Bethesda RPGs are monsters of intricate design. For every choice you make or NPC you talk to, several more open up to you as you create a story that’s personal to you. Well, that and the hilarious glitches that continue the tradition inStarfield. It’s fun to experience your playthrough and talk to others about their experiences to see what’s different.
Like with many of the decisions you’ll be making in the game, one will be which house of worship you will choose. you may either decide from jump at the character creation screen or take your time and find out in the game whether you’ll take to a belief or not. If you aren’t sure which you’d be into joining, maybe after reading which one is better below, you’ll be able to decide.
6Core Philosophy - House Of The Enlightened
The universe is a beast of infinite size, and humanity has had a difficult time unifying due to various ideologies about how the universe should thrive and why. Because of the struggle, three religions emerged into the cosmos, but only two of them were considered ‘acceptable’ sects to follow: the Enlightened, those who believe in themselves, and the Sanctum Universum, those who believe that God is waiting for them to find him.
While both institutions do charitable work around the Galaxy, the Sanctum Universum’s assistance comes at the cost of being converted to a believer as well. They are also known for picking up andleaving a colony to fend for themselvesif the inhabitants don’t convert their beliefs in enough time. The Enlightened help everyone they can because only humanity can help themselves prosper.
5Treasure - The Sanctum Universum
Once you pick your chosen house of thought, you are gifted with certain amenities and items. Think of it as a thank-you gift for joining their ranks.Each religion chest gives you some items and reading materials, either detailing a personal experience with the order as the Enlightened does or offering you some official text to catch you up.
Neither one of these chests is truly anything to write home about, but if you decide early enough in the game that you want to join, then you’ll have some decent boosts from the tops you receive. The Enlightened poncho gives you a plus ten HP boost, but the Neocity Urbanwear top provides a five percent oxygen recovery that you just can’t beat.
4Headquarters - The Sanctum Universum
Just because both are located on New Atlantis doesn’t mean that their Headquarters are of the same caliber. Though having been around longer, The House of the Enlightened dons a modest look to match its ideals of helping the people before helping yourselves. Why have an immaculate office when those resources can be used to help others in need?
However, you just can’t deny the sheer opulence of the golden Sanctum Universum’s home base. It’s surrounded by tall, white buildings and fresh flora to keep the air clean and smelling nice. Certainly helps that they are near the headquarters of the United Colonies and their beautiful, if slightly cold, architecture.
3Traits - Tie
As you start the game, you’re given an extensive character creator to fine-tune your avatar in both looks and stats. All are par for the course,but the traits are where the game truly begins. They can affect your experience both in and out of combat, some can instantly make you a space outlaw having to fend off those brave enough to chase you.
The Raised Enlightened and the Raised Universal traits… not so much. Picking either trait is the same as not equipping anything at all, as all it does is lock you out of the opposing chest. There’s no bonus or penalty to combat. Better still, you can still unlock the loot chest without it, rendering them unnecessary.
2Universal Influence - The Sanctum Universum
This category is kind of difficult to name a winner because both factions have dedicated their time and resources to better humanity in different ways. As the Enlightened do all they can to help people as they need it in the present, The Sanctum, on the other hand, has created history and changed all of humanity with the controversial Grav Drive.
Developed by Doctor Aiza, the Grav Drive allows humanity to travel faster than the speed of light and discover new worlds. This great technology comes at a great cost, but some might argue the sacrifice was made for the greater good of all mankind. Whether that remains a fact centuries from now remains to be seen.
1Overall - Your Choice
In the end, finding your religion in game shouldn’t be this hard, end-all-be-all decision for you. It’s meant to add some color and an additional sprinkling of lore for you to further immerse yourself into the Galaxy of Starfield. There’s no penalty for choosing one over the other, aside from a few enemies from opposing ideologies. You could even throw both of these ideas out the window and instead join the House Va’ruun, the religion that most of the galaxy considers to be a cult. They give better perks anyway.
Isn’t that part of the fun? To be able to create something outside of yourself and experience things that you would never do in real life? Religion in the game is an infinitesimal part of the Starfield experience as a whole, but it only further proves that the creatives of the game went above and beyond in the minute details that build the world of Starfield.
