Where to Divert Power?
The first big decision you will need to make in The Outer Worlds is whether to divert power to Edgewater or the Botanical Labs. Reed Tobson tells you Edgewater needs the power to survive, and that the deserters will come back if you do. Adelaide, who leads the deserters, despises Reed, and Edgewater, and is trying to set up a better option for people at the Botanical Lab.
Should You Divert Power To Edgewater Or The Botanical Lab
I’m going to assume you are at the point where you have to divert the power. The quest itself is not very difficult, but there is a lot of information at play. Reed has been trying to keep Edgewater running, but his necessary choices seem cruel, and he is not really doing much to help the town. Adelaide seems to have set up a great spot at the Botanical Lab, but the deserters have their own issues, but they also have no plague. All the signs are there that the Lab won’t last for long, however, and eventually, Marauders will get them.
Divert Power To The Botanical Lab
If you divert power to the Botanical Lab, you will get the following:
- Increase of Deserters Reputation
- Decreased reputation with Spacer’s Choice
- 2828 experience
When you divert the power to the Botanical Lab, you must return to Reed to get the Power Regulator from the lower floor of the Cannery. He has guards with him, ready to shoot you, and he wants to know why you did it. You can apologize, ask what will become of the tower, or just try to intimidate him. You will need an Intimidate score of 30 for that to work.
Frankly, this is a bad option to pick.
Divert Power To Edgewater
If you divert power to Edgewater, you will get the following:
- Spacer’s Choice reputation will increase
- Deserters reputation will decrease
- 2828 experience
When you return to Adelaide at the Botanical Lab to get the Power Regulator, she calls you a snake and wants to know why you did it. You can tell her that it had to be done, and she must go back to Edgewater. She won’t do it while Reed is around, but you can tell her you will deal with Reed.
Before you head back to Edgewater, talk to Thomas Kent. If you got all three engineering books he needed, you can convince him going back is a good idea, and he can be an engineer. Tell him to let you talk to Reed before he makes a choice. After that, talk to Grace. As long as you saved Zoe, you can convince her the Botanical Labs were too dangerous, and to return to Edgewater. Once again, tell her that you need to talk to Reed, so not to do anything hasty.
Go back to Edgewater and speak to Reed. You can convince him to step down if you persuade score is over 15. Tell him about Adelaide, how her people have no plague, and how she has worked out how to repair the soil and grow crops again. He will agree that she is the best person to lead the town.
You can, if you need to, kill him, but this will interfere with your relationship with Parvati, and she will not be happy. If you do need to kill him, best to do it when she is not around, but you shouldn’t have to. Having Parvati in your party buffs your Persuade skill, so you should have no problem convincing him to step down.
Then, return to Adelaide again, tell her Reed is done, and she can go to Edgewater. Speak to Thomas and Grave to let them know what is happening, and you are done.
This is the best course of action to take, as it saves the most people, you don’t have to kill anyone, and you get plenty of extra experience for finishing the quest this way.,
