Starfield Conflict in Conviction walkthrough
Should you save or kill Vaeric?
Conflict in Conviction is a main story mission in Starfield's Shattered Space DLC, and involves tracking down the heir of House Veth'aal, who has run away from the city of Dazra to start a new life. You'll need to complete this quest to progress the story of Shattered Space, and it involves making a big decision over Vaeric's future - namely whether he has one or not, as his father Viktor wants you to find and kill him for his traitorous betrayal. Lovely, thanks dad.
To help you complete this quest and decide whether to kill or save Vaeric in the process, read on below for our step-by-step Conflict in Conviction walkthrough for Starfield's Shattered Space DLC.
On this page:
Starfield Conflict in Conviction walkthrough: How to start
To start Conflict in Conviction, you'll need to complete The Promised, Broken story quest, the final step of which is speaking with Ekris Kaisir, who will task you with uniting the three main houses of Va'ruun as you attempt to get the Mourning Device up and running. The Aligning The Houses quest has three objectives, and you'll need to 'Assist House Veth'all' to start Conflict in Conviction.
To do this, head to the Keep Armory, whose precise location in Dazra can be found here:
Inside the Keep Armory, head up the stairs to the right of the armory and turn left toward the sign that says 'Command'. You'll overhear Viktor Veth'all arguing with other members of his house inside the Command office.
Speak with Viktor and listen to his story. He will ask you to find and kill his son Vaeric, and bring back his sister's signet ring as proof of his demise.
Once the conversation is over, Conflict in Conviction will get added to your quest library, and you're free to start investigating its first objective: inquiring after Vaeric at Herald's Rest.
How to find Vaeric's location in Conflict in Conviction
Herald's Rest is the bar in Dazra City, and three markers will appear on your HUD to help guide you there. These markers all lead to people who have information on Vaeric, but you'll need to use your Persuasion skills to get this information out of them.
Don't worry if you fail each Persuasion check, though, as you'll quickly be directed to speak to Tane Salavea, who is standing outside Herald's Rest, leaning against the wall. He's much more forthcoming and willing to help you find Vaeric, mostly because he's had a handy tracker planted on him for a while.
He says the tracker will kick in once you're outside of Dazra's city gates, so finish the conversation and head out of the western gate, which will be marked up on your objective HUD.
Investigating the Abandoned Camp in Conflict in Conviction explained
Once you're outside the city, a quest marker will appear telling you to follow the tracker's ping to find Vaeric. This is quite simple, as not only will a distance marker continually tick down (or up, if you're going in the wrong direction) the closer you get to the right location, but you can also use your Scanner to see exactly where the quest marker is leading you.
Eventually, you'll come to a location called the Abandoned Camp, and you'll need to investigate the camp to find out why it's empty.
There are many things you'll need to examine here to progress the story and find out why the camp has been abandoned, but the quest markers for each item won't appear until you're very close to them - and depending on the time of day, they can be quite hard to spot. So to help you find them all, here's a list of everything you need to interact with to move the story forward:
- Vortex Spawn
- Footprints
- Vaeric's Tracker
- Bloodstains
Once you've interacted with all four points of interest, be prepared for a big gun fight. Immediately, two Vortex monsters will appear - a Lv.49 Faint Vortex Spawn, and a Lv.49 Foul Vortex Horror - and you'll need to kill them both before you can move forward. Be careful, though, as they can teleport and move to different locations (for example, behind you), so keep an eye on your mini-map to make sure you don't get taken by surprise.
Once the Vortex Horrors are dead, talk to Tane to discuss your next steps. With the tracker left at the camp, you're on your own now, and you'll have to pick up his trail manually (or, where the next objective marker tells you to look, anyway).
How to pick up Vaeric's trail at Irina's Farm in Conflict in Conviction
Tane suggests heading back down to the base of the mountain, so follow the objective marker to a nearby waypoint shrine, and interact with the footprints beside it.
You'll discover that Vaeric rested here and continued northwest, so follow the path of the valley in front of you toward the new quest marker. Eventually, you'll reach a location known as Irina's Farm.
Approach the farmstead's main entrance, and Irina will greet you at the door. Feel free to introduce yourself however you like during the first dialogue option, but the more you question Irina, the more buttoned up she'll become.
The best way to get her to spill the beans on Vaeric's location is to select the dialogue option '[Medicine] His injuries may need special treatment. Please.' when you're able to do so.
Irina will sigh and decide to help you, revealing she helped to treat a young man who was injured a few days ago, but that he's since moved on again. They did, however, give him two groats to start his own farm further up the valley, so he could start a new life for himself.
Bingo. Finish up the conversation (I chose 'That's all I needed. We'll be on our way' rather than resorting to violence), and you'll see the Abandoned Groat Farm isn't that far away at all. You can reach it by going round the outside of the mountain, or by cutting through the mountain in a straight line thanks to a small path above Irina's home.
Whatever route you decide to take, your next destination is now clear, and the conclusion of this quest is fast approaching.
Investigating the Abandoned Farm and Apostate's Refuge in Conflict in Conviction explained
Once you've arrived at the abandoned farm, your mission status will update, telling you to search the dwelling, as it once again appears to be empty.
As you head inside, the location will reveal itself to be the Apostate's Refuge, and there are two things you'll need to interact with here to move the story forward. Again, like the abandoned camp, the individual quest markers for them will only reveal themselves when you're standing right next to it, so here's what you need to find and where you need to look for them:
- Vaeric's Log : Entry 1 - located on the coffee table by the sofa on the upper floor.
- Vaeric's Log: Entry 2-4 - located on Vaeric's computer on the lower floor through the left door, near the bedroom and bathroom.
You only need to read one of the computer logs for the next part of the mission to trigger, though you can read all of them to get a full picture of Vaeric's journey so far. Once you're ready, head back outside to talk to Tane. Vaeric will then reveal himself and you'll enter in a tense conversation with him.
Should you save Vaeric in Conflict in Conviction?
Like all Starfield quests, you're free to choose your own path through this conversation, and if all you want to do is please Viktor and kill Vaeric straight away, you can go right ahead and do that.
However, if you think Vaeric deserves a second chance at starting a new life for himself with his groats, then you can save Vaeric and just get his signet ring to take back to Viktor without spilling a drop of blood (NB: some of the choices I made here lent on my specific character traits, but I've included what I believe to be the next best alternatives as well if these options aren't available to you).
Here are the dialogue options I chose to successfully save Vaeric:
- I'm Vindicator [character name]
- Of course. I'd like to know your side of this story.
- There's always a choice.
- [Kid Stuff] Having nurturing, supportive parents makes a world of difference. (Alternatively: 'As a parent, he should support you')
- I understand the need to help a friend out of a bad situation.
- First tell me why you chose to leave now of all times.
- [Raised Enlightened] This is why I put my faith in science and people. (Alternatively: 'I'll never understand those who value faith more than family')
- You're free to go, but I would ask something in return.
- Your signet ring. Viktor wants it as proof of death.
- Your sister would want you to live.
Vaeric will then agree to give you his ring, and thank you for sparing his life. Phew!
Tane will thank you as well, and decide to hang back with Vaeric for a while - though you can find him again later in the Herald's Rest where he becomes a recruitable companion.
First, though, you'll need to go and report back to Viktor about what happened here, so fast travel back to the Keep Armory and prepare for another big conversation to conclude this questline.
Reporting back to Viktor in Conflict in Conviction explained
Back at the Keep Armory, it's time to tell Viktor the outcome of your decision - though you can also choose to lie if you wish and still get what you want.
I decided to keep things as vague as possible during my debrief with Viktor, handing over 'One signet ring as requested' and telling him to 'trust us' about how we decided to handle anyone else who aided and abetted him.
Both are technically true and don't involve any outright lies, but everyone seems pretty cross with you anyway, especially Vitoria and Luther - who are precisely the people we wanted to support going into all this. It's a shame we weren't able to communicate to them that Vaeric is secretly still alive - perhaps your dialogue options were more successful on this front - but in many ways, it doesn't really matter.
Whatever you decide to say to Viktor, the quest will proceed as intended, and Viktor will hand over the access code that Ekris needs to connect the Mourning Device to the power grid.
All's well that ends well? Maybe. It might leave an unpleasant taste in your mouth, but all you need to do now is head back to Ekris and give him the access code. With that, the Conflict in Conviction quest will come to a close, and you'll be free to tackle a new quest in Shattered Space, and continue assisting the three houses of Va'ruun.