Starfield Olive Branch: How to Plant the Seed

Olive Branch is one of the shortest missions available in the Starfield New Atlantis city, and it revolves around an olive seed you must plant for Nilesh Sherazi.

The Starfield Olive Branch, as short as it is, comes with a choice you get to make because the mission gives you the option to plant the seed or hand it to a UC Security guard.

Unlike other missions covered as part of our Starfield Wiki, the Olive Branch choice has a penalty, meaning you can miss your Credits unless you know how to tackle it.

Furthermore, the Olive Branch side mission is also a bit tricky because you have only several seconds to plant the seed; otherwise, you’ll get spotted.

Luckily, if you miss the small window and fail to plant the seed, there is a trick you can try to plant the seed without being spotted.

So, let’s see how to complete the Olive Branch in Starfield and how to plant the seed undetected.

How to Start the Starfield Olive Branch Mission

In the video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios, Olive Branch is a mission you can start when you get to New Atlantis by visiting the MAST District.

The quest giver or the NPC you are looking for is named Nilesh Sherazi, and he is found in the gardens outside the MAST building.

If you have already found Kelton Frush and started A Tree Grows In New Atlantis, then only several steps away from him, you should see Nilesh Sherazi (pictured below), wearing a gray coat.

Speak to Nilesh and ask him what he thinks about the Embassy District. A diplomat, Nilesh, explains that he believes that the peace treaty is a crafted artifice and a lie. Next, ask him if he needs help, and he’ll tell you that he likes to collect plants in his spare time. Especially from Earth.

Nilesh has an Olive Seed he wants to plant as a symbol of peace; however, the nearby UC Security guard doesn’t allow anyone to touch the plants, let alone plant new ones.

So, your objective is to plant the Olive Seed without being spotted by the UC Security guard. At this point, you’ll get a choice and two objectives:

• Hand the seed over to the guard
• Plant the Olive Seed

After getting the Olive Seed, look around, and you should see the UC Security guard standing close to Nilesh.

If you decide to hand the seed over to the guard in Starfield Olive Branch, you’ll immediately complete the mission, but you won’t get any Credits from the guard. So, the optional objective here should be avoided at all costs.

This means that you’ll need to plant the seed. Here is how to do it.

How to Plant the Starfield Olive Seed Undetected

The first thing you’ll have to do is find the spot where the seed must be planted. As you can see in the following screenshot, this spot is between the location where you find Nilesh Sherazi and the UC Security guard.

Now, approach Nilesh Sherazi again, and you’ll have the following dialogue choices:

• Can you help me? I need a diversion.
• You think the peace is a lie?
• What are your duties here?

Pick the first option, then head back to the spot marked above.

Now, you’ll want to be patient and wait for Nilesh Sherazi to distract the UC Security guard. Pay close attention to them and wait until you see the guard leaving. At this point, he will be facing the MAST building, and he can’t see you when you plant the seed.

Keep in mind that you have only several seconds before the guard turns around, so quickly press A on your Xbox controller to plant the Olive Seed.

Assuming you fail to act quickly enough, you can trick the guard by pushing (walking) against him. Basically, you must push him far enough so he can’t see the planting spot, then quickly head back and plant the seed.

After you plant the Olive Seed, return to Nilesh Sherazi and tell him you fulfilled his request. Besides XP, you’ll also receive Credits, and the Starfield Olive Branch mission ends.