Chapter-by-Chapter Walkthrough
Prologue — Verge Station, Gate 17
The game opens with you at Gate 17 of Verge Station, receiving a suspicious cargo assignment from the automated dispatcher. Three options:
- Take the run — Skips the child encounter entirely. Not recommended for a first playthrough.
- Peek inside the crate ✓ — The recommended path. Reveals the Weaver Child and opens all three branching choices.
- Walk away — Alternative path where the Fold finds you regardless.
If you peek, save the child. This is the single most important decision in the game. See Save the Child for details.
Chapter 1 — Keros-4 and Vex
After the prologue, you fly to Keros-4 and meet Vex. Her encounter has three main outcomes:
- Listen and understand ✓ — Recommended. +50 Vex reputation, opens Weaver alliance.
- Combat — Tough fight at Chapter 1 level. Kills Vex in this branch only.
- Refuse — Neutral path. Still progresses the story.
Secondary Chapter 1 objectives: bank 20,000-30,000cr through cargo trade, hire Mara Voss at Verge Station, visit Keros-7 to meet the Traveling Merchant. Consider the Missing Pilot side quest at V-77 for a legendary relic.
Chapter 2 — The Weaver Sanctum
Chapter 2 brings you to the Weaver Sanctum in the Silent Fold. Major decisions:
- Accept or refuse Vex's gift (the Vex Prism) — Accepting is recommended for most endings.
- Commit to the Weaver alliance — Reputation-gated; reaching +60 unlocks Weaver ships.
- Ritual of Seventeen Mirrors — At +80 Weaver reputation, optional but grants the Weaver Fragment relic.
Chapter 2 is also when you can upgrade to a Rare-tier ship (Weaver Skiff, Gunship MK-II, or Corvette). If you saved the child, "The Child" becomes available as free crew here. Bank credits to 75,000+ for Chapter 3.
Chapter 3 — The Three Leads
Chapter 3 presents three leads, each taking you to a different region. You can pursue only one per playthrough:
- Lead A: Scourge Reach — Takes you to the Black Site. Main reward: partial Keystone coordinates. Major decision: the wired Weaver prisoner.
- Lead B: Silent Fold (Oracle) ✓ — Recommended cleanest path. Exact Keystone coordinates but costs a memory.
- Lead C: The Keros Wreck — Finds a dead version of yourself with cryptic warnings. Partial coordinates plus the Fold Phantom encounter.
Lead B is canonically the "intended" path for first playthroughs. The other leads offer different insights and different difficulties. All three eventually converge on the Chapter 4 approach.
Chapter 4 — The Keystone Chamber
Chapter 4 is the approach to the Keystone in the Silent Fold. The chapter's critical moment is the "temptation" scene (c4_temptation) where the four endings are offered:
- Prune the tree → Sacred Timeline ending
- Walk away → Multiverse ending
- Take another branch → Another Life ending (requires a pruned branch where you took the prologue bribe)
- Burn the tree → End of History ending
Each ending is gated by specific prerequisites. See All Endings for the full requirements. Chapter 4 also contains optional boss encounters with the Fold Phantom (if not already encountered) and the Keystone sentinel.
Chapter 5 — Epilogue
Chapter 5 is the epilogue of whichever ending you chose. Each ending has its own Chapter 5 scene set that extends the narrative into the aftermath. If you own a paid epilogue expansion, Chapter 5 is significantly extended with additional content, characters, and sometimes new systems to explore.
After completing Chapter 5 for the first time, the Keystone ship becomes available for purchase in the Trunk Chamber (1,200,000cr). You can continue playing in the completed timeline or rewind to explore alternate endings.
Recommended full-game path
- Prologue: save the child
- Chapter 1: listen to Vex, trade cargo, hire Mara Voss and Brood-7
- Chapter 2: alliance with Weavers, accept Vex Prism, upgrade to Rare-tier ship
- Chapter 3: Lead B (Oracle), accept the memory trade
- Chapter 4: prune the tree → Sacred Timeline ending
- Chapter 5: accept the job, see the photograph
This path produces the highest-content first playthrough. Subsequent runs should rewind to explore other endings.
New Game Plus considerations
After completing any ending, starting a new playthrough carries forward: ship fleet, purchased epilogues, cosmetics, and achievement progress. Credits reset. Reputation resets. Story progress resets but the timeline tree remembers all prior branches as ghost branches. Vex and the Oracle recognize returning players and deliver modified dialogue.