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If you’re looking for how to complete Niles’ companion quest in The Outer Worlds 2, this walkthrough covers “Pressing Cares,” his first companion quest. You’ll meet Zebulon Tran, rescue Audra Baines near Vox Relay, choose whether to sabotage a Protectorate transport, and return to Zebulon for Niles’s Mod Kit. Niles’s later quest is “Do More Harm”; a short progression note for it appears below.
How to start “Pressing Cares”
After you explore Fairfield and nearby areas on Paradise Island, Niles may ask to visit his old friend Zebulon Tran. Accept his request to start the quest. If the conversation hasn’t triggered, bring Niles in your party and travel to the flooded buildings just outside Westport. Enter The Perfect Goods to find Zebulon and begin the mission.
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Meet Zebulon at The Perfect Goods
Zebulon is wary when he first sees Niles, but their reunion is interrupted by a radio transmission from Audra Baines. Her Subversives cell was captured after infiltrating Vox Relay, and the survivors are due to be transported off-world for interrogation. The conversation points you toward their holding site and provides a cipher code.
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- Travel to the holding area near Vox Relay and clear the Protectorate yard.
- Secure the Vox Landing Pad Storage Key from a Protectorate Neophyte. Use it to open Audra’s cell.
- If you don’t have the key, you can instead open the cell with Lockpick 3 and a Mag-Pick.
- When Audra considers sacrificing herself, a Speech 3 check can persuade her not to.
The key and the Lockpick route are alternatives for opening the cell; Speech is a separate check that affects Audra’s decision.
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Should you sabotage the transport?
After Audra is free, decide whether to sabotage the Protectorate transport. This is the quest’s central role-playing choice: Niles and Zebulon remember how you handle it, so choose according to the character you’re playing rather than expecting one universally best answer.
The walkthrough documents two ways to carry out sabotage: have Niles do it, or do it yourself with Explosives 3. The available details establish that the choice is remembered by Niles and Zebulon, but do not establish every downstream faction or ending consequence.
Return to Zebulon and claim Niles’s reward
Go back to Zebulon to finish “Pressing Cares.” The consistent named reward is Niles’s Mod Kit, alongside completion XP and smaller XP awards during the quest. The final XP amount can vary with the outcome. After the debrief, Niles talks about his history with Audra and Zebulon; continue checking in with him to follow his companion story.
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If you meant Niles’s later quest, “Do More Harm”
“Do More Harm” is Niles’s second companion quest and requires “Pressing Cares” to be complete. The available objective list says to meet Zeb at the Tomb of the Matriarch on Praetor, eliminate Protectorate forces, deal with the Curator, reach the Vault, decide what to do with the Skip Drive designs, then leave the Tomb and talk to Niles. A full room-by-room route and all outcomes are not established here, so those details should not be assumed.
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- The Outer Worlds 2 is the eagerly awaited sequel to the award-winning first-person sci-fi RPG from Obsidian Entertainment.
- Get ready for an action-packed adventure with a new crew, new weapons, and new enemies in a new colony! So much newness!
- As a daring Earth Directorate, the entire galaxy, rests on your decisions—your strengths, your flaws, your crew, and the factions you choose to trust.
- Build your character with the abilities and choices that reflect your playstyle. The colony reacts to your every move, crafting a narrative that’s yours to own.
- Recruit companions with unique traits, backgrounds, and goals, making them an integral part of the immersive story you create together.
Obsidian’s official patch notes describe a scripting update intended to prevent players from losing access to Niles’s final companion perk by skipping his conversation outside the Tomb. Finish that conversation before leaving the Tomb area.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Quest details and version context
The “Pressing Cares” walkthrough was updated on November 1, 2025, so a later game patch could change quest details or checks. The Outer Worlds 2 was released on October 29, 2025. Xbox lists Xbox Series X|S and Windows, while the launch-era Xbox Wire announcement also names PlayStation 5 and Steam; platform and subscription availability can vary by storefront and date. Check the current listing for your platform.
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- The outer worlds is a new single-player first-person sci-fi rpg from obsidian entertainment and private division
- In the outer worlds, you awake from hibernation on a colonist ship that was lost in transit to halcyon, the furthest colony from earth located at the edge of the galaxy, only to find yourself in the midst of a deep conspiracy threatening to destroy it. As you explore the furthest reaches of space and encounter various factions, all-vying for power, the character you decide to become will determine how this player-driven story unfolds. In the corporate equation for the colony, you are the unplanned variable
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![The Outer Worlds 2 – Premium Edition – PlayStation® 5 [Disc + Code in Box]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51m0DA7hhuL._SL160_.jpg)
- The Premium Edition includes: The Outer Worlds 2 base game, DLC Pass for 2 future story expansions*, Moon Man’s Corporate Appreciation Premium Prize Pack, and access to the Digital Artbook & Original Soundtrack. Content Download Required.
- The Outer Worlds 2 is the eagerly awaited sequel to the award-winning first-person sci-fi RPG from Obsidian Entertainment.
- Get ready for an action-packed adventure with a new crew, new weapons, and new enemies in a new colony! So much newness!
- As a daring Earth Directorate, the entire galaxy, rests on your decisions—your strengths, your flaws, your crew, and the factions you choose to trust.
- Build your character with the abilities and choices that reflect your playstyle. The colony reacts to your every move, crafting a narrative that’s yours to own.
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