The Complete Starminer Campaign Walkthrough: Every Mission and Objective

This Starminer campaign walkthrough provides a full, step-by-step guide to every core mission in the main story, from your first asteroid crack to the final confrontation at the Anomaly. The campaign is structured into three distinct acts, taking you from a rookie contractor to a pivotal figure whose choices will shape the fate of the entire sector. Expect the full story to take approximately 25-30 hours, depending on your playstyle and how much you engage with optional side contracts.

01

Prologue: Breaking Groundtag

Your career as a deep space miner begins here. These initial missions serve as a tutorial for the game's core mechanics: mining, refining, crafting, and basic ship navigation. They are straightforward but essential for getting your bearings.

Mission 1: First Shifttag

Your first assignment from Astro-Haul Inc. is a simple proof of competence. You're dropped into a quiet, resource-rich asteroid field and given a basic set of tasks to complete. This mission introduces the fundamental gameplay loop.

• Objective 1: Mine 500 Iron Ore. Use your standard-issue mining laser to target and fracture the rust-colored asteroids. Keep an eye on your cargo hold capacity.
• Objective 2: Refine the Ore. Return to your starting station and use the refinery module. This process converts raw ore into usable ingots.
• Objective 3: Craft a Power Conduit. Access the station's fabricator and use the newly refined iron to craft a Power Conduit. This is your introduction to the crafting system that you'll use to upgrade your ship and base throughout the game.

Mission 2: Signal Boosttag

With basic resource handling proven, Astro-Haul wants you to expand their communications network. This mission introduces you to your corporate handler, Elias Vance, who will serve as your primary point of contact for much of the campaign.

• Objective 1: Travel to the designated coordinates. This will be your first short-range jump.
• Objective 2: Install the Comms Relay. Approach the unfinished relay structure and transfer the Power Conduit from your cargo hold into the installation slot. This completes the objective and establishes a clear line to command.
• Objective 3: Report to Elias Vance. You'll receive your first holographic transmission from Vance. He’ll congratulate you on a job well done and unlock the first set of corporate contracts, officially kicking off Act I.

02

Act I: The Corporate Laddertag

Now a fully-fledged contractor, your goal is to earn credits and reputation with Astro-Haul by completing a series of increasingly dangerous and complex jobs. This act is about upgrading your ship, learning advanced mechanics, and establishing yourself as a reliable operator. You'll need to invest your earnings wisely in better shields, weapons, and mining lasers to survive what's to come.

Mission 3: Cryo-Haultag

This is your first encounter with a hazardous environment. A client needs a shipment of Cryo-gel, a volatile resource found only in thermally active asteroid fields. Heat management becomes a critical skill here.

• Objective: Mine and deliver 200 units of Cryo-gel.
• Strategy: Cryo-gel asteroids are bright blue and emit a faint cold mist. Mining them rapidly builds up heat in your ship's systems. Fire your laser in short, controlled bursts and watch the heat gauge. If you overheat, your systems will shut down, leaving you vulnerable. Consider investing in a Heat Sink utility module before starting.

Mission 4: Pest Controltag

Your first taste of combat. A derelict Astro-Haul mining station has been overrun by rogue security drones. Vance wants you to clear them out so a salvage team can move in. This mission is a hard gear-check for your ship's weapons and shields.

• Objective: Eliminate all hostile drones in the area.
• Strategy: There are two types of drones: small, fast-moving Wasps and slower, heavily-armored Hornets. Prioritize the Wasps, as they can quickly overwhelm your shields with their numbers. Use the station's geometry as cover. A basic shield generator and a pair of Gatling cannons are highly recommended.

Mission 5: The Prospecttag

After proving your worth, Vance trusts you with a critical expansion task: surveying a new asteroid cluster and establishing a Forward Operating Base (FOB). This mission introduces the base-building mechanics.

• Objective 1: Travel to the unexplored system.
• Objective 2: Scan 5 designated asteroids for resource density. Use your ship's scanner to identify a prime location for the base.
• Objective 3: Deploy the FOB Core. Once you've found a suitable location (ideally with access to iron, copper, and carbon), deploy the core from your ship's special cargo.
• Objective 4: Build a Refinery and Cargo Depot. Use your mining laser's construction mode to build the two essential starting structures for your new base. This outpost will serve as a personal resupply and crafting hub for the rest of the game.

03

Act II: Whispers in the Voidtag

This is where the main narrative of Starminer kicks into high gear. While on a routine job, you stumble upon a corporate conspiracy that challenges your loyalty to Astro-Haul and reveals a secret hidden in the depths of space.

Mission 6: The Ghost Shiptag

Elias Vance sends you to investigate a distress signal from the Odyssey, a massive Astro-Haul freighter that went missing years ago. He claims it's a simple black box recovery mission. It is not.

• Objective 1: Locate the wreckage of the Odyssey. Follow the faint signal through a dense debris field. Upgraded shields are a must.
• Objective 2: Find the ship's black box. The interior of the derelict is a maze. You'll need to navigate the powerless corridors. The black box is located on the bridge.
• Objective 3: Retrieve the Captain's logs. Near the black box, you can access a secondary terminal containing the Captain's personal logs. These files are corrupted but mention a cover-up, a mysterious "sentient mineral," and coordinates to a hidden location. Taking these logs is a hidden objective that is crucial for the story.

Mission 7: Forbidden Datatag

After reviewing the Odyssey's logs, you realize Vance wasn't telling you the whole truth. To get answers, you must infiltrate a secure Astro-Haul data vault to learn about their true interest in the sector. This mission introduces light stealth and hacking elements.

• Objective: Retrieve the "Project Chimera" files from the data vault.
• Strategy: The data vault is protected by automated turrets and sensor grids. You can't fight your way through. You must use your ship's low-power mode to minimize your signature and navigate the patrol routes. The hacking minigame requires you to redirect power flows to create an opening. Once inside, download the files and escape without raising the alarm.

The files reveal the truth: the Odyssey wasn't a freighter. It was a research vessel studying a massive, crystalline alien entity—The Anomaly. The "sentient mineral" they found was a fragment of it, and Astro-Haul has been trying to weaponize it ever since.

Mission 8: The Anomalytag

Armed with the coordinates from the Odyssey and the context from Project Chimera, you jump to the hidden location. There, you find it: a colossal, crystalline structure that pulses with a strange energy, unlike anything you've ever seen. As you approach, you're contacted by two factions simultaneously: Elias Vance, ordering you to secure the Anomaly for Astro-Haul, and a new voice, representing the Free Prospectors, a group of independent miners who believe the Anomaly must be protected.

04

Act III: The Final Choicetag

This is the culmination of your journey. Both Astro-Haul and the Free Prospectors want control of the Anomaly, and they need you to tip the scales. Your decision is permanent and will lock you into one of two final mission paths, dramatically altering the endgame and the state of the sector.

You must choose who to align with. This choice determines your final mission and the unique technology you'll be rewarded with.

Path 1 - Astro-Haul: Mission 9, "Corporate Mandate"tag

If you side with Elias Vance, your objective is to turn the Anomaly into a corporate asset. The Free Prospectors will actively try to stop you.

• Objective 1: Defend the Astro-Haul science team. Fight off waves of Free Prospector ships while the science team deploys their equipment.
• Objective 2: Install the Harvesting Spires. You must personally install three massive spires onto the Anomaly's surface at designated weak points. This will require you to withstand concentrated fire.
• Objective 3: Subdue the Anomaly's core. The installation will provoke a defensive reaction from the Anomaly itself. You must survive the energy surges and destroy the crystalline antibodies it generates.

Path 2 - Free Prospectors: Mission 9, "Guardians"tag

If you side with the Free Prospectors, your goal is to protect the Anomaly from corporate exploitation. You will become an enemy of Astro-Haul.

• Objective 1: Destroy the Astro-Haul blockade. Before you can help the Anomaly, you must break the corporate fleet's perimeter.
• Objective 2: Activate the Anomaly's defenses. The Prospectors have a plan to wake the Anomaly's dormant defensive systems. You must fly close to three Resonance Conduits on its surface and channel energy from your ship's core, all while evading fire from an Astro-Haul capital ship.
• Objective 3: Defend the Anomaly. With its defenses online, the Anomaly will fight back. Help it repel the remaining corporate forces.

05

Starminer Campaign FAQtag

How long is the Starminer campaign? The main story campaign takes roughly 25-30 hours to complete. This can vary depending on how much time you spend on optional contracts, ship upgrades, and base building.

Can you miss any missions? No, all missions in the main campaign are sequential and cannot be missed. However, the final act is determined by a critical choice, locking you out of the opposing faction's final mission for that playthrough.

What's the best ship for the campaign? There's no single "best" ship, but a versatile medium-class vessel is highly recommended. You need a ship with enough module slots to balance mining lasers, combat weapons, and utility items like heat sinks and shield boosters. The Rock-Breaker Mk. II is a popular and effective choice.

Does the final choice affect post-campaign gameplay? Yes, absolutely. Your choice permanently affects your standing with Astro-Haul and the Free Prospectors. Siding with one makes the other hostile. This changes the types of high-tier contracts available in the endgame and which systems are safe or dangerous to travel through.

06

A Choice That Matterstag

The Starminer campaign excels by evolving from a simple mining simulator into a compelling narrative about corporate greed, the ethics of discovery, and your place in the universe. The final choice isn't just cosmetic; it has tangible gameplay consequences that give the story weight and encourage a second playthrough to see the other side of the conflict. Whether you become a corporate enforcer or a guardian of the unknown, your journey through the stars will leave a lasting mark on the sector.