You'll can build a Starfield crew as you explore the galaxy. These could be members of factions like Constellation, recruited in space ports, or even found in the galaxy as you explore. It's a vital part of Starfield ship customization as well, with crew members coming with a variety of skills that can boost stats and abilities once on board. They can also be assigned to your Starfield outposts and change how they run according to what they're good at in Starfield.
How to get crew in Starfield
There are three main ways to get crew in Starfield:
- Companions can join your crew
- You can hire them at Spaceports
- You can find them as you explore
So while any of the Starfield companions can be crew, crew might not always companions, with Bethesda saying 'just like companions most crew members can lend a hand in the field'. I've added that emphasis. It also looks like companions have a wider range of higher level skills than general recruits.
Starfield crew skills
These are the various Starfield Crew skills we've seen so far:
- Astrodynamics
- Ballistics
- Botany
- Concealment
- Gastronomy
- Geology
- Lasers
- Leadership
- Outpost engineering
- Particle Beam Weapon Systems
- Payloads
- Piloting
- Robotics
- Rifle Certification
- Scavenging
- Shotgun Certification
- Starship Engineering
- Weight Lifting
The crew skills we've seen so far all appear to be existing Starfield skills, so your various crew members will be able to enhance your own abilities with ranked tiers of buffs, currently ranging from one to four stars. It also looks like Companions can boost four stats while non-companions recruits we've seen so far have only boosted two or three.
What's not currently clear is how this works when you assign people to the various ships and Outposts you can own. However, you can only have one active ship, and a 'current' outpost, so it seems likely that you'll receive the buffs of whoever's in the ship and outpost you're currently using. At the same time, any passive outpost activities like resource gathering might receive a boost from your crew whether it's your 'main' base or not.
Starfield crew members
There are seven confirmed Starfield Crew members and some likely potentials. These include companions, the Adoring Fan, a spaceport recruit, and someone you can find and rescue while exploring:
- Sarah Morgan
- Sam Coe
- Barrett
- Noel
- Mateo
- Vasco
- The Adoring Fan
- Marika Boros
- Heller
Here's what we know about the various crew in Starfield so far:
Sarah Morgan, Constellation companion
- Astrodynamics ****
- Lasers ***
- Leadership **
- Botany *
Sarah is the leader of Constellation so the Leadership boost, which increases the speed you gain affinity with companions, shouldn't be a surprise. She also has a big Astrodynamics buff which increases grav drive capability, making her very useful if you want to jump around the galaxy.
Sam, companion
- Piloting ****
- Rifle Certification ***
- Payloads **
- Geology *
While Sam's biggest perk is a four star boost to piloting, his most useful skill is probably Payloads which will help you increase your ship cargo space. That's definitely going to help if you want to move and sell lots of stuff.
Barratt, Constellation companion
- Starship Engineering ****
- Particle Beam Weapons Systems ***
- Robotics **
- Gastronomy *
We don't currently have any info on Barrett's two biggest skills other than they exist. However, Robotics will give you a damage boost to robotic enemies and Gastronomy will help you craft and research more food items.
Vasco, Constellation companion
Vasco has been the longest confirmed companion and crew member, but the skills he brings to the table are still a mystery.
Noel
As a member of Constellation and it's leader's protégé, Noel appears to be a potential crew member but currently we know nothing than she's a gifted scientist. That will likely shape what skills and abilities she could offer if she steps aboard.
Mateo
As Constellation's theologian, it's hard to see how Mateo could be useful, but his role and function in the group does suggest he could help - his belief in the idea there's 'definitely something else out there' would make him useful in areas of alien interest.
The Adoring Fan
- Scavenging *
- Concealment *
- Weight Lifting **
The only thing of note the Adoring Fan really brings to the table as a crew member is an increase to your carrying capacity via his Weight Lifting skill. Whether the incessant jabbering is worth paying the price for it, remains to be seen.
Marika Boros, Spaceport recruit
- Shotgun Certification *
- Ballistics **
- Particle Beam Weapons Systems *
Marika is one of the crew you can recruit from a spaceport. She's clearly a combat focused hire with minor buffs to ballistic and particle beam weapons, as well as shotguns specifically,
Heller, Rescue
- Geology *
- Outpost Engineering ***
Heller is one of the crew recruits you can find in the universe as you explore. In his case, marooned on a desolate planet or moon, waiting for someone to fly by and help him. He looks like a strong Outpost candidate given that engineering stat.
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