Who Else But Us is a side quest on Paradise Island in The Outer Worlds 2 that unlocks when you come across a ruined Skycutter facility. This quest has you piecing together what happened to a lost Protectorate squad by collecting their identification badges scattered throughout a derelict research vessel. This Who Else But Us walkthrough will tell you all the objectives to complete the quest and get the final rewards.
How to Start Who Else But Us in The Outer Worlds 2
To start the quest, go to Skycutter A102, a large building facility on the southwestern edge of northern Paradise Island. You can also reach Skycutter by travelling west along the shore from the Bridge of the Reverent (the bridge that separates the north and southern islands).
Interact with the door to get inside, and go down to the basement from the stairs on the left, where you’ll face off against two Raptidon Hunters. They’re aggressive but manageable — plasma weapons or corrosive rounds work best here.
Once the area’s clear, check the far corner to the west and examine the sealed chest beside a corpse labeled “Protectorate Cadre Vestige” to start the Who Else But Us quest. The container is locked with a heavy mechanism and needs a total of 5 IDs to open it.
How to Get to the Northern Paradise Island
You should be on the northern island of Paradise to get to Skycutter A102, so you need to find your way to access this island part if you’re still on the southern island. There are three ways to it, and depending on your previous quests, you can pick whichever suits you:
- Western Route – Zyranium Bridge: This area is soaked in radiation. If you’ve completed “An Aegis Against the Miasma”, you’ll have the protective shield required to cross the bridge.
- Central Route – Bridge of the Reverent: Either charm your way past guards by completing “For Whom the Bridge Tolls” (requires a Speech 3 check) or brute-force your way through them. There’s also a stealth way off to the side if you’d rather stay quiet.
- Eastern Route – Hogarth’s Secret Path: You’ll need to finish “The Saga of Malfunctioning Mechanicals” quest to learn the secret path’s location and have Thruster Boots to traverse the gaps.
Once you’ve made it to northern Paradise Island, it’s time to reach the Skycutter by following the above location details and start collecting Protectorate Armorial IDs.
First Protectorate Armorial ID Location
You don’t have to go anywhere for it; loot the body of Warden Captain Beauregard beside the chest to get the First Protectorate Armorial ID and a Skycutter Entrance Key, which you’ll use shortly to open up the rest of the building, which saves you from wasting a Mag-Pick on the door upstairs. Before moving up, make sure to stock up on ammo or energy cells — you’ll need them.
Second Protectorate Armorial ID Location
From the chest area, move upstairs and use the Skycutter Entrance Key to unlock the door. After passing through the door, climb through the broken window, and a small distance ahead, you’ll find a dead Protectorate trooper lying near a broken elevator with the Second Protectorate Armorial ID and Exultation Lung Sanitizer.
An ambush will trigger right away with automech dragoons, two wasps, and a pair of security turrets will activate. Once they’re scrap metal, loot the body and prep for the next climb.
Third Protectorate Armorial ID Location
From the body where you collect the second ID, go straight, take the left staircase as shown in the above image up to Deck 2, then climb to Deck 3 using the two ladders one after the other.
The third ID is on the dead body of Warden Gunner Aimes, leaning with a rail on the upper catwalk. Expect more mechanical enemies patrolling this floor, but if you’re quiet and use the catwalk rails for cover, you can pick them off one by one.
Fourth Protectorate Armorial ID Location
From the Deck 3 catwalk near the body, head back to the elevator shaft or directly jump down to the stairs on the right and climb the yellow ladder to reach Deck 4.
From there, look for stacked crates to climb onto the hanging catwalk, then follow it and jump onto the right catwalk to get to Deck 5.
Move the small stairs up in front, and go right to climb the yellow ladder all the way up to Deck 6.
Once on the top, move right to find another fallen trooper, Cadet Warden LaRue leaning with the elevator doors. Collect the fourth ID from the corpse along with the Skycutter Lift Override Key. You need the key to fix the elevator, otherwise you can’t restart it to access the final deck.
Fifth Protectorate Armorial ID Location
With the Lift Override Key in hand, interact with the elevator terminal and use the key to restart the system. It’ll take a couple of minutes to power up and for the lift to arrive, and of course, the game doesn’t let you wait in peace — waves of Raptidons Spitters and Raptidons Hunters will attack during the process, and you have to kill all.
Once the elevator is active, take it to move up to Deck 7 and step outside through the upper exit door.
Outside, loot the body of Warden Engineer Hwan for the Fifth and Final Protectorate Armorial ID and Control Panel Schematics tied to the Ascent in the Howling Tower quest.
Return to the Protectorate Cadre Vestige
Now that you’ve got all five IDs, use the elevator to go down to the chest at Ground Deck. Climb through the same broken window and move past the door to reach the right area. At the Protectorate Cadre Vestige chest, insert all five IDs to unlock it. Inside, you’ll find:
- Trauma Kit
- 934 Bits
- Advanced Decryption Key
- Vestige Datapad – Cadre 618 from one of the deceased troopers, which sheds some light on what went wrong aboard the Skycutter.
Completing the quest also gives 810 XP, not a big amount, but worth the effort since you’ll probably finish nearby quests in the same area.
