Quick Links

  • Prerequisite For Ship Upgrades
  • Ship Types For Different Races
  • Recruiting A Crew
  • Ship License
  • Upgrade Modules

Starbound gives you an infinite amount of space to build amazing creations from massive colonies to personal bases. In addition to building on different planets throughout the universe, you will also get to decorate your ship and manage a crew. But ship maintenance goes beyond staff and aesthetics in Starbound.

There are 5 different ship upgrades in the game; each one will make your ship larger. This guide reviews everything you need to know about upgrading your ship in Starbound. But let's start with the basics first.

Prerequisite For Ship Upgrades

quest NPC Penguin Pete location in shipyard

Prior to upgrading your ship for the first time, you will need to complete the Erchius Mining Facility mission. This is the first mission that you will encounter in the game. This quest will be given by Penguin Pete, who you will also visit later to upgrade your ship. You can find Penguin Pete in the shipyard to the right of the Outpost.

This quest will repair the FTL drive for your ship, allowing you to travel between different solar systems.

Ship Types For Different Races

example of Novakid ship design
Novakid Ship

Each race has a different ship. These ships are all upgraded the same, however, their overall appearance and size vary. Below, let's take a look at each ship and its characteristics. This list is in order from biggest to smallest ship.

Race Ship Appearance Unique Pet
Floran Overgrown appearance with skeleton mounted to the front Snake
Avian Ancient Pyramid appearance, powered by a red crystal Bunny
Novakid Old fashioned steam train appearance Snugget (a glowing blob, seemingly made from the material as a Novakid)
Human Simple and practical ship with a hammerhead appearance Cat
Glitch Medieval Castle appearance with turrets and a canon Piglett
Apex Modern and streamlined appearance with light metals Weasel
Hylotl Shaped like a large fish including a fin and tail when fully upgraded Crab

These ships are unique to each race and vary in layout as well as appearance. Although the Floran ship is the largest, they all offer plenty of space. Try to pick your character's race based on which one you want, rather than which one has the biggest (or coolest) ship. You can fully customize your ship any way you want.

Recruiting A Crew

player interacting with crew roster on ship
S.A.I.L. Crew Roster

To upgrade your ship, you will need to recruit a crew. For every two crew members you recruit, you will get this opportunity to upgrade. Your un-upgraded ship will hold two crew members to help you get started. In total, you can have 12 crew members.

There are a few different ways to recruit crew members, so let's take a quick look at each method.

Villages

Starbound Avian Village marketplace

The easiest way to recruit a crew is by doing quests for NPCs in villages. Villages can be found on every planet, and are populated by every race. Above, you can see the marketplace area of an Avian village. These villages can range in size from small to massive. Over time, the NPCs within these villages will ask you to complete different quests.

When a yellow exclamation point appears above their heads, then they have a quest for you. Not all quest lines will result in the NPC wanting to join your crew, but if you do several quests, you will eventually come across someone who wants to join you. If there are no available quests, walk around and talk to NPCs. It takes some time for people to notice you and have quests. Set up a little area with a teleporter flag, allowing you to revisit the village and check for available quests.

Colony

quest offered by starbound NPC in colony

In addition to recruiting a crew from a village, you can also find potential crew members from a colony.

Colonies take a while to set up, but they will provide a steady flow of NPC quests that lead to recruitment. To make a colony, head to Frogg Furnishing on the upper lefthand side of the Outpost. Here, you will be able to purchase a Colony Deed for 750 pixels.

Once you have a Colony Deed, find an area to start your new colony. For a colonist to spawn, you will need a room that has a wall, light source, and door. Build this area and then add the Colony Deed. If the room is acceptable, the colonist will spawn in. The decorations that you add to the room will determine the colonist type.

For example, if you have a room with an oven, then you will spawn in a chef colonist that will sell you different foods. You can also spawn in different races. If you have a room decorated with saloon furniture, you will spawn a Novakid colonist.

You will need one Colony Deed in each room that you want a colonist to occupy. There is no limit to the number of colonists you can have. With more colonists, you will have a higher chance to find people who want to join your crew.

Similar to NPCs in villages, a quest line may end in the colonist asking to join your crew.

Beak Easy

beak easy bar in outpost with penguin mercenaries

Lastly, you can recruit a crew from the Beak Easy. This underground area is beneath the Outpost. The first time you visit this area, you will come across the quest Dreadwing The Penguin. You will need to complete this quest before you can hire crew members from the Beak Easy.

Dreadwing is a tough enemy, so be sure to bring plenty of healing items, as well as good equipment and weapons.

Once you finish this quest, you will be able to purchase Dubloons for three diamonds each. These Dubloons can be given to penguins around the Outpost that you want to join your crew. All the penguin crew members will be soldiers, and you will get an achievement for getting your first penguin crew member.

Ship License

player standing near fake license vendor
Fake License Vendor

Once you have enough crew members, you will receive a ship license. There are 5 different ship licenses that you must obtain in order to fully upgrade your ship. You can find the upgrades listed below, as well as the requirements and licenses for each.

Upgrade Name Crew Members Required Materials Needed
Sparrow Ship Upgrade 2 Crew Members
  • Sparrow License
  • 2 Upgrade Modules
Kestrel Ship Upgrade 4 Crew Members
  • Kestrel License
  • 4 Upgrade Modules
Falcon Ship Upgrade 6 Crew Members
  • Falcon License
  • 6 Upgrade Modules
Eagle Ship Upgrade 8 Crew Members
  • Eagle License
  • 8 Upgrade Modules
Condor Ship Upgrade 10 Crew Members
  • Condor License
  • 10 Upgrade Modules

Licenses will automatically be obtained when you visit your ship after gathering the necessary amount of crew members.

You will be able to bypass the crew requirement by purchasing fake versions of each license, but these cost a lot of money. These fake licenses can be purchased from the Vendor on the left side of the shipyard at the Outpost. The licenses sell for the following prices.

  • Fake Sparrow License: 10,000 pixels
  • Fake Kestrel License: 20,000 pixels
  • Fake Falcon License: 40,000 pixels
  • Fake Eagle License: 80,000 pixels
  • Fake Condor License: 150,000 pixels

As you can see, this is a lot of money. Recruiting crew members is a cheaper option. If you are unhappy with your crew, you will be able to dismiss them from the S.A.I.L. panel.

Overall, each time you upgrade your ship, you will need enough crew members, a license, and Upgrade Modules.

Upgrade Modules

Starbound Upgrade Module in players inventory

Each time you upgrade your ship, you will need a set amount of Upgrade Modules. This item cannot be purchased; you can only find them while exploring the universe. Upgrade Modules can be found in chests underground caves, as well as villages, and inside reward bags. Reward bags are given by NPCs after finishing a quest. Additionally, you can find Upgrade Modules in Challenge Rooms.

Challenge Rooms are located within Challenge Doors that can be found anywhere underground. Going through a door will teleport you to the Challenge Room. There are 27 different challenges that you may encounter. You may receive an Upgrade Module as a reward for completing a challenge, or from a chest hidden in the area. There is a small chance that one may drop from a slain enemy, but this isn't too common.

Once you have enough Upgrade Modules, head back to Penguin Pete at the Outpost. After speaking with him, your ship will be upgraded immediately. Teleport back to your ship to see the newly upgraded area. The area will be closed off, but just use your Matter Manipulator to remove the blocks. Repeat this process until you have 10 crew members and the biggest ship upgrade. After your ship is fully upgraded, you can recruit two additional members. From the S.A.I.L. panel, you can dismiss crew members.

This will not affect any existing upgrades to your ship. With a fully upgraded ship, you can now decorate to your heart's content!

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