Starfield: Should you side with The Emissary or The Hunter?

Rajarshi Acharya
starfield unity

Starfield packs in many meaningful choices that come with major consequences. But perhaps the most difficult is picking between The Emissary and The Hunter, so here’s everything you need to know before picking a side in Starfield.

Starfield, like other Bethesda RPGs, doesn’t shy from forcing players into making important decisions that can greatly impact the endings of quests and even the rewards on offer. Many quests in the game have choices attached to them that can even change your affinity towards its major factions.

A prominent example of this pops up at the end of the Unearthed mission. As you exit NASA HQ, you’ll find The Emissary and The Hunter waiting for you. This is where you’ll have to make a tough choice by deciding who to support and remembering that your decision will affect your campaign’s ending.

Before you proceed, however, keep in mind that the following article contains Starfield spoilers. With that out of the way, here’s everything to know before picking The Emissary or The Hunter in Starfield.

Should you pick The Emissary or The Hunter in Starfield?

the emissary and the hunter in starfield
Starfield comes to a conclusion after finishing Unearthed.

You should choose The Emissary if you want to go with the seemingly ‘good’ outcome in Starfield, but for a more chaotic or supposedly ‘evil’ ending, you’ll want to side with The Hunter.

The Hunter believes that the Unity should be open to everyone. Meanwhile, The Emissary wants to protect it from those they deem unworthy of using it. Starfield also allows you to take an alternate route where they both turn against you.

You will have the option to use Persuasion on The Hunter, The Emissary, or both when confronting them in Starfield. You won’t receive a weapon as a reward, but doing this means avoiding particularly difficult fights.

What happens if you side with The Emissary in Starfield?

If you side with The Emissary in Starfield, they will be a temporary ally during the mission. They will stick around after the quest is over to look for people who are deserving of being Starborn. If you pick this route in Starfield, you must either kill the Hunter or talk him down.

the emissary in starfield
Choosing one means killing or talking down the other.

If you choose to kill The Hunter, a unique laser rifle called Unmitigated Violence will be yours. This weapon deals double damage to enemies with full health, and it also irradiates and frenzies all targets.

What happens if you side with The Hunter in Starfield?

If you side with The Hunter in Starfield, just like the first option, they’ll be a temporary ally during Unearthed. In this route, you’ll have to kill or talk down The Emissary as well as Keeper Aquilus. The latter can be persuaded to go into hiding. Through the Unity, The Hunter is eventually reborn in a different universe.

If you manage to kill The Emissary, you’ll obtain Eternity’s Gate, a particle beam rifle. This weapon deals more damage to humans, fires two projectiles on every fourth shot, and has volatile rounds that do extra damage.

What happens if you don’t side with The Hunter or The Emissary Starfield?

the hunter in starfield
You have three routes to take in the final mission.

If you want both unique weapons or just prefer an alternate route, you can decide to take on both The Emissary as well as The Hunter in Starfield. Just like before, you can talk them down or engage in combat with them.

Keep in mind that this battle is a lot more challenging than the others. This ending ensures that the Starborn won’t interfere in humanity’s search for Artifacts.

That wraps up everything you need to know about siding with The Emissary or The Hunter in Starfield. If you want to learn more about the game, check these out:

Starfield: How to fix stuttering & low FPS issues on PCAll Starfield console commands: All cheat codes | Does Starfield have New Game Plus? | Is Starfield on Steam Deck? | Will Starfield have DLC & story expansions? | Starfield Outposts explained: How to build bases | Starfield plants explained: All types & how to scan | Who is the Adoring Fan in Starfield?