There’s a big choice to make near the beginning of The Outer Worlds. You need to direct power from the geothermal plant on Terra-2 somewhere. That place can be either Edgewater (the dying town you reach at the start of the game) or the deserters (those who left Edgewater in search of a better life away from the corporations). Edgewater or deserters? Which should you choose? That’s what we’re seeking to answer in our guide to “Comes Now the Power” in The Outer Worlds. Now let’s take a look!
First off, if you don’t know what I’m talking about, Comes Now the Power is the quest in The Outer Worlds that nets you a power regulator. It directly leads to “Stranger in a Strange Land,” which is the quest that gets your spaceship up and running. It’s also something you want to do nearly immediately. Getting the Unreliable into space opens up the rest of the game a fair bit.
More of The Outer Worlds:
- The Outer Worlds Tips Guide – 17 Things the Game Doesn’t Tell You
- The Outer Worlds Romance Guide – How Relationships Work
- The Outer Worlds Prismatic Hammer Location – Science Weapon Guide
Where you divert power during this quest is, of course, completely up to you. Picking either the deserters or Edgewater won’t impede your progress. Even the seemingly factional side quests you pick up before this point — like collecting outlaw fingers — won’t fail out depending on your choice! So it mostly comes down to what kind of outcome you would like to see.
Here’s something you should not do, however. Don’t go to the geothermal plant without first speaking to Adelaide, leader of the deserters, first. The game will instantly count that optional objective as “botched” the second you open the door to the station. Luckily, The Outer Worlds auto-saves every single time you enter or exit a loaded area — right before you opened the door. If you make this mistake, you should be able to reload to a state where Comes Now the Power isn’t considered botched.
There’s even more nuance to this choice than it first appears, too. Despite you needing to make one of two choices, there are more like four or five major outcomes when choosing where to divert power. Obviously, the first two are just “choose Edgewater” or “choose the deserters.” You’ll get your power regulator either way.
The third and fourth outcomes require a little extra legwork (and certain skills). Say you divert power to the deserters, for instance. You still need to return to Edgewater and get the regulator from there. But you won’t be able to without also being confronted by Reed Tobson: the kinda-sorta mayor of Edgewater. He will automatically start a conversation with you the second you try to get his regulator after betraying him to the deserters and Adelaide.
From here, you can just kill Reed. It’s that simple! Just be wary, because the middle manager has a number of corporate goons at his disposal. This might be a tougher fight than you’re used to, if you haven’t leveled up all that much. Your second option is to intimidate Reed into backing down. That way he will continue to live. And the remaining people of Edgewater will have the choice to stay with him, or move on to live with the deserters. Those that do will live free of the corporations and be safe from the plague, since it’s the food in Edgewater making people sick.
The Outer Worlds – Edgewater or Botanical Power Guide
Your other option is to screw over the deserters after you talk to Adelaide. This is not a black and white choice, however! If you do so, you can still return to Adelaide’s faction to talk. The leader of the deserters will still agree to return to Edgewater with her people — assuming Reed steps down as leader.
At this point, you can return to Reed again, and inform him that the Edgewater food is making people sick. With high enough speech skills, you can convince him to walk way peacefully, and Adelaide will become the new boss. She will also replace the town’s food processes with a garden — just like the one in the wilderness — and save everyone from the plague.
The major nuance here seems to be lives versus livelihood. Siding with the deserters will get some people killed. Adelaide doesn’t believe all the good people of Edgewater will come to live with the deserters, even if you turn off their power. That means poisoned food and no protection from the elements. Whereas, if you divert power from the geothermal plant to Edgewater, and get Adelaide installed as leader, everyone will be healthy. Yet they’ll still be stuck in their old ways, under the thumb of Spacer’s Choice.
I won’t spoil anything beyond that. However, I personally chose to power the deserters. I didn’t feel responsible for a bunch of people choosing not to go and live a better life! Whereas sticking to the old ways seems like a mistake. You’re here to shake up the corporations, after all.
Thanks for taking the time to read our guide to Comes Now the Power in The Outer Worlds. I hope it helps you decide between Edgewater or the deserters when it comes time to divert power. Best of luck!
