Starfield Unearthed mission guide: Should you side with The Emissary, The Hunter, or neither?

Unearthed is one of the most important missions in Starfield, as you learn how Earth became uninhabitable and once again meet with the Starborn. By the end of the mission, both The Emissary and The Hunter offer to take you to The Unity. From here, you have the choice to side with either Starborn, or neither.

At this point, you have learned that the Starborn are humans that have entered into The Unity and since spread themselves across the multiverse, all with the intent of reaching The Unity once again. While The Hunter wishes to leave The Unity open to all explorers, The Emissary believes that access to becoming Starborn should be limited. Given the clashing ideologies between all three parties, you might want to know more about your decision before you feel the consequences.

Should you pick The Hunter or The Emissary in Starfield?

The choice of either The Hunter or The Emissary relies entirely on how you think The Unity should be approached. The Hunter contains a ‘might is right’ ideology that believes all those who find and gather the Artifacts deserve to reach The Unity. Given the power that the center of the universe wields, The Emissary instead holds that The Unity must be protected and only a few should be given the right to become Starborn.

In terms of immediate consequences, whichever ally you select will aid you in the fight against the other Starborn. For example, on my first run, I sided with The Hunter, who then helped me in the battle on the Buried Temple against The Emissary.

The long-term ramifications of your decision can be seen once you assemble your Armillary and Grav Jump to The Unity. Before deciding to walk into The Unity or return to your universe, you will see the various decisions you have made in your current playthrough. This includes your decision to side with The Hunter or The Emissary.

What happens if you side with neither Starborn in Starfield?

During your confrontation with The Hunter and The Emissary on Earth, your character can decide to go rogue and side with neither. This will make your fight against the two much more difficult, as you will not have help in either the clash in space or the battle in the Buried Temple.

Whenever you approach the two Starborn for the final conflict in the Buried Temple, you can completely avoid the final fight with a high enough Persuasion check. If you manage to convince The Hunter and Emissary to stand aside, then they will willingly give you their Artifact pieces and leave you to progress to The Unity.

With neither The Hunter nor Emissary’s ideology endorsed, your character will decide to leave the Artifacts and The Unity to be discovered by humans organically, leaving the public to decide what to do with the discovery.