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Starfield Pilot Seat
Screenshot: PC Invasion

How to easily farm ships in Starfield

Ship flipping.

Starfield lets you claim a ship and use it to explore the galaxy, where you’ll find other pilots doing the same thing. Some of those pilots aren’t very nice. They practically beg you to blow up their ships or, better yet, to take them over for a tidy profit. To that end, here is our guide telling you how to easily farm ships in Starfield.

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Starfield – how to easily farm ships

As you explore the galaxy, you’ll run into enemy pilots who think nothing of attacking you without provocation. Even if you join the Crimson Fleet and become an ally to pirates, there are Spacers, Va’Ruun heretics, and Ecliptic mercenaries to worry about.

Starfield Hostile Varuun Ship Lost Its Engines

Screenshot: PC Invasion

When you jump to a less inhabited planet within a system, there’s always a chance someone will attack you. This is especially likely in a system such as Serpentis, which is crowded with Va’Ruun ships. As long as your ship is capable, though, a sudden battle can work in your favor.

Related: Where to find the Serpentis system in Starfield

As combat begins, target eliminate the ships you don’t care to acquire. Next, target the ship you wish to claim. Take out only its engines so that it can no longer leave the area or maneuver to attack. While near the disabled ship, press the button or key indicated to Dock. Next, Board the ship and eliminate its crew.

Starfield Register Ship From Ship Menu

Screenshot: PC Invasion

Once you have eliminated a hostile ship’s crew, you can commandeer the ship. However, this process isn’t convenient. It requires you to change your ‘home ship’ and you have to register the vessel as part of your fleet. I used to always take my new ship to a Spaceport to handle those details, but it turns out there’s an easier way. Carefully follow the below steps to simplify the process:

  1. Sit in the pilot seat of the hostile ship after eliminating its crew (this will not work if your Piloting skill is not at a sufficient rank).
  2. Undock from your current home ship.
  3. Immediately Dock with your current home ship again but do not board.
  4. Without getting up from your seat, access the Ship menu from within the pause menu.
  5. Set the enemy vessel you currently occupy as your new Home Ship while you remain docked with your previous home ship.
  6. (Optional) Register your new ship from the same menu, which costs credits equal to most of the resale value of your new ship.
  7. Exit the Ship menu.
  8. Press the button or key indicated on-screen to Board your previous home ship.
  9. Safely back aboard your previous home ship, use the Ship menu to set it as your home ship once again.
  10. Sit in the pilot seat and get back to work.

Following the above process lets you add a ship to your fleet without the need to take a detour. Now that you know how to easily add a hostile ship to your fleet with minimal fuss, take advantage of the option on a regular basis. If you take over a ship and don’t like it, sell the unwanted ship the next time you travel to New Atlantis (or any other major city). Or, if you like your new acquisition quite a lot, pay to improve it. This is an easy way to build a fleet you couldn’t otherwise afford, and to finance other acquisitions such as a home in your favorite city.

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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.