Starfield Mantis Ship
Image via Prima Games.

How to Upgrade Your Ship in Starfield

Ship building is so damn confusing.

While you progress through the main campaign and side missions of Starfield, you’ll be spending a lot of time flying your ship. Some of this will be peacefully exploring as you stumble upon various planets and satellites or friendly ships in space, while other times will have you engaging in dogfights with hostile factions. For the latter specifically, you might want a stronger ship that can take more hits or dish out more damage. Here’s how to upgrade your ship in Starfield.

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Starfield Ship Services Technician
Screenshot by Prima Games

To improve upon your ship, you’ll first want to land at a Spaceport. The easiest one you can access very early is in New Atlantis, which you can fast-travel to if you’re already on the planet. Once there, you’ll want to head over to the Trade Authority kiosk next to it. Standing next to it is a Ship Services Technician, who you want to speak to.

Related: How to Dock Your Ship in Starfield

Starfield Bigger Ship
Screenshot by Prima Games

The Ship Services Technician has a few options to choose from, but the main two dialogue choices we want to focus on are “I’d like to view and modify my ships.” and “Let me see what ships you have for sale.” These two options are exactly how they sound, though we’ll start with the latter since that’s easier to explain. Selecting that latter option will open up a menu with several different ships to choose from, which range in price, scale, and capability. You likely can’t afford ships yet if you’re reading this, but it’s worth noting if the ship-building system is too confusing.

How to Modify Your Ship in Starfield

Starfield Ship Upgrades
Screenshot by Prima Games

As for the “I’d like to view and modify my ships” option, this is where things branch out a bit. If you’re willing to learn the ins and outs of shipbuilding, you’re free to mess around as you please. For the sake of not making this 3,000 words long, we’re not going to do that. Instead, you’ll want to press the Upgrade Ship button in the bottom left. This will bring up a list of all the parts currently installed on the ship. Select one, and you’ll be given a list of options. Hovering over each will let you see the increased and decreased stats compared to what’s currently installed on the ship. Selecting a new one and paying the fee will automatically replace the old part with a new one.

If you’re currently exploring everything to do with ships, check out our guide on how to change Crew members in Starfield.


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About the Author

Shawn Robinson

Shawn is a freelance gaming journalist who's been with Prima Games for a year and a half, writing mainly about FPS games and RPGs. He even brings several years of experience at other sites like The Nerd Stash to the table. While he doesn't bring a fancy degree to the table, he brings immense attention to detail with his guides, reviews, and news, leveraging his decade and a half of gaming knowledge. If he isn't writing about games, he's likely getting zero kills in his favorite FPS or yelling at the game when it was 100% his fault that he died.