Summary
- Starfield offers a massive map with over 1,000 planets and the potential for players to build outposts on many of them, using acquired resources to create various types of buildings.
- Building outposts in Starfield is similar to Fallout 4's settlement building mechanic but with more purpose and depth. Outposts can be used for industrial factories, residential bases, storage, power sources, mining equipment, and more.
- There is a limit of eight initial outpost slots in Starfield, but players can increase this limit by investing in the Planetary Habitation skill in the Science tree. This skill adds four additional slots per rank and unlocks the ability to build in harsher environments.
Starfield has a massive map has over 1,000 planets - both handcrafted and procedurally generated - across 100 Star Systems, and there is plenty of potential for each of them. On any of the planets can land on, there is the option to harvest resources, and depending on whether a location is inhabited or not, players can use these acquired resources to build outposts. With no shortage of land for players to build upon, it does raise the question if there's a limit to the number of outposts that can be built.
Fans of another Bethesda's RPG, Fallout 4, will likely feel used to such a mechanic as it does appear similar to the settlement building in that game. However, building outposts in Starfield does seem to have more purpose, and is a more fleshed-out feature in comparison. The potential in building outposts is vast, and players' empires can be comprised of many buildings such as giant industrial factory outposts that work in tandem across multiple star systems and can provide tons of resources that can be sold to vendors. Alternatively, outposts can be more residential bases where crew can be assigned after hiring them or can be used for storage, power sources, mining equipment, and more.
There Is A Limit To The Number Of Outposts Allowed In Starfield
Unfortunately, there is a limit to the number of outposts that can be built in Starfield. When players are first given the option to build outposts, there is a set limit of eight that can be built. Each time an Outpost Beacon is placed, this counts as an outpost slot, and this can be tracked via the scanner next to the "Build Outpost" button.
If players do find another planet that they would rather build upon later into their journey, but have already used up all the available slots, past outposts can be easily demolished by traveling to the Outpost Beacon, targeting it until the "Rename" prompt appears, and then holding the X button on Xbox or R on PC to remove it. Fortunately, this doesn't void the option to rebuild on the same spot later should they change their mind.
Players Can Increase The Maximum Number Of Outposts
There are ways to increase the maximum number of outposts available in Starfield via the skill tree. The Planetary Habitation skill under the Science tree is the key, and each rank of the skill adds four additional outpost slots while unlocking the option to build in harsher environments. For example, Rank 1 allows 12 total outposts and makes planets with Deep Freeze or Inferno temperatures available, and by the time players reach Rank 4, there is a total of 24 outpost slots available across planets with extreme pressure, gravity, or corrosive and toxic atmospheres.
Unfortunately, the Planetary Habitation skill is one of the last ones that can be reached in the Science tree, coming in the final Master tier. Therefore, twelve other skill points need to be placed before the option to build more outposts can even be considered. These skills are useful and feed into each other well though. For example, Tier 1's Surveying makes the scanner's range far greater to make for quicker observation of a planet's landscape, Tier 2's Scanning takes this further by detecting increasingly less common resources, and Tier 3's Outpost Engineering improves the quality and range of outposts and reduces the amount of resources required to build them, ensuring that by the time players increase the number of outposts possible, they can also build the greatest variety of them to fully capitalize on such a skill.
With the amount of gameplay opportunities that outposts provide, it is certainly a worthwhile investment. While it is a shame that there is a limit, and 24 slots may seem like a small amount in comparison to the vast number of planets in Starfield, it does push players to be strategic with their placements, and consider how to fully optimize them to receive the best output.
