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Settlement-building is one of Fallout 4's cooler features, and Bethesda Game Studios has brought a similar concept to another level entirely with 's crew and outpost assignments. Not only can you build massive outposts to mine for a galactic smorgasbord's worth of resources and scientific advancements, but you can also choose to improve your starship fleet's functionality by making folks your crewmates.
Among the (many!) available options for crew and outpost personnel, Lin and Heller - your old boss and fellow worker - can be signed in to service. While Starfield's story only spends a little bit with them, their position as the first characters players will meet marks a special spot for the duo, so let's fill that spot!
Who Are Lin And Heller?
If you're reading this after a fair number of hours into Starfield, it will be understandable for you to forget who the heck Lin and Heller even are. After all, there are named NPCs around every bend. Lin is your supervisor at Argos' dig site where you encounter Starfield's opening moments, and Heller is her subordinate, which makes the three of you colleagues.
Shortly thereafter, things go sideways, though not sideways enough to off either of the two characters - which kind of surprised us! Moments later, and you're blasting off this rock for bigger and greater things, and poor Lin and Heller are left behind, seemingly for the rest of the game.
How To Recruit Lin And Heller
Here's your first order of business: go about the game as you like for a while, because it'll take some time unless you're planning on beelining the main story. Which you really shouldn't do, in our humblest of opinions, since Bethesda RPGs are vast epics that should be savored on multiple fronts simultaneously.
Regardless of your personal playstyle, Lin and Heller will become recruitable as a direct result of the main questline, the Constellation quests revolving around the mysterious Artifact. You'll be going on a mission with Sarah first, and you may get into all sorts of trouble while you do. Eventually, you will reach a quest called 'The Empty Nest'.
Your goals are three-pronged in 'The Empty Nest', with several longstanding Constellation members to bring back to the Lodge. (Sam Coe's case is technically a little different, but we digress.) Of these three major objectives, it's Barrett's retrieval quest that brings you back into contact with you🅠r old one-time Argos 𒉰buddies.
You will encounter Lin first, and she's right where you left her, though in light of recent events she is strongly considering a career change. Just make sure to speak with her again after you've finished the mandatory stuff here with the computer and Barrett's message.
As for Heller, you'll find him at your next destination, at the crash site where the Crimson Fleet vessel came tumbling down. His own desire to join your crew is made even clearer, and you'll have the choice to say yes right off the bat. Which is good news for Heller, since he's rather helpless just now otherwise.
Lin And Heller's Specialization
Meeting Lin and Heller on the frontier - er, the actual frontier, not the starship - kind of prepares you for what to expect in terms of their skillsets as crewmembers. While Heller is a little more adaptable, both Lin and Heller have an Outpost skill at the third tier,ꩵ making them terrific assets for your Outposts at the cost of serving less capably aboard your vessels𝓀.
For that reason, we recommend building an outpost if you've not yet done so, getting a feel for how things work, and then assigning your old comrades to that outpost to improve its performance.