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Choosing to spare or kill Ron Hope in Starfield during The Hammer Falls mission is a tough choice, giving you power of judge, jury, and executioner while tempting you with money as you chase your Freestar Ranger badge.
Whatever your decision in Starfield, the Ron Hope choice isn't as impactful as it sounds, but it's good to be aware of the choice you've go to make. Below, I've laid out all the options associated with killing or sparing Ron Hope, and all the consequences and rewards for bringing the Starfield Freestar Rangers questline to an end.
It should go without saying, spoilers for the end of The Hammer Falls mission in Starfield to follow.
The Hammer Falls choice in Starfield explained
The choice whether to spare or kill Ron Hope in Starfield doesn't have too much divergence, but there are four outcomes. Although the last three are really just variations on not killing him, with different amounts of cash involved:
- Try to arrest and kill Ron Hope
- Accept Ron Hope's bribe of 20,000 credits and spare him
- Use the Negotiation Skill to accept Ron Hope's bribe and raise it to 50,000 credits
- Spare Ron Hope without taking a bribe
If you try to arrest Ron Hope, he'll make it violent, not willing to go down without a fight - so the choice is ultimately to let him go consequence-free, lining your pockets in the process, or dispense some frontier justice and turn him into a thin red mist. There is no way to bring in Ron Hope alive, so he either stays in power, or gets killed.
It's your choice really, but just remember he's cearly guilty of poisoning farmers' land to make it more mineral rich, then hiring the mercenaries known as the First to try and force the farmers to leave so he can claim those minerals for his industry - a scheme he's only willing to stop doing now he's been caught. However, he's on the Council of Governors that runs the Freestar Collective, and owns the HopeTech corporation, and warns that arresting him will cause political chaos and collapse a business that supports thousands of people. To sweeten the pot, he offers you a bribe in exchange for the evidence against him, tells you to pretend you don't know about his involvement, and says he'll financially support the families of those who died to the First as recompense.
Should you spare or kill Ron Hope in Starfield?
I'll cover the consequences of both outcomes below, but I think you should arrest/kill Ron Hope, as that's the more narratively satisfying outcome and there's no negative consequences to it, despite his threats. The money, while appealing, isn't a huge deal when cash in Starfield is generally relatively easy to obtain.
Whatever you chose the results are ultimatly the same. Whether Hope live or dies, you're made a proper Ranger, given credits, special weapons, gear, and even a free new ship that's specialised for combat and disabling enemy craft, clearly designed for those who know how to dock in Starfield and board ships. These last rewards do not change no matter what you do or what choice you make - no matter whether you kill or spare Ron Hope, this outcome and rewards are fixed.
Kill Ron Hope
If you choose to kill Ron Hope, there won't be any bonus financial reward beyond the minor credits and ammo you can pick off him and his security detail for doing so. His assistant then admits that HopeTech will probably endure despite this, as one man dying probably isn't going to drag down a full interplanetary conglomerate.
Afterwards you go back to the Freestar Rangers and explain everything that's happened and, while the Marshall is a bit bothered that you shot a member of the Council of Governors, Hope was provably guilty and attacked an officer attempting to arrest him, so the whole thing is waved off eventually.
Spare Ron Hope
If you choose to spare Ron Hope, your companions will mostly disapprove as he is pretty villainous, but he will pay you 20,000 credits, increased to 50,000 if you have the Negotiation skill. You can also pick certain dialogue options to spare him without getting paid anything, so everyone hates you and you get nothing for it. Great.
Either way, the result is the same - Hope continues without consequences. And no, you can't turn around and betray Ron Hope to the authorities afterwards, there's simply no dialogue option to do so. After you get back to the Rock, the only option is to lie and say that the trail went cold after Paxton. While the Marshall is disappointed that the greater villain remains unknown, he's impressed that you took on the First effectively by yourself, and makes you a Ranger with all the above rewards mentioned.
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