The Outer Worlds 2: Complete Guide to “In Pursuit of Purloined Propaganda” Mission

In the western hills overlooking Fairfield, an unexpected quest awaits players venturing through Paradise Island in The Outer Worlds 2. There, a meticulous young woman with blonde hair diligently sweeps her front porch, seemingly ordinary but harboring an unusual request that launches players into a scavenger hunt across the game’s sprawling landscape.

This woman is Redactor Quesnel, a Protectorate sympathizer whose prickly demeanor belies her scholarly interests. Despite her affiliation with the controversial Protectorate faction, Quesnel’s passion for knowledge drives her to enlist players in recovering a complete collection of Science Adventures Quarterly Magazine – educational materials scattered throughout Paradise Island.

The quest, titled “In Pursuit of Purloined Propaganda,” represents one of several collection-based side missions that enhance the game’s exploration aspect. Players who engage with Quesnel embark on a journey to recover ten magazines hidden in remote locations across the island’s varied terrain.

The search takes players through the game’s diverse environments – from the partially submerged ruins of Westport to isolated fishing shacks along coastal areas, and from farming communities to the surroundings of significant landmarks like the Ministry of Accuracy and Skycutter A102. Each magazine is strategically placed in locations that encourage thorough exploration of Paradise Island’s geography and architecture.

Quest progression follows a structured reward system designed to maintain player engagement. Upon returning the first magazine to Quesnel, players receive experience points and encouragement to continue the collection. The more significant milestone comes after gathering five magazines, at which point Quesnel rewards the player with a Josephus Fielder Pitchball Card – a permanent +1% damage boost that provides a tangible gameplay advantage.

The full collection yields more substantial rewards: the distinctive Townie Clothing outfit, 855 experience points, and the “SA Quarterlies Quantified” achievement. This tiered reward structure exemplifies The Outer Worlds 2’s approach to side content, offering incremental incentives that balance cosmetic, statistical, and achievement-based rewards.

What makes this quest particularly noteworthy is how it weaves into the game’s broader themes of propaganda, information control, and competing ideologies. The magazines themselves appear to be educational materials with potential political underpinnings, given Quesnel’s Protectorate connections and her intense interest in acquiring the complete set.

For completionists and achievement hunters, the quest offers clear objectives with definitive rewards. The magazines are distributed across various regions of Paradise Island, including the flooded portions of Westport, remote fishermen’s shacks, farming communities, and observational structures like the Crabbing Tower south of the Ministry of Accuracy.

The quest demonstrates Obsidian Entertainment’s continued focus on creating environments worth exploring in detail. Rather than concentrating collectibles in obvious locations, the developers have scattered these magazines in peripheral areas that might otherwise go unnoticed, encouraging thorough exploration of Paradise Island’s diverse landscapes and settlements.

“In Pursuit of Purloined Propaganda” represents the kind of side content that enriches the game world beyond the main storyline, offering players both immediate rewards and greater familiarity with the game’s geography – knowledge that often proves valuable in later quests and encounters throughout The Outer Worlds 2’s campaign.

As players complete this collection quest, they not only gain tangible rewards but also glimpse the underlying tensions between knowledge, propaganda, and control that permeate the game’s narrative – all through the seemingly simple task of helping a bookish Protectorate member complete her magazine collection.