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One of the major enemy factions in Starfield is the Ecliptic Mercenaries. These mercs have been traveling around the Settled Systems and taking over remote installations, and they're the sort of folks who shoot first and never ask questions.
When players clear a random Ecliptic base on any planet in Starfield, they have a random chance to stumble across a message that refers to a place called Vulture's Roost. Doing so is an Activity, not a Mission, but the loot players can find is well worth the effort it takes to find it.
Where to Go to Reach Vulture's Roost
Vulture's Roost is in the star system Jaffa. Jaffa is roughly in the middle of the star map and close to Porrima, the home of Paradiso. Jaffa is a level 35 system, and players should keep this in mind since the enemies that appear in the base are a challenge for a level 35 character.
Specifically, players should visit the planet Jaffa IV. Vulture's Roost has the icon of a mining colony, but it also has a unique name. In fact, players can visit Jaffa IV even if they never find an Ecliptic message and Vulture's Roost will be waiting for them.
Still, there's one thing players should have before visiting Vulture's Roost, and that's the skill Security 3 (not to mention a pile of digipicks). Most of the good stuff in the base is locked up, and players won't get all of it unless they can pick Master locks.
The Entrance
When players land at Vulture's Roost, their ship will land on a pad at the edge of the complex. The fighting begins almost immediately, and each section of Vulture's Roost is packed full of angry Ecliptic Mercenaries.
The first area doesn't have too much exciting equipment in it. Several of the shipping containers and habs contain loot and crafting items, but nothing out of the ordinary for a base in a level 35 system. Just be sure to fully explore the lower level before taking the stairs to the upper level.
Players can also jump off the side of the plateau and explore the planet. The area around Vulture's Roost is just as fleshed out as any other planetary region in Starfield, but the sides of the plateau are so steep that players may need to use fast travel to return to their ship.
The Bar and Bedrooms
After running through a few living quarters, players will come across a large bar, the centerpiece of this part of Vulture's Roost. To the right of the main entrance to the bar is a two-story hab where every door is locked aside from the bathroom. Players can pick each lock, but there's an easier way to get in.
To the left of the main entrance and on the lower floor, players can find the door to the bar's kitchen. The door in is locked but pickable, and in the back of the kitchen is a waist-high safe. Pick the safe open to get a key to all five rooms in the adjacent hab.
Several of these rooms contain contraband, either sitting around or locked up in contraband caches. Each cache in Vulture's Roost holds nine or ten contraband items, and with so many to find players can start building their contraband inventory in a hurry. No fewer than seven types of contraband are in Vulture's Roost, including vials of Aurora.
The way forward from the bar is on the upper level. The hallway goes past several locked offices (most of which hold even more contraband), and at the far end players will find themselves overlooking another landing pad.
The Central Landing Bay
Players will encounter the toughest Ecliptic Mercenaries as they enter the landing pad area. This region has an upper path that circles all the way around the landing pad, and in some of the habs on this level players can find valuable weapons, suits, and more contraband.
On the left side of the walkway, a set of stairs leads down to the landing pad. Players won't find much down here aside from crafting materials and whatever they pick up from Ecliptic bodies, but a Dagger ship should have landed when players entered this area. Players can end their run through the Vulture's Roost by stealing this Dagger.
The Dagger is a small class A ship, and it doesn't have a shielded cargo hold. Still, players who get this far will have stolen everything else from Ecliptic, so why not cap things off by stealing a ship?
Starfield is available now on PC and Xbox Series X/S.