Ships...when to upgrade, replace/add parts or just get a new one?

[Chugster]

So the ship builder looks like something to really sink time into but i was wondering if there was a general consensus as to when you just upgrade your ship, when you should add or replace parts or when to just get a whole new ship?

[Lunovus]

If you fail at space fights, upgrade (bigger reactore, better shield, better guns).

If you run out of free cargo, add some more cargo bulks (if you can).

You will find/get/uhm "unlock" *gg* some ships during the game.
If you like em', take em'.
You can have 10 at a time.

If you want to make it totally your own build(s), use the ship builder.

[SickTag]

I'm not saying use a glitch and fall under the map and loot the ship vendor chest that is under him to get credits fast and buy the biggest ship... but do that.

[Tidgy]

only really 3 classes, A, B and C, rest are just variations. All be it the cockpits vary.

TBH i found the whole ship side of things to be extremely limited, other than blowing up a few ships in space and using it to travel/haul cargo, there isnt much else to them other than looks.

You can have 10 different ones in total and you cant sell the first one. other than odd modules you get with certain 'special ships' (trying not to give spoilers here), they all seem much of a muchness tbh, upgrading a module is cheaper so prob best to upgrade all the modules on that ship then buy a new one.

It's worth flying around and visiting all the ship traders to see what they have.

Without giving it away i am using one of the special ships you get from a certain mission but have stripped it back to nothing and rebuilt it from the cockpit up to keep a certain bonus that ship gets,,,,

hopefully not too cryptic haha

[Topper]

I doubt there's a general census, there are too many choices. 1st thing I did was boosting the cargo capacity of the Frontier over 5000, so I could sell the materials I had crafted at my outpost for XP. Got me some serious cash on the side.

[TheOrigin]

You might want to check out my shipdatabase ;)
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1716740/discussions/0/3824174554263440222/

[ArmedTerror]

What I like to do is save up a few hundred thousand credits. Maybe 2-3 hundred. And then delete a whole ship and completely build my own from the ground up. I can add everything custom that I want and upgrade and add/remove modules as needed.

[Alex]

You might want to check constantly what you can upgrade and what you can't. For example some ships you get for free have equipment you won't have access to at first, but they are also limited from several aspects, like crew capacity, cargo capacity and so on. Always see what you can improve by replacing it with a better version and keep the pieces you aren't yet able to buy. Keep in mind that in order to be able to buy and use the best stuff, you'll need to unlock several traits so when you get a ship like let's say the Mantis that has very good engines hold on to them.

[mccloud]

After wasting hundreds of thousands of credits on ship building until I know what's what, I can tell you this:

- upgrade your power plant/generator every 2 levels, i.e. don't upgrade from 16 power to 18, it's not worth it - 2 more bars will do nothing spectacular but the part itself is actually one of the most expensive ones in ship building. Now 16 to 20 is a sizable upgrade, you can fully power 2 more weapons with that.

- add more cargo to your ship. Moar. Moar still. Keep going.... You can never have enough a big enough cargo hall in Starfield. Even if you don't like crafting, you still need a sizable cargo hall to carry all the weapons and armor you loot from fights to sell them at a trade authority later. With no crafting, you need at least 500-1000 cargo hall to avoid having to constantly jump back to town. With crafting, the sky is the limit, also your engine power lol. Try to stay at 65 mobility or more on your ship as those cargo containers are heavy and will weigh down your ship. I am currently sitting at 3500 cargo and still want more but will need to upgrade the engines before I add more, unless I want to pilot a cement block that barely moves.

- If you got your Piloting skill to lvl3 and you need a B class ship (or 4 and C class later), it might be cheaper to steal a ship of that class rather than upgrade your own. Two reasons for that - registering the stolen ship is cheap, paid under 30k for my B class - upgrading the reactor on my old A class to B would cost just as much, but then you'd have to put B class weapons, which cost a pretty penny, shields, etc, it all adds up to 100k+. My stolen B class came with 3 B class weapons installed, shield, everything. I only had to edit the hubs and looks, but hubs are dirt cheap.
Reason two is stolen ships come sometimes with parts you still don't have access to - mine had a shield generator that was better than anything I can currently buy. Weapons were the same. Grav drive, as well, way better than what is in the shop.

- Put 2 tanks of fuel on your ship, they don't cost a lot, weight is lowish but they make your life easier - with enough fuel you can jump to any star system in one go, saves a lot of loading screens, nerves and time. Simple but very useful, was truly a " why didn't I think of this before?" moment for me.

- As to when to jump ship classes from A to B, B to C. When you get there. Level up you piloting skill, but don't focus on it exclusively, you can probably finish the game just fine with A class ship, if you pick your fights, its not strictly necessary. Go with your own pace, when you have a free skill point, dump it in Piloting, or when you get tired of your old ship lol.

There is more but that's the most important to avoid wasting your credits like I did. Could've probably pay that dream home 2 times over by now with what I wasted on ship building... But hey, you gotta learn one way or another, so they were not totally wasted really.

[Zaris]

- ship parts are unlocked by level (i read one of the best reactors is lvl72 required with 40 power)
- some ship parts are vendor locked and not available everywhere (i.e. Deimos? parts with up to 3x3 habitat parts and a big cockpit)
- building ship yourself is the best way to get the best parts, ignore buyable ships

In general try to level up piloting to 4 and a bit later ship parts? rank 4 (you can see the available parts and if they don't show ship parts rank required you can still ignore that skill for that point)

Building a ship is also very easy, for a minimum you onlyn need:
- limited by1: reactor, engine, shield, grav drive
- 1-2 fuel tanks
- 1-4 cargo (tbh. mobility doesn't matter much)
- 4-12 weapons*
- cockpit / docker / landing pad and some habitats / structure elements

*weapons need 3 power, shields around 5-6, engines 4-5 and the best reactor later gives 40 power +5 from skill = 45 so you can equip 12 weapons = 36 poweer and put shield on 5, engine, 4 which is enough.

[Dwnld]

I didn't buy a single ship within my first 50 hour play through. I just kept upgrading the starter ship. I'm pretty sure I spent so much money I could have gotten more than one new ship if I had all that money at once. Saving money isn't a problem for me, I just need that cargo space now and not later. At the end there was pretty much nothing original on the ship except front cowl, rear landing gears and name. I didn't spend much money on cosmetic parts which helps.
https://i.imgur.com/OPXpsDV.png
https://i.imgur.com/voCvJXb.png
https://i.imgur.com/ytooXCK.png

So basically what ever you feel like. You will get free ships from a few quests (Mantis, Freestar Rangers and Crimson Fleet to name a few). By the time I got said ships, they were already "outdated" compared to my Frontier.

Originally posted by Zaris:

- ship parts are unlocked by level (i read one of the best reactors is lvl72 required with 40 power)
Building a ship is also very easy, for a minimum you onlyn need:
- limited by1: reactor, engine, shield, grav drive
- 1-2 fuel tanks
- 1-4 cargo (tbh. mobility doesn't matter much)
- 4-12 weapons*
- cockpit / docker / landing pad and some habitats / structure elements

Lots of misinformation on this one.
- They don't have level requirements, only perk requirements.
- Shield is not required. You get a warning for it though.
- Weapons are not required. Same as above.
- Cargo parts are not requred. Cockpit/bridge will give you some for "free".

[gonzoguns]

I started with the Frontier and upgraded it, went to Pirate Base in the Sol system, took over the base and took the Cool Kick ass Ship (Forgot the Name of it), then Captured a Crimson Pirate ship and registered it, a well Armed Cargo ship with excellent weapons, once I had the Credits I bought a Class C that was very cool looking and Upgraded it, now it looks like a Klingon Battle Cruiser...Bad ass, all Black with Blue Trim...it can go anywhere within 27 LY, 6 births and 2500 Cargo space with a wide Full Bridge with 2 Pilot seats...looks tits.

I have 1.5 Million Credits now, I'm a Free Star Deputy, an Under Cover Agent for the UC, saved the UC from a Nasty Monster Alien invasion...got awarded the Penthouse Pad in Atlantis and a pile of Credits for it..now for the time being I'm just hunting pirates, collecting the guns and selling them...a Total of 4 ships and don't need anymore..the only one I fly now is the Black Klingon...kills everything and you can take it camping...

So Far...2 Large Homes, No Settlements, no crafting, just leveling up Killing Bad Guy's and Selling Guns...4 Ships Total...only bought one of the 4.

Oh, and forgot, I became a Startborn and got the Starborn Ship, but decided to leave Unity and go back to my 1st Life because I love money so much, so now I can go back to Unity at any time I want to start a whole new life as a Starborn with Powers, if I want to a some point.

I'm loving this Game and have only scratched the surface I think..sure not hard to dig up new stuff to do.

With 1.5 Million in the Bank..I don't have to do any Grunt work for Coin.

[Xextreem]

Also if you build it in U form the can not hit you. LOL

[dulany67]

As a class A pilot I simply modified the Frontier and then the Razorleaf. But I just became class B at level 15 and I plan to build from scratch this time. I need a bigger ship with more cargo room to support my outpost system.

[Xaks]

Originally posted by Dwnld:

Lots of misinformation on this one.
- They don't have level requirements, only perk requirements.

This is very, VERY incorrect.

Ship components are level locked as well as perk locked

For instance, one of the better reactor cores, the Pinch 8Z, does not unlock at a vendor until...level 58 or 60, I don't remember which. If you go to the vendor before that, you will only find the next one down, the Pinch 7z. And I think that level unlock was like 48 or so

This repeats for grav drives, engines, and a host of other items. It's widely known and reported across the 'net. Google specifically for level caps on components and you'll find lists

[Mexicola9302]

I always found this pretty useful in the beginning when i had no idea.

https://techraptor.net/gaming/guides/starfield-ships-guide-every-ship-you-can-buy-free-ships

I still use my heavily modified Star Eagle.

https://i.imgur.com/Z1LZkuv.png
https://i.imgur.com/qbYaBjQ.png