Ready to become a space pirate in Starfield? Master the art of disabling enemy engines, boarding hostile ships, and claiming them as your own in this ultimate guide to ship theft on PC and Xbox. From sneaky tactics to securing your new starship in your fleet, learn how to steal and keep the best vessels the galaxy has to offer-without breaking the bank or getting caught.
Our Starfield guide will teach you how to board a ship, how to steal a ship, and everything else you need to know about disabling an enemy ship’s engines, docking, and claiming a ship for your own.
Piracy isn’t the same as stealing a ship in Starfield
Piracy in Starfield is distinct from outright stealing a ship. When you engage in piracy using the Deception skill, it primarily involves demanding and taking a ship’s cargo rather than the vessel itself. Stealing a ship requires disabling its engines, boarding, clearing the crew, and then taking control of the ship, which is a more involved process. Additionally, piracy dialogue options focus on looting cargo, while stealing a ship means you must register it to use or sell it, which incurs significant costs and affects profitability. Thus, piracy is about cargo theft, whereas stealing a ship is about commandeering the entire vessel for your own use.
Before we get started, let’s define something – piracy isn’t the same as stealing (both in real life and in Starfield). With the Deception skill from the Social tree, you’ll get the [Piracy] dialogue option when you hail a ship. The piracy in question only refers to stealing that ship’s cargo. You won’t actually get the option to steal the entire ship (or even to dock with it).
That part involves a lot more shooting.
How to take over an enemy ship in Starfield
To take over an enemy ship in Starfield, first unlock the Targeting Control Systems skill to target specific ship parts. During combat, disable the enemy ship’s shields and then its engines without destroying the hull. Once the engines are down and all other enemy ships are eliminated, approach the disabled ship and dock with it. Board the vessel by holding the appropriate button, then eliminate all hostile crew members inside. After clearing the ship, sit in the pilot’s seat to claim it; note that higher-class ships require a corresponding Piloting skill level to operate. You can then use the captured ship as your own and even register it at a spaceport to add it permanently to your fleet.
To steal an enemy ship, you’ll need at least one rank of the Targeting Control Systems (Tech) skill. This lets you directly target an enemy ship’s individual systems (like weapons, shields, engines, or the grav drive).
When you’re fighting an enemy ship – basically any ship whose marker is red on your HUD, which either means they started out aggressive, or you’ve (accidentally) shot them – and want to steal it for yourself, you’ll first need to take out its engines. Once your weapons have a solid lock, hit the X button, use the left stick to highlight the ENG option and fire away. Ideally, you’ll do this relatively early in the fight – damaging the engines also damages the hull, so if you reduce the hull to zero, the ship will explode.
Once the engines are disabled, you’ll get the option to dock with the enemy ship. Onboard, you’ll have to kill any enemy crew. When they’re all cleared out, you can sit in the pilot’s seat to claim the ship. Just know that a stolen ship is considered contraband, so you’ll have to register it before heading to any of the patrolled planets.
From there, once you plot a grav jump, land, or otherwise select a fast travel destination, that ship will become your Home Ship.
There’s also not a lot you can do with a stolen ship until you register it – after that, you can modify it, rename it, or even sell it.
Can you sell stolen ships?
In Starfield, you can sell stolen ships, but not without a significant process and cost. After stealing a ship-usually by disabling its engines, boarding, and taking control-you must first register the ship at a spacedock with a Ship Services Technician. This registration comes with a hefty fee, often around 90% of the ship’s value, which reduces your potential profit. Once registered, you can sell the ship for the remaining value, making a modest gain if the ship is valuable enough. However, selling stolen ships is generally not a reliable way to make money due to these high registration costs. If the ship is rightfully yours, such as one obtained through quests or peaceful reclamation, you can sell it for full profit without registration fees.
Before you go jetting off (gravving off?) in your new ship, you’ve got a problem to deal with. The entire ship is considered contraband. It doesn’t matter what the cargo hold, er, holds; it’s the ship itself that will trigger the scanners in space controlled by the UC or Freestar Collective factions.
That means you can’t land at any of the game’s big cities or settlements – or even enter their orbit.
You have a few options here. The best place we’ve found to get around this problem is to dock at The Den in the Wolf system. You could also head to the shady Red Mile on Porrima III. If you have an outpost outside of patrolled space with a Landing Pad with Ship Builder, you can take care of it there. All three of those options will let you avoid anyone noticing your stolen ride.
What does ’You are not authorized to pilot this ship’ mean?
The message “You are not authorized to pilot this ship” in Starfield means that your character’s Piloting skill level is not high enough to operate that particular class of ship. Ships in the game are divided into three classes-A, B, and C-with Class C being the highest and requiring the most advanced Piloting skill. At the start, players can only pilot Class A ships, and to fly better ships, they must level up their Piloting skill by destroying enemy ships and progressing through skill ranks. Additionally, players must have cleared all crew members from a ship and sometimes complete certain story missions to gain full authorization to pilot it. If these conditions aren’t met, the game will display this message to indicate that the ship is beyond the player’s current piloting capability or ownership status.
There are two reasons you might see this error when you try to sit in a stolen ship’s pilot’s seat:
- First, it might just be someone else’s ship. You can’t just stroll in and take a ship without a fight (see above). If this is a ship you’re currently stealing, there might be more crew members somewhere on board.
- Second, it might have to do with your Piloting (Tech) skill and the ship’s (reactor) class. You can’t pilot class B ships until you hit rank 3 in Piloting, and for class C ships, you’ll have to wait for rank 4.
Want to learn the secret technique to quickly steal ships in Starfield
To quickly steal ships in Starfield, first invest in the Targeting Control Systems skill to unlock ship targeting. When you find a ship you want, use your ship’s targeting mode to break its shields and then disable its engines without destroying the vessel. Once the engines are down, fly close enough to dock, then board the ship. Clear out any hostile crew inside, take the pilot seat, and claim the ship as your own. Make sure your piloting skill is high enough to operate the ship class you want to steal. This method allows for fast, efficient ship theft without unnecessary destruction, letting you expand your fleet quickly and with minimal risk.
What is the most effective way to manipulate ship spawns in Starfield
The most effective way to manipulate ship spawns in Starfield involves a combination of strategic planet hopping, save/load tactics, and using specific landing pads or outposts to control spawn points. Key steps include:
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Travel between different parts of a planet quickly, spending only a few seconds at each location. If no ship spawns, move to another spot or even switch to a different planet or star system to trigger new ship spawn events.
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Use quick saves and reloads to cycle through the ship spawn pool at a given location. Reloading the same save multiple times can cause different ships to appear, allowing you to manipulate which ship spawns.
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Establish outposts or use landing pads where ships commonly spawn to lock in spawn locations. Ships will respawn at these locations after you leave and return, enabling repeated farming of ships.
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Changing your home ship or selling unregistered ships can also reset spawn points, preventing ships from sticking to the same landing pad and allowing fresh spawns to appear.
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Target high-level hostile systems or planets to increase the chances of spawning Class B and Class C ships, which are more valuable and powerful.
By combining these methods-planet hopping, save/load manipulation, using outposts or landing pads, and managing your home ship-you can efficiently farm and steal high-quality ships repeatedly in Starfield.
