It only takes a few minutes of playing Starfield before you’re sitting in the pilot seat of your very own starship, The Frontier. As exciting as it is to have your very own ship to travel the stars with, being the default ship means that there’s far more potential in future ships. While you could get creative and design your own ship from scratch, there are a ton of ships in the game you can either purchase for Credits or earn as rewards for completing specific quests. Since not everyone is going to take to the ship-building system, these pre-built ships are extremely useful upgrades over your basic Frontier, but tracking down and figuring out which ones are the best is a tall order. Here are the best ships you can buy or earn in Starfield and how to get them.
Renegade III
If you want a ship that can withstand plenty of abuse for either heavy combat or surviving raids, the Renegade III is about as good as it gets. This ship’s primary draw will no doubt be its cargo capacity, which is among the best we’ve found in the game at 4,367. This makes it a perfect choice for all you space-truckers, or outpost builders who never want to run out of materials while on the go. It has a hull capacity of 1,488 and can 500 fuel, but isn’t meant for much fighting due to lacking any missiles. You can buy this ship on Neon for 450,000 Credits.
Shieldbreaker
We’ll give you one guess as to what the Shieldbreaker is built to do. That’s right, this ship is a killer for enemy shields, with 24 laser-, 28 ballistic-, and 58 missile-damage, plus a 610 shield rating itself. Its hull is decent at 940, but you can’t carry much with only 2,280 cargo capacity. If you get enough money, this is a great all-around upgrade from your starting ship with an edge in combat. You can buy it for 250,000 Credits on New Atlantis.
Starborn Guardian
This is an end-game ship that you’re automatically given if you are patient enough. This ship is an attack ship, pure and simple thanks to powerful torpedoes. That said, this is a small ship without much else to offer except speed and firepower. You have alright shields at 630, but your hull maxes out at 649 so you need to avoid damage as much as you can. Don’t bother trying to carry anything but the essentials on the Starborn Guardian, which only has 950 cargo capacity. You will automatically gain access to this ship once you start New Game +.
Vanquisher III
This is a behemoth of a ship and essentially the 18-wheeler of spacecraft in Starfield. It is similar to the Renegade III, but a bit improved in a few key areas. Its cargo capacity and hull stars are about equal at 4,128 and 1,392 respectively, but the Vanquisher III doesn’t lose out on the ability to use missiles. Another downside is that this ship costs even more than the Renegade at 490,000 from the New Atlantis shop.
Star Eagle
If you can look past the cliche name, the Star Eagle is actually a very competent ship if you’re interested in doing space piracy. The big feature is the inclusion of a magnet you can use to disable the systems of enemy ships to make boarding and raiding far easier. If push comes to shove, it can hold its own in a fight with very powerful missiles, 912 shields, and 948 hull health. It can hold 2,200 cargo, which is good enough for a few quick raids before needing to unload. What’s even better is that you can get this ship for free by joining the Freestar Rangers and going through their faction missions.
Crimson Fleet Wight III
If you’re looking for more of a battleship in space-type ship, the Crimson Fleet Wight III has your name on it. This ship is close to unkillable thanks to 2,104 shields and 1,516 hull health, plus decent lasers and ballistics backing up incredibly strong missiles. Cargo capacity isn’t all that great at 957, and this thing isn’t meant to turn on a dime, but when you’ve got that much firepower, you just need to line up your shots and tank whatever comes at you. As the name suggests, this is a Crimson Fleet ship, but not one they’ll give away for free. You do have to join their faction and make it to The Key, where you can buy it for 300,000 Credits.
Razorleaf
If you just want something you can get quickly and easily after getting bored with The Frontier, the Razorleaf is a nice upgrade you can get early in your adventure. This is an especially good pick if you intend to try your hand at smuggling since it comes with space you can hide cargo from scanners. That said, you won’t be smuggling a ton at once with 510 cargo capacity, and it can’t take on big fights with low shield and hull health, but it is still a step up from what you start with and can be picked up for free. If you want to grab yourself a Razorleaf, you need to complete a quest called Mantis which you get by finding the Secret Outpost data pad. Unfortunately, this drop is a bit random and there’s no way to guarantee you will find it, but it will be on the body of a Spacer enemy. Just make sure you at least check all the bodies of Spacers to see if they have it and can start the quest.
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