Starfield – How To Upgrade And Modify Ships

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How to Upgrade and Modify Ships in Starfield

In the upcoming game Starfield, players will have the ability to upgrade and modify their ships. This means that you won’t be stuck with the default look of your spacecraft for long. There are plenty of options and parts that you can install, as well as various factors to consider. In this guide, we will discuss everything you need to know about Starfield ship upgrades and modules.

Talking to a Ship Services Technician NPC

To upgrade and modify your ships in Starfield, you can talk to a ship services technician NPC. Here’s a quick summary of how it works:

  • Talk to any ship services technician and select “I’d like to view and modify my ships.”
  • LB and RB let you select from ships that you already own or have captured.
  • Pressing the A button opens the upgrade screen.
  • Pressing the X button opens the Ship Builder screen.

The Most Important Ship Stats and Modules

When you enter the ship upgrade screen, you will see an overview of your ship along with its most important stats:

  • Hull: This represents your ship’s health points (HP). It is the combined total HP of all installed parts.
  • Reactor Class: This refers to the overall power generated by your spacecraft. By default, you can only use Class-A reactors, while higher classes require a higher Piloting skill.
  • Crew Capacity: This is affected by various ship components such as the cockpit, habs, reactors, and weapons. You can learn more about crew capacity in our ship crew capacity guide.
  • Jump Distance/Grav Drive: This indicates the distance in light years that you can travel when fast traveling between star systems. The primary module responsible for this is the grav drive, but it is influenced by the ship’s mass.
  • Shield: Each ship can have only one shield module.
  • Weapons: There are three types of weapons: lasers, ballistics, and missiles. You can have multiple weapon systems installed, but you are limited to three total makes and models.
  • Cargo: This represents the total mass of materials and resources that can be stored in your ship’s storage. You can find more information about ship cargo in our ship cargo guide.

The Simple and Straightforward Route with Ship Upgrades

The ship upgrade process in Starfield is relatively straightforward. Once you have selected a ship, you can press the A button to access the upgrade screen. From there, you can change various components such as the engines, shield generator, grav drives, reactor, and weapon systems.

When it comes to non-weapon modules, you are restricted to choosing variants from the same manufacturer. For example, if your ship has the White Dwarf 2000 engine, you can only upgrade to the 2010, 2020, or 2030 engines. Think of it like having an Nvidia RTX 3090 and being limited to getting the 3090 Ti or the 40 series cards. You cannot choose anything from AMD.

More Customizations and Modules via the Ship Builder

For players who want more control and customization options, there is the Ship Builder feature in Starfield. With a ship selected, you can press the X button to access the Ship Builder screen. This method allows for more freeform customization, allowing you to mix and match different types of modules.

In addition to the components mentioned earlier, you can make changes to the following:

  • Cockpit: Each ship can have only one cockpit.
  • Habs: Habs can significantly increase crew capacity, and some versions also add passenger slots for passenger ferry missions.
  • Bays: A single landing bay is required at the bottom and stern of the ship.
  • Gears: You’ll need at least a couple of landing gears at the bottom of your ship.
  • Dockers: One docker is required, and it should be placed at the topmost section of the ship.
  • Fuel Tanks: Add a few fuel tanks to enable jumps to more distant star systems.
  • Structural: These parts are not just cosmetic; they can also be used to attach other fixtures, such as weapon systems.

Potential Errors When Modifying Ships

When finalizing your ship upgrades and modifications in Starfield, you may encounter some errors. Here are some of the most common ones:

  • Unattached Modules: Any modules that are not properly attached will cause an error.
  • Ship Length: Ships longer than 28 meters will not be able to land on surfaces.
  • Ship Reactor Class: Certain parts may require higher reactor classes that you do not have.
  • Misaligned Landing Gear/Bay: Landing gears and bays should be placed at the bottom of the ship.
  • Minimum Landing Gear Count: Depending on the ship’s size, you may need additional landing gears.
  • Misaligned Docker: The docker should be placed at the topmost part of the ship with enough space around it.
  • Maximum Weapon Count: You are limited to three weapon models.
  • Excess Engine Power Usage: Having too many engines can drain power significantly, especially with a low-end reactor.
  • Needs More Grav Jump Thrust: If the ship is too heavy, better grav drives are required or you need to reduce mass by removing modules.
  • Low Maneuverability: Adding too many parts can make the ship sluggish and slower during combat.

That’s all you need to know about upgrading and modifying ships in Starfield. With the vast galaxy waiting to be explored, embark on your interstellar adventures with your customized spacecraft.

Starfield is a massive game with numerous planets to explore. For more tips and tactics, visit our guides hub.

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