What is the new companion system in Starfield and how many followers can you hire to join your space crew?
As the next game from Bethesda Softworks, Starfield is one of the most expansive RPG experiences in history. You get to explore a galaxy that has been crafted from the ground up with meticulous care. You get to fly a spaceship and customize it in whatever way best pleases you. You gather materials, craft items, interact with hundreds of unique NPCs, and bring some of your wildest sci-fi fantasies to life thanks to Bethesda’s insuperable role-playing formula. Starfield is essentially Skyrim in space. Actually, Starfield is like 10 Skyrims in space, being marketed in a way that genuinely makes us believe the only curb will be the limits of our own imagination.
But you already probably know all of that. And know, also, that the game will function by the sheer sum of its role-playing elements, whether they’ve been inspired by previous Bethesda games like The Elder Scrolls series or other fresher takes on the genre.
That being said, not everything is going to be unfamiliar to the initiated. Though Starfield may just be the biggest and most ambitious role-playing game to date — going by the stretch of its galactic map alone, which consists of more than 1,000 planets — there are a ton of gameplay tropes that are making a return. One of these is the companion system, allowing you to traverse Starfield’s incredibly sizeable world with NPCs that might turn out to be the difference between death in the field or a fight you stand a chance of winning.
Like everything else in its game design philosophy, Bethesda has overhauled the companion system to make Starfield more immersive, perhaps aiming to evoke the same sense of compelling worldbuilding and characterization one can find in BioWare’s Mass Effect or other soap operas like Eve Online. That’s basically to say your crew members in Starfield are a discernible improvement to the lifeless, shallow lumps of flesh that followed you around in Skyrim, so here’s everything you need to know about all the confirmed companions and how each of them can help you live out your space fantasies.
What are companions and how can you get them?
Companions are NPCs that follow you around in Starfield and assist in combat. There are more than 20 recruitable companions in Bethesda’s new game. Some of them tie heavily into the main narrative, while others are more generic in design.
All in all, there are five main companions who play a huge part in the story campaign, and recruiting the rest of them, or even coming across them, is optional. Besides these, you can also recruit “crew members” who assist you in specific areas. These people have neither a personality nor even a name, so they’re just there to fill up different sections of your ship and give you stat boosts.
First, let’s get into the main companions, the people you meet as part of your association with Constellation.
Barrett
Starship engineering: ★★★★
Particle Beam Weapon Systems: ★★★
Robotics: ★★
Gastronomy: ★
Romanceable: Yes
Barrett is one of the first characters you meet in the game. After giving you command of his ship – the Frontier and tasking you with the mission to reach Constellation, Barrett disappears. A while later, during a main story mission titled “Back to Vectera,” you can recruit Barrett and bring him onboard to your ship. He can be a great help in a tight spot, say, a raging space battle that’ll have you in constant need of spontaneous repairs.
Vasco
Shield Systems: ★★
EM Weapon Systems: ★
Aneutronic Fusion: ★
Romanceable: No
Vasco is as trusty a sidekick as they come. Think Artoo, but in more realistic terms. In fact, Vasco is more similar to the robots in Interstellar than your typical sci-fi droid, but much more useful and efficient all around.
The robot is unfortunately not a fan of violence, so you can’t really rely on him to get you out of a tough spot. Still, his ability to carry huge payloads on top of Shield Systems and EM Weapon training makes him a great addition to your crew.
Sarah Morgan
Astrodynamics: ★★★★
Lasers: ★★★
Leadership: ★★
Botany: ★
Romanceable: Yes
Sarah Morgan is the second major protagonist you come across in Starfield. As the leader of Constellation, it is Sarah’s job to lead the team in their search for the enigmatic artifacts and the divination of secrets they hold within.
Sarah is a competent fighter that can help you in ground encounters. She is also romanceable, so you can take your relationship beyond that of a boss and her employee, or even comrades.
Sam Coe
Piloting: ★★★★
Rifle Certification: ★★★
Payloads: ★★
Geology: ★
Romanceable: Yes
When you first arrive at Constellation, you get introduced to several of its members, including Sarah Morgan, but one person absent from the group is Sam Coe. As can be gleaned from his bearings, Sam is a space ranger with a swagger that would’ve been enough to mistake him for the main character.
Sam is one of the most useful companions in Starfield, both in combat and outside of it. He’s also a romanceable option, and since he’s bisexual, your own choice of character won’t get in the way in this regard.
Andreja
Stealth: ★★★★
Particle Beams: ★★★
Energy Weapons Systems: ★★
Theft: ★
Romanceable: Yes
If you’re a fan of sneaking your way through Bethesda games and always keeping that level detection line… well, level, then Andreja is the companion you need to take with you on space missions. She’s another member of Constellation (as is the case with all the rest of the main companions) and you’ll encounter her sometime during the main campaign.
Other optional companions
There are several other Companions scattered throughout the massive Starfield universe. You encounter most of these while completing different missions, and though these are less skilled than members of the main Constellation crew, they can still be a huge help out in the wide, wide galaxy, especially if you wish to expand your operations via different outposts. Here we’re going to list these characters and the location where they can be found in the game.
Heller: Your former co-worker on the mining facility, Heller can be found in the mission “Back to Vectera” and his skills are Outpost Engineering (★★★) and Geology (★).
Lin: She was your supervisor on Vectera, so you can also find her during “Back to Vectera.” Bringing Lin on board will give you a boost in Outpost Management (★★) and Demolition (★).
Adoring Fan: The obnoxious fanatic that you only get by checking the Worshipped Hero trait at the beginning of the game. The Adoring Fan will follow you around whether you want it or not, and his expertise — if it could be called that — is in Weight Lifting (★★), Concealment (★), and Scavenging (★).
Rafael Aguerro: You encounter Rafael during the mission called “Entangled,” but that’s many hours into the main campaign. If you take Rafael’s side in the conflict, he’ll join your crew and give you perks in Starship Engineering (★★), Outpost Management (★), and Outpost Management (★).
Moara Otero: The character that appears early on in the game during “The Old Neighborhood” mission. He specializes in EM Weapons System (★★) and Marksmanship (★★).
Hirable companions
There are a number of characters you can hire to join your crew for a reasonable sum, though be forewarned that these people — looking for jobs in random places through the colonies — are not as well-fleshed-out as the rest of the companions. Here are a number of them, and the place where you can find them.
Rosie Tannehill: Wellness (★★★) and medicine (★)
Location: The Hitching Post in Akila, Cheyenne System
Omari Hassan: Shield Systems (★★), Starship Engineering (★)
Location: The Hitching Post in Akila, Cheyenne System
Marika Boros: Ballistics (★★), Shotgun Certification and Particle Beam Weapon (★)
Location: The Viewport, New Atlantis
Simeon Bankowski: Sniper Certification (★★), Sharpshooting and Marksmanship (★)
Location: The Viewport, New Atlantis
Andromeda Kepler: Outpost Engineering (★★), Piloting and Aneutronic Fusion (★)
Location: The Broken Spear, Cedonia in the Solar System
Sophia Grace: Stealth (★★★), Lasers (★)
Location: Madame Sauvage’s Place, Neon
Mickey Caviar: Wellness (★★), Gastronomy (★), and Incapacitation (★)
Location: The Astral Lounge, Neon in Volii Star System
Dani Garcia: Robotics (★★), Chemistry and Energy Weapons System (★)
Location: Euphorika, Neon in Volii Star System
Jessamine Griffin: Ballistics Weapon Systems (★★), Concealment and Theft (★)
Location: Last Nova, Kryx Star System
Hirable crewmates
Besides main companions, optional companions, and hireable companions, we have crewmates that basically serve a particular function. These don’t have a personality or even a name, and they can be found in various starports throughout Starfield. Much like hirable companions, you can pay a specified sum and bring them to your crew, or assign them to your outposts, and they’ll give you the benefits of their traits.
You can identify these hirable hands by the way their characters are marked in the game, as they’re different from random citizens. Their traits are displayed in the corner of the screen, and the credits you expend to hire them are a one-time payment.