Become a Ship Technician - A Starfield Upgrade Guide

Ship Class is a Myth. Follow along as we upgrade the Frontier as our character level progresses, discover new definitions of Ship Class, and how to maximize their performance.
Chapters
0:00 Introduction
2:58 Reactor
4:29 Grav Drive
5:23 Shield
6:18 Engines
7:52 Weapons
9:49 Quest Unlocks
12:26 Level 1-10
13:20 Auto vs. Non-Auto Weapons
20:24 Crew Choice
21:57 Fuel
22:26 Landing Gear
27:37 Levels 10-20
29:03 Levels 20-30
31:21 Mobility
32:37 Top Speed
33:42 New Class Definitions
35:32 Lightweight Fighter
45:05 All-Arounder
46:00 Advanced Engine Performance
49:55 Cargo Hauler
52:50 Turrets
55:31 Cargo & Cockpits
58:18 Final Thoughts

[@JC23783]

Dude, it took a lot of balls for you to stick to your guns with your channel like you did during the time period with the online narrative surrounding Starfield. Its clearly a passion project for you and I have a feeling its going to start paying off big time. You deserve it. Cheers.

[@Dark_Mishra]

If this channel doesn’t work out with doing ship videos for only Starfield, he could always expand to cover other video games that rely heavily on ship designing. If didn’t know any better, I’d swear Bethesda did a copy and paste of Rebel Galaxy’s ship building mechanics with how its weapons also focus on ballistic, laser and particle beam weaponry, shields and other ship components. That game is a blast to play (pun intended) with its wide variety of ships, armaments and factions.

[@wandering_wolfman7332]

The Bob Ross of ship construction

[@ShipTechnician]

Happy Ships

[@graysenm1320]

Dude this is a killer video. Thank you for the effort you put into this. There are so many misconceptions about ships in this game and you make it really clear. I hope Bethesda continues updating the ship building side of Starfield it's honestly the best part of the game.

[@kiliksang630]

Channels with 2 million subscribed that say boring or obvious stuff and then... you find this pearl. Amazing job! 💯

[@TheModelZero]

“Likes the video before even watching it cause you already know its going to be 🔥”

[@TattoomiTV]

This Landing Pad on a "Volcano" (@1:45) - sweet. Wish i would find such a spot for my home base too...

[@brandongurganus7387]

Do we know what planet that’s on?

[@ulyaoth3579]

After the new update, his videos are the only decent guide. I've use alot of his tips. I have different preferences. I think the B Class Reactor or the Sheared Flow are the best. But he's not wrong about his theories. Thank you for allowing me to confirm alot of my research.

[@Monificent]

This is a criminally under viewed and underrated video. Amazing work and attention to detail.

[@DrVenture45]

As a "newbie" to both ship and outpost building (honestly because both have always felt more complicated than necessary) this video does make me feel more inclined to attempt a ship build.

[@StarfieldWX-tb42]

Me: *slams like and sub when the tech starts talking to me* This is gonna be a banger!

[@WizeOldWizard]

Dude CONGRATULATIONS on your channel’s growth! You have grown more than threefold since I last looked at your channel homepage. This shit takes a lot of time and effort, and your content is under-appreciated.

[@EggEnjoyer]

Bro deserves a million subs

[@TheDlaw84]

By far the best video of its kind. No talking shit like so many. Awesome stuff bud. Keep it up.

[@PiperTJW]

This video is the GREATEST to help understand the process of ship building/upgrading... especially when and where!

[@LunaMoth171]

Fine detailed coverage of such an underrated aspect to STARFIELD. Ship building in this game is more than some people think.

[@karikimari]

This really helped me. Decided to test Starfield, finally, and this really was the video i needed to learn the right information.

[@ShipTechnician]

Thank you! I really appreciate this!

[@MilliRocker]

Fire video, been a big fan of this channel since I discovered it a few days before my favorite ship builder Wize Old Wizard (built the basilisk, rebuilds of popular ships) gave you a shout out particularly I believe on your engine video. Please, keep releasing builds and more informational guides, it's great content and I hope to see a collab jack of all trades between you and @WizeOldWizard one day!

[@graysenm1320]

Wize old Wizard is the man, he's also why I found this channel. A collaboration would be fantastic.

[@RichardBejtlich]

GREAT video. Even just the first part about upgrading the Frontier was worth it. 👏

[@Carlos0619ASmith]

Much thanks for a true indepth examination on the Frontier ship and its evolution. 👍🏽🙏🏽👍🏽

[@2Aknight762]

For best power to weight ratio I like the B39 reactor with the White Dwarf 3015 engines. Build a fast light weight fighter for space battles and a big heavy cargo ship for hauling cargo. I have a Space Truck built to haul 20K cargo and a fighter with minimum cargo. The smaller ship will take on all the cargo of the big ship when you use it as your home ship. You cant add cargo when using it, however you can add a small amount to the captains locker.

[@AcBaLkX]

Another DPS related comment would be regarding turrets: when having both, turret AND particle beam skills fully maxed, turrets become the strongest weapon type by far since they will basically stack both perks on top of each other instead of only gaining the benefits of one weapon type. And also, great video, there isn’t much quality starfield content out there, so it’s always nice to see some really well made and researched videos.

[@mirandela777]

Not really, manual targeting is far more effective, turrets miss a lot of shots, are bugged ( sometimes won't fire at all ! ) and, to be fair, one only needs 2 sets of weapons : anti-shield and kinetics, for hull damage. Worst, turrets canno be used for boarding purpose, when is a delicate balance between too much damage or too less. Particle weapons are way too OP and kill all the fun.

[@Trifler500]

For anyone keeping the Nova aesthetic, you can grab a cockpit with more storage capacity and identical appearance from the Nova Shipyard. It has a better storage to mass ratio than any of the storage modules, so it's a great place to start when increasing storage capacity. It's also available right away without needing any points in Ship Design.

[@CraigDuka]

This is EPIC. Brilliantly done.

[@davidstewart3804]

Great job! Thank you for doing the math and presenting your research so thoroughly. I’m nearing the 700 hrs mark on only my third play through. I also tend to completely wring out each play through and here, as well as in the rest of your videos, you’ve confirmed 90% of my suspicions and also taught me some new things! Awesome 😎

[@SuperJffry]

Great video this helped me out so much understanding the whole ship side of Starfield “Subscribed”

[@gregsquires6201]

Great video again! Only minor issue is at level 1-10, money is often going to be an issue, especially if you're also hiring crew and building outposts.

[@ShipTechnician]

Thanks! I agree with you about available funds, and also consider that some of these early upgrades require skill points in the Piloting or Starship Design skills, which you may not desire at an early character level depending on your play style. If you focus solely on ship building, it is doable, but understand that may not be the highest priority.

[@shenotski]

Best way to do that and gain levels is crafting at outposts with the materials. Vanguard flight sim is the best way to unlock piloting

[@WizeOldWizard]

Extremely well-produced, cohesive, and detailed guide. Very well done! There’s only one thing I disagree with you about, which is that Class C engines are not only useful for cargo hauling ships. I really like the 6830’s because I DO care about the mobility stat. If you want to build a ship with up to roughly 7,000 cargo and still have full turning speed, then the 6830’s are basically the only choice. This was the premise of the Citadel. Now it definitely requires careful management of direction change and momentum because it is very slow to change direction at anything over a 90 degree turn. But, despite the mass of the ship it still doesn’t need turrets to be effective in combat. It’s my only ship that still has the triple PB weapon groups though, as I have lately been using the Hellfires as group three. The Citadel definitely needs the range advantage. By the way I watched the whole video, and again, great job! Nobody dives as deeply into this stuff in their content and it is all extremely useful. Cheers man!

[@ShipTechnician]

Thank you so much for the kind words! I agree with you, and understand I’m a bit harsh on the SAL-6830’s. They certainly cannot be beat for their maneuvering thrust and impact on that Mobility stat. And again, thank you!

[@WizeOldWizard]

@@ShipTechnician of course man! You do awesome work. Keep that shit up!

[@Iamkstchow]

Holy mother of God this is amazing content. Absolutely amazing video!

[@neocorricon]

Super informative with no fluff. Thanks!

[@roguearcher7507]

Excellent video!! I'm new to ship building and really appreciate the thorough info. I also appreciate how you aren't rushing through the subject. Nice deep dive into what I'm starting to think is one of the best parts of this game.

[@e.liepins4657]

Hi. Im hetero but i can say that your voice and the style of speaking, it's juts mindblowing. You have a talent there

[@gerryslamming]

This is the most information in any video about Starfield that I not only trust but cannot believe you poured through all these stats for ship building. Great work, you just earned another subscriber man keep up the quality content!

[@greatpumpkinhiker]

Very nice, sub earned. So many Starfield haters making content. This is nice to see. I am a fan of the small cargo, fast fighters myself. Dropping cargo on the ship floor works fine in a pinch. Doing another fresh start now avoiding Constelation. Toured the starting planet for awhile until I found a ship to steal. Sarah still waiting for me after telling her I needed time to think about it. 22 levels ago.

[@celebril]

It's about time. I can't believe how many people don't get that the some of the A and B class parts are significantly superior to their higher class counterparts. Or that power requirements does *not* necessarily equate to how powerful a part is.

[@reddeaddovahkiin]

Your ship builds are insane :O

[@ShipTechnician]

So is your youtube handle :)

[@vitaislife]

Amazing job! Necessary for someone who seriously want into ship building (sick ships in the intro btw)

[@ogilvie748]

I just used your millennium falcon redesign (level a engines) to make my own! It’s super finicky but your videos are super helpful!

[@ThomasJB80]

You built the ship out of it! Top!

[@N7-alpha]

Great video for all the new captains out there in starfield.

[@Archadean]

Love this video. This is awesome. One thing to mention if you dont have the credits to completly reoutfit a ship is you can get a bounty mission to defeat a crimson fleet phantom. It comes with a class A 20 power reactor.

[@WoobiewookieBlogspot]

Really enjoyed the thorough research - and timely. Just came back for a new NG and I had been following an admixture of my old methods and (early release) bad advice. Not sure I will ever move fully to auto-weapons only loadout. I really like the Disruptor 3300 early game, since I tend toward faster, smaller ship designs. The range and damage are great as well as the fire rate when fully powered. And it's great to have confirmation that the Vanguard Autoprojector is worth the time investment. Thanks for the great video.

[@meleecritical]

A Borg Cube, you cute bastard! Holy hell. I love the Trek designs. You’ve got a friend in me, buddy. Pegasus or Galactica too surely!

[@Boss-gk1ym]

This video was awesome. Thanks for making this, helped me out a lot! 🙏🏽

[@deutschmanxspike]

Awesome guide! thanks!

[@patwilson2546]

Upgrade around the reactor. My ship of choice is Class B. I have a compact little ship that is perfect for my play style. It is only 4x1x3. I started with the Rambler. It was the cheapest ship available. I kept nothing. At level 20 I disassembled it, bought the best reactor available, and replaced EVERY part. Then at level 40 I replaced the reactor again and did massive changes. At level 60 I did it again.

[@Mateo714]

Thanks for all the information

[@jimmymarcussen4976]

This is a video in top 3 for me. Youre calm, the music is low and calming and the content is sheer gold. I subscribed and cant wait to see whats in store for me 😊😊😊😊😊😊🤌

[@tonickt5639]

absolutely amazing video, my guy

[@joshuabrzezinski2828]

WOWSERS I Need that Bird of Prey Immediately!!! It looks phenomenal great job!! 👍

[@ShipTechnician]

Thank you! Here is the build video if you’re interested: m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJ7CiaiFjMmIh6c

[@jaydentaayl6708]

As always nice work and ive seen it the kom'rk and its beautifull!! i made a aka'jor shuttle of my own and a m3-a scyk fighter too ,using some merge technic it was a difficult but i think i nailed it

[@jeremiahpuckett4259]

Super helpful, thanks!

[@terrymckerral4104]

Amazing and so helpful

[@henrycarlson7514]

So wise , Thank You . Now to actually build something interesting

[@raphael2407]

I love building ships and this video is a true goldmine.

[@MrMightyZ]

Excellent work👍👍

[@ginmo3]

Thank you for this video and your hard work. Appreciate it very much.

[@kevinperkins4843]

I wish I had this video when I was level 1! Dude, where were you 6 months ago?!!! LOL! Fantastic as always ST...keep building!

[@KenBauer]

Excellent content as always.

[@pietpompies7381]

Wow, those ships in the intro are awesome

[@ronaldcobb1633]

Excellent as always! There is just no need for coloring inside the lines in ship building.

[@yesteryearr]

Can you do a more general video, rather than talking about where to train skills, what parts to buy specifically, etc? I just don't understand the aspects of what makes a good ship and what should be taken into consideration. Weight? Speed? I'm sure you could make an awesome 10 min guide. This just feels a little too much for me. I think it would help the channel too. Thanks! Subbed

[@jollyruthless8219]

WOW this is the video I needed!

[@orhanmehmedov4588]

tnx and super vid :)

[@aaronlow6322]

Hey ShipTechnician, sorry if I missed this in the video or any of your others, but there's one thing I'm confused with about turrets. When multiple turrets of the same weapon assignment face different directions, and therefore only some fire at one time, does it cost the same magazine capacity as if all of them expended ammunition? I've been unsure of whether I need to put all turrets of a type on the same side of my ship, or if I can mix them without wasting ammo.

[@emperorcoc38]

Very, very good, detailed and usefull upgrade guide, as all of your videos. I just miss the Information, where you found this awesome island for your landing pad...

[@Dark_Mishra]

The problem I find with everyone recommending farming the Piloting Simulator causes at least two major issues: You’re racking up the ship kills, but get very little XP and nothing else - only ~90 XP And that’s IF you manage to complete the entire simulation. That’s so little XP even at lower character levels you’d have to repeat the simulation several dozens of times to level up just to earn another point to reach Rank 2 and 3. On top of that, you don’t earn very much credits, quest rewards or resources afterwards, nor are you getting any actual flying/fighting experience with different variety of weapons or ships - especially if players are hack the computer and then only letting the allies help win the simulation for them. It’s far better to just fly out to random(preferably low level) planets looking for enemies to dogfight - even if you do die, the game (usually) resets you to right before the fight started anyway, giving you the chance to either try again or flee. This way you can earn far more XP, resources, and possibly even take over the enemy ship to claim as your own.

[@shenotski]

It’s about getting the requirements finished asap. Crafting with outposts gets you levels and money, it’s a stupid design overall if you want to pilot you’re best off going for outposts which means you’ll end up around 20-24 before you can have fun with ship building focusing only on that

[@jkleczewski]

Great Video! Checking to see if you made a USS Enterprise build video.

[@ShipTechnician]

Sure thing: kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJ7CiaiFjMmIh6c Thanks!

[@jkleczewski]

@@ShipTechnician Built it today! Thanks for all you do!

[@r4plez]

0:10 need this ship schemtatics! :D

[@ShipTechnician]

Pelican? Here you go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/apuriX9taKtgfLM

[@r4plez]

@@ShipTechnician and here i was looking in your wideos for it - thanks my savior! ;)

[@iMPAK540]

Very informative vid... thanks! But I would ike to know where you got your spacesuit & helmet...

[@falconnm]

I always think these are crazy videos. Focusing on A, B and C classes and min-maxed performance but looking for level 1 parts. No level 1 has either the skills or the cash to do the upgrades discussed. It would be like your father gave you a $10,000 used Honda Civic and somebody was telling you that if you took it to the Maserati and Rolls-Royce dealer to swap out all the parts it would be a better car. An average seems to be that players have approximately $7k per level, so useful advice would be if I have $7,000 to upgrade my frontier where would I put it. Similarly if I'm level eight where would I put 56,000 credits... 🤷

[@jakedavies990]

Finally, a realistic comment I'm just gonna put it out there. That most people that play starfield played on pc and they give themselves mods to like, give them for the money or Modit. So they can build these massive overpowered. Ships cause there is a limit to how many weapons you can have on a ship in the first place

[@Iceman_V4LOR]

I remember clearing tier 6 at level 15 without debugging or a bunch of perk upgrades 1st try.

[@ShipTechnician]

Expect nothing less from Iceman

[@Trifler500]

Great video! What about better Class A Reactors?

[@user-gd7rn9ie9f]

Love you videos, thx so much for sharing your knowledge! Any chance I can convince you to do a Ranger Eagle upgrade video? I love the ship, but I'm still unsure of how best to customize it... Thx again for the videos!

[@ShipTechnician]

Thank you so much! And here is that Star Eagle video: m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/oZ2Ti5Keib97n9E

[@Murze1]

Love your videos, the new update has brought me back to Starfield and I'm enjoying your ship content, it's the best I've seen. After watching all of your videos, I did have one question, there is this rumor I've been hearing about mobility with regards to ship class, that independent of your thrust/maneuvering thrust stats, that ships are less mobile as you go up with A being the most and C being the worst, is that true? In my limited testing it doesn't seem like that's true but wanted to know if you've heard of that or tested it out?

[@ShipTechnician]

Great question! In my testing, engine class alone does not impact mobility (or your ship’s rotation speed). Mobility does appear to be impacted by Maneuvering Thrust and your ship’s total Mass. Class C engines, generally speaking, have more Maneuvering Thrust, but otherwise the engine class itself does not appear to have an impact based on my tests.

[@Murze1]

Thanks!

[@PatJWilliams]

With large ships with low mobility high cargo I make use of turrets and positioning them all around the ship.

[@Zerashadow]

When it comes to shield, i find that power level is kinda important as well, since you need to put max power in shield to get 100% Maybe you talk about this later, only watched 10 min, but Particle Weapons have a better range than Laser and Ballistic generally.

[@karikimari]

Have you done a ship build yet that would work as your home and base of operations and at the same time work as a cargo ship and be a unit of ship that no one dares to challenge. It would have all the cargo space for carrying that loot and materials for upgrading. The maximum that the ship builder lets us do.

[@TazGaming141]

Think you could build the olympus mons from infinite warfare?

[@ProphetOfBattle]

Please make a tutorial for the destroyer @ 0:16

[@meleecritical]

Bird of Prey looks dope. Starfield is the shit. Fite me

[@ShipTechnician]

No argument here

[@marylinbradford8603]

This a mocking comment or anything rude, just what i like have found. Is that the laser turret class B but it has to be the greenish looking one it is a rezza,I think that's the spelling it is the double stacked one and I am pretty sure the auto turrets, can have three and really performs excellent also fast fire rate. Thanks for the great video on all this information. Godspeed

[@channelofmojos2779]

Sam's top speed bonus can be matched by one other crew member, But not the extra point in engines. Barret Can't be matched by any other crew member for particle weapon damage, next up is 5%.Prioritize as you wish with this information.

[@yazmeliayzol624]

Fyi, beneath the flight simulator pod on the right is a bench/trolley/cart that has a passcard on it... its not stealing either...

[@samz9121]

Long Night Of Solace. Is there a build guide or video coming?

[@ShipTechnician]

Thanks for asking! Hopefully I can pull one together for you!

[@ulyaoth3579]

I'd love to see people post vids one Extreme mode fighting 3 or 4 level 72 Starborn. I can take about 3 with my fighter build. I usually have to kite them 1 by 1. I see alot of people talking about the Vanguard weapons. They are powerful. No argument there. But they are too short range for dealing with certain enemies. However I think there is an Argument to be made with a Particle Turret/ Ballistic manual shot build. I'll need to build another ship and do some more testing. But Extreme is is challenging.

[@robwagnon6578]

I'm coming back to starfield It's a great game it is a few bugs and I think the level perks should be overhauled there are some good ones but it's only like 35% good ones.

[@dmlaughlin1]

Adding on, I'm sure by now you have seen most recent update? Your thoughts?

[@ShipTechnician]

Thanks for asking! The latest update has me excited. More for the continued support it represents, and will continue to bring. The new gameplay/features available on Creations aren’t space-shattering just yet, so don’t expect a new video post from me as I don’t believe there is any additional commentary needed. I also want more content surrounding ship building, but don’t believe there is much regarding that…yet. There is a mod that unlocks all ship parts at your outpost landing pad, which you may find useful :) And I do plan to use some of the new material in an upcoming video… ;) EDIT: And get your achievements completed now, because more mods are added every day

[@Xsanders10]

Isn't "Grav Jump Thrust" affect on how many cargo capasity you can aford?

[@ShipTechnician]

It is true that your ship’s jump range is negatively impacted by your overall mass. There is a formula to calculate it, but I find it’s far easier to simply scroll through the available grav drives and simply choose one that provides you with enough jump range. If you still cannot get to your desired jump range from the available grav drives, only then would I consider cutting cargo/mass.

[@MikeJones-wq7pg]

Was that a Borg Cube?

[@seano4977]

So im just starting out in this game. From level 1-10 there seems a lot of stuff to equip. Is it easy to earn the amount of money needed to buy these parts?

[@jakedavies990]

I'm sorry to say, but this game's a bit of a grind unless you're willing to put the time in it. If you re on pc, then mod your game to give you money. If not story missions give you your around 20 grand there is one mission where you at the end of it. You get two hundred and fifty thousand

[@amx9122]

Which ship is this one at 54:23 ? Looks sick and powerful

[@ShipTechnician]

…the Mantis… kzbin.info/www/bejne/qnPFgpyai6doqdE

[@amx9122]

@@ShipTechnician nice thank you, I’ll try to build it. 🫡

[@caiooca5793]

How tha fugg did you made the lip animations?

[@LBurhenn]

How am I supposed to capture ships with auto weapons blowing them apart?

[@ShipTechnician]

You’re not :) but yes, if you enjoy EM weapons and boarding ships, please use those. I will often use the Nullifier 1750’s as I believe they provide the best EM damage if you fully equip them.

[@peterd9698]

SPACESHIP!!!

[@yazmeliayzol624]

In the 10-20 after the new reactor remember to add the two other engines...

[@ShipTechnician]

Good catch, and depending on your overall mass you may not need those two additional engines. This is discussed around the 37:34 mark, that if you can get away with maximum engine performance with less engines it can be advantageous to do so, because you can use reactor power elsewhere without losing engine performance. Your overall mass does have to be low, but it can be done. I have a separate video where I try to min/max that with the White Dwarf 3015's: kzbin.info/www/bejne/poHComWbetJ3r5Y

[@aflyingmodem]

in a recent update i guess it looks like the nerfed the vanguard obliterator auto projectors they don't do 20 to shield or health its 11 now

[@ShipTechnician]

hmmm, is your particle beam skill maxed?

[@karikimari]

i dont know how you get 29 jump range with that alpha r-2000 grav drive, i only get 20.

[@ShipTechnician]

What is the mass of your ship?

[@karikimari]

@@ShipTechnician i was following your guide, it was around 600. i removed the grav drive and put it back and it fixed itself

[@jaydentaayl6708]

Is There a way to Share our builds with you ?

[@ShipTechnician]

I believe if you go to my channel homepage, and select ‘About,’ you should be able to find a way to message me. I also meant to respond to you earlier - I revisited the kom’rk I included in this video, based on your comment, and am hoping to share that soon. I’m also hoping if you are able to share your builds with me that you’ll include your build of it!

[@jaydentaayl6708]

So it seem i cant send you messages or Share with you my build from your homepage i might just put some photo on the starfield community feed and let you know where to find them (update i manage to send you a first look at my builds on your @ )

[@ShipTechnician]

One last try: you should be able to find an address within the ‘more about this channel’ from my Channel homepage. Not sure if that appears for everyone or not, but would love to see your ships!!

[@jaydentaayl6708]

@@ShipTechnician look at you adresse ive send you an e-mail

[@samdeoliveira6272]

How do you make enough funds in the game to build these $500K ships and to have like 10 of them? Outpost grinding or something else?

[@ShipTechnician]

Good question. At this point, outpost grinding can make a lot of money, and XP. I also have no issues turning on Greatly Increased for Vendor Credits in the settings and selling all of the unused garbage I have lying around, unused. My honest confession: I stole about 5 million in credits/ships/items from various vendors before they patched the vendor-chest bugs, and just go back to old saves where I have a lot of credits to try out new builds until I find something I like and want to build it in a different save :)

[@samdeoliveira6272]

@@ShipTechnician oh okay I saw some of your “my credits” close to 1 mil. I thought “ man this guy spends A LOT of time in this game to get that (outpost grinding or whatever other money making thing PLUS all this time ship building.) thank you for your content and response!

[@jessecollin4486]

65,000 credit bonus don’t forget the key to hack the ship computer and 3x damage and shilrs