How to target engines and board enemy ships in Starfield - Ship Combat Guide

One of the main mechanics of Starfield is Ship Combat. Throughout your gameplay, you will find yourself in a multitude of situations where you'll have to face other ships. Therefore, it's important to know the most common tips to win in all your battles.

Probably the best strategy to win in Starfield battles involves targeting and destroying the engines of enemy ships. This way, the rival's ship will be stranded, making it easier to either destroy or board.

Follow these steps to target engines in Starfield.

• Go to the "Tech Skill Tree" and unlock Targeting Control Systems".


• Get close enough to the ship you want to target.


• Lock onto the ship by aiming at it and pressing "A" on console or the "E" key if you're on PC.


• Once the enemy ship is locked, press "X" if you're on console or the "R" key if you're on PC. This will open a menu where you can choose which part of the enemy ship you want to disable.


• If you select the engines, the ship won't be able to move and will be neutralized, allowing for boarding.

In this simple way, you can target the engines in Starfield. Keep in mind that by following this method, you can also disable other parts or functions of the enemy ship, such as the weapons, effectively preventing its ability to fire.

Be careful, even if you have disabled the engines, the enemy ship will still have its weapons operational.

There are several options to obtain loot from other ships. You can either destroy them completely and loot the shipwreck, or disable their engines and board them.

Follow these steps to loot a shipwreck in Starfield:

• Approach the shipwreck closely (less than 500m).


• Center the cursor on the loot icon.


• Press the "E" key on PC to open the loot menu. You can select specific items by pressing "E" or all items by pressing the "R" key.

However, keep in mind that destroying the enemy ship will result in the loss of some loot, so it's always a better option to board it.

Boarding a ship in Starfield lets you loot any valuable items inside and take control of the ship, making it your own.

Once you've disabled its engines, approach the enemy ship and select the "Dock" option. After dealing with the crew, you can take a seat in the pilot's chair and claim it as your own.

Once you've claimed the ship, keep in mind that it now becomes contraband. As a result, you won't be able to approach any planets or major cities, as you could be captured.

To unlock all the features of your new ship, you first need to register it. To do so, go to Ship Services, navigate to the tab where your ships are listed, and select the "Register" option. Registering a stolen ship requires a substantial amount of credits. Once registered, you can modify, travel with, or sell it without any issues.

If you see the message "You are not authorized to pilot this ship," it means that you don't have sufficient piloting skills to operate that particular spacecraft. There are three types of ships: A, B, and C. When you start playing, you can only pilot type A ships. To pilot type B and C ships, you'll need to destroy a large number of enemy ships.