Do this first in Atomfall before freeing Dr. Garrow — you can thank me later for making it so much easier

Atomfall is quite something, not least because of its multiple endings and decision-led gameplay. While part of my time playing Atomfall has been spent making questionable decisions, a lot of it has been figuring out what to do, and when.

One of the many leads in Atomfall centers on Dr. Garrow, a scientist with a central role in the technology inside the zone.

Your first mention of Dr. Garrow will likely be from the Captain in Wyndham Village, because he's had her locked up. She's in a cell in Skethermoor Prison, and one of the leads to one of the endings requires setting her free.

The thing is, doing so, like most decisions in Atomfall, has consequences. Not just for which ending you may be heading towards, but also for how difficult your immediate life becomes.

As such, here's what I recommend doing, and why.

What happens if you just free Dr. Garrow straight away?

I don't want to spoil too much, nor spend hours going through the entire story to this point. Needless to say, if you know Dr. Garrow is in Skethermoor Prison, you've already opened the lead that ultimately ends up with her wanting to be freed.

For one, this lead is worth following, because it's an easy way to get a Signal Redirector, which you'll need right across the game. My first recommendation is to get friendly with the Captain.

Complete a task for him (such as solving the murder at the Church) and he'll give you a pass that allows safe passage through the prison, so long as you promise to question Dr. Garrow. If you don't have this pass, you'll have a lot of Protocol Soldiers to avoid or eliminate, which leads me to what happens if you free Dr. Garrow.

If you go straight to Garrow, follow the lead to get the Signal Redirector, and then do as she asks and lets her out of her cell, well your pass doesn't matter anymore. You'll immediately be trespassing, and Protocol Soldiers will shoot on sight.

Since Garrow's cell is right at the back of the prison, and the nearby interchange door is probably locked (if you've played the game in a similar order to the way I have) you've a long slog to get out of there.

What's worse, is if you then go and tell the Captain you let her out, it ends his lead and he and his men will try and eliminate you. Actions, meet consequences. You can, however, release her and lie to him about it, assuming you survive your escape.

How to free Dr. Garrow the easy way

The easiest way to free Dr. Garrow without any danger to yourself is to simply keep following the Captain's mission chain.

Having died instantly upon freeing Garrow, when I loaded back in I took my Signal Redirector and went back to Wyndham to talk to the Captain. As she's still in prison, all is peachy.

What you need to do is to follow his mission chain as far as being told about the Interchange and Oberon. Getting here affords you the level of trust with the Protocol that you need.

This will not only make it much easier to open the Skethermoor Interchange entrance, as you can basically walk right in, but it will also allow you to free Dr. Garrow and avoid any aggression.

Now, if you go and hit the release lever to let the prisoners out, the Protocol Soldiers will react, but you won't see the red trespassing message and they won't attack you. Leaving you free to stroll back out of the prison as if nothing happened.

If you now head back and talk to the Captain, he'll tell you that Garrow has escaped and that she should be eliminated. But he won't even question whether it was you that did it.

What happens after you free Dr. Garrow

Dr. Garrow has her own lead to follow towards one of the game's various endings. Once freed, she'll head straight to the Interchange door near her cell.

If you've already unlocked this door from the other side, she'll wait on the prison side of it for you to go and talk to her. If you haven't, she'll go through, and it will remain locked for you.

Either way, she will eventually wind up inside the Interchange. How you get there depends on which doors you've opened. To find her again, head for the Central Processor.

To open the door between the Skethermoor Prison and the Interchange, you need to be inside the latter. You'll need to have powered up the large lower area, and follow the lead to access the crane controls.

Once you're able to operate the crane controls, a storage container blocking access to the Detention Quarter. Then you're able to go through here, unlock the door, and be right by Garrow's cell.

This is also the easier way to get to Dr. Garrow if you want to avoid getting too friendly with the Captain. But there's more of a process involved in getting to this point than doing a few jobs for him and just walking into the prison.

It's an alternative option, though, but given how many Protocol Soldiers will be around in this part of the Interchange as soon as it's open, you're still better off getting friendly with the Captain for the easiest time.