The United Colonies’ capital of New Atlantis at first appears to be a utopian paradise, even if its founders presumably forgot what happened to its namesake. After leaving the mining outpost on Vectera, this shining metropolis is your next story destination inStarfield, although you’re free to go wherever else you’d like.
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Entering will reveal that there’s more to New Atlantis than meets the eye, from its government’s convoluted bureaucratic systems to the hidden underbelly of The Well. Whether you’re exploring the city’s glamourous façade or visiting strictly on business, here are some hidden details and secrets you might not have noticed in New Atlantis.
8Argos Extractors Office
Visiting a company’s head office is rarely an awe-inspiring event in the real world, and although the same is somewhat true in Starfield, entering the Valberg Building’s elevator to the correct floor will allow you to visit your former employers, and even report the pirate attack on Vectera.
This small detail does a lot to help New Atlantis really feel like a capital city where you’re able to find any of the settled systems’ major businesses, and to make your previous job with Argos feel like a little more than just the game’s introductory segment. Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, the office proudly displays some rare resources that are just begging to be re-appropriated by a dashing Spacefarer like yourself.
7Jemison’s Namesake
New Atlantis is located in the Alpha Centauri system, one of those most local to Earth’s solar system in the game’s map. While you may have noticed the planet Gagarin, named for the world’s first cosmonaut, the rest of the system’s planets are also named for a variety of real-life astronauts.
Chief amongst these is Jemison, whose namesake Mae Jemison became the first African-American woman in space in 1992. Following this, she also made an appearance in a 1993 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation as Lieutenant Palmer, becoming the first of several astronauts to appear in the series.
6The Hunter’s Haunt
The Viewport is one of the first locations you’ll come across in New Atlantis, a bar located in the spaceport area where you can pick up drinks, missions, or clear your bounty. It also contains manypotential crew membersor followers, both named and unnamed, with whom you’ll fill your ships and outposts. Standing out amongst these is The Hunter.
An enigmatic figure skulking at the back of the bar, The Hunter can be conversed with, although doing so gleans little further information about him. Whoever or whatever he is, The Hunter comes across as both intelligent and dangerous, and although he seems placid, you’ll surely hope not to cross him under the wrong circumstances.
5Steal From ATMs
Space exploration doesn’t come cheap, which is why much of the settled systems work in more traditional industries like retail, hospitality, and operation of zero-gravity casinos. Since these options aren’t particularly appealing, you may find yourself looking to top up your income occasionally whilstshopping in New Atlantis’ commercial district.
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A useful trick for any stealth-minded Spacefarer is that the city’s ATMs can be unlocked by those able to pick advanced locks or higher. With several of the machines located across the city, these convenient cashpoints’ contents can become yours, provided you aren’t spotted picking their locks. GalBank won’t even notice it’s gone!
4The Lodge’s Secret Exit
The Lodge is Constellation’s main base of operations, located in a quiet corner of the city. Although Constellation are an explorer’s guild, the Lodge is a secure location only accessible with the Chronomark watch provided to you by Barrett and contains a fully equipped workshop for all of your equipment upgrading needs.
Exploring downstairs in the building reveals this workshop, and a secondary exit presumably reserved for emergencies, which takes an undesirable route through the sewers before emerging in The Well. Perhaps an even more surprising discovery is that Cora Coe, Constellation member Sam Coe’s daughter, has her bedroom in this bare-bones basement level, presumably after getting on Sarah’s bad side.
3Helena Chambers: Space Karen
The former administrator of United Colonies Starstation RE-939, a civilian research station overrun by Va’Ruun zealots, Helena Chambers can first be encountered in the New Atlantis spaceport, having escaped the attack on a shuttle after abandoning the station’s inhabitants to save her own life.
Her selfishness comes back to bite her, as her failure to follow UC protocol for evacuation leaves her a victim to the system she once used to control others, and her authority is revoked by MAST for her failures. Although many might assume her story ends there, Chambers is forced to get a job at Terrabrew, where she continues to menace anyone who approaches her, though now in a position of little power.
2Back Door To House Va’Ruun
Following the faction’s withdrawal into seclusion, and with the serpent god’s zealots carving a trail of destruction through the galaxy, the House Va’Ruun embassy in New Atlantis has been abandoned. Located near the Mast Building, it stands in growing disrepair, contrasting with its heavily maintained surroundings.
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With its front entrance inaccessible, the embassy seems a sign of some classicBethesdacut content, likely intended to have a full questline of its own. Whether or not this is the case, the embassy is in fact accessible, although only as part of the UC Vanguard quest Friends Like These. Entering via a discreet door near the GalBank building, you’ll be able to explore the overgrown interior of the abandoned embassy and discover the secrets of this mysterious cult for yourself.
1Loot For Saanvi
Following the UC Vanguard questline brings its own rewards, and citizenship is chief among them. Once you become a UC citizen, you’ll be able to buy property in the capital city and become a resident yourself. The lowest rung on this property ladder is an apartment you can pick up for 30,000 credits and is unsurprisingly located in The Well.
Even if you don’t own the apartment, a little parkour will give you access to the balcony, where you can drop to some pipes leading to a vent that opens into a hidden room with loot ripe for the taking. A slate titled For Saanvi is left alongside it, detailing that the UC will be looking for the loot, which is their property. In picking it up (free loot is free loot, after all), you’ll teach both the UC and Saanvi a valuable lesson: finders keepers!
