Starfield is a game where you must make credits or you'll be flying the same piece of crap ship over and over again and feel like an eternal pleb. Furthermore, without it, you can't buy better gear than the one you're currently having.
That's why it's important to know how to make gold in Starfield - we're gonna talk about the best methods of making money in this goofy game. Let's go!
10. Commerce
Sell random crap 24/7
Commerce is a skill that you can choose to have, which allows you to purchase and sell weapons, suits, resources, and many other items for a better price.
Selling single items might not seem like a big deal but if you scavenge multiple planets, outposts, and other locations, you're gonna make massive profits just by mass selling your stuff.
How it works:
Simply put a skill point into Commerce. You can rank it up, up until rank IV, which will give you 20% discounts and the ability to sell for 25% more.
Check the video for more information:
https://youtu.be/F44764XVJro?si=xPa9QrUIpZRFfTq3
9. Quests
The common sense method.
This is probably not the best method that you want to hear but many main quests or side quests offer plenty of credits, you can also get rare items that you can sell for plenty of money as well.
For example, finishing the Crimson Fleet quest line gets you 250,000 credits - that’s a lot, especially if you’re a newer player. (100,000 credits is enough to build a respectable ship).
How it works:
Simply volunteer for quests, especially the main questlines that benefit you with credits, as well as expensive weaponry.
Check this video for more information:
https://youtu.be/nAuH66Xgt68?t=404
8. Boarding ships/stealing them
Fun but not as rewarding.
Starfield lets you destroy enemy ships but that’s not always necessary if you’re desperate for some credits - you can attack their engines WITHOUT destroying the ship, which will leave the target in a stationary position. After that, you can dock on the ship.
After everyone is killed, you have to register the stolen vessel, unfortunately, ships that cost 100,000 will cost around 15,000-20,000 credits and the registration fee will be around 85% of the ship’s price, which will only leave you with a few thousand credits.
How it works:
- Find a ship to attack
- Focus only on the engines
- Disable them
- Dock the ship
- Kill everyone
- Register the ship
- Sell it
Check this video for more information:
https://youtu.be/V-80hdpULJ0?t=89
7. Looting
Pick everything!
This seems obvious but many players, especially the newer ones, don't pick up light stuff - you can accumulate it and sell it for plenty of credits, even if it doesn't seem like a lot.
It's important to understand whether the weight and price of an item make it worth it to pick it up.
How it works:
Try out some planets, loot outposts, crates and find resources
Check this video for more information:
https://youtu.be/Xe6WZZC0L3o?si=qOUHmP1ACxD-A5-3
6. Digipicks/Lockpicking
Even in the distant future thievery won't stop :)
Lockpicking requires you to have digipicks, which enable you to break into locked containers with goodies inside. Starfield is a very bizarre game sometimes and lockpicking a high-level lock got me ended up with… 7 credits.
Of course, that's a rarity or just a bugged game. You can get some extremely expensive items from safes, crates, and other containers. It just depends on the difficulty of the lock.
How it works:
Each lock has layers of security. You are supposed to fill in the missing gaps(like in the picture). After doing that successfully, your lock should open.
Check this video for more information:
https://youtu.be/UsAjDKrT5DU?si=pRBDyOPqZY9z-b9-
5. Stolen items
Don't get caught.
The thing about stealing stuff is that you won't be able to sell it to most vendors. The reason for that is that your items are red-tagged and vendors tend to be sensitive about this topic
But you can bypass this by selling the stolen goods to The Trade Authority. They don’t mind, plus buying back stuff from them removes the red tag!
How it works:
- Steal stuff from shops
- Go to the TTA vendors
- ???
- Profit
Check this video for more information:
https://youtu.be/1WDQmbxGZdo?si=5JC_FRihcvDX_CgJ
4. Pickpocketing
Just like in Skyrim!
It is pretty self-explanatory, you sneak up behind someone, pick up their stuff, and get your head kicked in. Or maybe get away with their things. It depends on your theft skill, which improves as you continue to steal crap from people.
Keep in mind that you'll have a red tag on these items - go back to the previous subhead to find out how to sell stolen goods.
How it works:
- Skill up Theft
- Sneak up behind someone
- Steal their crap
- Die or succeed
Check this video for more information:
https://youtu.be/fzDGK138bak?si=yYDyH9CE6buoxmPx
3. Resource Farming
Some find it fun!
Each planet has different resources that you can sell for some credits. They vary in rarity, as well as value - the most common resource is iron, while other resources, like Tungsten, are a lot more rarer.
You can mine resources by yourself or extractors - these machines let you farm resources passively, without having to do it yourself. Of course, before that, you need to set yourself an outpost.
How it works:
- Find a planet that you want to settle an outpost on
- Build extractors
- Let them farm resources passively
- Sell the resources to a random vendor
You can find the rarity/value of resources here:
https://starfieldwiki.net/wiki/Starfield:Resources
Check this video for more information:
https://youtu.be/FfeLgCBNDqU?t=275
2. Bounty Hunting
Killing people for the mullah!
My most fun way of making money was hunting bounties and getting credits for their deaths. This could be done by destroying enemy ships or just seeking out individual targets on outposts or other locations. My favorite way of dealing with bounties is by sneaking - get in, kill the guy, get out, not give a sh1t.
How it works:
- Find a mission terminal
- Accept a bounty mission(there are many different types of missions)
- Find the target
- Kill him
- ???
- Profit!
Check this video for more information:
https://youtu.be/5YTX38Bka2A?t=30
1. Console commands
Well…
As much as I hate to include such a method, there is simply no better way of making credits in Starfield. If you’re one of those players who doesn’t care about making credits the legitimate way or you just started a new playthrough and don’t wanna bother with the grind, I believe this is the best method of making money in Starfield.
Warning:
Don’t use this method if you feel guilty for making money with 0 effort.
How it works:
- Press the “`” button(the key below ESC)
- type player.additem 0000000f (amount of credits)
- This should give you the desirable amount of credits
Check this video for more information:
https://youtu.be/QHLb2RBtG0c?t=4
