Inside, go left then left again to HR, then hack the 44 terminal and view the complaint. Hack boosting followers are Vicar Max and SAM.
Next go right up the stairs and talk to Caroline Endecott in the kitchen. Ask her about Theodore and then Lie 1 to get her to help get an ID.
Follow her downstairs and she’ll call off the guard under the stairs, Holte. Walk through the door in front of you and open the locked door on the other side when the guard stood next to it walks away.
Then you can get an ID card from the locker inside.
Now go around the corner to the right and call the elevator.
Go down and you’ll be cloaked by the ID chip. Your objective is on the far side of the lab.
Take the first door on your left through Animal Testing.
Then through the Central Lab.
In the Central Lab go to the far side and climb the ladder.
Then into the Hibernation Lab.
Now turn right, go through the doors a few times then down the staircase through the containment labs.
Now go back through into the Hibernation Lab, and up the stairs to the right once you enter.
Turn left at the top of the stairs and through the door marked Hibernation Lab.
Go over to the left through the door and down the stairs. You now have an uncontested run to your objective.
How much Dimethyl Sulfoxide should you take? 100% or 26%?
Go over to the terminal and you have a choice to make about how much Dimethyl Sulfoxide to take. This figures in our page on The Outer Worlds’ best ending - the choice is yours, but without spoilers I prefer the 100% variation.
Once you’ve made your choice, turn around and go out of the door you can unbar at the bottom of the stairs, then up the elevator to your right.
At the top, unbar the door and leave the Ministry, then fast travel back to The Unreliable.
As your walk into the cockpit, an urgent message will play from the Adjutant. Say: “Let’s skip the pleasantries”, “I’m listening”, “Convince me”,then “You want me to sell him out”. This noncommittally ends the conversation.
From there, head to Phineas’ Lab and speak to him about the gas. Whatever your decision, progress the discussion as you wish and accept his next mission. At the end, tell him about the tracking signal and Phineas will suggest you send a fake one as a decoy - clever.
