Entangled is a late-game main storyline mission in Starfield. Like many other past quests, Entangled asks you to retrieve an Artifact piece, although this time, you will have a universe-bending puzzle to overcome.
Most Constellation quests in Starfield require you to explore the galaxy and discover Artifact pieces to add to your Armillary. Though most Artifacts are found in abandoned caves, missions such as Entangled and No Sudden Moves see Artifact pieces that have already been extracted.
Upon hearing the distress call at Freya-III, you might get the idea that there is something different about this Artifact recovery quest. If you are trying to complete the Entangled mission in Starfield, this is what you need to do.
How to do the Entangled mission in Starfield
After entering into Freya-III’s orbit, you will be met with a distress call. Strangely, the research center below denies ever sending out a signal. Given this strange anomaly, you will be let into the research center. It is here that things take a turn, as you will be suddenly transported to a run-down version of the same research center.
During the introductory section of this quest, you will get a sense of how this mission will work. You are constantly shifting between two realities:
- Dr. Patel’s Reality: This is a much more pristine version of the research center. In this timeline, only Rafael Aguerro died during a tragic experiment. Here, you mostly fight against hostile robot and mech enemies.
- Rafael’s Reality: This is the ‘rotten’ reality where everyone except Rafael died during the experiment. Here, you will need to fight through scorpion-like alien creatures that litter the destroyed halls.
After speaking with both Dr. Patel and Rafael, this theory is confirmed, and you can talk to Maria to take the Probe Control Unit. Instead of randomly shifting between the two versions of reality, you can now willingly change between this ‘clean’ and ‘rotten’ reality.
Speaking with Dr. Patel again will hint at the choice you need to make at the end of the Entangled quest. Whichever reality to take the Artifact in will be the reality that persists, meaning you need to eventually make a choice between Rafael and Dr. Patel and her crew.
How to Override the Lockdown in the Facilities Section in Starfield
Your first step to ending this paradox is to override the lockdown currently enforced in the facilities section of the lab. To do this, you will need to shift in and out of the two realities, using the distortions to shift and avoid locked doors or obstructions. During my first run-through of this mission, I missed the distortions plenty of times, but below is a list of all the distortions that you need to keep an eye out for:
- Distortion One: At the elevator. Shift into the rotten reality to descend to the lab.
- Distortion Two: At the top of the stairs, right after the elevator. Shift back into Dr. Patel’s reality and continue downstairs to the nearest door.
- Distortion Three: In front of the locked doors at the end of the stairs.
- Distortion Four: Inside the lab, near where you pick up the Nishina Particle Lab Keycard.
- Distortion Five: Head downstairs and take the first door on your right. The distortion will be beside a supply closet.
- Distortion Six: This distortion will be hidden behind two machines behind the Lockdown Terminal that you need to override.
How to Override the Lockdown in the Accelerator Section in Starfield
Now that you know how to navigate around the two realities, get ready for some more combat-heavy sections in the Accelerator portion of the lab. Once you head downstairs, you will once again need to locate several distortions to traverse this strange maze.
- Distortion One: Found beside the locked doors leading to the Accelerator section. This will shift you from Dr. Patel’s reality back to Rafael’s reality.
- Distortion Two: Found at the bottom of the collapsed staircase. Directly behind the Nishina Utility Closet keycard that you need to pick up.
- Distortion Three: Double back upstairs, and you can find the Distortion beside the locked doors leading out of the Acceleration room.
- Distortion Four: At the end of the hall in front of the Acceleration room. This will bring you back to the clean reality where you can enter the Utility Closet.
- Distortion Five: Inside of the Utility Closet. In the rotten reality, there will be a large gap that leads you to the Acceleration Override Terminal.
- Distortion Six: Inside of the Security room. Shift back to Dr. Patel’s reality to use the working terminal to override the lockdown.
How to Override the Lockdown in the Storage Section in Starfield
The last override you need to make is in the storage section. Thankfully, this is much shorter and won’t need you to shift quite as much. Head to the bottom of the Acceleration section and go through the door that reads ‘Access Tunnel’ to find your first distortion.
Below are all the distortions that you will need to look out for:
- Distortion One: Inside the Access Tunnel. Enter into the rot reality and go through the gaping hole in the wall.
- Distortion Two: Inside of the rotten cavern. Ascend up to the next floor, and you will find the distortion beside an obstructed doorway.
- Distortion Three: Inside a lab found down the hall and to your left. The distortion is in front of several inaccessible computers.
- Distortion Four: Inside the room labeled ‘Emergency’ downstairs. Shift back to the cleaner reality and use the terminal to override the storage section lockdown.
How to get the Artifact in the Entangled mission in Starfield
Once all overrides have been made, you will be directed to the Artifact’s holding area. Here, you need to disengage seven power interlocks to get access to the Artifact. It is extremely important to note that whichever universe you unlock the seventh power interlock will become the reality that persists.
For example, if you shut down the final power interlock in Rafael’s reality, then you will lose Dr. Patel and her research crew. There are definitely advantages and disadvantages to saving either party, but the choice is ultimately yours to make.
How to save both universes in Starfield’s Entangled mission
While you can’t save both universes in Entangled, you can still reap the rewards of both choices if you’re up for plenty of fighting and interdimensional hopping. Once you get to the final room, where you have to throw seven switches and collect the Artifact, there are a few things you need to do:
- Kill every single enemy in the large, final room in each universe
- Activate every switch in the ruined universe, but don’t active any of them in the normal one
- Access the Lab Control Computer in each universe and select the ‘Degaussing’ option
- Follow the instructions in each universe’s ‘Degaussing’ section to throw the switches they tell you to
- Open the ‘Frequency Calibration’ from each universe’s Lab Control Computer
- Set the normal universe to 40GHz and set the ruined universe to 24GHz
- Activate the Primary Calibration Control from either universe
With all of this done, Rafael will be saved and brought back to the normal universe without the inhabitants of the normal universe being deleted from existence. Everybody wins! As a reward for your efforts, you’ll receive a handsome sum of 19,000 credits. Not too shabby for fixing an interdimensional problem.
