If you want to establish a base in Starfield, consider constructing an outpost. Outposts help you harvest resources on a planet for research progression or upgrades. As you start researching more projects and building better weapon mods, you’ll need more materials. Having your endeavor to progress be interrupted is no fun, but you can’t get past the resource requirements. By setting up outposts across planets, you can harvest resources automatically, letting you get on with your adventures. But building outposts isn’t obvious in the beginning, making the process hard to figure out. That said, here’s an outpost-building guide for Starfield to help you get started with resource farming.
Outpost Building Guide For Starfield
To start building outposts in Starfield, you must find a planet with resources. Get close to that planet since scanning from a distance isn’t always possible. A scan will tell you what resources a planet has and whether it’s worth colonizing. When you start out, you can only build eight outposts, and you should use them wisely. Looking for planets that let you harvest Aluminum, Iron, and Water are choice locations for outposts.
You cannot build outposts on gas-giant planets, though their moons can be habitable locations. You also don’t have to establish an outpost specifically for resource harvesting if you don’t want to. However, setting up an outpost for resources allows you to farm them automatically. If the scan returns positive results, choose a location to land. Try to land near a resource and not on top of it to get enough surface area for a proper setup.
Setting Up Your Outpost
After landing, use your Hand Scanner to narrow down a suitable location. This involves walking around and surveying the area to find the right spot to establish an outpost. Once you discover a site you like, choose to set up an Outpost Beacon to create an outpost. You can set up whatever you want at this outpost, such as resource harvesting technology or your dream home. Set up a few structures and experiment with Build Mode to get a feel for the resources required. Also, remember to pay attention to your power needs; structures need power to operate, and insufficient power will interrupt operations.
The only construction your outpost needs is the Outpost Beacon. Other construction options include resource harvesters for specific resources or turrets to protect your home. On barren planets, it’s not likely that you will need lots of protection. But on inhabited worlds with lots of wildlife and frequent raids, you should set up defenses to avoid losing your outpost. Make sure to thoroughly explore the planet or moon where your outpost is located to understand the ideal approach.
Sending Crew To Your Outposts
When you bring on a new crew member, you can send them to an outpost. This is helpful if you have recently created one but didn’t have the resources to build defenses. Most named potential crew members have decent weaponry and skills to hold their own. Building a Crew Workstation gives your crew members a place to rest and watch over their surroundings. It’s not as urgent on barren planets, but it never hurts to have defenses for a random Spacer raid.
Your crew can also provide buffs to outposts depending on their skills. These are usually from the Science branch that deals with resources you can harvest, such as Zoology, which lets you get alien life resources. Switch your crew members around based on what buffs you think an outpost will require. This also involves combat, as some companions are better at defense than generic specialists.
Harvesting Resources From Your Outposts
If you are looking to harvest resources from your outposts, make sure to place the Outpost Beacon on top of an area with resources. Use your Hand Scanner to find a location with resources, then maximize your outpost reach before setting it down. Build Extractors will dig up a specific resource. Resources are usually found together, allowing you to harvest multiple resources from the same spot. However, you must build separate Extractors to dig up various resources. For example, the Extractor for Water doesn’t pull up anything other than Water. If you want Mercury, you must build a separate Extractor that digs up Mercury.
You must also build storage for the Extractors, or those resources won’t go anywhere. Switch the menus to find the storage offerings and place Output Links to transfer resources from the Extractors. While you can have several types of Extractors at the same outpost, you can only have one of each type. You can’t have two Water Extractors, but you can have one Lead and one Water Extractor.
Improving Your Outposts In Starfield
If you develop your Science skills, you will be able to research Outpost Engineering. This allows you to create more advanced outpost modules, giving your outpost more utility. It’s also possible to create a number of decorations and robots that assist with making your outpost unique. Even if you aren’t pursuing a Science skill build, you have a number of default options available to you. Your Research Stations allow you to create some basic turrets and decorations to get started. But if you really want to make the most of your outposts, you must max out your Outpost Engineering skill.
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Similar to Fallout 4, you can make your outpost as basic or remarkable as you like. The sky is the limit on your creations, with resources and land area being your only limitations. It’s a good idea to get a feel for building a few outposts first, then start innovating with your design. Once you have the process memorized, it becomes easier to know what can be done with your outpost. Thanks to this outpost-building guide for Starfield, you should have no problem letting your creations come to life. Start traveling to planets and begin building, even if it’s just to give construction a try.
