Guardians of the Galaxy Story Choices Guide

This guide covers all important story choices in Guardians of the Galaxy (2021 Game) and explains the outcomes of each decision. The choices listed here are the ones that result in red outcomes in the top right corner of the screen and have long-term effects that can impact later chapters. There are many more dialogue choices throughout the game, but they only change the next lines of dialogue and don’t impact anything else.

For trophies and achievements, the most important “choice” would be to not spend any Galactic Credits in Chapter 6, so that you’ll have 8000 Credits left to pay your fine in Chapter 9. You should also befriend Nikki in Chapter 2 to get her Access Card, which is needed to reach some Collectibles later in the game (failing to befriend Nikki would make you miss out on some items).

Chapter 1

• No important choices. There are only some minor dialogue choices here that don’t have lasting effects.

Chapter 2

• Hide Llama or Hide Rocket’s Secret Stash – at the start of the chapter you can choose which one to hide. If you hide the Llama, Ko-Rel will only fine you 7000 Credits later in Chapter 2, and you get a shortcut in Chapter 10. If you hide Rocket’s Secret Stash, Ko-Rel will fine you 8000 Credits later in Chapter 2 and it makes one enemy encounter later in the game slightly easier when Rocket’s Secret Stash gets used (upgrades your spaceship damage in Chapter 9). The better choice is to hide the Llama as it saves you more money and time, the upgrade you get from Rocket’s Stash doesn’t give you a noticeable damage boost and is not worth it.
• Side with Nikki or Ko-Rel – It’s highly recommended to be nice to Nikki (little blue girl) throughout the chapter. Later during the elevator ride with Ko-Rel and Nikki, you can either side with Ko-Rel (left dialogue choices) or Nikki (right dialogue choices). It’s HIGHLY recommended to always side with Nikki (take the blame). Then she gives you her Access Card, which is a missable Compendium Item. It can be used later in Chapter 7 to open locked doors to Collectibles, which would otherwise be inaccessible if you sided with Ko-Rel. There is no real benefit to siding with Ko-Rel here.
• Ko-Rel fined 7000 OR 8000 for trespassing and the Llama – this is one of the “red outcomes” you get at the end of the chapter. If you hid the Llama she will fine you 7000, if you hid the Secret Stash she will fine you 8000. The cost for trespassing is 7000 + 1000 for the Llama if she finds it.

Chapter 3

• Sell Rocket / Sell Groot – at the start of the chapter you must choose whether to sell Rocket or Groot to Lady Hellbender. Your choice will completely change Chapter 4. Picking Groot will let you seal the deal with Lady Hellbender in Chapter 4 as she’s interested in buying him. Picking Rocket will make Lady Hellbender laugh at you and she calls him a little Woodland animal and has no interest in buying him. If you sold Groot you will go to Lady Hellbender’s Throne Room and if you tried to sell Rocket you will go to the Vault and must steal the money instead. You will get your team member back later, so they won’t be permanently gone from the team. Each path is unique and the level layout completely different, but each path has the same Guardian Collectibles and Outfits, just in different locations. Either choice is fine, but generally speaking, successfully selling Groot would be the path of least resistance and the safest bet.
• Encourage Drax to throw Rocket / Stop Drax from throwing Rocket – during the chapter you will come to a cliff and Drax picks up Rocket and wants to throw him over to make a path for you. If you pick “Encourage Drax”, Rocket will be furious at you throughout the chapter and in an even worse mood than usual. If you pick “Stop Drax”, Rocket will appreciate it and you need to take an alternative path around the cliff. It doesn’t have any lasting effects, only changes some of the team’s dialogues during Chapter 3. In later Chapters it doesn’t matter. It only slightly changes what path you take in Chapter 3 but doesn’t make any Collectibles missable. It’s best to be nice here and stop Drax.

Chapter 4

• Negotiation with Lady Hellbender – if you chose to sell Rocket, the negotiation will always fail, no matter what dialogues you pick. She thinks you’re trying to fool her by selling a woodland animal and laughs at you. Then combat breaks out and you must steal the money from the Vault. If you chose to sell Groot, it will always succeed. However, how much money you get is tied to the dialogues: Pitch other Buyers & Stand Your Ground will only get you 9000 as Lady Hellbender won’t like you negotiating in bad faith. Stressing Uniqueness and throwing it to Drax to finalize the deal will get you 10,500 units because Lady Hellbender is being flirty with Drax.
• Rest of Chapter 4 – the rest of the chapter will differ depending on who you chose to sell (going to throne room if you sold Groot / going to vault to steal money if you tried to sell Rocket).

Chapter 5

• Speak into the helmet / Put it down – speaking into helmet will make enemies arrive that attack you right away, not speaking into the helmet will save you from one enemy encounter (the rest of the enemy spawns in this chapter remain unchanged). Doesn’t have lasting effects. The better choice is to put it down, not speaking into the helmet.

Chapter 6

• Singing with Alien in Bar – If you choose to go into the bar with the other Guardians before parting ways with them in a cutscene, you will encounter an alien dude called “Lipless” in the bar who wants to sing with you. You need to pick the correct lyrics, which are all weather-related: “Like a Hurricane” > “Through the Rain”. If you succeed, he will gift you the Compendium Item “Collector’s Emporium Ticket”. Succeeding here is the best option. If you walk past the bar you won’t get the encounter at all, it’s entirely optional and has no lasting effects in later chapters.
• IMPORTANT: To be able to pay your fine in Chapter 9 for trophy  Galactic Frugality, you will need to keep at least 7000 or 8000 Credits (depending on how much you got fined in Chapter 2)! During Chapter 6 you can spend money in the market square. For trophy purposes, it would be best to NOT buy any items here. If you don’t mind missing out on the trophy and want a list of purchasable items and how much they cost, refer to Chapter 6 Collectible Guide.

Chapter 7

• No important choices. There are only minor dialogue choices here that don’t change any outcomes.

Chapter 8

• During Talk with Raker – you can keep Raker distracted so that Rocket has enough time to hack the drone behind him. This will come in handy later in Chapter 8, the hacked drone will return to show you the way to the comms center to save you some time in a room with infinitely spawning enemies. If you fail to keep Raker distracted he will catch Rocket. The best choice is to keep him distracted and let Rocket hack the drone. Pick these dialogues: Distract Raker > Something About Him? > Fake Heart Attack.
• Flashback with Mother – during the Flashback, you will save your mother. Afterward she will try to hug you repeatedly. Here you MUST use the left stick to push her away and then aim and shoot your guns at her to kill her. She’s only an illusion that keeps you trapped in the flashback and killing her is the way out. If you let her hug you, the darkness will consume you and the game ends – in this case you can pick to “Rethink Choices” to try again, or “Accept the Promise” to end the game early and be booted back into the Title Screen. You can still press “Continue” from the title screen and then choose to Rethink Choices on the try and then shoot the illusion.

Chapter 9

• Gamora appreciated your trust in letting her pursue Raker alone – This isn’t really a choice you have control over. During the previous Chapter 8, there will be a very quick cutscene where Raker shows up again in the background while fighting other enemies and Gamora says “I’ll go after him”, then she automatically runs after Raker and leaves your party. It’s not a dialogue choice you have control over. Later on, you get this red outcome in the top right corner.
• Hiding Rocket’s illegal weapon stash paid off, he upgraded the spaceship’s weapon system – if you hid Rocket’s Stash at the start of Chapter 2, you now get this outcome, which results in a weapons upgrade for your spaceship. However, this doesn’t make a big difference and isn’t a big advantage.
• Worldmind didn’t seem convinced by any of your arguments /  planted the seed of doubt in Worldmind’s Routine – after a spaceship battle you will talk to the Worldmind. The best outcome here is to “plant the seed of doubt in Worldmind’s routine”, which will make the Worldmind come back later in Chapter 14 to help you with a huge enemy encounter (instant kills all enemies). Pick the following dialogues to get this: Share Intel > Question Strategy > Put in Perspective. If you fail to convince Worldmind you simply won’t get its help with the enemy encounter later and will have to fight those enemies by yourself, but it doesn’t impact anything else.
• Making good on your word, you decided to pay your fine / or cancel payment – For  Galactic Frugality you have to pay the fine. After this point in the game, there is no more use for your Credits anyway. If you followed the Chapter 6 instructions (didn’t spend your money in Chapter 6 market square) you should have more than enough money left. Choosing not to pay has no detrimental gameplay effects, other than the fact you will miss this trophy / achievement. There is a 3rd outcome here, if you spent all your money and try to pay, then you will have too few credits and the payment won’t go through, thus you’d miss the trophy.

Chapter 10

• Outcome from Chapter 2 Choice – If you hid the Llama at the start of Chapter 2, it will have chewed a hole through the wall in your room, which you can use to escape. If you chose to hide Rocket’s Stash at the start of Chapter 2, you will be locked into your room and must use the Touchpad on your bed to steer the Llama with signing to lead it to the chillout area (couch) so that it releases the door switch for your room.

Chapter 11

• No important choices. Only some dialogue choices that change the next few lines of dialogue. At the end you can blame Warlock or Raker & Focus on Nikki or Ko-Rel, but it doesn’t have any lasting effects and only changes the dialogue.

Chapter 12

• Convince Cosmo to free him from the Promise / do not convince him – when you go to rescue Cosmo, you can pick between some dialogues. If you manage to convince him, he will defeat a huge group of enemies for you in Chapter 14, allowing you to skip some combat. It will also save you time because you don’t get trapped in an illusion with Cosmo’s puppies. If you fail to convince him, he get an extra illusion sequence later where you must follow the barking sounds of Cosmo’s puppies and he won’t help you in Chapter 14. To convince Cosmo: Offer Hand > Focus on Present > Remind About Puppies. To not convince him, simply pick the opposite choices.

Chapter 14

• Worldmind / Cosmo – if you convinced Worldmind in Chapter 9 and Cosmo in Chapter 12, they will help you during this chapter by wiping out a huge group of enemies each. This saves you some time and makes these encounters easier. If you didn’t convince them, you will need to fight those enemies yourself.

Chapter 15

• Outcome of letting Gamora chase Raker on her own during Chapter 8 – Raker will be weakened during the boss battle. Gamora should have gone after Raker automatically in Chapter 8 without any input by you (see Chapter 9 for the outcome where she appreciates you letting her chase him).

Chapter 16

• Be nice or rude to Magus – You need to rattle the Magus by poking fun at him and showing disrespect. Choose to do Slow Clap > Badger Him > Provoke the Magus, to win the boss fight against him.

For more guides to reach 100% completion, see Collectible Guide & Trophy Guide.