The Outer Worlds Phineas' Lab Quest Guide

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Phineas’ Lab Quest Guide

Phineas’ Lab is one of the Locations in The Outer Worlds. Locations are defined by their individual and varied biomes spread around the Halcyon System. Planets and other celestial figures are the supposed regions in The Outer Worlds.

Quests in Phineas’ Lab

The City and the Stars (Main Quest)
Kept Secret But Not Forgotten (Main Quest)
Brave New World (Main Quest)

1. The City and the Stars Walkthrough

This quest is obtained automatically by completing Radio Free Monarch. Travel to Byzantium and Ellie will be by the exit door, ready to grant you the quest The Low Crusade. You can also ask her about the city and find out more about her.

Go down the ramp outside the ship and right to meet Carmen Imagawa. She’ll inform you of the next steps and you’ll earn 22500xp. She will also tell you that you can swipe a security key from a guard relaxing at a local pub. Ask her abut Byzantium, and she’ll share that she joined the movement because she has noticed something off: things are not getting repaired anymore, and people from out of system are never seen.

Go up the nearby lift to enter the city. You’ll come across Maverick Johnston, accept his offer to gain the quest At Central.

Continue toward the tavern and go into Billingsly’s House of Inebriation. You can talk to Mr. Billingsly for some insight into the thoughts of the wealthy, talk to the Bartender Mechanical (you should buy 3x Spectrum Vodka for 58 bits each) or head straight toward Guard Mayfield, who is rather drunk.Chat him up and he’ll talk about a key, and you can buy him a drink – give him the Spectrum Vodka you bought, and continue until he feels sick and goes to lay down nearby. Once he lays down, close the door and loot the Minister’s Estate Key (and anything else you want). You’ll get 22500xp.

Go toward the minister’s residence and you will hear someone complaining. Look for Hortense Ingalsbee and talk to her to get the quest: Why Call Them Back From Retirement? and the quest item Docking Bay Terminal Codes.

After this, continue toward the minister’s mansion and talk to the guard by the door. He will reveal they are expecting a delivery, but he will not let you in. You can go get the package from a nearby office near where Giles Molina is looking for his sprats. Talk to him and accept the quest Cupid of the Laboratory, and obtain the Sprat Collection Crate quest item.

Go into the Halcyon Parcel Service shop, wait for the guard to move, and lockpick your way into the storage room. Pick up Parcel for Minister Clarke and head back to the front door, you can walk right in. Go up to the second floor and you can talk to Minister Clarke, ask about the dimethyl sulfoxide and he will think you want drugs. Press the issue, saying he has ordered them, and he will conclude Chairman Rockwell must have done so. He will then reveal he is under house arrest and has been so for years. He will advise to look for details on the chairman’s office in HHC headquarters. Ask how to get there and you’ll get 22500xp.

Clarke reveals the HQ is heavily guarded, but there might be a maintenance tunnel access point. He will give you an access card that takes you to the executive suite (Receive Minister’s HHC Access Card quest item). Clarke will also ask you to use Rockwell’s access to message Earth. This unlocks the task: The Lying Earth, and gets you a cartridge with details on corruption on mismanagement: Minister Clarke’s Data Cartridge.

If you’ve completed Balance Due you will have access to the HHC building and won’t need to use the Maintenance Tunnels. You can also skip the tunnels by walking to the front door and bribing the guard for 2000 bits. Once inside the HHC building go straight ahead and talk to Guard Bachmayer. You’ll take a lift heading to Percival Platt – he has nothing important to say so go left and unlock the door with Minister’s HHC Access Card. You can print the keycard at the terminal to gain the Ministry of Accuracy and Morale Key. You can also send Minister Clarke’s message completing the Lying Earth quest and earning you a small amount of Negative Reputation with The Board.

Once you have the key, head back out. Speak with Percival Platt and you can Lie (65) to him to get him to return to his desk. Head down the elevator and out the front door, or fast travel to the Acropolis District. Head to the locked door now on your left and use the key to open it. Head into the Ministry of Accuracy and Morale.

Once inside head for the restricted door on your right, if you have the Key you can Intimidate (70) or Lie (100) to get past Guard Holte. Or you can just go around. There is also a UDL Identity Cartridge that you can find in a locked door guarded by a Corporate Officer. There is also a terminal you can Hack (47) that will update your quest and learn that Caroline has a feud going with Theodore at the Ministry of Accuracy and Morale.

Speak with Caroline Endecott on the second floor and ask her about Theodore Isaacs or Science (70) to keep her talking. You can Lie (1) to get her to open the door to the lab for you. Head down the elevator, and head into the restricted area. There is another UDL Identity Cartridge in the lockeroom if you didn’t grab the other one.

If you head up the elevator this another terminal you can Hack (68) to ??. Follow the yellow line to make your way to the Dimethyl Sulfoxide, and do so quickly so you don’t have to fight everyone. Once you get there you’ll find an empty container and you’ll need to transfer the Dimethyl Sulfoxide to it. Use the terminal nearby to transfer all or 26.37% of it then pick up Full Dimethyl Sulfoxide Canister. You will gain 22000xp. You can also read details on the experiment. If you transfer all of it everyone in the tanks will die. Steal the Dimethyl Sulfoxide and head through the barred door nearby and up the elevator. Then head back to Phineas Welles. It doesn’t seem to matter if you save or kill the people in the tanks, the outcome is the same.

If you have not betrayed Phineas to The Board: Once you are aboard The Unreliable, you’ll get a message from Sophia Akande. She will say that she was impressed by your work, and mention that you have saved her work (if you cut off power to Edgewater during Comes Now the Power). She wants to negotiate to convince you to turn Phineas in, and says he’s an obsessive Psychopath using you and harming the colony. If you remain impartial, you’ll receive the quest Long Distance.

Return to Phineas and talk to him, you will learn that he knew about the starvation problem, and he wanted to unfreeze The Hope to have the colonists help solve the problem. He says The Board is instead planning to kill The Hope colonists and turn the vessel into a prison for the Halcyon residents who will be frozen.

If your Science and Engineer is over 40, you can propose a micro-jump within the system to get The Hope by Phineas Welles. You’ll gain 22000 XP for the step and 142000xp for completing the quest and Negative Board Reputation for doing this, and gain the quest: Kept Secret But Not Forgotten.

Your choices during this quest affect the Ending.

2. Kept Secret But Not Forgotten Walkthrough

You’ll gain this quest automatically after the completion of The City and the Stars or the Foundation quest.

Regardless of who you are working for you will now need to travel to The Hope. Once there ADA will tell you that you need to patch her into the Hope’s Communication Systems and you’ll need to reroute power to the Hope’s Skip Drive. You’ll get 41000xp

Once you’ve boarded The Hope, head right and locate the terminal there. This will reroute power to the Hope’s Skip Drive. Ahead is Quincy Duncan, speak with him. If you have completed Foundation he’ll tell you that there is a message from Sophia Akande ahead. He’ll also tell you the automechanicals think they are intruders and are attacking. You can ask him for an ID Cartridge, but you’ll have to Lie (50), Intimidate (80), Persuade (50) to get him to unlock the door on the left-hand side behind him. Inside you’ll find a UDL Identity Cartridge.

Head into the restricted area, and visit the terminal through a door on the left to get some lore about the Hope. Forward through the next door and then another door on the right is another terminal that will tell you about how the Skip Drive failed The Hope and they were running out of food to make it to Halcyon. There is also a UDL Identity Cartridge on the shelf if you need it. Across the way is another terminal in a room with a locked door (75) that has a transcript of people having sex on board the ship.

Head into the next room where the terminal is and use it to learn about the amount of people in stasis. Head through the door on the left and defeat the automechanicals there. Then use the terminal to patch ADA into the comm systems. Use the other terminal to get some more information about what happened to The Hope. Then head across the hall through the locked door (50). If you looted the Hope Bridge Keycard from the dead soldier then you won’t need to pick it.

There is an elevator on the right here and another locked door (50) on the other side of the room. Inside is a Mega Sprat and some smaller Sprats. Defeat them and loot the containers, and read the log for some chilling information. Then head up the elevator. Once up the elevator, head right and defeat the automechanicals. Here you’ll find a terminal in the crew quarters that tells you the last days of the Hope’s crew, and another one that tells you one of the crew started waking colonists to eat them because they were starving. Proceeding past this point will fail the quest Foundation if you have not completed it.

When you reach the ship’s computer and you can read about what happened to the Hope’s crew. Patch ADA through the Hope’s computer system and decide where to Skip The Hope. It is advised you save here so that you can do multiple endings. You can take over the Skip yourself and you will die granting the Trophy/Achievement Sunburn. Or you can take it to Tartarus if you’ve completed Foundation, and to Terra 2 if you’ve completed The City and the Stars.

Terra 2 Destination
If you Skip The Hope to Terra 2 you will gain the Trophy/Achievement Lost and Found. Head back to the Unreliable and travel to Phineas’ Lab. Phineas will contact you on the ship and he’ll let you know he’s under attack from The Board. Fight your way through the Corporate Troops and use the terminal to update the quest that you need to search the area for his passcode, which can be looted from the dead Cystypig next to his terminal (Phineas’ Terminal Passcode)

You can read about Phineas on the terminal and he will mention a hidden panel with a package for you. Head into his living quarters. You’ll find the Unique Weapon: Phin’s Phorce and the panel which contains a Tartarus Navkey. This will complete the quest and begin Brave New World.

Tartarus Destination
If you Skip The Hope to Tartarus, you will need to head back to the Unreliable. Once onboard Chairman Rockwell will contact you and tell you that Phineas has taken Sophia hostage and freed the prisoners on Tartarus. This will conclude this quest and begin Brave New World.

Your choices during this quest affect the Endings.

3. Brave New World Walkthrough

This quest is obtained by Skipping The Hope to Terra 2 during the Kept Secret But Not Forgotten quest or by Skipping The Hope to Tartarus.

Terra 2 Route
Head back to the Unreliable and travel to Terra 2. When you arrive, ADA will tell you that the crew would like to speak with you, which will trigger some dialogue. ADA will warn you that you should finish anything else you need to do before heading there, and you can ask your crew what they think. ADA will then once again speak with you and you will receive a transmission from a Corporate Trooper telling you that you will be executed and your vessel seized. You can Intimidate (70) or Lie (70) to get him to back off and gain a Labyrinth Security Personnel ID Cartridge. You will also find out that the Groundbreaker has docked as well.

Once on the planet make your way to the facility. If you helped Junlei on Groundbreaker her forces will help you assault the facility. Make your way to the elevator and head down. Once there, head into the restricted area and head towards the nav point. There are a ton of guards here and a bunch of loot. You’ll need to head through the door at the top of the lift/ladder. There is some loot and a Workbench and some Vending Machines on your lift, but then you need to transition to The Pit.

Immediately on your left is a locked door (55) that has a terminal inside with information on the procedure of the Pit. The nearby door will take you to the lift up. If you didn’t head through the locked door, you’ll head right, but eventually end up in the same place. You can explore further here before using the lift to find another terminal in a room that allows you to Deliver Pacification Gas, but you’ll need the password for it. Speak to Melody you can Lie (100) to her to get it. Using it will wipe out all the guards on this level if you have not killed them already.

Once up the lift, if you helped the Iconoclasts on Monarch they will assist you with the guards here. Head through the door at the nav point and make your way down the hall through the door on the left. Use the terminal near the sealed door to open it and head inside to speak with Chairman Rockwell. You can Lie (90), Intimidate (90) or Persuade (90) him into helping you if you make it out alive. You can use the terminal in the room to get some info on the announcement, then head into the Restricted Access area.

Take the nearby lift up and the MSI will attack the guards if you helped them on Monarch. Head for the elevator in the middle and take it up to speak to Sophia Akande. You can Persuade (100) or Charm her. You can also use Science, Hack or Engineering (60) to tell her the experiments are wrong. Finally, you’ll need Lie (100) Perception or Persuade / Science (90), and Lie / Hack (90). Sophia will accept your terms and return Dr. Welles to your care.

If you have Intimidate (90), Heavy Weapons (60) and 2-Handed Melee (90) and you can threaten her. You can then Lie (100) or Pesuade (90) Science (90) her. You can then Intimidate (100) or Temperament her. If you make it through all of these she will stand down and give you back Phineas Welles.

Make your way to the nav point and loot The Chairman’s Key, then use it to free Phineas. This will conclude the quest and end the game.

Tartarus Route
Then you’ll have a dialogue with your crew on the Unreliable. Head to Tartarus and you will be contacted by a Corporate Trooper asking if you’re the back up. You can Persuade (30) or Initmidate (30) him to get the guards to help you.

Once on the planet make your way to the facility. If you helped Junlei on Groundbreaker her forces will help you assault the facility. Make your way to the elevator and head down. Once there head into the restricted area and head towards the nav point. There are a ton of guards here and a bunch of loot. You’ll need to head through the door at the top of the lift/ladder. There is some loot and a Workbench and some Vending Machines on your lift, but then you need to transition to The Pit.

Immediately on your left is a locked door (55) that has a terminal inside with information on the procedure of the Pit. The nearby door will take you to the lift up. If you didn’t head through the locked door, you’ll head right, but eventually end up in the same place. You can explore further here before using the lift to find another terminal in a room that allows you to Deliver Pacification Gas, but you’ll need the password for it. Speak to Melody you can Lie (100) to her to get it. Using it will wipe out all the prisoners on this level if you have not killed them already.

Once up the lift, if you helped the Iconoclasts on Monarch they will assist you with the guards here. Head through the door at the nav point and make your way down the hall through the door on the left. Use the terminal near the sealed door to open it and head inside and you’ll find Chairman Rockwell. He’s dead. You can loot his corpse to find some consumables. You can use the terminal in the room to get some info on the announcement, then head into the Restricted Access area.

Take the nearby lift up and the MSI will attack the guards if you helped them on Monarch. Head for the elevator in the middle and take it up to speak to Phineas Welles. You can Lie (100) to him if you’re Dumb or Persuade (90) Science (90) him here. You can then Intimidate (90) Handguns (90) him. Then finally you can Intimidate (100) or Temperament him to kill himself.

Make your way to the nav point and loot The Chairman’s Key from Phineas’ corpse then use it to free Sophia . This will conclude the quest and end the game. You have a chance to ask Phineas what he thinks has happened – take the opportunity and he’ll say more about the disappeared frigate and lost contact with Earth. He will also revealed he experimented on The Hope’s colonists and is burdened by his failures.