The Key Ingredient is the 11th mission in the Ryujin Industries quest line in Starfield. Ryujin is keen to go ahead with Project Dominion, and the test subject will be…you. Before they can go ahead with this though, they need to acquire the lost Rothicite shipment which is the “key” ingredient for the Internal Neuropump. Read below for a full walkthrough on where you can acquire this.

Meet Masako in Veena Kalra’s Office¶

This mission will start immediately after finishing the Guilty Parties Mission. Dalton will tell you that Masako wants to speak to you in Veena’s office which is on the Research and Development floor (R&D). Make your way to the elevator, and select the R&D floor. Exit the elevator, head down the stairs, go across the hall, through the hallway, and head right to find Veena’s office where Masako, Veena, and Camden will be having a conversation.

They’ll be talking about a missing Rothicite Shipment which is imperative to complete the neuroamp. Speak to Masako, and she’ll tell you that the plan has changed, and Ryujin will need to complete the Neuroamp as quickly as possible due to needing to know how much Infinity LTD knows about the schematics. She’ll introduce you to Veena, the head of R&D, and you’ll find out that although Infinity may know about the Neuroamp, they won’t know about the shielding part of it as it was never included in the schematics. What the shielding does is, it stops you from being controlled by the Neuroamp which is a vital piece to be missing.

Furthermore, Masako will tell you that the plan is to install you with the Neuroamp and the shielding, which leaves you with a choice. All the options here are flavor text and won’t change anything, so pick what you want. Veena will tell you how they needed to find a compatible material that the human body wouldn’t reject, and the key ingredient is…Rothicite. This is where Camden comes in. Apparently, he had a contract with Consolidated Mining to gather, refine, and ship the Rothicite, but it hit a snag. The last shipment hasn’t arrived yet, and both Ryujin and Consolidate Mining haven’t heard from the Carinae station.

This is where you come in, your assignment will be to head to the station, secure the shipment, and bring it back to Ryujin. What’s more, Masako wants to know what happened, so it doesn’t happen again. Seems easy enough, right?

Travel to Carinae III-A and Enter the CM Station RC-1 Mine¶

Open your mission log, hover over the objective, press , set course to Carinae III-a, and jump. Rotate the moon until you find CM Station RC-1 Mine, and land on it. Exit the ship, and head forward to the complex in front of you. Here, there will be a few Ecliptic Mercs outside. Either take them out or head inside as that is where the objective is.

There is various loot all around the complex, so explore if you want it, otherwise ignore the first small building, and head up the stairs to the Consolidated Mining building behind it. Enter the door, but be warned, there will be lots of Ecliptic Mercs in here. As you enter the building a few mercs will either attack as soon as you enter or attack you from the door to your right. After you’ve dealt with the immediate threat, open the weapon case on the desk to the left of the door, open the storage box to the right of it, and take the ammo from the nearby cases on the floor. There is also some armor in the various displays scattered around the room.

In the next room, there isn’t a lot of good loot, but there is a small storage case on the first desk to your left and an ammo case at the back. When you’re done looting, head through the door on the right side of the room, and loot the weapon rack to the side of it if you want. There’s not much to do in this room other than the storage box on the shelf to the right of the stairs. When you’re ready, head down the stairs. Once again, there’s not much in here other than the storage box on the shelf under the stairs, and some lockers near the doorway. Loot them if you want, and head down the elevator.

Discover What Happened at CM Station RC-1: Find the Rothicite Shipment¶

Turn on your flashlight if you haven’t already as this area is a little darker, then pick up the Trauma Pack from the first aid pack on the container to your left. There’s an open door at the end of the room where some enemies are. You may have to defeat them first before looting this room, but if they’re not hostile to you yet, then loot the room first. On the left are some shelves which you can walk behind which hide a storage crate (behind the trauma pack). Also, there is a Mining Monthly skill magazine on the workbench near the doorway.

Exit the room into the mining tunnel, and you’ll face numerous Ecliptic Mercs. We recommend using long-range weapons from the previous room, but a shotgun will work. Once you’ve taken them down, loot the bodies, and the other loot from the various containers (weapon cases/storage boxes), and continue following the path. You can mine some Rothicite here if you want, which is a 4-star material, but it won’t count toward the mission. Simply, get out your scanner, and shoot it with a laser.

Eventually, you’ll reach a railing with a walkway; if you look over, you’ll find a bunch of loot where the miners were killed (there may be an enemy or two down here too). Mine the various Rothicite nodes if you want, and loot the bodies then open up the large storage crate, and weapon case down here. When you’re done looting, head back up the way you came and continue down the tunnel. Here, you’ll be ambushed by more mercs. If you have some grenades, use them to take them out quicker due to them all being bunched together.

As you walk further down the tunnel, make sure to pick up the numerous ammo cases, and Med Packs scattered around the area. When you reach the end of the tunnel, there will be a turret and some more mercs. Use the mine carts as cover, and take them out. Proceed toward the turret and loot the storage box below it then move on. There will be some more mercs a bit further down, defeat them, and continue following the path. Around the corner will be some more mercs and another turret. Deal with them, and loot the various containers before heading down the elevator.

At the bottom of the elevator, open the weapon case behind it as well as the spacesuits in the displays then go through the door where you’ll be greeted by more mercs. There are quite a few in here, so use the doorways as cover; feel free to throw a few grenades/mines their way. Once you have defeated them, the Agent’s corpse will have some Contract Orders on them. Read the contract, and it’s clear as day that Infinity hired the mercs. This is great evidence against them, but one more important detail is that the shipment is to be transferred to The Clinic.

That’s this area done with, but before you go, make sure you loot all the containers in the past couple of rooms. There’s a weapon case on the table where you entered from, and a science crate on the table in the side room. Furthermore, there are other containers like storage crates, med packs, and ammo cases scattered about. When ready, hit the switch to open the secure access door, and head to your ship.

Travel to The Clinic¶

Open the Starmap, and head to The Clinic which can be found in the Narion System. The Clinic is in orbit on the outskirts of Deepala. Fly your ship over to it, select it, and dock. This place is neutral, so you won’t have to worry about being attacked provided you don’t do anything you shouldn’t. Head through into the room with the Reception sign above the doorway, and you’ll be met with a large open room. There is loot in The Clinic, like the weapon case in Ben Armistead’s room, but you will be stealing if you try to take it, so make sure you’re hidden when you do.

Once you’re done searching the place, head to the Secure Wing which is to the right of the reception desk, and speak to the nearby guard. He’ll tell you the area is off-limits, so you’ll need to persuade him to let you in. Make a quick save before attempting this in the case that you fail. Green choices equal low risk, low reward to persuade them while red means high risk, high reward with yellow being in the middle.

Discover What Infinity LTD is Doing at The Clinic¶

Once you’ve convinced him to let you in, head through the door into a mostly empty wing beside Dr. Lane, Sean McAfee, and a few clinic staff. Head over to Dr. Lane’s office where he will be conversing with Sean. If Sean asks what you’re doing here, lie to him, and he’ll direct you to Dr. Lane. What you need to do is search Dr. Lane’s computer, you can talk to him for some information too, but it is optional. If you wait a bit, he’ll turn his back on his computer for some reason. This is a great chance to see what’s on it, head over to the computer while in stealth, hack it (novice), and search Project Dominion > Introduction to find out what Infinity has the doctors here doing human trials with the Neuroamp. Another great piece of evidence against them.

When you’re finished reading the information on Dr. Lane’s computer, pick up the Refined Rothicite Shipment opposite his desk. That’s the mission done, and all you need to do is head back to Veena in Ryujin Industries. Note: There is a computer with patient records which can give you some more lore for the trials if you’re interested. It is in the same room where you’ll find Sean.

Return to Veena¶

Fly back to Neon, head to Ryujin Tower, and make your way to the Research and Development floor. Hand over the shipment to Veena, who’ll thank you before continuing work on the prototype, and Masako will ask you what you found out. Tell her that Infinity hired Ecliptic Mercenaries to obtain the shipment and that no one survived the attack. Finally, tell her about the private contract with The Clinic and the human trials. Looks like Infinity LTD will be in a world of hurt soon and Masako will call you all to the meeting room to put the plan in motion, but that will be carried out in the following mission.