Dealing with ship-to-ship combat in Starfield can be a real hassle given all of its intricacies. Luckily, there are several tips that can help you along the way to make your life easier. Each tip helps you along the way to getting through the interstellar adventure, but individually won’t save you alone. When mixing each of them together you can become a real combat ace through each of these exercises. Overall they aren’t just tips for Starfield, but could translate to almost any other ship-based combat game you might find. That being said, they aren’t all there is to know for interstellar combat. By learning what works best for you, survival will become easier.
The overall objective of these tips is to make fighting pirates and spacers easier. You won’t have an easy time dealing with enemy vessels without first understanding that modifying your ship is the first step to success. Secondly, make sure you have the proper perks that make space combat easier. Finally, as time goes on you’ll develop your own tips and tricks so make sure to share them with new players. With such a developing field of combat, the best thing we can do is grow together!
Looking for more Starfield content?
- Starfield | How To Craft Aurora (Neon City Quest)
- Starfield | Anti-Xeno Armor Set
- Starfield | Best Planets To Quest On
- Starfield | Profiting On Easy Credits
- Starfield | Top Ten Energy Weapons
Lower engines and up shields for more defensive combat
One of the most important combat tips to keep in mind when starting out is to lower your engine power in favor of shielding. This will keep your ship protected and absorb a good majority of the blows you’re going to come across. Additionally, by upping your shields to their maximum percentage you can typically reduce the amount of ship parts you’ll use up. When you’re starting out, your shields won’t be all that potent, however, they are better than nothing. Remember that you have the ability to lower them in favor of engine power later on if you need to run.
Another great way to keep your shields strong is to lower your grav drive power during a conflict. If you need to run, don’t completely deplete them, but you can quickly recharge them. It’s not worth it to keep your speed up if you can be locked onto in the first place, especially on an A-class ship. For this reason, you’re almost always better off just producing more shielding power than anything else. It’s almost never a good idea to divert weapon power during a fight. That’s why you can lower your speed systems.
Always drop Grav Drive To Low, And Weapons To High
On the subject of diverting power for weapons, you can lower your grav drive power when entering a fight to up your weapons. This will give you the advantage of fire rate and added damage when trying to handle larger crafts. When depleting your grav drives you never want to leave them fully empty, as an escape is always viable. Instead, you should dump at least five of your points from the grav drive in order to improve weapons in ship combat. This tip when combined with engines for shields will help you survive any encounter above your weight class.
Heavy shields and grav drives can win the day over heavy firepower sometimes
Grav drives can be incredibly powerful when you want to make sure the enemy is designed for sure. When you max out all three weapon systems, you’ll have the most firepower. Whenever you can, upgrade your weapons and ship components to make these strategies even more effective. It may be a simple means of bettering yourself, but these trade-offs can make all the difference!
If Your Shielding Is Damaged, Try To Evade By Boosting Your Engines
There comes a point in combat when the first tip just isn’t going to do it for you anymore. This happens when you have taken way too much damage during a fight. When this happens, you’ll want to divert your power from the shielding systems which may be damaged, and put them into engines. Alternatively, you can put this energy back into your grav drive which can make for a quick getaway. Overall, when doing this strategy you’ll never want to fully deplete your shields unless the system is completely broken. In this situation, you’ll want to get out of the conflict as soon as possible.
The other advantage of this tactic is that you can evade enemy missiles and lock on sensors quickly. This works when you need to break a blockade or make your way towards friendly ground. You want to keep in mind that while using this tactic, you’ll be vulnerable to damage from incoming ships. That’s why your ability to maneuver around the enemy and get out of the fight will be key. It takes a decent pilot to pull this strategy off, but it might just save your life from spacer missiles.
when fighting multiple opponents make sure to keep these ten tips in mind!
You Can Always Grav Drive Out Of A Fight You Can’t Win
One of the best pieces of advice for any new Starfield player is that you can Grav drive out of a fight. Any conflict you get into you can escape so long as the enemy doesn’t damage your grav drive. For this reason, it’s important to always keep this portion of your ship protected behind layers of armor. Another great way to keep these parts protected is to divert power from the engines into your shields before each grav jump. It’s best to take this tactic as early as possible when the enemy still has to close the distance on you. Keep in mind that every grav jump will take time, and each grav jump requires that you mark a spot on the map.
Because you can easily escape any conflict, this is probably one of the single easiest ways of survival. Unfortunately, this will not work when dealing with planetary sensors and becomes harder when swarmed. If your ship is too heavily damaged you will not be able to perform a grav jump. In this situation, you should always go to your ship menu and repair your ships with the O key on your PC. So just remember, if you are ever outgunned by a rival fleet, you can make your grand escape with the grav drive!
Targeting Engines And Weapons Is Key To Taking Out Larger Targets
Once you’ve acquired the targeting perk, you can easily use it as a method of disabling higher-level ships. You do this by targeting the weapons, engines, and grav drive of an enemy vessel. You want to disable all three sections with precise fire before either destroying it outright or boarding it. Taking out these systems will be the only way you’ll be able to commence actions like stealing the ship, which can be profitable. In the long run, however, targeting ships and leaving them dead in the water is the best way of dealing with multiple targets. You can always sweep back and take them out once you’ve finished everyone else off.
ship combat can be especially beautiful depending on your weapon type
Targeting enemy modules is a great practice overall because it grants you the ability to minimize combat. It’s fun to destroy enemy vessels, but this can create quite a bounty on your head making the actions less desirable. Furthermore, missiles are limited, so pinpoint precision is crucial. At the first level, you can find the perk associated with it under the ship tree. Even with just one rank in the perk you get access to being able to fight ships twice your weight class with relative ease!
Always Use Missiles And Weapons At The Same Time
Perhaps one of the easiest tips to keep in mind is that you should fire missiles while using your main weapons. Even against shielding this can do a massive amount of damage that can decimate a target quickly. Especially if you mix this tactic with attacking particular ship systems, you can see fights lasting seconds instead of minutes. All of this considered, keep in mind that missiles are limited in their quantity. To get more you’ll have to resupply with ship parts or touch down on another planet. Luckily when mixed with fire from your main weapons it will typically take fewer missiles to finish the job.
You can easily maximize the usage of your missiles by taking on the missile perk in the ship skill tree. Additionally, you can buy better missile systems from vendors that can deal extra damage. A missile can also be great for ending an enemy quickly, especially when their shields are down. Make sure your missiles are locked on before you use them against an opponent. Otherwise, these weapons are clumsy and hard to use. A great way to increase the accuracy of missiles is to add the Comspike to your ship, which increases lock-on efficiency. If that doesn’t work, you can also increase your ballistics skill which increases the damage of all projectile weapons including missiles.
targeting ship systems is the best way to take on larger vessels
EM Weapons Are Best In Dogfights
One of the best weapon types you can add to your ships is the electromagnetic variety. These will have the bonus effect of shutting down ship systems entirely, leaving the vessel dead in the water. This can be especially great if you want to escape a powerful enemy or destroy them outright. Additionally, this can make piracy missions incredibly easy. The downside to electromagnetic weaponry is that they will often be expensive, and exotic in nature. Meaning they will require the ship design perk which can take a while to acquire. Paying off for these hassles though, electromagnetic weaponry is incredibly potent.
When trying to do bounty hunting or debt collection missions, electromagnetic weapons are perfect for the job. Additionally, you can use these weapons to stop Galbank transports or hitmen after you. Finally, these weapons are great for making your ships high value as they are often big tickets on the trade market. All this being said, getting at least one EM weapon on your vessel will typically serve you well, especially when cracking shields.
Full Stop, And Turn Towards An Opponent For Easier Shooting
If you’re having trouble tracing or targeting an opponent because they’re fast, there’s an easy fix. Come to a full stop in the middle of combat, and turn in their direction before boosting. By doing so, you’ll be able to find your opponent and follow their fire like an anti-air gun. Sensibly by staying in place, you are able to easily dispatch the enemy like it’s a game of asteroids. Keep in mind that when doing so you should always keep your shields on maximum in order to absorb any incoming damage.
destroying ships can be a fun experience but racks up a large bounty over time
This tactic works especially well when dealing with speedy combatants who want you to chase them. Coming from methods of anti-air weapons, by staying in place you can easily turn and spot the opponent as they trail by. Firing in front or behind them in a circular pattern allows the weaponry to hit them more easily. In doing this, you not only track the enemy but in some cases can force them into maneuvers you want them to, leading to more opportunity. This can take a bit of practice, but once mastered the tactic is invaluable.
Automated Weapons Are Great For Passive Builds
For players who aren’t really interested in the whole space combat scene, or who focus on trading, automated weapons may be for you. Automated weapons are a great way to avoid combat and keep pursuers off of you. Better placed in the rear or front of a vessel, they automatically fire on anything they lock onto. While you don’t need to control these weapons, they are incredibly powerful and deter pirates quickly. The downside to these automated weapons is that they have a limited sensory array and can’t be used offensively.
While this may be a problem for the more aggressive players, for passive runs they can be life-saving. They take away all of the hassle of knowing if you’re dealing with friendlies or not as the weapons will only attack those who hit you first. Defensively, automated weapons can outclass even some of the most potent manual weaponry. And if you increase your ship design perk, some of the more exotic automated weapons can be downright deadly. That being said, they are extremely limited for the expensive value they have so keep that in mind when buying them.
-source: The Space Cowboy
Always Keep Ship Parts In The Cargo Hold
Finally, the most important tip one can give when it comes to ship combat is to keep your ship parts in the cargo hold. When these ship parts are on your person or a companion they can’t be used to repair your ships. This is incredibly important when you sustain any amount of damage or have a system go offline. You will want to have as many ship parts as you are comfortable carrying inside your cargo hold. The ship parts should make up a tenth of your cargo weight, as they can save you in a pinch. In addition, you’d be surprised how many people are willing to pay exorbitant prices for ship parts in Starfield.
Ship Parts are heavy and expensive, so they make for a great method of trade when you get high enough a level. You can upgrade your ship repair levels and even craft ship parts by upgrading your perks. Luckily they are essential to your gameplay, so having them is never a bad thing. The downside to ship parts is they are extremely heavy, and can easily bog down a character if they are outside of your cargo hold. It’s better off to always put them into the cargo hold the first time you can.
grav jumping away is the safest bet to survive hard situations
