We’re near the end of the Freestar Rangers questline with the quest ‘First to Fight, First to die’. The quest is relatively straightforward but can be extremely difficult, depending on how prepared you are for combat. Many gunfights and space fights are involved in this quest, so bring your A-game.
Starfield: First to Fight, First to Die Walkthrough
You unlock the First to Fight, First to Die quest after completing the quests On the Run and Surgical Strike.
Attend the Meeting
The quest starts with you attending a meeting at the Rock in Akila City with Marshall Daniel Blake and Emma Wilcox. They’ll discuss and comment on how you have conducted yourself as a Ranger on the previous quests.
Alex Shaddid finished decrypting the three Encrypted Slates we had handed him, and we learn about a place called The Factory. Marshall Daniel Blake suggests going to an old mech factory on Arcturus II to investigate further.
Fight the First Ships
When you enter the Arcturus System and start approaching Arcturus II, a group of ships called The First Thresher will begin attacking your ship. Three waves of ships will spawn, with two enemy ships in each wave. You’ll have to fight and win the dogfight before you can land.
If you need help, you can check out our shipbuilding and dogfighting guides.
Investigating the Freestar Factory
When you start exploring the Factory, you’ll be assaulted by the first wave of the First’s mercenaries.
Defeat them and make your way to the orange door titled the Refinery. Note that the fights will only get tougher from here. If you're having trouble, try out some of the best early game weapons, the best spacesuits, and maybe even some early game XP farms.
Make your Way through the Refinery
Paxton Hull will talk to you over the intercom. There will be several rooms that you need to fight through, all crawling with enemies. There will be a lot of long-range combat involved, and the accuracy of these enemies can be ruthless. Be sure to snipe them from a distance or quickly close the gap and blow them all up.
You should spot an orange doorway marked 'Assembly' and start heading towards it. Keep following the quest marker till you come across a room with turrets, defeat the enemies and continue onwards.
Defeat Paxton
When you reach the final orange door for the ‘Operations’ centre, you’ll be welcomed by a room full of the First mercenaries and Paxton himself. Paxton is a level 30 enemy and starts attacking you from high up. You can choose to defeat him first or his mercenaries. Defeating Paxton first will provide quest markers for every other enemy’s location in the room.
Dealing with Paxton
We get to confront Paxton and hear his reasons about the person who hired him. You can either kill or spare Paxton. Both options will have the same outcome, so do what you think is best. He'll try to fight you unless you explicitly decide to spare him and die a soldier's death. He'll give you the Slate with evidence against the mastermind.
After defeating him, proceed to the room ahead for a bit of loot and a lift leading you outside.
Quest Rewards
Completing the Starfield First to Fight, First to Die quest unlocks the following rewards.
- Credits - 9600 (Depends on your level)
- EXP - 250
- Unlock The Hammer Falls
That completes our walkthrough for the Freestar Rangers' First to Fight, First to Die quest. It's time to end this questline with the next quest, 'The Hammer Falls'.