The galaxy ofStarfieldis immense. Not only does it featurelengthy quest lines for every major faction, but players can also happen across seemingly random encounters that start significant quests of their own. One such mission is “Groundpounder,” which can start as a random meeting with another ship in space. This quest can be intense if players come across it during the early stages ofStarfield, but a character who only just reached Alpha Centauri should be able to take this mission on. The trickiest part is figuring out where and how to get started.
RELATED:Starfield: Complete Star Map
How to Start Groundpounder in Starfield
There are two ways to begin this quest. First, if players visit Aranae IV-A for the first time, a random freighter will contact their ship and warn them about a distress signalthey heard in the Altair system. Players can respond to the freighter however they like, but if they show interest in helping, the mission “Groundpounder” will appear in the mission log.
The other way to start the mission is to visit Altair directly. Players can hear the distress call for themselves, and the mission “Groundpounder” will appear in their log whether they plan on responding or not. The sender, Private Mahoney, is in no position to take incoming calls, so players should head straight down to the research station indicated.
Lift the Siege
Before landing, players should verify they haveplenty of ammo for their preferred weapons. The fighting starts as soon as players leave their ship and doesn’t stop until the mission ends.
Around half a dozen Spacers are on the grounds between the landing pad and the research station. The landing pad is empty, so players can either keep their distance and pick the Spacers off or rush inand engage with melee weapons.
Players can explore the grounds to find several resource containers with a few useful resources inside, and the front entrance to the research building is on the south side. Players can also find a back entrance on the north side,but the door is unpickable.
Once inside, the path through the station is mostly linear, thanks to locked doors and barricades. First, turn left and walk through the door marked Research 01. Take another left, fight the Spacers, and then take the stairs to the Server room. Before reaching the servers, players should notice a room marked “Storage” that the objective marker points to. Open the door to find Private Mahoney, who sent the distress signal.
Mahoney mentions that, while the facility belongs to the Freestar Collective, a team of United Colony Marines also responded to the distress call and have been defending the place against the Spacer assault. She also asks players to go relieve the defenders in the Comms Center.
Head through the server room to go around a barricade and climb the stairs. They lead directly to an encounter with eight Spacers outside the Comms Center. Be sure to check all the Spacer bodies before moving on because they have a high chance of dropping the text log “Secret Outpost!“which starts the mission “Mantis.”
Enter the Comms Center and speak to Corporal Lezama, one of the UC Marines. He’ll give the player a key that opens new doors in the research station and ask that they find Lieutenant Torres. The door his key opens is back by the stairs players took to reach the Comms Center, leading to another staircase.
Another group of Spacers is in the labs area, so deal with them and then take another staircase up to the Head of Research office. Torres is in here, and he’ll tell players to head around to the Office room to relieve Captain Myeong of the UC Marines. Before leaving, players should search the room to find several expensive sculpturesand a pile of cred sticks.
When players enter the Office room, a wave of Spacers will enter from the far side of the room and attack. Once the assault ends, Captain Myeong will introduce herself, and Lieutenant Torres will ask players to help a remote Research Camp on Altair II. At this point, players will get a new key that opens the back entrance to the station, but a nearby door also leads directly to the front entrance.
RELATED:Starfield: All Free Ships (& How to Unlock Them)
Protect the Camp
The Research Camp will appear at a random spot on Altair II once players return to their ship. The camp is some distance away from the landing site, so once again, players can pick off the attacking Spacers from a distance or sneak closer and fight them at close range.
Players can enter the camp building once the six Spacers are down and speak to the Freestar Militia. With that done, it’s time to head back to the main station and Captain Myeong. Luckily, players will find her waiting by the landing pad. Speak to her to start the next stage of the mission.
Defeat the Spacer Fighters
To stop the constant flow of Spacer reinforcements, players must head to Altair I and Altair Vand defeat the fighter escorts they find. Each set of three ships includes power levels ranging from level 4 to level 12, so focus on the weakest enemies first to reduce the amount of incoming firepower. If players haven’t had a chance to upgrade or replace their starting ship, this may be the toughest part of “Groundpounders.”
RELATED:Starfield: How to Add Workbenches to Ships
Defeat the Attack
When players return to the research station, they’ll again find themselves in the middle of a firefight. This time, the militia and marines are outside and fighting the Spacers, but most of the enemies will target the player once they make themselves known.
After most of the Spacers by the station go down, two ships full of reinforcements will land on the hill southwest of the station. The first wave will usually get sidetrackedattacking the local wild animals, so players should have plenty of time to get close or climb the nearby tower to get a good angle on the enemies.
Groundpounder Rewards
Once the last of the Spacers die, players can speak to Captain Myeong to end the mission. The reward is 5,000 credits,a rare and modified Peacekeeper, and 330 XP.
Starfieldis available now on PC and Xbox Series X/S.
