The Constellation and the Lodge might be the closet thing you have to a home in the wild expanse of space. But tough decisions abound in Starfield’s High Price to Pay when forced to choose between your newfound friends—so should you defend The Lodge or go to The Eye?
Starfield: Should You Go to The Eye or Defend the Lodge in High Price to Pay
After completing the tenth story mission, No Sudden Moves, you’ll arrive back at The Lodge with the Artifact from the Scow. Here, you’ll start the next mission, High Price to Pay. Noel will inform you The Eye has gone completely dark. And then you learn The Eye has been attacked, and their attacker is heading right for The Lodge. Now you’re faced with a decision: should you defend The Lodge or go to The Eye?
Note that there will be some major spoilers for the consequences of each choice. We genuinely believe that revealing all will be necessary in order for you to make the decision that’s right for you and your playthrough.
What Happens if You Go to The Eye During High Price to Pay in Starfield
So, this is the first option we chose for ourselves. But it comes, as the quest name suggests, with a high price.
By leaving the Lodge, you’ll find four companions on The Eye. These companions are Andreja, Barret, Sam Coe, and Vladimir. By selecting their first dialogue option, which tells them you’re there for them, you’ll get a huge boost of affection from them.
That’s nice, right? Now, here’s the hard part.
Return to The Lodge, and you’ll find that it’s been attacked by the Starborn, the Hunter. You’ll find Matteo, Walter, and Vasco alive. If you select their first dialogue option, asking them if they’re alright, Sam Coe will get a boost of affection. Sam Coe becomes your default companion after The Eye.
The only person who didn’t survive the attack is Sarah Morgan. She’s dead, and there’s no getting her back, as far as we can tell.
However, Noel still has The Artifact. You can find her in the basement of The Lodge. There, you’ll be chased by The Hunter through the basement, through The Well, and onto your ship. Once there, you’ll return to The Eye and decide to either keep the Artifact on your ship or on an Outpost of your making.
So, the big sacrifice here is Sarah Morgan.
What Happens if You Stay and Defend the Lodge in Starfield
If you opt to stay in The Lodge, you’ll briefly tussle with The Hunter, who has Walter in a chokehold. You’ll then follow Noel, with Vasco, Sarah, and Walter, out of the Lodge and into The Well. From there, you’ll get onto your ship and travel up to The Eye.
So, here’s where things fly up in the air. One of your Constellation companions will be dead. But that companion seems to be influenced by your affinity level with them. I suspect that you lose the character that you had the second-highest level of affinity with, after Sarah.
We had the highest level of affinity with Alejandra, and she survived. But Sam Coe, who we had some forced campaign affection with, was the one who died. And we’ll be honest, losing Sam sucked. His daughter is inconsolable and she hates you for letting her dad die.
Others have told me that they lost Barret, and others have reported that they lost Andreja. That means that Sam, Barret, and Andreja can each be permanently lost.
Starfield: Should You Choose, The Eye or The Lodge in a High Price to Pay?
Knowing which companion you’ll lose might make the decision easy enough for you. But if you’d prefer to really weigh the loss, here’s how it breaks down.
Sarah Morgan provides the following abilities when she’s a member of your crew:
- Astrodynamics: 4-star rank.
- Lasers: 3-star rank.
- Leadership: 2-star rank.
- Botany: 1-star rank.
Barret provides the following abilities:
- Starship Engineering: 4-star rank.
- Particle Beam Weapon Systems: 3-star rank.
- Robotics: 2-star rank.
- Gastronomy: 1-star rank.
Sam Coe provides the following abilities:
- Piloting: 4-star rank.
- Rifle Certification: 3-star rank.
- Payloads: 2-star rank.
- Geology: 1-star rank.
Andreja provides the following abilities:
- Stealth: 4-star rank.
- Particle Beams: 3-star rank.
- Energy Weapon Systems: 2-star rank.
- Theft: 1-star rank.
Whether you defend The Lodge or go to the eye, the outcomes are equal to each other. But we like Barret better, so sorry, Sarah. Beyond that, going to The Eye is the only way to get some major affection points. Since we’re romancing Andreja (or trying to, anyway), this was more beneficial for us.
Ultimately, it’s up to you.
Should You Defend the Lodge or Go to the Eye, Summarized
If you go to the Eye, Sarah Morgan will die. If you defend The Lodge, your second-closest companion will die instead. Either way, you will lose a companion. Defending The Eye will give you a better chance of saving your favorite companion and receiving some affection from them, but if your favorite companion is Sarah Morgan, you’ll want to defend The Lodge instead.
Whether you decide to defend The Lodge or go to The Eye, you’re going to need to fill the void. Replacing Sarah or Barret is a big ask. But there are quite a few companions scattered across the galaxy.
