How to complete the Exhuming The Past quest in Starfield Shattered Space

If there’s one thing to take from Starfield’s “Exhuming the Past” quest, it’s that navigating an abandoned dam is harder than it seems.

In this quest, part of Starfield’s Shattered Space DLC, you assist one of three Houses on Dazra in resolving their conflicts. House Ka’ric focuses on rescuing hostage family members, while House Veth’aal prefers eliminating them. House Dul’kehf, however, sends you to Ma’leen Dam to recover the Vortex Interlock.

What starts as a typical fetch quest quickly becomes a challenge, thanks to the maze-like facility and a tough decision awaiting you at the end.

How to get the keycard and access the Dam

To get the ID card for the reader next to Ma’leen Dam’s Secure Access door, find a little kid named Comrak Abbass near the stairs.

Comrak doesn’t have the card himself, but he knows who does: Kaviil Fahrzanas, a man in a nearby settlement. You can either persuade Kaviil or use your Security trait to get the card from him. Once you have the card, return to the door and use it to gain access.

How to explore the Dam

To complete the objective of exploring the Ma’leen Dam in Starfield Shattered Space, you need to reach the Pump Control and drain the dam to access the lower levels.

Start by heading down the stairs and following the blue waypoint to the right. Eventually, you’ll reach a hallway with a hole in the floor. Drop down and use your jetpack to navigate from one red pipe to another. Above the pipes, you’ll find a door.

Continue following the marker until you see a computer behind a glass window. To access it, find a staircase on the lower floor, but avoid touching the contaminated water. Head up the stairs and use the switch to open the door.

Inside, you’ll find the computer that controls the Sub Pump, but it won’t activate because the Vortex Power Modulator is unresponsive. Follow the blue marker and look up to spot the blue half-sphere device (the Vortex Power Modulator). Shoot it until it’s destroyed, then return to the computer.

Now, navigate through the drained rooms of the dam. Eventually, you’ll encounter a locked white door with the objective “Find a way to open the door.” To unlock it, you’ll need to complete a teleportation experiment, which involves inputting a three-digit code into a nearby computer.

How to complete the teleportation experiment

When you interact with the computer behind the white locked door, you’ll discover it’s part of a teleportation experiment in Starfield.

To get the keycard, input the code 335 into the computer. This number is mentioned in the “Recent Experimental Results” document, which explains that this power level successfully teleported a keycard – exactly what you need.

With the keycard in hand, unlock the white door and proceed to retrieve the Vortex Interlock.

How to retrieve a Vortex Interlock

After dealing with Karija again, interact with the computer in the center of the room. Then, head through the hallway on the right until you reach a red Emergency Cuttable Wall. Shoot the orange corners of the wall to remove it and proceed through the vents.

Up ahead, you’ll encounter Karija once more. Afterward, shoot the Vortex Power Modulator at the back of the room. Finally, return to the computer to retrieve your first Vortex Interlock.

Should you remove the remaining Interlock or exit the Dam?

Dexerto/Bethesda

Removing the remaining Interlock

If you’re about getting rewards at the cost of sacrificing the morally correct option, this is the best choice for you.

Rewards:

• 2 Vortex Interlocks
• 1 Exterminator Modified Va’ruun Penumbra
• 1 Titanium Va’ruun Penumbra
• 12000 Credits
• 350 XP
• Andreja’s Disapproval

As frustrating as Karija may seem, they do have a point: if you defeat them and remove the second Vortex Interlock, the farmers above, including the kid and the man you persuaded for access to Ma’leen Dam, will suffer. Removing the interlock destroys the ecosystem of their seaweed farm, which you can verify by completing the optional objective, “Visit the villagers.”

However, taking the Vortex Interlock is crucial for the final quest of Starfield: Shattered Space and simplifies things later on. Plus, you’ll loot the legendary heavy weapon, Titanium Va’ruun Penumbra, from Karija’s corpse. Ekris also rewards you with an Exterminator Modified Va’ruun Penumbra and 12000 Credits.

If you choose this path, simply find the locked door in the room, open it using the access panel on the left, and shoot the power modulator until it’s destroyed. Then, pull the levers to free and steal the second Vortex Interlock.

Exiting the Dam

If you’re not ready to sacrifice the livelihood of some poor farmers for your own benefit, then this is the best choice for Exhuming the Past in Starfield.

Rewards:

• 1 Vortex Interlock
• 1 Exterminator Modified Va’ruun Penumbra
• 12000 Credits
• 350 XP
• Andreja’s Approval

With just one Vortex Interlock in your pocket, you make your way back up where you came from and exit the Dam. It’s a long way up, and the vortex enemies just won’t stop pestering you. The farm remains safe, but you can only hand over one Vortex Interlock to Ekris and the Citadel.

You’ve reached the end of this main quest, but since you’re back in Dazra, you might want to knock out a side quest, like The Duel, and unlock The Keep Armory while you’re there.