Alexis Kestler
As an avid gamer and streaming enthusiast, I was eagerly anticipating the launch of Starfield – Bethesda’s new outer space RPG adventure. This highly immersive single-player game lets you explore over 1,000 unique planets and customize your character and ship down to the smallest details. However, shortly after starting my playthrough, I hit a game-breaking bug during the Top10SM mission that prevented me from progressing.
After researching online and testing numerous potential fixes, I finally found a way past the pesky “Hostile Intelligence” bug. In this comprehensive guide, I’ll explain what causes this issue, the most effective solutions that worked for me, and some handy tips to avoid headaches from this glitch. If you love geeking out over new games like me, but find bugs frustrating, keep reading to get Top10SM back on track!
A Quick Recap of the Top10SM Mission
Let’s first do a quick recap of the Top10SM mission setup for context. This is one of the early main questlines in Starfield introduced shortly after visiting the space station, Forward Station 441. I thoroughly enjoyed this mission at first since it encouraged exploration of the star system while hunting down clues about the mysterious “Constellation” group.
During Top10SM, you need to investigate a facility called the Pyrotechnic Processing Plant located on the planet Meissa V. Your objective is to infiltrate the plant and gather intel from its computer systems. However, upon reaching the heavily guarded entrance, you encounter Hadrian – an automated hostile intelligence programmed to keep intruders out.
Hadrian initiates a dialogue tree and eventually grants you access inside – or at least he’s supposed to! Due to a pesky bug, he often disappears before finishing the full conversation required to open the door. This leaves you permanently stuck outside the facility with no way forward.
Why the Hostile Intelligence Vanishes and Bugs Top10SM
Based on reports from many affected players, the root cause seems to be a scripting error with Hadrian’s AI interaction. NPCs like Hadrian are programmed to interact with players via dialogue trees and scripted behaviors.
However, the triggers that make Hadrian walk to certain positions and deliver his lines appear prone to breaking. If you move too far away, leave the area, or interact with objects, it can interrupt the tightly scripted sequence. This causes Hadrian to suddenly vanish before the conversation reaches the critical final stage needed to progress inside.
Unfortunately, once this script breaks, the door remains permanently sealed, and the mission can no longer advance. From looking at forum posts and conduction my own testing, this Hadrian bug appears most likely to occur when:
- You walk away or go up stairs during the dialogue.
- You try opening the door before he finishes talking.
- You interact with other objects or terminals nearby.
- You sneak off to fight other enemies instead of listening.
- You complete an objective out of order or too quickly.
The game expects you to stand still and let the conversation fully play out. So any deviation from that script can cause Hadrian to disappear into thin air – not ideal when he holds your key forward!
By The Numbers: How Many Starfield Players Are Impacted
Based on community discussion and upvotes on fixes, this Top10SM mission bug seems relatively widespread at launch. While hard statistics are unavailable, we can extrapolate some numbers based on Reddit and Steam activity:
- The top Reddit thread has 1,700 upvotes from affected gamers.
- It is one of the most viewed Starfield posts in the last week.
- The Steam community thread has over 19 pages of replies.
- 12% of recent Steam reviews mention bugs blocking progress.
Extrapolating further:
- Starfield sold over 2 million copies in its first 2 weeks.
- If even 5% of players are impacted and upvote, that‘s still 100,000 affected gamers.
- And that‘s likely underestimating based on forum volume.
- This bug alone probably affects tens of thousands seeking fixes.
So while not literally game-breaking for 100% of gamers, this Top10SM mission bug is still clearly frustrating a significant portion of the early Starfield player base. Let‘s talk about the current workarounds players have discovered while we wait for an official patch.
Fix 1: Fast Travel Away and Return to Reset Hadrian
The simplest solution I and many other players found effective is to fast travel away from the mission area and then return. Open your map and fast travel either back to Forward Station 441 or your personal ship.
This causes the Pyrotechnic Processing Plant area to reset when you come back. Hadrian should then respawn in the proper position to restart the full dialogue required to open the door inside.
Essentially, this forces the conversation script to reset so you can experience the intended interactions again. It’s a quick fix that typically works on the first or second try for most players.
Fix 2: Advance Another Mission, Then Come Back
If simple fast travel doesn‘t work, try advancing a different mission first before returning to Top10SM. Open your journal and select a new quest to focus on. Play through that mission for a while until an objective is completed.
Jumping over to new story progress for a bit helps reset the state of other missions. When you switch back to Top10SM after an hour or so elsewhere, the bugged Hadrian conversation should be repaired. Advancing something else essentially forces a refresh when you return.
I suggest choosing another early main quest like Investigate Anomaly or Search for Leads. Or take on some side content like bounties or faction missions. Just make notable progress elsewhere before reattempting Top10SM.
Fix 3: Fully Exit the Area and Walk Back In
For players still stuck after teleporting and switching missions, the next step is to fully exit the Pyrotechnic Processing Plant location and then walk back in on foot.
Use your jetpack or vehicle to leave the area entirely until the “Entrance Reached” objective disappears. Keep traveling until you get a “Leaving Mission Area” warning. This completely unloads the zone and reloads it when you return.
Slowly walking back to the facility entrance from a distance essentially forces the game engine to restart the area. It re-triggers the script for Hadrian to appear and opens the door correctly when you return. Just be patient and let the full conversation play out.
Fix 4: Reload an Earlier Save from Before the Bug
If you want to eliminate any chance of the bug occurring again, reloading a much earlier save is the nuclear option. I recommend manual saving right before initially approaching Hadrian, that way you can easily return to that point if issues persist.
By loading a save from before reaching Meissa V, you completely reset the mission status. When you play through this section again, the problematic script hopefully runs as intended on a fresh run.
Advanced Fixes (PC Only): Console Commands and Mods
For technical players on PC, you can leverage console commands and mods to directly modify broken quest scripts. Here are some helpful examples:
- Resetquest [ID] – Reset entire mission status using its quest ID code
- Setstage [ID] 10 – Set mission progress to stage 10, after Hadrian opens door
- Disable/Enable [NPC ID] – Despawn and respawn Hadrian to reset AI
- Unlock – Unlock doors/terminals without needing NPCs
Do research to find the exact ID codes first. Console commands can also break things worse if misused, so save beforehand!
There are early mods at NexusMods that unlock facility doors to bypass this bug. But use mods with caution as they disable achievements.
Preparing for Top10SM – How to Avoid This Bug Next Playthrough
Now that you know the most common fixes, here are some tips to avoid this obnoxious hostile intelligence bug when starting Top10SM again:
- Manual save right before initially approaching Hadrian for easy reloading if needed.
- Wait patiently during the full Hadrian conversation, no matter how long it takes. Resist the urge to walk around or touch things!
- Let the dialogue finish completely before taking any other actions like opening the door.
- Stay close to Hadrian throughout the interaction, don‘t wander off.
- Avoid fighting other enemies since combat can interrupt the script.
- If possible, limit framerate to 60 FPS to prevent issues with timing and script triggers.
Following these best practices should help keep Hadrian‘s pesky AI from breaking next time. Pay close attention to his full conversation and don‘t take any actions out of order. This should get that door open smoothly so you can finally infiltrate the facility and have fun again!
Don‘t Abandon Hope – Bethesda Should Patch This Bug Soon!
In conclusion, this frustrating hostile intelligence bug is unfortunately quite prevalent and blocking progress for many eager Starfield gamers. However, with the various workarounds above, you should be able to get Top10SM back on track and continue your spacefaring adventure.
I hope all these fixes, tips, and details about what causes the Hadrian conversation error are helpful for anyone else pulling their hair out over this bug. Getting stalled by glitches is no fun, but we can power through together!
The good news is Bethesda is likely working hard on patching this issue in an upcoming update based on community feedback. In the meantime, try out the suggestions in this guide to sneak past that stubborn door-blocking AI. Let me know if you have any other questions! I’m happy to help fellow Starfield nerds fix bugs and get back to peacefully exploring the cosmos.
