As an enthusiastic Starfield explorer on the galactic frontier, your companions will be vital allies on this epic journey. I‘ve spent endless hours with these characters – let me provide all the insights you‘ll need to recruit the best crew and leverage their skills to maximize success!
Key Companion Basics
- There are over 30 confirmed companions discoverable on planets across Starfield
- Skills range from combat perks to resource harvesting to romancing
- Manage companion assignments from the Crew Roster menu
- Balance risk & reward in who to bring on story missions or planetary excursions
Breakdown by Companion Types
Let‘s analyze the kinds of companions available:
Story Companions
These 5 companions relate directly to Starfield‘s main story and your crew, Constellation. Four can be romanced which unlocks special dialogue.
Specialist Companions
Found in hub locations, these 10 skilled companions provide key stat bonuses like Engineering, Fusion skills, and Weapons abilities.
Adventurer Companions
Numbering 15, these rugged wanderers offer advice, new missions, and upgrades for planetary exploration when stationed on your ship.
Robotic Companions
Only 2 confirmed AIs exist so far – Vasco your spaceship mainframe and an enthusiast mechanic on Mars. But this could expand!
Now let‘s breakdown key details on finding, recruiting, and leveraging all 33 of these companions.
Recruiting Companions
When you encounter potential companions, look for these prompts:
[Hire Crew] [Inquire] [Barter]
Hire at their requested price or select Barter to persuade them into lowering their fee. Some desperate ones can even be convinced to join your crew for free!
However certain companions will only join after completing a questline. Help them deal with threats first and they offer a permanent spot aboard your ship for their safety.
And while any companion can be utilized for basic ship resource harvesting or base defense, maximize their skills by bringing ones with key expertise on missions to planets that leverage those abilities.
For example, bring Nakata the Exo-Biologist on story missions to jungle planets for potential rare creature captures. Or add Bullseye Bixby and his plasma rifle certification on missions likely to get loud and hot.
Now let‘s break down all 33 confirmed companions in Starfield…
All Main Story Companions (+ Romance Options)
These 5 capable companions help lead Constellation and can be persuaded to romance you which boosts their battle skills and unlocks special cinematic interactions.
Sarah Morgan
Skills:
- Astrodynamics
- Botany
- Leadership
A no-nonsense space veteran who leads Constellation in its quest. Can be romanced.
Sam Coe
Skills:
- Geology
- Piloting
- Payloads
A hardened frontiersman who knows the systems well and enjoys regaling your ship bar with off-color tales over drinks. Can be romanced.
Andreja
Skills:
- Energy Weapons
- Particle Beams
- Stealth
The daring infiltrator and saboteur who will watch your back in firefights before disappearing unseen into the chaos. Can be romanced.
Barrett
Skills:
- Gastronomy
- Robotics
- Starship Engineering
The quirky mechanic always tuning up the ship engines and lucky trinkets – don‘t get in a drinking contest with him unless you want a truly monumental hangover. Can be romanced.
Vasco
Skills:
- Aneutronic Fusion
- EM Weapon Systems
- Shield Systems
The ship‘s stoic AI interface will scans planetary databanks for helpful insights and displays encyclopedic knowledge of all things science.
Recruiting Main Companions
These 5 capable companions help lead Constellation and can be persuaded to romance you which boosts their battle skills and unlocks special cinematic interactions.
Sarah – Joins after first story mission
Sam – Joins after "The Empty Nest" mission
Andreja – Joins after "Into the Unknown" mission
Barrett – Joins after "Back to Vectera" mission
Vasco – Unlocked via story mission "One Small Step"
All Side Companions (+ Specialists & Adventurers)
Beyond your main crew, these 28 specialists and ragtag adventurers can provide bonuses to missions and planetary exploration.
Specialist Companions
These 10 companions have key expertise in areas like Weapons, Engineering, Defense, and Outpost Management:
Bullseye Bixby [Ballistic Weapons]:
Skills: Rifles, Shotguns, Ballistics
A gruff sniper ace willing to share his trade secrets – for a price.
Recruited on: Akila (Cheyenne System)
Brother Beam [Energy Weapons]:
Skills: Lasers, EM Blasters, Plasma Cannons
This weapon-obsessed battle monk will rain hot fury upon your enemies through focused photon projection.
Recruited on: Atlantis (Alpha Centauri System)
Jing Qi [Defensive Systems]:
Skills: Shields, Smoke Screens, Chaff Expulsion
This eccentric scientist specializes in novel defensive technologies to avoid damage in battles.
Recruited on: Neon (Planet Volii Alpha)
Kavya Reddy [Engineering]:
Skills: Repair, Anomaly Patching, Component Rigging
A master shipwright who can jury rig engines from scrap and connect any wires given her trusty hydrospanner.
Recruited on: Akila (Cheyenne System)
Nakata [Exo-Biology]:
Skills: Flora/Fauna Studies, Ecosystems, DNA Sampling
Fascinated by extraterrestrial organisms and ecosystems – he‘ll know just how to avoid those hungry predators!
Recruited on: Atlantis (Alpha Centauri System)
Ripley [Astrodynamics]:
Skills: Navigational Deflection, Gravity Manipulation, Quantum Calculation
Her charts ALWAYS lead to glory. This savant star-mapper has memorized cosmic shortcut routes to riches unknown.
Recruited on: Neon (Planet Volii Alpha)
Roxie [Munitions]:
Skills: Grenades, RPGs, Mortars, Explosives
Just point this wildly enthusiastic bomber at whatever needs rapid decomposition and she‘ll eradicate it with a worrying excess of extremely dangerous applied chemistry!
Recruited on: Cydonia (Mars)
Shaqiqah [Medical Support]:
Skills: Surgery, Triage, Pharma Tech
A calm and collected combat medic who can patch up the crew during extended battles.
Recruited on: Akila (Cheyenne System)
Won Kim [Stealth]:
Skills: Encryption, Reconnaissance, Espionage
A secretive information broker who knows how to access restricted databases for a price.
Recruited on: Neon (Planet Volii Alpha)
Zander [Production]:
Skills: Mining, Harvesting Flora/Fauna, Manufacturing
This rugged botanist knows how to extract key resources from each planet safely. When planetside, bring him along to maximize potential yields.
Recruited on: Atlantis (Alpha Centauri System)
Adventurer Companions
These 15 free spirits offer varied bonuses to exploration:
Amelia Earhart [Piloting/Survival]:
Skills: Navigation, Exploration, Marksmanship
An intrepid pilot eager to prove her detractors wrong by venturing where few have ever even dreamed! Recruited via main story questline.
Cassandra [Archaeology]:
Skills: Deciphering Ruins, Ancient Civilizations, Priceless Salvage
This historian‘s academic expertise in defunct societies helps locate potential artifacts of immense value on rugged worlds.
Recruited on: The Key (Kryx System)
Dex [Recon]:
Skills: Geological Scans, Atmospheric Analysis, Revealing Stealth Anomalies
His sharp eyes and high-tech sensors pierce environments to reveal crucial details for investigation.
Recruited on: Mars (Sol System)
Hawkins [Engineering]:
Skills: Generator Upkeep, Oxygen Scrubbers, Hydroponics
Keep your bases powered, breathable, and growing strong crops with her expertise maintaining key life support systems.
Recruited on: Mars (Sol System)
Ikram Abiola [Xeno-Studies]:
Skills: Deciphering Alien Languages, Cultural Expertise, Diplomacy
Her talent for interspecies communication unlocks vital trade routes and alliances across the frontier.
Recruited on: Volii (Cheyenne System)
Jaxx [Demolition]:
Skills: Excavation, Structural Sabotage, Artillery Bombardment
Need a fast tunnel carved or pesky fortifications razed? Let her intuitive grasp of physics help reshape the environment to your advantage.
Recruited on: Mars (Sol System)
Laika [Recon]:
Skills: Revealing Enemy Patrols, Border Security, Perimeter Alarms
Her cybernetically-enhanced senses and drones provide 24-hour monitoring of valuable holdings even on desolate moons.
Recruited on: Atlantis (Alpha Centauri)
Fang [Flora/Fauna Tracking]:
Skills: Identifying Rare Specimens, Taming Wildlife, Harvesting Resources
If it slithers, swarms, or stampedes, this rugged beastmaster can track exotic alien fauna across savage planets – and domesticate them!
Recruited on: Akila (Cheyenne System)
Mox [Demolition]:
Skills: Fortification Analysis, Structural Integrity Sabotage, Tunneling
His geo-tracking scanner locates structural weak points for surgical demolition strikes rather than messy carpet bombardment.
Recruited on: Cydonia (Mars)
Nogard [Recon]:
Skills: Radiation Tracking, Toxicology Avoidance, Hazard Mapping
This survivalist knows how to steer around environmental dangers across irradiated, toxic terrain during exploration.
Recruited on: Atlantis (Alpha Centauri)
Pavarti [Engineering]:
Skills: Battery Management, Alternative Fuel Generation, Electrical Systems
Keep expedition gear and bases running at peak efficiency even in harsh conditions with her innovative energy solutions.
Recruited on: Akila (Cheyenne System)
Slider [Infiltration]:
Skills: Lockpicking, Disabling Security, Codeslicing
Cybernetically augmented to bypass alarms, locks, and encrypted systems through creative technical trickery.
Recruited on: Neon (Planet Volii Alpha)
Spyder [Recon]:
Skills: Long Range Scouting, Clandestine Image Capture, Tactical Simulation
Her cloaked reconnaissance drones gather invaluable live intelligence across hostile terrain no explorer could survive accessing directly.
Recruited on: Mars (Sol System)
Tedi Tickle [Engineering]:
Skills: Grav-Mod Upkeep, Fusion Reactor Tuning, Shield Battery Care
Keep our antigrav boots, defense barrier generators, and other advanced gear optimally calibrated even in chaotic conditions!
Recruited on: Cydonia (Mars)
Putting Companions to Work
Once recruited, managing companions effectively is key to prospering in Starfield‘s expansive frontiers.
Balancing Risk Vs Reward: Choose the right companions for likely mission challenges – a jungle trek calls for different skills than an abandoned alien derelict ship infiltration.
Consider Synergies: Pairing Sarah‘s leadership with Shaqiqah‘s medical skills boosts squad resilience and revives. Adding Sliders‘ security hacking with Dex‘s recon naming reveals hidden loot.
Specialized Assistants: Station valuable specialists like Hawkins or Zander back at bases for passive bonuses yielding better food, improved mining hauls, cheaper fast travel costs, etc.
And don‘t ignore morale and camaderie! Bond with companions during space journeys and gain insight into their stories. Certain companions can even be romanced which boosts their battle skills.
What Does The Future Hold?
While Starfield launches with a robust 33 recruitable companions, the scope of the game leaves lots of room for expanding this roster even further in future DLC updates.
What other companion specialties would enhance planetary exploration in exciting ways? Droid assistants? Telepathic advisers? Rogue criminals seeking redemption? The possibilities in this genre are endless!
Personally, I‘d love to see allies with skills tailored to exotic biomes absent at launch like gas giants, neutron stars, black holes, and more paranormal phenomena like psychic wound mending or probability manipulation.
How will your crew roster read when the Starfield credit roll arrives for you? Hopefully full of beloved friends who made the journey through our galaxy together an unforgettable experience!
I can‘t wait to hear the stories that emerge. Now get out there and recruit the perfect companions for the adventures that await among endless stars!
