Starfield: Should you disable or destroy the Warlock in The Devils You Know mission?

The Devils You Know, like much of the Vanguard questline in Starfield, enters into a morally grey region where questionable actions must be taken to protect humanity. In this mission, players are tasked with hunting down and killing a war criminal on board a ship named The Warlock.

If that wasn’t already morally grey, the task comes from another war criminal who was supposed to be executed, but was deemed too valuable to die and is being secretly kept alive in a maximum security prison. If that isn’t morally grey enough, you have to do murderous favors for this war criminal in order to gain information vital to saving humanity. Phew!

Should you destroy or disable the Warlock in Starfield?

Here’s the thing, it doesn’t really matter. Whether you decide to board the Warlock to arrest Reginald Orlase or to destroy the Warlock in ship combat doesn’t affect the outcome of the mission in any way. No matter what you do, Dr. Orlase will die during The Devils You Know.

If you board the ship, the war criminal will commit suicide in the cockpit of the Warlock, and the door to reach him will be inaccessible until it is too late to intervene. We still suggest boarding the Warlock instead of destroying it outright, but only because there is some decent loot onboard the ship that is lost if you destroy it.

How to disable the Warlock in Starfield

There are two ways to disable the Warlock in The Devils You Know. The easiest and safest way is by putting at least one skill point into Targeting Control Systems so that you can target and disable the Warlock’s engine.

The other way is by using an EM ship weapon, which can disable the ship without destroying it. After disabling the Warlock by targeting the engines or using an EM weapon, you can approach and dock the ship just like any other.

Why you should disable the Warlock in Starfield

As we said above, Dr. Orlase cannot be saved, but there are other reasons that you should disable the Warlock instead of destroying it. While the war criminal will die either way, disabling and boarding the ship allows you to loot Orlase’s Lab Coat, which gives a chance for resources to not be consumed when crafting weapon mods.

The lower level of the Warlock also has several different safes and containers full of credits, ammo, and medical supplies. There is nothing game-changing on board the Warlock, but there is enough loot to justify taking the extra time to board the ship instead of destroying it.

Unfortunately, the Warlock cannot be piloted. You’ll have to leave it in floating unmanned in orbit—you cannot acquire the ship for your own use.