Starfield ‘One Giant Leap’ quest walkthrough, and if you should enter the Unity or leave

Starfield’s final quest, “One Giant Leap,” is a bit of an odd one. It only takes a few minutes to complete, but offers one of the most important decisions in the entire game — one that can be pretty easy to accidentally misunderstand, despite the narrative warning.

In this Starfield guide, we’re going to walk you through the “One Giant Leap” quest, and help you make the decision that makes the most sense for you and your character.

Wrapping things up

This is the final quest in the game, and depending on the decision you make, you might not see this world again. There’s a bit of wrap-up and busywork to do before you go.

Talk to your friends before you leave (Optional)

Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks via Polygon

The Unity is deeply mysterious, so all the characters want to say a quick “thanks and see you later” to you before you head inside — just in case. Head back to the Lodge and walk around to have a chat with all of your friends (don’t forget Vasco, the robot).

Depending on how fast you’ve gone with the main quest, it’s possible you haven’t waited the five days between the death of your companion and their memorial. If you still have the “Missed Beyond Measure” quest, now is the time to do it. You can skip right to the memorial by resting in your bed in the Lodge.

Build the Armillary on your ship // Power up the Grave Drive to jump to the Unity // Or remove the Armillary to Grav Jump normally

Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks via Polygon

Once you’re ready to go and see what the end of the game has in store, build the Armillary on your ship and add the final artifacts to it — keep in mind that you might need to pick your Armillary up from an outpost if you left it there earlier in the game.

With the Armillary built, head out into orbit around any planet and tick your Grav Drive up one power. Your ship will instantly make a jump into a mysterious zone.

If you change your mind at any point in this process and decide you have more errands to run, remember that you have to dismantle the Armillary in the little ship menu or else you’ll end up jumping to the Unity on accident.

Into the Unity

Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks via Polygon

The Unity is a mysterious area somewhere in the heavens where you’ll meet an interesting but familiar character who will offer you an impactful choice.

[Warning: This next section includes massive spoilers for Starfield]

Choosing the Unity or your universe

When you enter the Unity, you’ll be surrounded by stars and celestial bodies floating in the distance. And somehow you’ll be standing on solid ground. Ahead of you you’ll see the back of someone in a Constellation suit, looking at a glowing ball: the Unity.

Walk up and talk to this mysterious figure, who you’ll quickly learn is actually you. You’ll tell yourself all about the Unity and eventually give you a choice: leave your universe behind for something grander or return to the universe you know.

Walk into the Unity

Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks via Polygon

The game tries to warn you with some narrative fluff your character says, but even then it’s not as clear as perhaps it should be, so let us state it as plainly as we can: Walking into The Unity is tantamount to starting a new game plus.

If you walk through The Unity you will lose almost everything. Your money, ship, suit, resources, weapons, and more will be gone. The only thing you’ll keep are your powers, your level, and your skills.

However, you’ll start in space in a Starborn ship and a Starborn suit — both yours. This is the major advantage to starting a second playthrough, as both of these are excellent tools for helping you adventure your way around the universe.

As for the main quest, you’ll immediately get told to go to the Lodge. When you arrive, you’ll find the same Constellation members you found when you first showed up in the “One Small Step” quest all those hours ago. They’ll tell you you look familiar, and you’ll get the option to either skip the main quest or replay it.

Once you make your choice, you’ll be off to the races on a new playthrough. But, unless you load an old save, you can’t return to your first playthrough and all that loot. Choose wisely.

Leave the Unity and come back later

Once you talk to you inside the singularity, and you’re offered the opportunity to step into The Unity and become reborn, you have the option to turn right around and walk away. If you’re not ready to start new game plus just yet, turn around and walk toward the empty stars, away from the NPC version of you and The Unity. You’ll need to walk for a while, but you’ll eventually emerge back on your ship with the Armillary temporarily dismantled.

You’ll now have the option to return to The Unity at any time. Simply reinstall the Armillary and boot up your Grav Drive when you’re ready for a brand new adventure.

Once you’ve reached “One Giant Leap” you’ll be out of main story quests to do. Congratulations, you’ve beaten Starfield’s main campaign. Now all you have to do is all the Faction missions and the game’s 80 billion side quests.