Starfield ship classes, explained

Players can attach different modules depending on their ship’s reactor. So, if you’ve been poring over your skills or finding yourself outmatched in Starfield’s ship combat, you may wonder which Ship Class could up your game this time. There are many aspects of Starfield that the game either doesn’t touch on at all or does a pretty terrible job explaining and ship classes are one of them.

As it happens, Ship Class is pretty simple to wrap your head around and even easier to upgrade if you know how.

What does Ship Class mean in Starfield?

To put it as simply as possible, your Ship Class in Starfield is determined by your Reactor. Allow me to explain: most modules in Starfield with stats attached, like weapons or shield generators, fall under one of three classes—either A, B, or C. A ship’s reactor class determines the type of modules it can attach, making it the most crucial part of any build. For instance, a ship equipped with a Class B reactor can attach Class A and Class B modules but not Class C.

If you’re unsure which class your ship falls under, you can check it at any time through your ship menu, which is accessed through the main radial menu. All of your stats will displayed to the left, as shown above, including your reactor’s class.

How to upgrade your ship’s reactor

Somewhat counterintuitively, A is the worst class, and C is the best, but upgrading is as easy as finding a Ship Services technician and swapping out your reactor.

Additionally, it’s important to note that to customize your ship with other modules, as well as experimental ones later, players will need to level up their Starship Design skill. The Starship design skill is required in order to install parts of modules of certain classes.

How to unlock Class B and C Ships in Starfield

There is, however, one caveat: you won’t be able to graduate to class B and C reactors until you’ve leveled up your Piloting skill, specifically to ranks 3 and 4. If you want to take the helm of the best ships in the galaxy, you’ll first need to blast many enemies into space dust—I’ve found that the UC Vanguard questline is the best way to get into manageable space battles reliably and find enemy ships to fight.

Class C ships have access to some truly powerful modules, so you should try to grab or upgrade one as soon as possible… even if you have to cheese things a little. Get out there and assemble your dream starfighter to carve your way through the galaxy—your enemies certainly are.