So, you want to be a space pirate, do you? Well, then you’ve come to the right place. Starfield will, indeed, let you live out your wildest dreams of interstellar piracy. But being pirate is all about the art of the plunder. Loot and cold, hard credits are the name of the game. Just know that your aggression will be met with aggression throughout the known galaxy.
Just like classic pirates out on the high seas who aim to overtake passing vessels, you’ll want to capture all the loot aboard the ships of others. The game presents multiple opportunities for this to happen. Most times, you can pirate other pirates without tangling with ordinary folks or government types like the United Colonies.
Watch for ship landings planet side
When exploring the new frontiers available to you via countless planets and so very many solar systems, you might come across other travelers. Usually, however ships that land planet side are a crew of ruffians just waiting to be punished. As you see a ship descend from the skies, head toward its known position and take out the crew. If you kill all of the crew, you should be able to gain the access necessary to go aboard their ship and loot it for goods.
Disable a ship in a dogfight and board it
Imagine the pirates of old blasting at another ship’s sails on the open ocean before pulling up alongside the ship and boarding it, killing the entire crew, and taking their valuables. Well, you can do that exact thing but in space. When fighting hostiles in space, you can aim for their proverbial sails which are the engines to their spacecraft in this case.
To aim at the engines of a ship in order to disable it and make it available to board, you must wait until your ship locks on to the target when hovering your reticle over it. Then enter lock-on mode and select the engines of the ship to fire at. Once the engines are knocked out, they’re dead in the water. Get close and board them. Then proceed to kill the entire crew as you loot their goods.
Pirate merchant ships
Out in the cold recesses of space, there are merchants looking to sell you goods believe it or not. Ships that pass you by may reach out to you over comms and ask if you’re interested in their wares. Of course, you can select a piracy option that issues a threat to said ship. You then must disable it as mentioned above and board it to collect all of this entrepreneur’s products. It’s a cold move that might earn you negative reactions from your companions as well as bounties or warrants for your arrest. But piracy is never a game for the law-abiding citizens, now is it?
