Starfield No Sudden Moves walkthrough
Here's how to successfully steal an artifact from Captain Petrov in No Sudden Moves
How can you successfully steal an artifact in the No Sudden Moves mission? The Starfield Short Sighted mission concludes on The Eye with Vladimir Sall and he's immediately very keen to share more tips with you on where to head next in the hunt for the artifacts. This time, it's a collector called Captain Petrov who holds an artifact aboard his ship, The Scow. Vladimir wants you to go full space pirate and steal the artifact to return it to The Lodge.
You'll be given a companion to accompany you to Captain Petrov's ship, based on whom you have the least relationship with. The importance of this will become much clearer later on in Starfield's main missions. For us, it was Barrett, who unfortunately has a bit of a ropey history with the Captain. We'll explain more about that below. Depending how you follow our steps, you'll want to make sure you're loaded with the best weapons you can get your hands on and have utilized all your skill points to be best prepared for No Sudden Moves.
Starfield No Sudden Moves walkthrough
To complete the No Sudden Moves mission, you'll want to complete the following objectives:
- Go to The Scow
- Enter The Scow
- Talk to Captain Petrov
- Steal the artifact
- Leave The Scow
- Return to The Lodge
- Add the artifact to the collection
Follow the detailed steps below carefully or you'll find yourself hoping back into your quicksaves to try again. We've laid out all the options below to make for a swift space heist.
1. Go to The Scow
First, you must fast travel to the Procyon A system where you'll come across The Scow in orbit. It won't be as simple as docking to The Scow though as the mission clearly states that we're here to steal something.
Instead you will need to hail The Scow in order to open up a dialogue with the crew. Here you have three options:
- Option 1: Attack
- Option 2: Persuade
- Option 3: Rely on your companion to do the talking
Option 1 will result in a big old space fight that, unless you've somehow leveled up your ship for such a battle will result in your ship losing. Even if you do win, when boarding The Scow you'll be met with a lot of hostility from the crew onboard making this mission a lot harder.
Option 2 is to use your Persuasion skill with some dialogue options. For us, this was the best option as the crew liked that we were from Constellation and that we needed to board because their lives depended on it.
Option 3 is to rely on your companion. Here's where having Barrett onboard didn't work well as Captain Petrov doesn't like him and so choosing not to mention him was the best option. If you've someone like Sam Coe onboard with you, letting him do the talking is more successful.
2. Enter the Scow
If you've used the power of words to board The Scow, your presence onboard will be received well. If you've chosen to attack, as mentioned, there will be hostility and more fighting.
You will be spoken to by Tao Xun who will give you some details about Captain Petrov, his collection, and a special key for accessing his most prized possessions. It doesn't matter what you say back to Tao as he'll let you advance through the ship to find Captain Petrov regardless.
3. Talk to Captain Petrov
Follow the blue locator onboard The Scow to make your way to Captain Petrov who will be sitting on a lavish throne in the middle of a room filled with parts of his collection in glass cabinets. Plus, lots of guards. If you speak to the three guards; Raptor, Bull, and Erin September and pay them 1000 credits they'll give you intel of an escape route from the vault which will launch the optional side mission, ‘Find the Thin Walls'.
You're here to steal the artifact and Captain Petrov is your key (quite literally for one path) to this, there's three options for how you can successfully retrieve it.
- Option 1: Persuade him with flattery
- Option 2: Pickpocket the key
- Option 3: Attack him
For option one, you can use your Persuasion skill to throw a lot of flattery at Captain Petrov. He loves it and, depending on who your companion is, may even appreciate it if they speak to him. Even though Vladimir informed us that Barrett has a bad history with Captain Petrov, he actually likes talking to his old friend and backs down easily. Even leading you to the vault.
For option two, you can use your Stealth skill to creep up behind Captain Petrov's throne and pickpocket him without being seen. If you are seen, you won't be able to try this again. If you're not, when entering the vault the guards will still attack you.
For option three, you can choose to attack Captain Petrov. The key here is to cause enough damage directly to Captain Petrov to make him surrender and the rest of his crew will stand down too. If you don't cause enough damage, his crew will put up a very strong fight descending upon you until you eventually take Captain Petrov down enough.
Option three appears to be the best option. Even if you successfully persuade Petrov to take you down to the vault and let you inside, he'll open up a new dialogue with three options. It doesn't matter which one you pick, ultimately you'll either grab the artifact and he'll attack or you can just straight attack him. Similarly, hurt him enough and he surrenders.
4. Steal the artifact
Whichever option you choose to follow, you'll eventually reach the point of stealing artifact Phi from the vault. For this, you'll receive a United Colonies bounty of 500 credits.
5. Leave The Scow
If you opted to speak to the guards earlier, you can find the thin walls and equip your Cutter to escape through a passageway from the vault thus completing the optional side mission.
If you've managed to get Captain Petrov to surrender, you will be allowed to peacefully look around The Scow and loot what you want before leaving. You'll be able to board your ship and depart The Scow without too much hassle… but, let's not forget the bounty.
6. Return to The Lodge
You're a criminal now considering you just stole from The Scow and the United Colonies bounty will highlight you as such. Upon leaving The Scow and attempting to head back to The Lodge on Jemison, you can either find a way to clear your bounty or be taken in by the UC Vanguard that will start the side mission, Deep Cover.
7. Add the artifact to the collection
Whether you've fast traveled away and avoided the UC Vanguard, cleared your bounty, or attacked or surrendered to the UC Vanguard, you'll eventually need to head back to The Lodge and add your artifact to the collection.
It is worth noting here that once you add your artifact to the collection, Starfield's next main mission, High Price to Pay, will automatically start. Make sure you're ready to continue before you place artifact Phi on the pedestal.
That's it for the No Sudden Moves main mission. As always, it's good to take some time to reflect on how far you've come and what you've gathered along the way, so make sure you've figured out what you're aiming for next with the best builds as well as best ships, and best powers.