The City and the Stars is one of the most critical main quests in The Outer Worlds, sending players directly into the high-society heart of Byzantium. Tasked by Phineas Welles with retrieving a supply of Dimethyl Sulfoxide, you must navigate corporate bureaucracy, secure access to restricted areas, and make pivotal choices that impact the future of the colony. Mastering this mission requires a sharp balance of disguise, dialogue skills, and strategic decision-making.
Infiltrating the Ministry of Accuracy and Extractions
Your journey begins in Byzantium, where you need to acquire an access keycard to reach the restricted lab facilities. You can speak with Minister Clarke's guard or bribe key contacts around the city to secure entry smoothly. Utilizing the Holographic Shroud allows you to blend in seamlessly without immediately alerting the local security personnel.
If stealth or disguise fails, players can rely on high dialogue attributes to persuade officials and bypass locked security checkpoints. Maintaining a clean record in Byzantium keeps future faction interactions far less complicated throughout your adventure. Taking time to explore surrounding offices often yields extra passwords and valuable security codes.
Locating and Handling the Dimethyl Sulfoxide
Once inside the restricted laboratory depths, you will locate the storage container holding the needed chemical compound. Dr. Chartrand oversees the facility, forcing you to choose between executing her or convincing her to aid your cause against the Board. This choice significantly shifts how both Chairman Rockwell and Phineas Welles view your allegiance.
To transfer the liquid, you must decide how much of the chemical supply to siphon into your transport canister. Taking the full amount provides Phineas with maximum resources, though it severely impacts the experimental subjects remaining inside the lab. Carefully evaluating your ethical priorities helps define your character's ultimate narrative direction.
Confronting Minister Clarke and Securing the Message
After acquiring the compound, you must gain access to Minister Clarke's estate to deliver or retrieve important broadcast communications. Confronting Clarke reveals surprising information regarding the Board's actual long-term survival plans for Halcyon. His insights clarify the true state of the colony's dwindling food and energy reserves.
Players can choose to support Clarke by broadcasting his urgent message directly to the public or hand the data over to the Board for immediate personal profit. Each decision recalibrates your reputation with Byzantium's governing elite and alters your standing with anti-Board factions. Completing this conversation successfully concludes the primary objectives of the questline.
Key Quest Outcomes and Next Steps
Finishing The City and the Stars opens up the final act of the game's main story, solidifying your path toward the endgame campaign. Securing the chemicals ensures Phineas can proceed with reviving the frozen colonists aboard the Hope. Alternatively, turning the material over to Chairman Rockwell locks in your alignment with corporate authority.
Before leaving Byzantium, review your updated quest log and ensure all optional side objectives in the district are fully wrapped up. The consequences of your choices in this mission ripple across subsequent dialogue options and ending slides. Strategic planning during this mission ensures your ideal ending for the Halcyon system remains within reach.
