Juno’s Gambit and the decision to save or kill Juno is what makes people love Starfield. There is no need or need to leave and come back, it is really just a matter of humanity and the consequences are not enough to make you feel good about any decision. We’ll give you the backstory and consequences so you can make the best decision for your playthrough.
How to Get the Best Ending for Juno’s Gambit in Starfield
You can complete the quest “Juno’s Gambit” by simply deciding whether to change Juno or not. When you leave the ship after making your choice, it’s pretty much over, but we recommend negotiating with the crew to leave Juno alone. We’ll explain how to do this in detail below, but this is probably the best option.
Before starting this quest, keep in mind that the best outcome is only possible if you are working for Ryujin. It’s definitely worth it because you can get more credits and a win-win outcome.
It is impossible to specifically get to Juno because it is a random event. The best way to get this option is to keep visiting different star systems until it appears. I received it on my way to Styx to meet the Crimson Fleet for the first time.
You’ll start this mission by seeing Ecliptic’s ship attack a random drifting ship. Defeat Ecliptic’s mercenaries and then hail the drifting ship. You’ll be told to go inside and help, and then you can just hop on board and see what’s going on. After landing, you will hear two operatives discussing what to do now. Go through the door and you will see two cameramen and one dead scientist on the ground. It’s better to start a conversation because it’s weirder than you think.
Ryujin operatives will explain the situation involving the dead scientist and the criminal artificial intelligence Junou. During this conversation, Juno will speak and ask the player not to change her, which she will repeat frequently. It’s pretty clear that if you don’t reset Juno to a mindless AI state via the AI computer board, the operators will kill you. This is when Juno wants to give her side to everything. By talking to Juno, players will be able to determine for themselves whether the AI they are talking to is truly intelligent or just faulty software.
To be honest, although I decided to switch Juno the first time I played it, Juno definitely convinced me that it was a real AI. I recommend going through the entire dialogue and listening to the argument. Finally, you are presumably left with two options. I decided to change Juno, but when I remade it later, I discovered that you can have a happy ending. Let’s discuss the best result first and then the other two.
How to convince Ryujin to release Juno
To successfully escape this ship, leaving everyone happy and without killing anyone except the hapless scientist, you must have already started working for Ryujin Industries. It doesn’t matter what level you are in Ryujin, this will work even if you just started.
So first, let the operatives know that you work for Ryujin by selecting the [Ryujin Industries] dialogue option. Eventually they will ask you what you are going to decide and threaten to kill you if you don’t listen. Instead of saying yes or no, say that they need to pour you a beer and that you will submit the paperwork. It’s right next to the [Ryujin Industries] dialogue choice. They will agree, go to your ship and wait for you. You can then talk to Juno and let her know that she is safe.
You’ll get 7100 credits, so it’s an easy way to get credits, but you’ll have to go into Neon to drop off the operatives. Honestly, it’s not that bad, and it gives you the most money out of any choice.
Juno asks you why you saved her and the answer doesn’t matter. She then asks you what she should do, and you can tell her to do one of three things:
- Explore the universe and find answers to questions of life and beauty.
- Protect and help others as much as you can.
- Get some weapons and become an AI pirate, taking from everyone.
- A vague answer telling her that she should become the captain of her own ship.
Juno then shuts down very abruptly and the player is forced to leave. When you undock, Juno will begin to back up and thank you before using the gravity drive to take off. For some reason you get 2000 credits at the end.
How to save Juno in Starfield
The second best option is to rescue Juno, but that’s only the second option because at least then you’ll get to talk to Juno and won’t be tracked down later. So it’s better to either let the operatives know that you will kill them, or just turn around and take them out. They are easy to kill because they don’t wear any armor.
Either way, when they die, Juno will know that you saved her. This happens in exactly the same way as the operatives convincingly acted out, the same dialogue with the disconnect and you can watch as Juno leaves after giving her advice.
How to kill Juno in Starfield
This is perhaps the worst choice because it always leads to bad results.
Killing Juno isn’t easy just because Juno isn’t going to take it easy. Don’t worry because the AI can’t cause another electric shock that will kill you like the scientist unfortunately did. Approach Juno and interact with the AI motherboard. Juno will ask you to stop and demand an explanation, but you will simply change her. She went so far as to try to convince me not to change it, and when I did, I imagined her singing “daisy, daisy…” like in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Juno is about to experience something akin to a reboot. She tries to pass out, but it’s pretty terrifying to hear her realize she can’t stop it.
If you reveal that you work for Ryujin but didn’t save Juno, the operatives will talk about having a beer after work one day. Otherwise, they will let you leave because they need to remove the corpse on the ground. Either way, you’ll earn 3,500 credits for your time.
What’s terrible about this choice is that as soon as you leave, Juno reactivates and gets angry. She asks you why you changed her and you hear the operatives realize what’s going on. Juno decides that anger is the appropriate response, so she turns off life support. You’ll be able to hear the operatives screaming for help while Juno uses Gravity Drive to go somewhere else so you can’t save them. So they will have to die anyway, so it is better to make the above choice.
Plus, you now have an AI that wants to kill you. Later you will see Juno who will ask you why you cheated on her, get angry at you and try to kill you. It’s just as alarming as you think. You also won’t be able to board the Juno again, so don’t think you’re taking over the ship. When I tried to dock it, it still just exploded, even after being disabled.
We’d say this is the most depressing option, so choose the two above.
