Starfield: How to Get to the Lab in Entangled

The Starfield quest ‘Entangled’ sends you to another star system on the search for more artifacts. As you jump in, you are faced with a distress signal from the Nishina Research Station via satellite. What faces you when you touch down and find the research lab is the start of an exciting quest full of combat, intrigue, and important decisions. People’s lives are at stake, and it is up to you to figure out what to do. Read on for a walkthrough of this exciting journey of discovery. Spoilers ahead: you have been warned!

Enter the Research Station

Any companions following you at this point will stay behind as you approach the Nishina Research Station. This is one of the few quests you must undertake alone. Inside, you meet a man named Ethan, who is suspicious of you and says no one there has sent a distress signal.

After a bit of back and forth, he lets you in to go and speak with the director. As you follow Ethan, you phase into what seems like a different place. Aggressive creatures called the Cataxi attack you before you phase back into the research lab. Ethan is, quite rightly, freaking out and hurries you to see the director. You involuntarily phase a few more times along the way.

Speak to Rafael

During one phase into what you now recognize as the ruins of the same research facility, you meet a man named Rafael. He is pretty panicked and explains to you that he is the one who sent the distress signal. He says that an explosion at the research lab caused the devastation around you. As you are speaking with him, you phase back into the previous reality.

Speak to the Director

Back in the first reality, you finally make your way to the director’s office, phasing a couple more times as you go. When you finally make it to the office of Director Patel, you explain to her and the lab tech Maria what has been happening and that you met Rafael. The director tells you that Rafael died in an accident caused by an experiment in the basement.

The following conversation explains how the artifact is part of their experiment, and they had somehow lost control of the whole thing. To fix the problem and get your hands on the artifact, you will need to shut down the experiment completely.

Follow Maria to the Lab

You will phase again as you leave the director’s office with Maria. Make your way to an area with a collapsed ceiling where Rafael is waiting. He’s frightened and nervous but willing to help you sort out the mess. He hands over a key card to the door and gives you some backup against the Cataxi.

As you enter the ruined cafeteria, you will phase back into the first reality, freaking out the staff there and triggering an alarm. Get to the other end of the room, where you will phase again to Rafael’s reality. As you head to the right, you will encounter more Cataxi and find Rafael. Keep going until you again phase into the first reality’s locked security office, scaring Ethan.

Talk with Ethan. He will unlock the door and tell you the way to the lab. Try to persuade him to give you a weapon for fighting off the Cataxi. If successful, you will get the Experiment A-7 Shotgun with bonus damage to aliens. It is absolutely worth spending an auto-persuade on or chugging some persuade-enhancing meds before chatting with Ethan.

Turn right from the security office. If you turn left, you will phase again and must return to the office to rectify this. So head right to the elevator, where you will shift again. Kill more Cataxi and go through the door and up the stairs. Find your way to a rec room where you will phase back into the first reality and see Maria in the lab.

Speak to Maria in the Research Lab

You and Maria will have an interesting conversation about the artifact and the phasing, and she will want to test her Probe Control Unit on you. She makes a distortion appear and asks you to step into it. It’s perfectly safe, so step in, and Maria will test her Control Unit, making you phase again. In the devastated reality, you will see another Probe Control Unit. Grab it and walk over to the distortion. Activate it, and you will return to the regular reality with Maria. Now, you can control the phasing as you please.

Go back to Director Patel and Get Supplies

Head left from Maria’s lab and find Director Patel, who will give you some awful news. You must choose which reality to save when you shut off the experiment. Either keep the reality where Rafael died and everyone in the research lab lives. Or, save Rafael and let everyone else die. Whichever reality you are in when you switch off the machine, that is the reality you save.

You have an optional mission to stock up on supplies, which is recommended. Follow the waypoint to Dr. Barakova, who will hand you some supplies, albeit unhappily. It’s fine, though; she just hates her job. You can also grab a trauma pack from behind you before you leave and head into the final part of the adventure, where you will fight off more Cataxi, as well as robots and turrets.

Through the Basement to the Lab

Use distortion next to the elevator to get to the destroyed reality and go down to research levels. Here is where a long journey of switching back and forth between realities will occur. In the ruined reality, you will fight off Cataxi; in the regular reality, you will fight off robots and turrets. Use energy weapons to fight the robots and turrets easily, and for the Cataxi, either use the weapon from Ethan or your next strongest weapon. Remember, you can always use your powers too!

This section of the adventure can get a bit tiresome as you battle through each room of the research lab, but save often and stay focused. As you reach a dead end, find a distortion and get through that spot in the next reality. You will find you have to do this a lot. If you get overwhelmed by Cataxi or robot/turret attacks, then phase to the next reality to heal up before phasing back again. Remember: save often!

Override the Lockdown in the Facilities Section

Use the distortion to return to the regular reality and reach the lockers. To get past locked security doors, you must use a distortion to phase to Rafael’s reality. Go through the now broken doors and grab the Particle Lab Keycard. Use a distortion to return to the regular reality and fight through the turrets and robots. Use the key on the next door, go downstairs, and find another distortion to get through the blocked-off area.

Take a left and follow the waypoint to the computer terminal. Use a distortion to get into the regular reality and use the computer. Override the security to turn the security system off. This will mean fewer things trying to kill you in this section, which is a relief.

Override the Lockdown in the Accelerator Section

This section has yet more jumping from reality to reality, destroying robots and killing Cataxi. Each time you face a blocked hall or locked door, use a distortion to get through via the alternate reality. Clear each room of enemies before following the waypoint to the next area.

A Utility Closet Keycard can be found on a desk in the ruined reality. Grab it and then head upstairs to find a nearby distortion to get phase back. Follow the waypoint to a utility closet and use the key to get inside, where you will find a distortion. Phase through to the other reality and enter the lab through the ruined wall. Use the distortion to phase back in the lab, and you will have access to the computer. Override the security before phasing back into Rafael’s reality and going back through the closet again. Follow the waypoint again to find a computer in the Accelerator Control Room and deactivate everything.

Override the Lockdown in the Storage Section

Because you closed down security in the last section, you will find the door to the large room open. Head through and phase to the next reality using the distortion to your right. Go through the cave full of Cataxi and get up the rocky area to the platform above. Use the distortion to phase back to the regular reality.

Go left to the small lab, destroying turrets and robots as you go. Use another distortion to phase back and go through a hole in the wall where some larger Cataxi are waiting to party. Go along the path to another distortion, which will have a waypoint marker above it this time.

You should now be in the regular reality. Use the computer here to override the lockdown here and then leave. You will face more turrets, so be ready with your energy weapons. Phase again to the ruined reality using the distortion at the stairs, head up the stairs, and through the door to the room with the experiment.

Choose Your Reality

The reality you choose will determine who lives and who dies. It also determines what you get from it when it is all over. If you choose Rafael’s reality, Rafael will survive and be available as a companion. If you choose the regular reality, Director Patel and the rest of the lab will survive, and you will receive a spacesuit to use or sell.

Regardless of your chosen reality, you must still kill all enemies in the large experiment room. If you keep switching realities, you will get more XP for killing more creatures and robots/turrets.

Remember: choose the reality you want to save before you switch off the probe!

Disengage all the switches marked by waypoints or switch realities. Once you have made your decision, switch off the probe and grab the artifact.

Speak to Rafael or Director Patel

Depending on your chosen reality, you will need to speak to the surviving NPC next. Leave the experiment room, go through the exit, and up the elevator. The director will reward you with a spacesuit with excellent stats, or Rafael will return to your ship with you and offer to be your engineer.

Well done on completing this epic quest! If you need any more help making the right decisions as you explore Starfield, check out more guides below.