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Every Bethesda game has one of those “Have you done this?” moments that get talked about and hyped up, and while sometimes that moment lives up to the hype, other times it makes you shake your head and wonder what all the fuss is about.
That’s certainly how The Red Mile felt for me, but your mileage may vary. It’s built up quite a bit throughout the various loading screens of Starfield and other characters throughout the game. When you finally get to the planet with Red Mile, it’s go time, so here’s what goes down in this area in Starfield.
Quest Details Up Front
- Quest Location: The Red Mile
- Quest Length: 45 minutes
- Quest Difficulty: 7/10
- Rewards: 2500 Credits and 100 XP
Brief Walkthrough
- Step One: Find the Porrima star system
- Step Two: Land on Porrima III
- Step Three: Talk to Mei Divine
- Step Four: Run the Red Mile
- Step Five: Report to Mei Divine
Extended Walkthrough
Running the Red Mile is one of the more unique parts of the game, but getting there isn’t the easiest experience. First off, you’ll need to find the Porrima star system, which you can happen upon on your own, but you can see where it’s located below.
If you don’t want to find it on your own, there is another way to access the planet where The Red Mile is located. The Freestar Collective storyline actually takes you here organically, taking away the need to discover anything on your own.
However you decide to get there, once you’re on the planet Porrima III, you’re going to see a point of interest close by, so run through the frigid weather and approach the galaxy’s greatest casino, The Red Mile.
Once you’re inside, you’ll see the red-adorned structure covered in various NPCs playing slot machines as well as a bar. If you’re in the Freestar Collective, this is where you need to be, as you’ll meet your contact sitting at the bar.
As soon as you get inside, you’ll be introduced to Mei Devine, the woman who runs the show at The Red Mile. You can chat her up a bit, but eventually, you will need to ask her to run The Red Mile.
Make Contact
Before you do this, if you’re here via the Freestar Collective mission, it’s time to make contact with Autumn Macmillan. You’ll find her at the bar; start up a conversation with her in order to get information on her contact, Marco. Follow her and sit down with her.
Now, talk to Jade. Reveal to her that you’re seeking information on the First, and she’ll give you the information you need on Marco. Now, go speak to Mei again, who just so happens to have some information on Marco, but of course, she won’t give it up without you participating in her most lucrative activity, The Red Mile.
It’s Time to Run
Preparation for the run
- Take as many med packs with you as you can afford. While it’s not the hardest area of the game, it is relentless, and these beasts will come out hard and fast with little room for you to breathe.
- Load up on ammo. You would think this wouldn’t be a huge issue in an RPG like Starfield, but believe it or not, you can find yourself running low, especially on the harder difficulties.
- Long-range guns. The Red Mile is a huge area, and often, the monsters come running from far in the distance. They can be an issue if they get up close, so having weapons with range, like sniper rifles and other scoped weapons, will help you thin the crowd before they can all gang up on you.
- Armor with strong physical resistance. These monsters may look small, but they pack a serious punch between their long-range projectiles and up-close attacks.
Now that we’re ready, head through the final door to begin running The Red Mile. As you set off, you’ll see your destination, a large tower far in the distance. To get there, we have to navigate a frozen wasteland that is teaming with monsters. They will make their presence known very quickly, but they shouldn’t pose much threat to start out. If you didn’t heed my words about ammo stockpiling, make sure every shot you take is a headshot. This should make encounters go quicker. If you have Starborn powers unlocked, you can use them here for some effective results.
As you continue on your path, you’ll notice more and more monsters start appearing, but there are various shelters to find along the way. In some classic Bethesda world-building, you can see the bodies of people who attempted to run The Red Mile and failed. You can loot them if you’d like, but they don’t have anything special to recover.
Continue on your path to your objective, and you’ll notice a new wrinkle in the quest: a massive version of the monsters you’ve been seeing will appear. They don’t act much differently, but they are incredibly damaging and relentless in their attack. They also have considerably more health, so make sure you focus your fire there when they first appear.
You’ll likely realize that these monsters seem to be endless, so at a certain point, it’s not a bad idea to beeline it to the endpoint. Once you get there, you’ll be halfway done. You might have made it one way, but the way back is just as perilous, and the amount of monsters only increases, with larger ones appearing more frequently.
If you want to test your mettle, you can fight off the remainder of the monsters to gain some good experience, but there is no requirement to do so. If you want to avoid combat completely, you could pretty easily just sprint and Jetpack your way to the end tower, but that isn’t fun, in my opinion.
When you get back, talk to Mei to receive a decent cash reward and the information on Marcos’s whereabouts.
Rerunning The Red Mile
If you had the grandest time running through that nightmare, you’ll be happy to know that it is infinitely replayable, with the same credit reward for each. While the reason to do this on its own isn’t that attractive, there is an incentive to beat the world record holder. If you manage to do this, you find yourself with a healthy reward in the form of the Desperation rifle.
This beast of a weapon does 22 damage per shot, with a 134 fire rate and 341 rounds to unleash on your opponents. It also comes with a nifty special ability. Living up to its name, Desperation increases the damage you deal the more your health decreases. This makes heading into dangerous situations feel much more appealing.
Beating that record is a brutal task; however, it requires you to run The Red Mile 29 times. That’s a somewhat ridiculous ask, but in addition to the Desperation gun, you also unlock a special decoration that you can put up at your outpost or penthouse, so I guess that’s something right.
The rewards you get for this mission are 2500 credits and 100 experience on top of all the experience you’ll get from killing the monsters in there. It’s a somewhat underwhelming haul for the buildup, but either way, it’s a fun little excursion and a solid moment in the Freestar Collective questline.
A Mile For Nothing
I’ll be honest: The Red Mile underwhelmed me. I was expecting some wild gauntlet with tons of different monsters and traps and explosions, similar to what went on in Fallout 4’s Nuka World, but instead, we get a rather tame area filled with some monsters that felt like they were first drafts. I expect modders will turn this area into an absolute hellscape, and I can’t wait for when that happens.
Continue reading:
Starfield Mantis Quest Guide: How to Complete the Secret Outpost Quest
Starfield Getting Started Guide: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Starfield