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Starfield Battling Enemy Ships In Asteroid Belt
Screenshot by PC Invasion

Top 3 places to find ships to fight in Starfield

Ships happen.

In Starfield, as in life, most of us have felt that what we really need is to blast a few starships out of the sky. There aren’t always any suitable targets at hand, however. Then we have to go looking for them, which can be a tedious process of trial-and-error when we don’t know what we’re doing. To spare you that experience, here is our guide telling you where to find ships to fight in Starfield.

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Starfield – Top 3 places to find ships to fight

Space combat can be difficult at first in Starfield. Eventually, though, you’ll likely get the hang of it and find you enjoy it. At that point, there never quite seem to be enough ships to blast. That’s especially true if you’re trying to level up a relevant skill. To find ships to fight, look in one of the following 3 places:

1. The Space Combat Simulator in New Atlantis

2. Planets near the outer edge of explored systems

3. Specific planets where you are sent on missions

The primary reason you might seek out ship battles is to rank up the Ship Command skill. To do so, you must take out or board 80 ships in total. This takes a long while if you find only a few ships at a time, so keep the above locations firmly in mind.

Starfield Uc Vanguard Proctor At Combat Simulator

Screenshot by PC Invasion

1. The Space Combat Simulator in New Atlantis

The fastest way to battle a lot of ships is to visit the space combat simulator in New Atlantis. You will encounter it early on as you learn how to join UC Vanguard. The simulator is located on a lower level in the MAST Building. You earn experience for each ship you defeat, even in the early waves. Those kills count toward your tally, if you are trying to master a skill.

Related: Best ship build to stop, board, and steal ships in Starfield

Starfield Space Combat

Screenshot: PC Invasion

2. Planets near the outer edge of explored systems

You may also enjoy testing out your new ship in random battles. While the ship simulator is handy and reliable, you don’t get to use your improved vessel. Out among the stars, you get to use your home ship. Also, you can earn more XP for each kill if you take down powerful adversaries.

To find ships, look along the edges of less populated systems. Near a major city, local patrols keep the skies pretty safe (though you can attack them if you want to try a suicide mission). When I visit more remote systems, I often encounter Spacer and Ecliptic fleets. They may be picking on settlers or merchants, or even battling Freestar Collective Rangers. Pitching in lets me get a lot of XP and sometimes score credits from the people I save. I also can often salvage ship parts and resources.

Related: All mission and bounty board locations in Starfield

3. Specific planets where you are sent on missions

A final option is to take on missions at mission boards. Some of those relate to space battles, and you can fast-travel to a fight, plus earn extra credits when you win. In my case, I ran into a bit of a roadblock because I had joined the Crimson Fleet. A lot of the missions ask you to take out pirates, but they’re not actually your enemies. If you join the Crimson Fleet, it’s best to explore one of the previous two options when you wish to engage in space battles.

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Author
Image of Jason Venter
Jason Venter
Jason Venter is a contributing writer for PC Invasion since 2022 who can trace his love for video games back to the Apple IIe port of Mario Bros. in the late 80s. He remains a diehard Nintendo fan to this day and loves JRPGs, adventure games, and platformers in particular, but he still plays games in most genres and on most hardware. After founding indie gaming site HonestGamers in 1998, he served as an editor at Hardcore Gamer Magazine during its entire print run. He has since freelanced for a variety of leading sites including IGN, GameSpot, and Polygon. These days, he spends most of his time writing game guides and entertaining readers with his fantasy novels.