Can you attack any NPCs you want in Starfield? Answered

There are a ton of NPCs that fill the worlds contained in Starfield. There are your everyday run-of-the-mill NPCs whose sole purpose is to bring the game to life, and there are essential NPCs that will give you quests, sell you items, or play important roles in the story. However, if you don’t like a specific NPC or are roleplaying your character in a way that would require you to attack an NPC, can you? Here’s everything you need to know about whether or not you can attack any NPCs in Starfield.

Can you kill NPCs in Starfield?

Image: PC Invasion

Yes, you can attack any NPCs you want, including quest givers, shop vendors, or any random NPC walking the streets of Starfield. However, if you are attacking them because you are trying to kill them, you should know that you CANNOT kill all the NPCs you find in Starfield. This is because some NPCs are marked as essential, meaning they are important to your game, like a quest giver or companion.

When an NPC is marked as essential when you attack them and lower their hit points to zero, they will drop to one knee until their life regenerates. When this happens, they will get up again and either run away or attack you. For this reason, I recommend using the Quicksave function before attempting to attack an NPC. Then, if you find that an NPC is essential, you can reload your save to undo any potential negative issues you would cause by attempting to kill them.

Image: PC Invasion

For instance, essential NPCs like Amoli Bava, the shop vendor at Jemison Mercantile, are essential. In the picture above, I attacked her, and she went down to one knee after her life went to zero. However, she stood up again after her life regenerated and began to run away from me. No matter how often you attempt to kill her, she will just get back up.

However, if there is an essential NPC that you just want to be able to murder, then you can download a MOD called Killable Essential NPCS – No Essential NPCs from Nexus Mods. One important note is that essential companions like Sarah can die with this MOD, so be careful. In addition, be sure this is what you want to do because if you kill an essential NPC that offers a quest or something important, you won’t be able to get them back unless you reload your save.

In addition, if you kill a citizen, armed civilians and security officers will attack you. You will also lose relationship status from companions that aren’t evil, like Sarah. However, if you kill a faction member, you will lose your reputation with the faction that the NPC you killed is a member of. Either way, you will have a bounty, which will cause bounty hunters and faction members to attack you, so be ready for these consequences if you attack NPCs in Starfield!

Author’s Note: I wrote this guide while playing Starfield on Xbox Series S.