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You can build your own spaceship in Starfield from scratch — but every spaceship needs a crew. You’ll be able to assign party members and random NPCs to your Home Ship to give yourself an instant skill boost when taking on the many threats across the galaxy. Every crew member you assign will add to your total skills, giving you an instant advantage with the right crew assignments. We’re going to explain how to find more crew members and how to unlock more of them for your ship. Check it all out below.
More Starfield guides:
Best Skills | Best Ship Upgrades & Mods | All Companions | All Romance Options | All Settlement Locations | Join All Factions | How To Pirate Ships | Secret Companion | Secret Ship & Suit
What Do Crew Members Actually Do?
Crew are the lifeblood of your ship. The bigger your ship, the more crew you can assign — and each crewmember with space flight skills will contribute to your overall abilities when flying. You can unlock better handling, better weapon damage, and much more just by having crew working in your ship.
Crew can also be assigned to Outposts where they can help with the many functions of your base. There are multiple types of crew members — and they come in three general categories. Before getting into recruiting, let’s talk about the basics of Crew.
- Crew Members are NPCs that can be assigned to ships.
- To assign crew, open your Character Menu and select the Ship Menu (lower-left). Press [Y] on Xbox to access the Crew Menu.
- Your starting ship can carry 3 Crew. When you assign crew, their skills that apply to ships will light up.
- You can only assign crew to a landed ship that is selected as your Home Ship. You can only assign crew when on the surface of a planet.
You can set your home ship at any Ship Services NPC.
How To Recruit Crewmembers
There are three levels of crew — main companions, minor companions, and randomly generated NPCs. Each one has a different level of skills, but all can be useful. Even random NPCs can be incredibly useful if they have the specific ability you need.
- Main Companions: Have four skils. Main companions are unlocked as you progress the Main story. There are four main companions you’ll unlock early in the main story. While these companions mostly will join you on-foot, they can also be assigned to your ship.
- Minor Companions: Have two skills. Minor Companions are named NPCs that can fight with you or become crew members. These NPCs can be hired at bars — there are bars on every major settlement, usually near the space port. Once hired, they will permanently join your crew. When exploring a city, check the bar and look for a named character. They’ll join you in exchange for credits.
- Random NPC Crew: Have one skill. The most common crew you’ll find. These low-level random NPCs wear flight suits and will have their one skill in their name. They are usually called Specialists or Experts. These NPCs are totally random and will cycle in and out of bars.
Main and Minor Companions are the only companions you really need. All crew can mostly be found in bars all over the galaxy, so make sure to check every tavern you cross for additional help in your ship. But you won’t be able to assign crew without a big ship, and a specific skill.
How To Unlock More Crew Slots
At the beginning of Starfield, you’ll be limited to 3 Crew Slots. You’ll find those up fast. But, you can unlock up to 8 Crew total for your ship. Luckily, ships can also hold a number of passengers so your companions can tag along even if they aren’t crew.
To unlock more crew slots, you’ll need to increase your ship’s crew capacity and increase your Ship Command Skill.
- Ship Command Skill determines how many crew members you can have assigned to a ship. Even if you own a ship with 5 Crew Slots, you won’t be able to assign them unless you have the Ship Command Skill unlocked. The Ship Command Skill is a Tier 4 Social Skill.
- Rank 1: 4 Crew | Rank 2: 5 Crew | Rank 3: 6 Crew | Rank 4: 8 Crew
Next, you’ll need an upgraded / modded ship.
- How To Get More Crew Slots: Each ship has a Crew Capacity determined by the Habs and Cockpit attached to your ship.
- Your Cockpit is most important. When selecting a cockpick, look for the Crew Stations number. If you have 4 Crew Stations, you’ll always have more crew slots.
- Habs can include more Crew Stations or Passenger Slots. To give yourself the max crew, you’ll need a cockpit and multiple habs with several Crew Stations.
At the bottom of the Ship Builder menu, you’ll see your Max Crew score. The more Habs you add, the higher the Max Crew will increase. You can only have a maximum of 8 crew. It also helps to increase your Piloting Skill. With Piloting ranked up, you’ll be able to purchase Class B / Class C ships. These often have higher Crew Station capacity.
