Starfield The Hammer Falls Guide: Should you take Ron Hope’s bribe?

The Hammer Falls is the final mission in the Freestar Rangers’ main faction questline in Starfield. Your ultimate choice revolves around the fate of Ron Hope and whether or not you should accept his bribe or turn him in to the Marshal. Considering the stakes of this quest, you might want to know the ramifications of your actions ahead of time.

After dismantling the First Calvary, the last standing commander will hand you a tablet implicating the charismatic leader of Hopetown, Ron Hope, in a scheme to force farmers off their land. Before meeting up with the Marshal, you will need to confront Ron Hope in Hopetown. Be warned: there are spoilers ahead for the Freestar Collective faction quests.

What happens if you kill Ron Hope in Starfield?

Whenever you approach Ron Hope, he will first attempt to evade being turned in by bribing you. If you decide to take Hope up on his bribe, then you will receive at least 20,000 credits, though you can negotiate your way up to 50,000 credits. You can also choose to ignore Hope’s bribe but still urge him to cease his operation.

You will then need to return to Marshal Blake to report the criminal behind the dead farmers. If you chose to side with Ron Hope, then you will be forced to lie to the Marshal, whether or not you accepted Hope’s hush money.

If you do not accept Hope’s bribe, then he will turn hostile towards you. The confrontation will eventually break out into a gunfight, and you will need to kill both Hope and his guards. While you will lose out on the large sum of credits from Hope, you will get to keep the incriminating tablet.

Whenever you return to Marshal Blake, you can hand over your evidence to justify your killing of Hope. Though Marshal Blake will lament that Hope’s death will complicate the Freestar Collective’s Council, he still commends you for your actions.

Should you accept Ron Hope’s bribe in Starfield?

Personally, I choose not to accept Ron Hope’s bribe and instead turn in the incriminating tablet to Marshal Blake. This is only because I played my character as a dedicated Freestar Collective Ranger, though you can just as easily take Hope’s bribe with no major consequence.

If you decide to side with Hope, the incriminating tablet will be destroyed, and Marshal Blake will accept your lie at face value. No matter what, you will still be named a fully-fledged Freestar Ranger, receive a large sum of credits, and the Star Eagle, one of the best ships in Starfield.