Life is Strange Reunion Distract or Attack: Which Choice Is Better?

Few moments in Deck Nine's sequel feel as urgent as the Life is Strange Reunion distract or attack prompt. Chloe is standing in a dim Abraxas basement, Reggie is seconds away from a sledgehammer to the skull, and the game stamps the moment as a major decision. The truth is simpler than the dramatic framing suggests: the Life is Strange Reunion distract or attack choice has no branching story consequences, but it does decide whether you walk away with one of the most missable pieces of evidence in the game.

That evidence is worth caring about if you're chasing the Major Gumshoe trophy or achievement, and it can make one late-game accusation much easier to reason through. Below is exactly what each option does, what it costs you, and which one is worth picking on your playthrough.

Where the Life is Strange Reunion Distract or Attack Choice Happens

The prompt arrives during the "Mabon" chapter, after Chloe has slipped into the Abraxas house and explored the basement beneath the party. You read the notes near the altar, shift the letter by the curtain, place the coaster into the plaque, and loot the hidden room for photographs. When you leave that area, the tone flips fast: an intruder armed with a sledgehammer is about to go after Reggie.

GameSpew's full Life is Strange: Reunion walkthrough lists this beat as "Major Choice: Distract or Attack," and both options resolve the scene without a game over. Reggie survives either way — what changes is what the intruder leaves behind.

What Happens If You Distract the Sledgehammer Intruder?

Choosing distract keeps Chloe out of the fight. She plays a police siren from her phone, convincing the intruder that officers are already outside the Abraxas house. He leaves on his own, and Reggie — still in his drugged-up state — also believes the police are coming, so he hurries out of the room. It's a lighter, more comedic beat, and it fits a Chloe who prefers brains to brute force.

The downside is concrete: the intruder takes everything with him, so no Blueprints drop. You get a clean scene and nothing else. There is no hidden reward, no alternate clue, and no later payback for choosing the peaceful route.

What Happens If You Attack the Sledgehammer Intruder?

Attack is the recommended pick. Chloe shoves the man to the floor, he scrambles up and runs, and Reggie asks her, "Are you the Innermost Secret?" before wandering off. Reggie is fine, the scene continues normally, and you are never punished for the aggressive option.

The payoff is what he leaves on the ground: the Abraxas Blueprints, an optional piece of evidence. According to GameRant's choice breakdown, those Blueprints are required for the "Major Gumshoe" Trophy/Achievement, which asks you to find every piece of optional evidence in a single playthrough. Skip them and that trophy is gone for that run.

The Blueprints also help when you are working out who started the fire. They aren't mandatory to accuse the right person, but they narrow the field and make the call less of a guess.

Distract vs Attack: Side-by-Side Comparison

The Life is Strange Reunion distract or attack decision is therefore lopsided rather than balanced. One option gives you a scene and nothing else; the other gives you the same scene plus permanent evidence.

Does the Life is Strange Reunion Distract or Attack Choice Affect the Story?

No. GameRant's testing found that the choice has no effect on events after the Mabon party, despite the "major decision" label. That tag exists to flag the moment for collectible hunters, not to warn you about a branching narrative. Your ending and your key relationships are unaffected either way.

Guidance on the Blueprints does vary across third-party guides. At least one walkthrough claims the item influences a specific character's fate later in the game, while GameRant reports no narrative consequences at all. Treat the trophy and evidence angle as the reliable reason to attack, and don't expect the scene to reshape the finale.

If you already chose distract and care about completion, plan to take the attack route on a replay or through Scene Select. The game autosaves, so there is no manual checkpoint to reload, but the basement scene is short and the Blueprint sits near the end of it.

FAQ: Life is Strange Reunion Distract or Attack

Which option should I pick in the basement? Attack. It costs nothing in story terms and hands you the Abraxas Blueprints, which you need for the Major Gumshoe trophy and which make the later fire accusation easier to solve.

Can Reggie die if I choose wrong? No. He survives whether you distract the sledgehammer intruder or attack him, and neither option triggers a fail state.

Can I still earn Major Gumshoe if I picked distract? Not in that playthrough. The trophy requires every optional piece of evidence in a single run, and the Blueprint only drops when you attack. Replay the scene or grab it on a second playthrough.

Does the Life is Strange Reunion distract or attack choice change the ending? According to GameRant, it doesn't. The decision is marked as major only because it gates optional evidence and a trophy, not because it alters later events or the finale.

For a broader look at the game itself, the Life is Strange: Reunion Steam page has the store details, and Deck Nine's sequel released on March 26, 2026. If you're working through the rest of the Mabon chapter, keep an eye on similar optional evidence — GameSpew's walkthrough notes that the Abraxas clues are easy to miss and that multiple pieces are needed for a single-playthrough completion run.