Starfield Mantis Quest Guide: How to Complete the Secret Outpost Quest - RPG Informer (2024)

If there is something you should do as early as you can in Starfield, it is complete the Mantis quest. This is an early side quest you can find shortly after completing the mining prologue mission at the start of the game, and its rewards more than make it worth the effort. Here’s what you need to know about it in this Starfield Mantis quest guide.

The Mantis quest has to do with a legendary ship and other rewards that a famous space pirate hid away somewhere. Many have tried to claim this reward for themselves and failed spectacularly, but you won’t.

It is your job to find this legendary ship and gain one of the best early-game rewards that will let you for many hours. Find out where and how to do this quest in this Starfield Mantis quest guide.

Quest Details Up Front

Here is what you should know about this Starfield side quest before getting started:

• Quest Location: Denebola System
• Quest Giver: Secret Outpost Note
• Requirements: None (except completing the prologue and finding the note, though you may want to be at least level 10-15 to make this not too tough).
• Length of Quest: 1-1.5 hours
• Quest Difficulty: 8/10 (without a guide)

Mantis Quest Synopsis

The Mantis is the legendary pirate ship that every space pirate knows of. It is the stuff of legends, created and helmed by one of the most famous pirates in the galaxy.

But she is no longer around and has left this ship for someone to claim after her, but only if they can survive and defeat her trials. You can claim this ship and its other legendary rewards as your own in this quest.

Brief Walkthrough

For those of you in a super hurry to get this quest done and start roaming around the galaxy in your brand-new legendary ship, you’re in the right place. Here are the brief steps you should know about to get you through this quest and have you soaring the skies with your fancy new ride in no time:

1. Find the Secret Outpost note by looting it randomly off the bodies of space pirates in the galaxy (this is completely randomized).
2. Head to the Denebola System to the moon of Denebola I-b
3. Land near the Mantis outpost
4. Fight off the space pirates in and around the base
5. Locate Livvey, who you can choose to have join you, eliminate him, or tell him to run away
6. Listen to the logs and find out the truth about the origins of the Mantis ship (optional)
7. Complete the first puzzle. Spell out the word Tyrannis to move on
8. Defeat the robots, turrets, and other defenses
9. Use the terminal to move the Mantis to the surface
10. Claim any other rewards, such as the legendary armor (optional)
11. Go to the surface and enter your new legendary ship to complete the quest

Mantis Quest Extended Walkthrough

What you might find is that the Mantis quest in Starfield is one of the more puzzle-focused ones you’ll find in the game, which is quite unique for this combat and conversation-centric game.

This is why it can come as a shock for some players. As such, I have broken down everything you need to know about this quest and especially given details about how to start this quest, what rewards you get, and how to complete its puzzle below.

How to Acquire the Secret Outpost Note and Start the Quest

It all begins with starting the quest in the first place. For the most part, Starfield is pretty straightforward with how you start your quests. You either overhear someone talking about a particular event or person in need of help, and you instantly have the quest, or you speak with an NPC, and they give you a quest.

But the Mantis works a bit differently in Starfield. You have to find the Secret Outpost note and read it to get this quest in the first place. The problem with this is that it’s an entirely randomized loot drop from space pirates throughout the galaxy.

Worse still, if you don’t take the time to look through the belongings of every space pirate you take out, you are likely to miss out on this quest. That said, there are some players who get this quest quite early in their adventures throughout outer space.

For instance, if you go to Kreet as part of the prologue mission in Starfield, you’ll encounter quite a few space pirates. Most players I have seen in the game, including myself, found the Secret Outpost note as early as on the Kreet space pirate base.

All you need to do is take your time and be sure to loot the corpses of every space pirate foe you come across in the game. Note that this only works with the typical space pirates. You’ll unlikely find this loot from Crimson Fleet pirates and the like since they are a bit more organized.

Now, where this gets even more confusing is you can find the Secret Outpost note and still not have this quest. You have to physically read the note to learn about where the Mantis is seemingly located and then finally get the Mantis Secret Outpost side quest in Starfield.

If you are having trouble locating this quest and note, I suggest learning how to disable ships. As you fly around the galaxy, you’ll often encounter space pirate ships. Disable them, board them, and remove the people inside to loot them for this potential note. This is how I found the Secret Outpost note on my New Game+ run of the game.

Taking Out the Space Pirates

Once you have the note and quest, it is time to head to the Denebola System. Go to the first planet in the system, Denebola I, and to the second moon that it has orbiting itself. The game should mark this spot for you. You must now land at the Mantis Secret Outpost marker on the moon.

You’ll usually come across a bunch of space pirates around the base on the outskirts of it who also have the dream of finding this legendary Mantis ship.

You don’t have to take these people out, as they aren’t a requirement for the quest, so you could be like me and honestly run past them and enter the outpost itself. Or you could take them out for the credits, items, and experience they’ll give you.

Now, inside the base, you’ll find even more space pirates to deal with. These guys are also not required, but you should take them out as they will make exploring the base and completing its puzzles quite challenging. There are many space pirates on a couple of floors. You’ll need to navigate through this mostly linear base.

You should be careful as I ran into some foes who had rocket launchers and others who had machine guns and so on. They were honestly quite tough to handle and the most challenging part of this quest, combat-wise. But once you take out all of them, you are finally able to breathe and start focusing on the core part of locating the Mantis.

What to Do with Livvey?

Once you defeat all of the space pirates at the start of the outpost, you’ll come across the first puzzle you’ll have to do in this quest. Near the entrance to the puzzle is Livvey, the lone space pirate who will not attack you, unlike the others in his group.

You can speak with him to learn more about the puzzle; he will even give you some information about how to complete it in exchange for you letting him tag along to get some of the rewards from the outpost. There are a few options for how to deal with Livvey.

You can choose to trust him and let him follow you around. Doing so will let you in on a secret about the first puzzle in this lair, which is the hardest one, but you don’t need that with this guide. But you could also use the companion, so it might be worth considering.

On the other hand, you can tell Livvey to leave, and he will walk away, and you won’t have to kill him. Or, lastly, you could eliminate him and have him join his former comrades. I will spoil the first route for you here, so skip to the next section if you don’t want any spoilers for this quest.

If you choose to let Livvey join you temporarily, he will betray you at one point. He will also get his just desserts, but this can be a bit annoying. I went this route and had no problem with it in the end, but some players may be frustrated by the way he betrays you.

If I could redo the situation, I probably would have gone with the option to tell him to leave the base for good.

Learning More About the Backstory of the Mantis

While you are exploring the base, there are the occasional logs and notes you can find scattered around the outpost. You can even find some intercoms you can interact with. These are optional objectives within the quest itself, but they allow you to learn more about the backstory of the Mantis.

If you don’t want to go through the trouble of finding all of these lore items, which give you no extra reward, I have you covered since I found all of them for you. The only satisfaction you get from unlocking these is learning the truth of the legendary pirate ship you’re able to claim for yourself.

The story goes that a legendary space pirate took the Mantis for herself and became one of the top pirates in the galaxy. She was known throughout the galaxy and had many followers who listened to her guidance and ways. But there came a point where she began to think about the future.

She had a son who didn’t seem to be too keen on the pirate lifestyle. She initially left the Mantis ship for him, and the notes are all directed to him, but anyone who can find the ship first can claim it for themselves.

It becomes clear that she wanted her son to find the ship first but didn’t fully expect that to happen. And, sadly, he doesn’t, as you can find his body later in the outpost and his dying message.

How to Complete the Letters Puzzle

Once you explore the outpost, deal with Livvey, and find out more about the truth behind the Mantis, it is time to tackle the first puzzle in the Mantis trial. This is the hardest one, and the game doesn’t make it easy to solve without a guide. There are several rows of letters on the ground.

You are supposed to pass over the letters and step on the correct one to spell out a certain phrase. If you pick the wrong letter at any point on the way to the door, the turrets will start firing and mow you down. You can see the dead bodies of the pirates who already tried and failed to do this.

But if you spell out the right word, the door will be unlocked and ready for you to pass through at the end. For those who want to go this route, the word you need to spell out is this:

• Tyrannis

Only do a single letter at a time in the puzzle. For instance, on the first row, pass over the letter “T” and then “Y” on the next row, and so on until the end. As long as you get all the letters in that order, you’ll complete it without any issues.

On the other hand, there is a much easier way to do this part if you have the right skills. Before you enter the letters area, there is a locked gate. It is a master lock, so you’ll need level three Security or higher to open it. This is what I did, and doing so grants you access to a computer where you can turn the turrets off or even have them protect you.

If you do this, you can just run through to the door and leave this area without solving the actual letters puzzle.

Defeating the Robots and Space Defenses

Once you reach the other side, Livvey will talk to you if he joins you and will soon betray you after this. Regardless, the next part of this trial is to take out all of the defenses the space pirate left behind for the challengers.

Yes, the pirates you fought before were your competitors, not the defenders of the legendary ship. You’ll find many powerful robots and turrets in this area, and they can take a bit to defeat. But I found that if you were able to defeat the space pirates before, this is slightly easier to handle.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t locate a terminal computer where you can deactivate the robots or turn off the turrets in this area. This means you’ll have to take out all of them before you are finally able to reach the ship. This is your second trial and quite an easy one compared to the first.

Claiming Your Prize

Once you defeat all the turrets and robots in this warehouse area near the Mantis ship, it is finally time to claim your prize. There is a main terminal you can find overlooking the ship. When you interact with this, it allows you to move the ship to the moon’s surface, where you can finally claim it.

But before you do this, there are other rewards in the area, including some armor and plenty of other items. These are, technically, optional for the quest, but you should grab them since they are all precious and can even make the game much easier for you, depending on where you are.

Once you use the terminal to move the ship, a nearby elevator is waiting for you. Use it to quickly leave the outpost without returning the way you came from. Once you enter the pilot seat of the Mantis ship, you will complete this quest and earn yourself a new ride.

Starfield Mantis Quest Rewards

You get quite a few rewards from the Starfield Mantis Secret Outpost quest. The first of them is the obvious and mandatory one, which is the Mantis ship itself. It is a legendary ship that is also called the Razorleaf for some odd reason. It is an A-class ship, so anyone can use it.

But I find that there are better ships later in the game once you have the higher classes, which is why it is so valuable in the early parts of the game before you unlock the B and C-class ships. It allows for two crew members, which is the same as the Frontier, and only 420 cargo.

But the difference is it also has 160 shielded cargo. It is so hard to get shielded cargo early in Starfield and even in the mid-game, so having this instantly from this quest is a welcome change of pace.

It allows you to carry around contraband and get away with it, letting you sell it to the Trade Authority and others. Contraband is one of the best ways to get money in the game.

You can also get legendary armor and a helmet from this quest as well. I highly recommend getting this, even though the quest doesn’t require it because of its stats. The armor is well over 100 in protection, and it was honestly close to the New Game+ armor I found late in the game when I discovered it.

This means you can beat the entire game with no problem with this armor, and it was better than anything I found in my first playthrough. It is legendary armor with some solid bonuses as well, but these are randomly generated.

I got bonuses that reduced damage against certain enemy types, which is great, but the stats of the Mantis armor alone make it worth it.

In addition to all of that, you also get a healthy dose of experience as well. I was able to get a chunk of my next level, even late into the game, with this quest, so you may get to the next level if you are earlier in the playthrough. Beyond that, you can find tons of items, credits, and more scattered throughout the outpost and on the bodies of your fallen enemies.

FAQs

Find Out More About the Ships in Starfield

The Mantis side quest in Starfield is a fantastic quest that anyone can benefit from, but you gain the most from this quest if you complete it as soon as you can in the game. In fact, I would go so far as to recommend this quest to even level-five players and those who just finished the prologue mission.

This is because you’ll instantly get a legendary ship that is much better than the default ship of the Frontier. More importantly, the Mantis armor cannot compare. It is by far better than any armor I found throughout my entire first playthrough of the game, so that you will be set for the rest of the game with it.

The same may not be the case with the Mantis Razorleaf ship, though. It is a great ship, for sure, but there are much better ships out there that are in the higher classes of B and C. You should learn more about all things ships in Starfield so you can master using them in outer space.

Continue reading:

• Starfield Getting Started Guide: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Starfield
• Starfield Ships Guide: How to Steal Ships, Pilot C-Class Ships
• Starfield Best Ship Weapons Guide: Best Lasers, Missiles, EM, More