Guide for Truth Seeker and Uncomfortable Truths badges (Erin West optional objectives)

[Petrograd]

Thanks to @Velvet_Violet for writing this arc and advice and @Globetrotter for advice and feedback! Spoilers ahead!
 

The new Erin West Rogue arc in Kallisti Wharf, Cutting Back Old Growth, has two badges for optional objectives. It is possible to get both in one run, but it will depend on your choices and dialog during missions as well as having some story arcs completed before starting. Here is what you need to do for both badges:

 

Spoiler

To get Truth Seeker, you must have completed all of these 4 story arcs for the following contacts:

1) Kelly Uqua - Blurring the Lines (6.59 Level 35-39 Redside)

2) Tavish Bell - The Code Merlin (7.27 Level 50 Redside)

3) Tavish Bell - Vigilante Justice (7.28 Level 50 Redside) You must do both for Bell!!!

4) Number Six - Praetoria's Last Gasp (24.15 Level 50 Neutral Incarnate)

It is ok if you complete them via Ouroboros Flashback, you only need the Souvenir to get this badge.

* NOTE FOR SPEEDRUNNERS/BADGERS: As of the last time I knew (5/28), it is possible to get enough clues to get the Truth Seeker badge without talking to Bell, so you only really need Uqua and Six. Bell does have some fun unique dialog though. Thanks, Crazy Badger 🙂

 

Once you've done those, begin Erin West's arc. For the first several missions, you need to avoid antagonizing Erin West to get Truth Seeker and make some specific choices for Uncomfortable Truths. The mission tracks “like points” for several characters, and if Erin West dislikes enough of your actions, she will not give you the clue to start Truth Seeker. Here is what you should do.

 

See what West Wants / Hold a Press Conference

- Erin West really likes it if you start the press conference with "Greetings, mortals. I am Zarbon..." and stick with all the joke alien lines.

- Avoid the "Quiver in fear, peasants..." line of dialog, as she hates that. Other options or mixing answers lie in between.

- In the debrief, it helps to mention going off the notecards and then say “Hope to keep you laughing.” It also helps to then mention the Skulls and tell her the Skulls thing was clever.

To be safe, pick the alien lines and "Hope to keep you laughing"

 

Meet Alpha Team - Doesn't affect the badges but can affect endings. Side note, you need to walk onto a pad in the upstairs/middle office room.

 

Clear out the abandoned Crey lab

- The entrance is in a helicopter above West, there are stairs doors up in the towers to either side. This mission is the only defeat all.

- When you first talk to Ken Chang for your exit interview, make sure you select: "CARES?" -> "Why "responders" and not "reporters"?" -> "Hmm. Well, let's get on with this puff piece." This is required for the Uncomfortable Truths badge.

- Proceed through the interview but avoid sabotaging it. Praising your team/members and being informal are both OK. Repeatedly saying "It's classified" or insulting the team while praising yourself will both anger West and lock you out of Uncomfortable Truths.

 

Recover the Research

- To get Uncomfortable Truths, you need to make Ken Chang have an existential crisis and quit. Start the second interview, then ask "What is that thing you keep doing? The "traditional land" thing?"

- Keep picking the cynical and anti-corporate options, don't give up. If you did the first interview correctly, Ken will run away and you will get Uncomfortable Truths!

- If Ken catches on that this is a trick or this dialog doesn't appear, you didn't do the first interview right.

- If you did enough things West likes (the alien speech, ok on the first interview, "Hope to keep you laughing", etc.), making Ken quit will not block you from getting Truth Seeker. You can get both badges in one run.

 

Clear out the Devouring Earth Hive

- Your choices in the mission matter for the endings but not the badges.

- When you debrief with West after this mission, select either "Explain" option, then choose these exact options: "That's it?! Too bad, so sad, on we go?" -> "Who did you lose?" -> "It's easier when the grief is shared..."

- West should tell you about her mentor (Sharon Brown) and give you the first clue needed for this badge, Gone but not forgotten. (If you don't see this option or she doesn't give you the clue, you agitated West too much and will need to try the arc again.)

- Keep talking to West until she gives you the next mission.

 

Capture some B-roll / Clear out the Devouring Earth hive

- Sometime during these missions, you need to make a side trip to speak to Tavish Bell (Grandville), Kelly Uqua (Nerva), and Number Six (Rikti War Zone). If they are in your Inactive Contacts you can call them, but if you did anything through Ouro flashback you will need to visit them in person.

- You can visit the contacts in any order, BUT you will have to visit all 3 AND go back and forth between contacts to get all the clues!! (Bell will stop talking to you once you have Deceased's Disposition, that is intended.)

- Ask each one about Sharon Brown, and make sure to select all dialog options about Brown that show up.

- There are 10 clues in total. Each clue is worth a certain amount of points; I think you can get away with missing a clue or two, but I don't know the exact points or which ones you can miss, so if you want to be sure try to get everything.

Possible clues:

1) Gone but not forgotten (West)

2) Lab Attack (Bell or Six)

3) Safety Failures (Six)

4) Cut Costs (Six then Uqua, make sure to ask about safety failures, may need to restart the dialog)

5) Careless Vigilante (Bell or Six, need before Uqua)

6) Pointless Death (Bell or Uqua, but if you lose it go back to Uqua)

7) Questionable Intent (Bell or Six, then Uqua, I think)

8 ) Shady Crey-d (Bell or Six, THEN Uqua, THEN Six)

9) Deceased's Disposition (Bell) - This is the only clue that is unique to Bell, and if you have the other 9, you do not need this for the badge.

10) Covering Their Butts (Six)

- If you are missing clues, go back to the contacts and try ALL the Sharon Brown dialog options again, even dialog you have already done.

- Once you have the clues, finish the DE hunt and "Clear out...."

- In "Clear out" you'll need to click a tunnel for dialog, it's a little finicky. Choices during "Clear out.." may affect endings but don't matter for the badge.

 

Debrief with West / Deal with Alpha Team

- Either during the next debrief or after accepting "Deal with Alpha Team", you can talk to West about Brown. If you've already accepted "Deal with Alpha Team" you can leave West and then click her again to get this option. Take the option to tell her about Sharon Brown and explain every piece of information. Make sure not to end the conversation until you've said every line that gives her info. If everything went correctly you will receive the Truth Seeker badge!

 

Investigate Utopia Complex

Go ahead and complete the final mission for the Front Person badge.

 

Bonus Guide: The Alternate Endings (Spoilers)

Spoiler

There isn't really a "happy" ending for any of the Real-ID Protectors, BUT you can unlock some nice cutscene dialog for each of the 5 original team members.

 

In order to get their dialog, that particular team member:

1) ... must survive to the last mission. For this, you need to not shelve them if that option comes up with Erin West, and you need to choose them to go with you when you split the team in the first "Clear out the Devouring Earth Hive." It's ok if they get "defeated" by enemies during a mission, though.

- If you let Binding Blade pick the teams, she will split members based on your archetype. It will always be the same for that archetype unless you choose the teams yourself.

2) ... must come with you to the Utopia Complex. You must choose to bring the team with you in "Deal with Alpha Team" and that individual member must like you. Choosing to send the team away as a distraction or leave them behind gives a different ending.

- Make sure to talk to the original team members in "Deal with Alpha" Team before you click the PA system and make that choice, because their final dialog in the HQ has a lot of opportunities for changing your reputation.

3) ... must REALLY like you. This is based on your choices and dialog throughout the arc, you'll occasionally see notifications about it. If they don't like you, they won't come with you to Utopia Complex even if they survived. If they partially like you, they will initially fight alongside you BUT will betray you when Erin West calls. If they REALLY like you, they will stay loyal, and you will get to see their unique dialog at the end of mission cutscene.

 

I'm not going to list out everything each person likes or dislikes, you can discover that yourself through replays, but a few hints:

- I've only had a maximum of 3 team members with me at the end in each run, so you will have to do multiple runs if you want to see everyone's ending.

- In my experience it's easiest to get Shadow Dragon's ending scene (you might get it without even trying). Some are more difficult, BUT it is possible to get each of the original 5 to the end.

 

Bonus bonus guide: There is an additional Easter Egg with Ravenstorm. I have no idea how to get it.

[Apotheosis]

Great guide. Very helpful. Got both in a single run. Thanks for posting this!

[twozerofoxtrot]

Thanks to @.OX for pointing me to this guide in-game. I assumed there was no guide because this was here but not in the badge forums.

 

 

 

[Petrograd]

6 minutes ago, twozerofoxtrot said:

Thanks to @.OX for pointing me to this guide in-game. I assumed there was no guide because this was here but not in the badge forums.

 

 

 

 

Yeah, I know it's out of the way but I thought things might change before it comes out of Beta. 

[twozerofoxtrot]

Not your fault really, just wanted to give credit to him before I dropped a link in the badger forums.

[Canucker]

Can truth seeker be done by flashback?  I tried doing the arc first before finding this guide.  Then followed the guide on a subsequent run, best I could, and I wasn't able to talk to those other contacts.  I got the typical "I think you have better things to do right now" line.  I double checked and the arcs required have been completed also.

 

Edited Thursday at 06:36 PM by Canucker

[Cobalt Arachne]

1 hour ago, Canucker said:

Can truth seeker be done by flashback?

 

I just earned both badges on my player account doing the arc via Flashback, so it definitely can be done that way.

[MoCarn]

has anyone gotten STARING INTO THE ABYSS badge?  Not sure what to do to get this

Edited Friday at 02:24 AM by MoCarn

[Petrograd]

7 hours ago, MoCarn said:

has anyone gotten STARING INTO THE ABYSS badge?  Not sure what to do to get this

I believe all you have to do is compete Adelard Ziegler's arc. He's a bluesude KW contract,  he should show up in find contact.

[MoCarn]

ah! I thought it was a Dap Dap badge.  Thank you!

[Cold Bob]

Very useful guide.

 

I got both BONUS OBJECTIVE badges, in one run.

 

It was my third attempt, so after Truth Seeker dropped, I quit the story. 🤪

 

I had to do the Kelly Aqua story in Nerva, as a flashback. But thankfully, it was only 3 missions.

 

I already had Number Six as a contact.

 

I skipped Tavis Bell, and still was able to get the badges.

 

It was a little tricky, that Aqua and Six give you two different versions of the same clue (Pointless Death, and then whatever it was, before I took the Pointless Death clue again) but other than that (which the guide mentioned, with clue #6), the guide lays it all out perfectly.

 

I'll wait until someone updates the guide, before looking for the Ravenstorm easter egg.

[MoCarn]

re: TRUTH SEEKER.  I did Bell, 6 and Uqua missions via FB.  Using the above as a guide, I got the 10 clues plus MISSING TEAM once I got the defeat DE mission.  I finished the DE mission and debriefed West with clues in hand.  An option then was to tell her everything I knew, so I did.  It awarded the badge right then and there.

[Velvet Violet]

Dammit I can't believe there's a guide to this already.

 

On 6/10/2025 at 12:58 PM, Petrograd said:

Bonus bonus guide: There is an additional Easter Egg with Ravenstorm. I have no idea how to get it.

 

I'll give a small hint: learn how he was ahead of you in West's list of choices in the first discussion with her, then never let go of that rage

[Emerald Fusion]

6) Pointless Death (Bell or Uqua, but if you lose it go back to Uqua)

I can confirm that the Not So Pointless Death clue will also work toward the badge.

I ran it via Ouro, got all 9 clues from Kelly Uqua and Number Six.  After my second trip to Six it changed from Pointless Death back to Not So Pointless Death.  I went back to Uqua, and could not get the clue to change back to Pointless Death, so I took a chance and it worked. 

 

I returned to West after the hunt, gave her all 9 clues and got the badge!

Edited yesterday at 05:15 AM by Emerald Fusion

[Rikmach]

D'oh!  So that's what I was missing!  I figured out Tavish and Kelly as possible contacts and talked to them, but completely forgot Six's association with Crey, and didn't talk to him!

[MoCarn]

does truth seeker just go to team leader or to all on the team?

[lemming]

14 minutes ago, MoCarn said:

does truth seeker just go to team leader or to all on the team?

Just lead, even via Ouro iirc which is a bummer.