Learning how to steal ships in Starfield will get you new new starships for free, obviously, and get some new loot along the way. It's also a useful way of getting new and sometimes better ships for little cost in Starfield. And it's not always piracy if you're boarding a ship that attacked you first.
However, not all ships can be stolen, as your rank in certain skills can affect the classes of ship you can pilot. Stealing and selling ships isn't hugely profitable either, due to significant fees that you have to pay to even sell a new spacecraft. That said there is plenty to steal, including some of the best Starfield ships, so here's what you need to know about stealing them.
How to steal spaceships in Starfield
To steal a ship in Starfield you need to do the following:
- To steal a ship you first need to disable it in combat, using weapon targeting to take out its engines without destroying it.
- You should now be able to board the disabled ship. Check our guide on how to dock in Starfield and board ships if you're having trouble.
- Once onboard kill any enemy NPCs and make your way to the cockpit and interact with the pilot's seat to fly it.
- If the ship is grade B or C, you won't be able to fly it without several ranks in Piloting, one of the Starfield skills in the Tech tree.
- If you can fly it, undock from your previous ship and take it to a spaceport. Your old ship will be added to your fleet and can be retrieved from any port.
- Land the new ship, go to the spaceport technician, ask to view your ships and then select "Register" to bank the stolen ship. This will cost some credits and make the ship officially yours!
Technically, registering a stolen ship isn't essential, but it is important if you want to do anything beyond simply flying it around. Registering costs money, but you can't do any Starfield ship customization on anything until you register it - nor can you sell it on to somebody else.
This is why piracy and stealing spaceships isn't as profitable as you'd think, as registering a ship eats into the money you make. You can make a profit, especially if you loot the stolen ship's hold and captain's locker for credits and cargo (if you don't know how to access Starfield ship storage and inventory, we can help you out), but you're not going to making enough cash to really make it worthwhile.
There are also time where ships are simply not available, with the player not authorised to fly them for no clear reason- we're not entirely sure what determines that, except making sure that the ship has no NPCs on it.
It's also possible to steal certain ships when they're parked on planets, which is simply a matter of following the process above from stage 3 onwards, fighting your way to the landing bay on foot rather than blowing out the engines with a spaceship.
What happens to your old ship when you steal one in Starfield?
When you steal a ship in Starfield you won't lose your old one That's because any craft you own and leave behind will be automatically protected and can be accessed from any starport from your usual list of ships. This happens in any situation where you and your currently registered ship become separated. It'll just be magicked away to a garage with all the ships you own, ready to swap to and pick up again from any port you visit.
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