In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know for how to board enemy ships while playing Starfield.
You start off with only one ship: the Frontier. While it may not be a wreck, it isn’t nearly as high-quality as other ships available to you in the game. You can either buy ships, build ships, or steal someone’s ship.
How to Board Ships in Starfield
You need to invest in a skill in the Tech tree called Targeting Control Systems. This allows you to unlock ship targeting functionality and various upgrades that will help you lock on faster.
Once you unlock Targeting Control Systems, you can begin to take down enemy ship engines.
After you see the enemy’s ship engine indicators turn red, you can approach the ship and board it. Get close enough, then press the corresponding button to Dock, and watch a short cutscene. Once ships are latched, the game will give you an option to board (select the Board option).
Note: you can only board a ship after destroying all other enemies in the area. This means you have to pick a single ship you want to board between what can sometimes be many other attractive options.
You can pilot most ships you board, but some demand you invest in licenses. Simply rank up a skill in the Tech tree called Piloting to level 3 or 4. Then take the stolen vessel to any major city, landing in the dock. Speak to a nearby technician and register the new ship for a fee.
Starfield is an action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and initially released worldwide in 2023 for PC and Xbox Series X|S.