Job Gone Wrong Walkthrough - Starfield Guide - IGN (2024)

In Starfield, Job Gone Wrong is a Freestar Collective Mission that you'll be assigned upon your first visit to Akila City in the Cheyenne system. As you approach the Akila City gates, a security guard will warn you to steer clear of GalBank due to an ongoing hostage situation. Outside of GalBank, you'll find the Akila City Marshal, Daniel Blake, who will explain that the bank thieves refuse to negotiate with any members of the Freestar Rangers – thankfully, you're a "neutral" party.

Whether you're visiting Akila City during some early-game exploration or alongside Sam Coe as part of The Empty Nest Main Mission, this Freestar Collective Mission can be completed through various means. In this Starfield guide, we'll break down the Job Gone Wrong Mission to detail how you can rescue the hostages inside GalBank and describe what happens if the Mission goes awry.

Continue reading or click one of the links below to Grav Jump to a specific section of this Starfield guide:

• How to Start the Job Gone Wrong Mission
• How to Complete the Job Gone Wrong Mission
  • Persuasion Basics
  • Persuade the Shaw Gang Leader
    • Earn the Shaw Gang Leader's Trust
    • Convince the Shaw Gang Leader to Release the Hostages
  • Infiltrate GalBank to Rescue the Hostages
    • Ask to Check on the Hostages
    • Sneak in Through the Rear Entrance
• What Happens if a Hostage Dies?

How to Start the Job Gone Wrong Mission

As mentioned above, you'll likely visit Akila City for the first time alongside Sam Coe during the Main Story Mision, The Empty Nest. When visiting Akila City as part of The Empty Nest, the Job Gone Wrong Mission will become a mandated task, because the hostage situation will prevent you from retrieving Solomon Coe's maps from the GalBank vault. Speak to Marshal Daniel Blake outside of GalBank, and he'll give you a rundown before reluctantly accepting your help.

But, if you're an eager explorer, you can actually complete this Side Mission before being introduced to Sam Coe by visiting Akila City immediately after completing Starfield's opening Main Mission, One Small Step. To reach Akila City in the early game, complete One Small Step, then Grav Jump to the Olympus system before Grav Jumping to the Cheyenne system, where Akila is found.

However, if you decide to complete the Job Gone Wrong Mission without Sam Coe, you'll miss out on the world-building interactions Sam has with the gate security guard and Marshal Daniel Blake. But with Job Gone Wrong completed early, you can freely enter the GalBank vault to retrieve Solomon Coe's maps when you return to Akila City during The Empty Nest.

How to Complete the Job Gone Wrong Mission

Upon landing in Akila City, speak to Sam Coe at the spaceport to make him your Active Companion, or if you're traveling alone, head straight through the city gates to talk to the security guard at the entrance.

If you're traveling with Sam, wait for him to catch up before approaching the security guard blocking the Akila City entrance, or Sam may not participate in the conversation. Provided that Sam is included in the discussion, you can trigger a "Sam Coe Liked That" prompt by selecting the "If people are in danger, then I want to help" dialogue option. After the security guard warns you about the hostage situation, walk through the Akila City gates to find Marshal Daniel Blake futilely attempting to negotiate with the bank thieves.

Speak to Marshal Blake to learn more about the situation, offer your assistance, and then interact with the intercom beside the GalBank front door to begin negotiations with the Shaw Gang leader.

From here, you can complete the Job Gone Wrong Mission in one of two ways. You can convince the Shaw Gang leader to free the hostages and surrender peacefully or sneak into GalBank to gun down the amateur bandits before someone gets hurt.

Persuasion Basics

Now that you've gotten the rundown from Marshal Blake, it may be helpful to review some Persuasion basics. Once you've entered the Persuasion Menu by picking a dialogue option marked with [Persuasion], your goal is to earn a set amount of Persuasion Points by selecting enough "successful" dialogue options before running out of turns.

With each turn, you'll pick between several dialogue options that range from Easy (Green) to Hard (Red). Easy dialogue options have the greatest chance of success but yield the fewest number of Persuasion Points. Hard dialogue options have a low chance of success but can earn you large sums of Persuasion Points.

After every unsuccessful selection, you'll lose a turn and earn no points. But, if you're down to your last turn and choose a successful dialogue option, you'll earn a free turn to extend the Persuasion session.

Persuade the Shaw Gang Leader

Now that you're prepared for your role as an honorary negotiator, activate the intercom just to the left of GalBank's front door to begin speaking to the Shaw Gang leader. Though Persuasion is largely based on chance and your Persuasion Skill Level, there are some details you should know before attempting to convince the bank thieves to call it quits.

Firstly, your negotiation with the Shaw Gang leader is split into two halves, meaning that you'll have two opportunities to persuade the bandit. However, these opportunities share some vital differences because while the first persuasion scenario can provide a massive negotiation advantage, only the second persuasion attempt can actually liberate the hostages.

To learn more about the two Persuasion opportunities, continue or click one of the links below:

1. Earn the Shaw Gang Leader's Trust
2. Convince the Shaw Gang Leader to Release the Hostages

Earn the Shaw Gang Leader's Trust

As you enter negotiations with the leader of the bank thieves, he'll immediately question whether you're truly a neutral party or if you're just one of the Marshal's pawns.

Though the hostages can only be freed during the second half of the conversation, earning the leader's trust in the first half can drastically increase your chances of persuading the leader to release the hostages. You'll have 3 turns to earn 8 Persuasion Points, and the possible outcomes are listed in the table below:

Regardless of the results of your first persuasion, with a little bit of luck, you can still convince the Shaw Gang leader to free the hostages in the next attempt, but you'll need to trigger it first.

Convince the Shaw Gang Leader to Release the Hostages

Whether you earn the leader's trust or just piss him off, he will go on to list his demands, at which point you can trigger the second persuasion attempt which can result in the hostages' liberation.

If you were fortunate enough to earn the Shaw Gang leader's trust, you'll have 3 turns to amass 6 Persuasion Points, but if you failed your first persuasion attempt, you'll need to earn 8 Persuasion Points instead.

As mentioned above, persuasion attempts are almost entirely based on chance, so feel free to select the dialogue options that you think are most likely to convince the gang leader. If you manage to persuade the Shaw Gang leader to free the hostages and surrender, the Job Gone Wrong Mission is all but complete. Return to Marshal Blake, and after a brief conversation, you'll receive your reward and be assigned the optional Deputized Side Mission!

But if you're unable to convince the gang leader to surrender, head back to discuss your options with Marshal Blake.

Infiltrate GalBank to Rescue the Hostages

Now that all amicable resolutions have been squandered, the only way you can save the hostages is to infiltrate GalBank and eliminate the Shaw Gang. After the briefing with Marshal Blake, he'll give you the key to GalBank's rear entrance and leave you with the following options:

1. Ask to Check on the Hostages
2. Sneak in Through the Rear Entrance

No matter which route you choose to take, you'll inevitably find yourself in a violent confrontation with the Shaw Gang. So before continuing, use Aid Items to ensure you're healthy and ready for a fight.

Ask to Check on the Hostages

If you decide to infiltrate GalBank by asking to check on the hostages, return to the intercom, and when prompted, select one of the two hostage-related dialogue options. The gang leader will agree to allow you to see the hostages, but only if you enter unarmed. However, you will also have the opportunity to trigger the third Persuasion Menu by selecting the dialogue option "[Persuade] Just hear me out for a minute".

Naturally, entering a hostile scenario like this with nothing but your fists is quite the risk, so persuading the thieves to let you in with your firearms is the preferred option. However, if your persuasion efforts fail, you will no longer be allowed to check on the hostages and you'll be forced to infiltrate through the rear entrance.

If you're confident in your hand-to-hand combat abilities, you can elect to drop all of your Weapons and Throwables before activating the intercom to be let inside. But whether you're allowed to enter the bank armed or unarmed, the Shaw Gang leader will escort you to the vault, where you'll discover an escalating situation between an irate bank thief and a hostage. If you do not intervene in time, the bank thief will murder the hostage, so act quickly to eliminate the thieves.

Once the Shaw Gang has been taken out, loot the leader's body to recover the GalBank Front Door Key, and use it to unlock the front door. Finally, head back to Marshal Blake to retrieve your reward!

Sneak in Through the Rear Entrance

After so much fruitless negotiation with the bank thieves, you may decide to use the key provided by Marshal Blake to sneak in through GalBank's rear entrance. Wrap around the building to find the back door, use any Aid Items you may need, and reload your Weapons to prepare for the imminent gunfight.

Unless you've invested in the Stealth Skill, it can be difficult to enter GalBank without immediately alerting the criminals, so feel free to open fire as much as you'd like. As you shoot it out with the Shaw Gang, work your way down to the lower-level vault to ensure the safety of the captives. In the vault, you'll find at least two bandits guarding the hostages.

When taking them out, check your fire to ensure you don't accidentally hit the innocent victims. While the Job Gone Wrong Mission has several potential outcomes, shooting a hostage is undoubtedly the worst, so don't enter the vault carelessly firing your Weapon. More on that later.

Lastly, loot the gang leader's corpse to find the front door key, then speak to Marshal Blake to collect your reward!

What Happens if a Hostage Dies?

If a hostage is murdered by one of the Shaw Gang members, you can still complete Job Gone Wrong normally. After completing the Mission and informing Marshal Blake about the casualty, he'll thank you for saving the surviving hostages, and you'll still receive the same reward. Also, though it doesn't seem to have a greater narrative impact, some NPCs that you'll encounter in later Missions will no longer praise you for bringing an end to the hostage situation without a casualty.

However, if a hostage is caught in your crossfire or if you deliberately murder a hostage, you'll face the following consequences:

• Your Companion will become angry and abandon you.
• A Bounty will be placed on your head.
• All Akila City Security Guards will try to take you down.
• The bank thieves will open fire and try to kill you.
• You can no longer successfully complete Job Gone Wrong which will likely prevent you from ever joining the Freestar Rangers.