Starfield ‘No Sudden Moves’ quest walkthrough, how to steal from Petrov

Starfield’s “No Sudden Moves” mission will take you aboard the vessel of Captain Petrov, an eccentric collector who has an old history with Barrett. And if you want to get your hands on another artifact, you’re going to have to go full space pirate with this one.

In this Starfield guide, we’ll walk you through how to get the artifact from Petrov’s clutches in the “No Sudden Moves” mission.

Find the artifact

When you start the quest, you’ll talk to Vladimir. He tells you of a guy named Captain Petrov, who — word has it — has collected an artifact and won’t part with it for anything. It’s up to you and a companion to find Petrov’s limit and get that artifact. (For me, Barrett came along for the mission, while another Polygon staffer was joined by Sarah.)

Talk to Vladimir // Travel to the Scow // Board the Scow

Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks via Polygon

Vladimir will give you the lowdown on Petrov and basically tell you that he expects you to steal the artifact. Tell him you’re ready to go and Barrett will become your locked companion.

Head over to your ship, undock from The Eye, and jump to the Scow ship, which is in orbit around Procyon V-B. You have two options here, which the game spells out to you very clearly:

• Disable the engines
• Talk your way in

We’re going to go with the (initially) non-violent route here, as violence is usually pretty easy to figure out in Starfield.

Hail the ship and use Persuade on the guy over the radio (it’s only a four pip check). If you let Barrett talk for you, it doesn’t go very well, as Petrov doesn’t seem to like him very much. (You’ll still get the chance to use the Persuasion option even if Barrett makes an ass out of himself, and it doesn’t make the check any harder, so pick it if you want a laugh.)

Once the guy clears you to dock, board the ship and walk on in.

Find Captain Petrov // Follow Petrov

Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks via Polygon

When you get in the Scow, talk to Tao Xun, who is very rude to you. Eventually he’ll give you the all clear and let you meet Petrov. Follow the path and don’t touch anything — at least for now. Eventually you’ll meet up with Petrov, who is a total weirdo, and is lounging on a space couch.

This guy is eccentric and the worst — Bethesda goes a long way to make sure you don’t feel too bad about stealing from him.

Petrov will tell you that he can’t part with his precious new artifact. But this is where Barrett comes in clutch. You can either Persuade Petrov to let you in, attack him, or let Barrett say “Petroooooov! It’s me!” This dialogue option is both funny and effective. Petrov will forgive Barrett for whatever their past grievance is and offer to show you the vault. Bingo.

Follow Petrov down to the vault until he shows you the artifact. Get a shotgun ready and then have a hard conversation with Petrov. Eventually he’ll make it clear that he refuses to give you the artifact, no matter how bad you need or want it. Then he’ll basically dare you to steal it…

Become a space pirate

Image: Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks via Polygon

Now that it’s become immediately clear that Petrov just wants to gloat about his new toy, it’s time to take the artifact by force.

Steal the Artifact

Once you’ve exhausted all of the diplomatic options with Petrov, pull your gun out and grab the artifact off the shelf. Petrov and his goons will instantly become hostile and start shooting at you. Pull out the shotgun we told you to prepare (assuming you have one), and blast Petrov with it. He’ll go down very quickly, in just a couple of shots, depending on your weapon’s power.

When his health hits zero, Petrov will go into a kind of “down-but-not-out” state and beg for mercy. Tell him to call off his goons and let you leave. He’ll agree as long as you don’t kill him. Put your weapon away.

Leave the Scow // Add the Artifact to the collection

Petrov and his crew will now disdainfully call you a pirate, but they won’t attack you. Feel free to loot anything you’d like from Petrov’s vault or ship, as you’ve already shown that you can take him down if need be. Stuff your pockets and head back to your ship. His crew will promise revenge, but we didn’t hear from Petrov again for the rest of the main campaign. (Although it is distinctly possible that he could show up in a side mission we missed).

Jump back to the Lodge and place the artifact into the collection.

The moment you finish “No Sudden Moves,” you’ll be thrown into the “High Price to Pay” quest, which offers the game’s most difficult choice and is fairly complex.