Should you Kill or Persuade H.H. Holmes in Starfield?

In Starfield, you'll meet various new NPCs while completing different missions. While visiting the Crucible on the Charybdis system, you'll encounter clones of famous personalities like Franklin Roosevelt, Genghis Khan, Queen Amanirenas, Amelia Eirhart, and H. H. Holmes. One of the side missions involves persuading or killing H.H. Holmes, and you need to know which choice to make. 

Should you let H.H. Holmes live in Starfield?

Operation Starseed is a mission that starts after landing on Charybdis III and interacting with the clones of famous personalities. Here, you'll meet Wyatt Earp, the clone of a popular law enforcement officer. Once you've spoken to Franklin Roosevelt, Genghis Khan, and Amanirenas, Wyatt Earp calls your character aside to speak about the Secret Lives side mission.

The clone reveals that he has a secret to divulge about Roosevelt and asks your character to follow him to a cave nearby. After reaching the cave, Wyatt reveals that he is actually the clone of an infamous serial killer named H. H. Holmes. At this point, you'll get a choice to persuade or kill H. H. Holmes' clone.

Persuading this character and sparing his life is the best outcome you can achieve for several reasons. H. H. Holmes is, so far, the only vendor you can find at The Crucible, and he runs an establishment where you can rent rooms to sleep.

Firstly, sparing his life allows you to trade items and resources with the NPC by visiting his Inn. Likewise, you can also purchase a room keycard from him to find a sleeping shelter. Additionally, Charybdis III is a Caesium-rich planet where you can build an outpost to harvest the resource and sell it to the vendor. I'd recommend sparing H. H. Holmes for these reasons, but killing him at the cave fetches 2500 credits.

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How to complete the Secret Lives mission in Starfield

After following Wyatt Earp to the cave, speak to the NPC to learn more about his secret. Here are the dialogue options you can select from:

• (Persuade) We don't have to do this, there's got to be another way
• I'm just going to walk away
• (Attack) You're going down, Holmes
• Does anyone know your secret?
• Killing me will make you a murderer. Is that what you want?

Persuade H. H. Holmes

If you have the Persuasion skill unlocked, choose the first dialogue option, "We don't have to do this.." to convince H. H. Holmes. He will argue for a while before trusting you to keep his secret. While this doesn't fetch 2,500 credits, sparing this vendor NPC through persuasion completes the Secret Lives mission and it is the best choice to make. Remember, if you fail to persuade this NPC, he blows up the gas cans in the cave, eliminating himself and dealing fire damage to your character.

Kill H. H. Holmes

If you are looking to simply assassinate this NPC, select the Attack dialogue option: "You're going down..." Killing H. H. Holmes will complete the Secret Lives mission, and you'll be rewarded with 2,500 credits. However, you'll lose access to the vendor shop at The Crucible.

How to start the Secret Lives mission in Starfield

Secret Lives is a side mission you'll start on planet Charybdis III after speaking to the three leaders at The Crucible. You'll be tasked with visiting the Facility, but before that, Wyatt Earp asks your character to follow him to a secret cave close to the settlement. Follow him to the cave before you visit the Facility to start this mission.

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Should you tell The Crucible leaders about H.H. Holmes in Starfield?

After completing the Secret Lives mission, you can return to The Crucible and tell Franklin Roosevelt, Genghis Khan, and Amanirenas about the true identity of Wyatt Earp. Here are the reactions you'll get from the three leaders:

• Roosevelt: Asks you to keep this information to yourself and says not to judge the man based on the misgivings of his genetic ancestor.
• Genghis Khan: As the clone of a violent man himself, Genghis does not blame H. H. Holmes and
• Amanirenas: The queen will be shocked to hear the true identity of H. H. Holmes and will plan to execute him later on.

The best outcome here is to keep the information of Wyatt Earp's true identity to yourself without telling any of the three leaders.

For more on Starfield, check out Starfield Experimental Ship Modules Guide here at Pro Game Guides