A key element that significantly enhances Starfield‘s gaming experience is your crew’s composition. Initially, your crew starts off small, but as you progress through the game, you’ll encounter many non-playable characters (NPCs) who can join your crew as crew members. Interestingly, Bethesda has cleverly integrated a hidden potential crew member within a side-quest, who can also be overlooked if not discovered.
Erick Von Price, a rookie pilot, is available for recruitment during a side-quest that starts in Cydonia, Start-up Stopped. The mission involves liberating a vessel known as Berry Mule and rescuing its pilot, Erick. Several strategies exist to complete this mission, but specific actions are required to make Erick available for recruitment. Read on in this guide to uncover the precise method needed.
Eric Von Price’s skills are:
Erick Von Price Info Card
Erick Von Pierce is the pilot of The Berry Mule, which you can find in Triton’s orbit (Triton is a moon of Neptune) during the quest Start-Up Stopped. Your choices during the mission will determine whether Erick Von Price can join your crew (adding another pilot along with Sam Coe and the secret crew member Amelia Earhart). Erick Von Price comes with two skills related to your ship.
- Romance: No
- Affiliation: United Colonies
- Location: The Berry Mule, Triton’s orbit, Sol Star System
- Payment Required: No
- Skills: Payloads (Rank 2), Astrodynamics (Rank 1)
Where to Find Erick Von Price & The Berry Mule
Erick Von Price is a character you’ll encounter in a side mission titled “Start-Up Stopped,” which you can initiate by speaking with a merchant named Jane Weller in Cydonia. Jane runs a store called “Jane’s Goods” in the residential hub of Cydonia, accessible through the Central Hub. When you converse with her, she’ll discuss issues she’s facing with a spaceship, allowing you to offer your assistance.
After you propose to help, Jane assigns you the task of locating her lost ship, the Berry Mule, along with its pilot, Erick. This will add a new goal to your quest, guiding you to locate and contact the Berry Mule. Now you can open your mission log to set course to the mission objective and hail the Berry Mule. Regardless, of your choice, you will be allowed to board the ship.
How to Recruit Erick Von Price: Negotiation with Gustavo
After boarding the ship, you are presented with three different approaches to manage the situation, but only one of these will lead to successfully recruiting Erick:
- Upon boarding the ship, you can take down all the Ecliptic members. This action will lead to rescuing Erick and securing the Berry Mule for Jane. Although this is a straightforward tactic, it eliminates the chance to have Erick join your team. The reason is that Erick is already employed by Jane, and returning him to her will result in him staying with Jane at her establishment.
- The second strategy employs your persuasive talents to convince the Ecliptic captain to hand over the Berry Mule. Similar to the first method, this approach also leads to Erick aligning with Jane, which means he will not be available for recruitment as your companion.
- In the third approach, refrain from both combat and persuasion with the mercenaries. Instead, decide to leave the Berry Mule behind and focus on rescuing Erick. This choice will result in Jane losing both her ship and her temper. Due to her frustration, the rewards for the quest will be reduced (110 EXP and 1,000 Credits), and without the Berry Mule, Erick’s utility decreases. However, upon completing the quest, you’ll find Erick nearby and available for conversation. During this interaction, he will show interest in joining your crew, allowing you to welcome him aboard.
To conclude, recruiting Erick Von Price requires you to return the Berry Mule to its rightful owner by backing out of a conflict or persuasion solution with the Ecliptic. This will lead to you only receiving 110 EXP and 1,000 Credits as mission rewards, so whether it’s worth losing the full amount of credits and an extra 110 EXP to add a crew member with Rank 2 in Astrodynamics and Rank 1 in Payloads is up to you.
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