Starfield: Should you spare or kill Headlock in the Mob Mentality quest?

As an explorer of the cosmos in Starfield, there are countless missions that you will stumble upon throughout your travels across the universe.

One of the most interesting cities that you can visit is Neon, a major pleasure city with a plethora of different side quests, including the Mob Mentality quest that forces you to deal with a young gang member named Headlock and the owner of a high-end luxury store.

This Starfield mission is relatively straightforward and only requires you to speak with a trio of individuals, before tracking down Headlock and the rest of his cronies. Ultimately, his life lies in your hands, and the decisions you make will either set him on his way or leave him in the dirt.

Should I kill Headlock in the Mob Mentality quest in Starfield?

Starting the Mob Mentality quest

To start off the Mob Mentality quest, players need to head over to the Emporium, a large boutique store that sells luxury miscellaneous items. The owner, Tevin Anastas, sits behind the desk at the back of the establishment. Speak to the owner to learn about his issues with Headlock, who has apparently been harassing him for some time. After finally deciding to speak with Headlock, Tevin will send you into Neon’s shady underbelly, the Ebbside, where you’ll be headed to Frankies Grab+Go store to speak with the owner.

Speaking with Frankie

When you first interact with Frankie, she will be generally skeptical of your intentions. Once you’re able to bring up Headlock, she can either be bribed with 500 credits or persuaded to give up the information. If you choose the Neon Street Rat trait for your character, it will open an extra dialogue option that will allow you to get the info without any hassle.

Dealing with Headlock

When you approach Headlock, he won’t be too keen on speaking with you. Eventually, you’ll have the option to persuade him to leave the Emporium alone or attack him and his crew outright. If you choose the Space Scoundrel class, you’ll also get a special dialogue option that convinces Headlock to leave the store alone without any resistance.

Should you spare or kill Headlock?

If you kill Headlock outright, you’ll get a chance to loot him and his allies for their weapons and other items, which you can sell for an even greater profit. If you’re able to reason with Headlock, however, you get 10 XP and more progress toward your Persuasion skill. The reward you get from Tevin will be the same, regardless of what path you choose.

If you aren’t trying to take the moral high ground, the best course of action to maximize your benefits is by persuading Headlock to leave Tevin’s store alone to get the extra experience and Persuasion progress, then killing the gang afterward to get all of their loot.

Personally, I was able to use my Space Scoundrel class to push Headlock to a peaceful resolution, but since I was with a companion that is morally good, I wasn’t able to kill him and his gang afterward.