The Starfield system that lets players construct and modify their own ships is, like almost everything else in the game, in some way both exciting and perplexing. The interface of the system may seem illogical or even awkward. The possibilities, though, appear limitless once you learn them. When a player gets a feel for Starfield’s “no hand-holding” philosophy, they will realize that the Ship Builder best reflects this philosophy of the game’s mechanics. Starfield takes pride in being a game with extremely hard-to-find restrictions.


The goal of this tutorial is to provide the player with a comprehensive overview of the Ship Builder concept as well as advice on how to create the best ships for different play styles. The road to the ideal ship can be found here, whether you’re planning to torment the populated systems as a space pirate or are just looking to travel peacefully.
How to Use Starfield’s Ship Builder
The Ship Builder system was heavily marketed as being best suited for the late-game experience in the pre-release press. Fortunately, this statement is only partially accurate. Gamers will have access to the Ship Builder system as soon as they enter New Atlantis, which happens quite early in the main plot of Starfield.


The player merely needs to speak with a Ship Services Technician, which can be located in almost all of the game’s major spaceports, to access this functionality. The player won’t be able to miss the first one because it is in New Atlantis and Starfield makes sure to point it out to them.
Key Advice for Shipbuilding:
Once you’ve found the Ship Services Technician you’re looking for, chat with them and choose “I’d like to view and modify my ships.” By doing so, the player will be directed to the Ship Overview menu, where they can either enhance an existing ship or access the far more complicated “Ship Builder” system. Use the LB or RB buttons to locate the desired option if the player owns more than one ship, then press X to enter the Ship Builder.
Be sure to take note of the following when you first enter the Ship Builder:
- Examine the tools that are at your disposal at the bottom of the screen. Any build must have these three crucial information “bars.” the following, starting from the bottom:
- Current stats of the ship; this will demonstrate how new components will alter the ship as a whole.
- Command Directory describes how to use the button prompts to move around the Ship Builder Error/Nominal Check explains any issues in the current build.
- Using the cursor to hover over each area of the ship will reveal the information for that module on the left. The crucial modules, such Grav Drives and Reactors, will provide each item’s fundamental stats along with crucial information like class and any necessary talents.
The player can get ready to make their initial modifications once they have a basic understanding of how the Ship Builder works. The ship upgrade mechanism used by Starfield can be compared to Ship Builder as an enhanced version. There will be a list of possibilities for each module, many of which will be better than the ship’s present models.
Building a Ship: Basic Instructions
- Press A to choose and navigate to the selected area.
- To add a new item after removing it, place the cursor over a blank spot and then press A.
- To get to the selected area, press RB or LB.
- Please refer to the information box on the left for the necessary classes and talents, and you will find the price disclosed on the right.
- Reposition the desired component in the appropriate slot, arrange the parts as needed, and then check for any remaining problems that require fixing.
- Finalization can proceed if the error box contains the word “Nominal.”
- When you’re ready to leave the Ship Builder and start using the new ship for a flight, press B.
How to Fix Problems in Ship Builder
The majority of the time, problems in the Ship Builder will be straightforward mistakes that are simple to correct. However, there may occasionally be multistep resolves that the player must complete before being given the all-clear to leave.


These two mistakes will be the most typical ones:
- One or more of a particular thing.
- Disconnected Modules
This is a nice illustration of a situation in which the same problem is the root of both errors. Both issues usually go away when a player remembers to delete the original part they removed from the ship.
The player will need to approach the Ship Builder like a puzzle because there are a number of additional faults, some of which are more complicated. For instance, a larger ship will need more landing gears to land securely, more engines to launch safely, and more engines to maintain altitude. It would be preferable to simply cancel the order and begin again when dealing with this kind of error group. Press B on the Ship Builder to complete this.
Building Modern Ships in Starfield
Players who want to construct sophisticated ships require high ranks in the following two abilities.
- Piloting
- Ship Designing
The player can control class B and C ships after reaching piloting levels 3 and 4. In stark contrast to popular belief, Starfield has a different class structure. C-class ships are currently the greatest in the game. However, building and piloting them will be difficult until the necessary expertise is attained.


Players will get access to the best technology in the Settled Systems with the Ship Design skill. At this point, the manufacturing process will incur significant costs, necessitating a substantial expenditure that is better reserved for the later stages of the game.
In Starfield, where Can I Purchase Smuggling Parts?
The player can build a sophisticated smuggling ship using Starfield that can evade any scanner in the system. The Key, the space base of the Crimson Fleet, is the ideal location to carry out this operation. Jasmine will provide Scan Jammers and Shielded Cargo Hulls in this location. They offer surprisingly reasonable alternatives for a prosperous career in space smuggling. There is currently no known competitor to this merchant.
Experimenting with the amazing tools that Starfield has to offer is the greatest way to create a truly unique ship.
Starfield is currently accessible via PC and Xbox Series X/S.