As advertised, Starfield is filled with over 1,000 planets to freely land on, explore, and plunder for resources. While you could simply go down and scan the surface for resources to mine manually, if you want to be an efficient miner, then you will want to set up an outpost to automate the process for you. Somewhat like the building system introduced in Fallout 4, outposts have a lot of systems going on. Getting started isn’t too tough, but the amount of options and things you need to balance can get complicated if you plan on making this a lucrative venture for resources and Credits. The tutorial can get you started, but we’ll get you the rest of the way there to managing a successful outpost in Starfield.
Find a vein
Your outpost isn’t going to do much if you set it up in an area with no resources, so plotting out the best location to build is key. When you arrive at a planet of choice, you are given the option to scan it. This will reveal the main resources that planet has, plus change the view to show how those resources are distributed. Once you’ve found a planet with the resource(s) you’re looking for, rotate the planet until you find a big concentration of it to land on.
But don’t just drop your outpost beacon right where you land! Just because you set your ship to land on what looks like a mother lode of resources doesn’t mean the specific spot you touch down will be right. Whip out your scanner and check the area, specifically for underground resources. When you find an area with a good amount of one or more resource veins, then its time to start building.
The basics
Your outpost beacon essentially sets up the range for your outpost. Once placed, a ring will appear that limits how far from the beacon you can build. When you select the beacon, feel free to move it around before actually placing it to make sure everything you want is inside the ring.
Next up are extractors. There are different extractors for each resource, such as water vapor, iron, and titanium. Select the one that matches what is available on your planet and move it over the vein. Don’t worry, you won’t be able to place an extractor on a plot of ground with no resources.
The last essential structure to build is a power source. You get a few options, so take your pick and lay it down wherever you like. These are all apparently wireless, so it doesn’t matter where in your outpost they go, as they will still supply power to your extractors. As you build more extractors and machines, you will need to add more power sources to keep it all running.
Remember that each thing you build will cost you resources, and you won’t have enough to build a massive outpost on your first try. These are meant to be iterated on and improved over time.
Additions and managers
While you could stick to the basics for an easy way to mine resources, there are tons of ways to go deeper into outposts, such as cargo containers, automation machines, building entire bases, and adding managers. If nothing else, put a manager in charge of your outpost to improve production. Managers can be any companion you recruit during the game — just set their role to your outpost rather than your ship. You will need to pay them for this work, but only a one-time fee.
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