Starfield: Crafting and Research Explained

The crafting system in Starfield is far more complex and detailed than any of Bethesda’s previous titles. Instead of creating an iron dagger from a simple iron ingot, your craftsmanship now relies on a bunch of systems. However, one can’t expect to flourish in the vast universe where you must face spacers, aliens, Red Mile beasts, and God knows what else without forging a few tools of your own.

For instance, you can use various workbenches and workshops to improve your gear, craft building materials, cook nourishing meals, and even add various weapon mods to your gear. The only problem is that despite being such an important system, the game doesn’t really guide you through the process. So, by the time you start learning these mechanisms, it will already be too late. Therefore, this article explains all there is to know about crafting and research projects in Starfield.

Starfield: Crafting and Research

Starfield comes with a bunch of unique systems that help improve your character. However, the real beauty lies in how well Bethesda has managed to connect all these systems seamlessly. For example, if you wish to add a suppressor to your best weapons, you must visit the weapons workbench.

However, as you select the weapon, you will find that besides a few important materials, it requires muzzle mods research 1. So, you head to the research station only to find that this research requires a bunch of other materials and the Weapon Engineering skill at rank 1. As you open the skill tree to invest some of your character points, you will see that it requires you to add at least 4 points in tier 1 Science skills.

The same loop goes on for every other crafting project that you have in your mind. So, by the time you manage to find the real loose end in the loop, you will gasp several times, just like us. However, you don’t need to follow the loop for crafting everything, as you can avoid following the string and plan your upgrading strategy beforehand. Here’s an overview of how the whole Crafting and research system works in Starfield:

Research Skills:

The first step in any Starfield crafting project is to check if you have acquired the required skills for the job. However, it’s hard to tell which skills relate to which research, which in turn is related to some crafting item. Also, with over 180 Starfield skills, it is hard to keep your focus on the important ones as you must constantly improve your character’s combat and survival skills as well.

Here is a list of all skills important for researching various Starfield projects. So, you can use this information to plan your next skill point investment according to the items that you wish to craft.

Weapon Engineering (Science): Crafting and Research Skill

This skill is located in the second tier of the Science skill tree. You can unlock and upgrade your weapon engineering skill to unlock several projects related to weapon modifications. Therefore, it would be best to focus on this skill if you wish to add suppressors, optics, and other mods to your beloved weapons.

Chemistry (Science):

Chemistry is a tier-3 Science skill, meaning you must invest at least 8 points to unlock it. This skill allows you to research various pharmacology projects. So, if you plan to be a genius in crafting chemicals, this skill is a go-go for you.

Outpost Engineering (Science):

Outpost Engineering is a tier-3 Science skill, so again, you need 8 skill points to unlock it. However, unlike previous entries, this skill allows you to research various outpost development projects. For example, you can complete projects to fulfill the power requirements of your base. So, if you are interested in building unique outposts in the best locations, this skill is a must-have for you.

Spacesuit Design (Science): Crafting Skill

You will be overwhelmed by the advanced spacesuits and gear that opponents like Hunter or Emissary wear. So, if you wish to get one like theirs without killing them in Revelation (spoiler), you better start saving up for the Spacesuit Design skill. You can use this skill to craft various improvements for your spacesuit, helmet, and boostpack.

Research Methods (Science):

The Research Methods skill doesn’t really unlock exotic projects and overpowered components. However, it does make some of the best research projects easier to complete. For example, at rank 4, the research methods skill reduces the material cost by up to 50% for all research projects, so add this one to your list.

Gastronomy (Social): Crafting Skill

We were surprised to find Gastronomy in the Social skill tree instead of Science. However, it is a tier-1 skill, so you don’t need to invest additional points just to learn how to cook. The good news is that this skill allows you to craft alien boba tea, alien kebab, Nebula Wat, and other exotic recipes. So, you must acquire this skill if you wish to become the Gordon Ramsey of space.

Special Projects (Science): Research Skill

The Special Projects skill is often overlooked, mainly because it is a tier-4 skill and doesn’t directly improve your Crafting. However, if you wish to craft exotic items, overpowered weapons, better ship modules, and rare spacesuits, you can’t ignore this one. This skill unlocks the experimental research projects (the good stuff), so get it even if you are in your NG+ mode.

The Research Lab:

Once you gather all the required skills, your next stop is the nearest research station. You can find such research stations in big cities like Neon and New Atlantis, The Lodge’s basement, install one in your ship, and even build new ones on your outposts.

The only problem is that you will need a bunch of materials, like adhesives, polymers, tungsten, etc., to research the available projects. Also, most advanced projects require you to research their previous versions. For example, to research Muzzle Mods 2, you must first complete the Muzzle Mods 1 research project.

Crafting Guide:

The final step in your Starfield crafting project is the practical application of your research. In other words, it is time to turn your theoretical knowledge into practice. For this purpose, you must visit any workstation relevant to the project. Fortunately, you can find all these stations in one place, i.e., in The Lodge’s basement. Alternatively, you can also build such stations in your outposts or install them in the ship builder menu.

For example, if you wish to craft weapon mods like suppressors, you must head to the nearest weapons workbench. Similarly, industrial workbenches are used for crafting building materials, and the Gallery is your cooking station for various recipes.

Here is a list of all the workbenches and their functions in Starfield:

Weapons Workbench:

The Weapons Workbench comes in handy when crafting mods and upgrades for your favorite weapons. However, there are certain restrictions related to each weapon type. For instance, you can only craft mods for the weapons available in your inventory. Similarly, all weapons have a limited number of available slots, and you can’t install the same mods on all weapons. For example, you can’t add a laser guide to every weapon, and you can’t change the stock sight of your sniper rifles.

In any case, the procedure is simple, visit any Weapon Workbench, choose the weapon that you want to mod, and select relevant upgrade slots, i.e., muzzle, laser, optics, skin, magazine, etc. Once you select a slot, you will see several available upgrade options and their requirements on the HUD. Finally, if you have all the resources, skills, and research, you can select craft to install the new weapon mods.

Industrial Workbench:

Industrial Workbench is particularly useful for building outposts on various systems. You can use this station to turn simple crafting materials into useful items. For example, you can craft wires from raw metal, or you can turn your aluminum into adaptive frames (a useful XP farming trick). However, predicting which items you will need to develop your outpost is hard.

Therefore, it would be best to avoid stocking the inventory in advance and only craft building materials after knowing exactly what you need.

Spacesuit Workbench:

The Spacesuit Workbench is perhaps one of the most useful stations in Starfield. You can use this station to craft mods and upgrades for your boostpack, helmets, and spacesuits. All you need to do is gather the required resources, complete any pending research work, and unlock suitable skills.

Once you fulfill these prerequisites, open the Spacesuit Workbench and select your desired item. You will be presented with a list of available mods and upgrades for your gear. However, the same rules apply to spacesuits as weapons, i.e., you can’t install the same mods on all spacesuit and gear items.

Pharmaceutical Lab:

The Pharmaceutical Lab is a useful station for those who seek chemical advancements. You can use this bench to craft healing packs, ointments for your status effects, and even performance enhancers for Red Mile and the like. Though not everyone favors indulging in such Crafting, it is still immensely useful for those who wish to become better than the best Starborns out there.

Cooking Station (Gallery):

The Gallery is your personal Cooking Station where you can cook various food and drink items. Once you learn a recipe from research projects and skills, all you need are the raw materials to craft it. However, certain items required in these recipes can also be consumed raw and give pretty much the same nutrition. For example, an alien sandwich requires bread, but unless you wish to eat a fancy meal, you can just consume the bread and be on your way.

Therefore, checking the ingredients for all recipes before wasting your time cooking useless drinks and edibles would be best.

What are Experimental Projects?

Experimental Projects unlocks an additional league of exotic and rare research options. Basically, you can research four different levels for each project type. For example, when you unlock Muzzle Mods 1 and 2, you will see that the third round is locked and requires Special Projects rank 1. Once you acquire this tier-4 Science skill, you will unlock several additional projects (experimental) in each category, i.e., Outpost, Weapons, Spacesuit, and Pharmacology (nothing special for all you chefs).

These experimental projects, in turn, unlock even more powerful items, mods, and upgrades for your weapons, spacesuits, and chemicals. However, you can’t access these upgrades before finishing all previous levels of the research projects. Therefore, the best time to unlock Special Projects rank 1 is after you have finished all your previous research for the desired league.

Finally, the Special Projects skill only unlocks these powerful projects on the first rank. So, it would be best to avoid ranking this skill unless you wish to craft rare, unique, and special items on the Industrial Workbench.

Conclusion:

Research and Crafting is a massive system in Bethesda’s new Starfield. Players can take anywhere from 4 to 6 hours just to learn this complex system and plan their next moves. It seems that Starfield deliberately omitted this system’s tutorial to force the players to spend even more hours learning. Therefore, this article provides a complete Starfield crafting and research guide, explaining everything from the basics to advanced level projects.