Dream about boarding ships and being a space pirate in Starfield? Maybe you would like to follow in Holden’s footsteps from The Expanse.
The justice system and bounties were always part of almost every Bethesda game. The stealing mechanics we know from other studios’ titles, such as Skyrim or Elder Scrolls Online, but how the crime and justice system will work in Starfield. Can you be an evil space pirate, board ships and take whatever you desire? Become the richest man or woman in the galaxy and hide all your treasures on an uncharted planet.
We’re giving you a massive playground and a ton of toys and just setting you free.
Zachary Wilson, Senior Level Designer in Bethesda
Can You Be A Space Pirate in Starfield?
Yes, You can be a space pirate in Starfield, board enemy vessels and steal their cargo, ships or even… sandwiches? During the Starfield Direct Gameplay Dip Dive, developers confirmed that the crime and justice system is part of Starfield. You can fight with Crimson Fleet, a faction dedicated to piracy or become their member. Explore the space as sci-fi Jack Sparrow or Blackbeard!
And as a pirate, you should always be ready for combat. You can sit in the cockpit of your very own ship, watching the screens and flight statistics. In Starfield, you are in control of everything, the crew, the ship and where to go next. The space is a massive, dangerous and exciting place. You can travel for days jumping between galaxies and suddenly receive an outbound transmission from a small transport vessel. What would the vicious pirate do? Of course, attack them!
Space Combat, Piracy & Boarding
Space Combat is a big part of Starfield, developers describe it as a “dance” between your piloting skills and power allocation system. The game is designed to manage your ship’s energy depending on what you want to do next. Allocating power into your engines (in-game shown as “ENG” column) them will make your ship faster while boosting your grav drives systems (in-game shown as “GRV” column) will shorten the time required to make a jump. Powering up your shields (SHD) and weapons will make you prepared for battle.
You have two choices. You can attract, destroy and scavage the remains of the target ship. However, even more, exciting can be boarding, gun-fight your way through to the control centre and taking over the vessel. It all depends on your piloting skill, ship upgrades and situation. If you meet an enemy or part of a Crimson Fleet faction, they will attack you instantly. And your only choice might be to escape or destroy them first. After destroying the target, you can loot the remains from your cockpit.
You can unlock various skills to improve your piloting, piracy and space combat abilities. For Example, Targeting Control systems allow you to directly target specific subsystems of the enemy’s ship, such as engines or grav drive, to prevent them from escaping. Leaving your target vulnerable and ready to dock the vessel and boarding their ship. Fight with your pirate crew and take everything you want from them, including their ship.
Your own Space Pirate Fleet and Ouposts
In Starfield, you can own more than one ship and outpost. After you board and take over the ship, you can then add it to your pirate fleet at any docks. Every credit you earn, or resources you will steal, you can then store in your base or home. Nextly, with all that power, you can take on much bigger targets and enemy fleets in epic space battles.
Also, your protagonist will lead a crew, including companions. You can lead your fleet just like you can manage your outposts in Starfield. Thanks to crew selection features, you can assign them to each outpost or ship. Crew members and companions have traits that make them better suited for ship captains, outpost governance or part of your team in direct combat. As a result, you can build your own pirate and crime empire in space.
Crimson Fleet Faction and Starfield Piracy
Crimson Fleet is a dark side of Starfield, this faction dedicates their life to chaos and piracy. Joining their faction can offer a thrilling game experience for those who want to try alluring “bad guys” life in space. Even if you decide to build your own fleet and you won’t join their organisation, you’ll meet them in space, they will most likely attack you, and this is yet another opportunity for you to practice your space combat skills, earn some credits or gain items and resources. The bigger the target, the better the reward!
Bounties, Bounty Hunters and Justice System in Starfield
Being a “bad guy” doesn’t end with piracy and space combat. When your character starts their journey, you can pick their background and how their look. New Bethesda’s sci-fi game offers unique features in its character creation. Therefore you can design your character from scratch and make the as intimidating pirate as you wish. Maybe you would like to create yourself as the evil space criminal or share the beliefs of Jack Sparrow, James Holden or any other fantastic character. Character backgrounds and traits will help you further adjust your pirate. Some of the good choices would be gangster, bounty hunter, cyber runner or Ronin backgrounds.
Missions and Quests
Starfield offers many missions and quests spread around the galaxies, planets, cities and space. You can be a skilled assassin, a deadly fighter, or a lunatic who leaves behind fire and explosions. The feature of the galaxy is in your hands, how you decide to complete the quests and what choices you’ll make also influence how others perceive you.
Bounties
However, don’t expect that you’ll do all those terrible things and no one will notice! Piracy in Starfield can earn you a bounty for your head. If you mess with an influential opponent, you will be punished, and your enemies may send bounty hunters after you. Prisons were part of Skyrim, and we don’t know if the feature will be in Starfield.
However, during the gameplay showcase, the player’s character had a bounty on their name in selected systems and planets. So it’s possible that those bounties are dependent on the player’s crimes in each system or planet, maybe faction. Additionally, you can become a bounty hunter and fight piracy and all evil in space! But it’s not that fun, isn’t it?
Looking for more about Starfield?
- Comprehensive Starfield Guides
- Starships & Customization Guide
- Character Creation Explained
- 10 Things You Must Know About Starfield!
Starfield launches exclusively on Xbox Series X|S and PC on September 6, 2023. You can play it day one with Xbox Game Pass.
Thank you for reading the “Can You Be A Space Pirate in Starfield?” guide! We’ll do more deep dives into Starfield and cover the game. Additionally, you can also watch Deltia streaming the game on Twitch.
