Like any Bethesda Game Studios RPG, has factions in spades. And, also like any BGS RPG, these factions are where a great deal of the game's largest-scale storytelling takes place. Therefore, even if you're not especially interested in the UC Vanguard in particular - and for our two cents, it's a pretty cool questline! - you'll probably want to give it a whirl.

Joining the UC Vanguard is pretty easy compared to a couple of other Starfield factions, but like all of them, you'll still need to prove your worth. Here's how to do just that.

Updated on October 28, 2023 by Quinton O'Connor: It's been a couple of months, but folks are still playing Starfield in droves - not surprising, given Bethesda's long had its way with us in this regard. Players may be giving various factions their due time only now, after exploring the edge of the known cosmos for weeks, so we're polishing up these recruitment guides with information we've learned since launch.

Where To Find Tuala

Finding Commander Tuala, the man who gives you the mission to unlock the UC Vanguard, is perfectly painless. In fact, you'll meet him naturally during a very early story mission, and he'll even give you the Vanguard recruiter sales pitch while you're there - much to Sarah's amused chagrin.

To get things done in the most efficient fashion, just wait until Sarah joins you after introducing yourself at the Lodge, which is pretty much the first major order of business upon your arrival at New Atlantis. Before your departure, you'll be chatting with both Sergeant Yumi (who unlocks a string of non-faction quests for you if you chat him up some more), and Tuala.

No matter your response at this point, you won't get locked out of joining later on. How much later on? In our experience, we were able to turn right back around and talk to Tuala again after the story conversation, tell him we'd like to join, and go from there.

If for whatever reason the option isn't immediately available to you, leave the zone and return to him, or wait until after your mandatory mission with Sarah.

Entering The Simulation

You won't have to venture far to prove to Tuala that you've got what it takes to be Vanguard material. He'll send you up to the appropriate floor here as marked by your objective icon. While it's not necessary to engage with the terminals in the UC historical exhibit while en route to the simulator, we strongly advise you to take the time to interact with every terminal.

Not only does it help establish a ton of important lore not just for Starfield in general, but for the Vanguard questline, Tuala's reception to you upon your return will also be warmer if you do so, which appears to improve the quest reward.

Our main task is to win three consecutive rounds in the space combat simulator that the objective icon will lead you toward. The first two are rather easy, but the third may be quite the challenge if you've not yet gotten your bearings with this stuff.

Win Three Rounds... Maybe More

Unless you're joining up much later into the game, you likely won't have access to advanced mechanics like lock-on, so just do your best to strafe past enemy vessels' firing range and mash all three weapon buttons to really put the hurt on in short order.

You can continue rising in the ranks in the sim before reporting, but be advised that things get very difficult. If you had an easy enough time of things with the third and final required stage, you might find the fourth pretty easy as well, but from there, be sure to at least access the modifiers by interacting with the terminal again to try adding allies, improving shields, and/or upgrading your weapons. In fact, make sure to do this once regardless, since it improves Tuala's evaluation.

If you get stuck, don't let it get you down - we reckon most players will, and that's perfectly fine. It's a bloodbath in there. Just go on ahead and report your results.

Now speak with the proctor standing out front, and then head downstairs to talk with Tuala again. Follow him outside, get sworn in, and you're good to go!

Next: