Starfield Space Pirate guide: How to board and hijack a ship

Starfield lets you live out your wildest dreams of becoming the most notorious space pirate the galaxy has ever had the fortune of seeing. But the road to pirate notoriety is a long one, and it involves an elaborate process of hijacking both enemy ships and civilian vessels. While you might want to blast these ships away and earn a bounty on your head, hijacking and stealing them will net you more loot rewards as well as XP.

However, hijacking will often lead to a dogfight within these vessels, and you will often meet religious and other enemy factions who will resist. While the life of a pirate is a colorful one in Starfield, going about being one is easier said than done and there are many in the community who are a bit confused as to how they can go about stealing ships in the game.

Hence, this Starfield guide will go over everything you need to know about boarding and hijacking ships.

---

How to board a ship in Starfield

To board a ship in Starfield, you will first be required to destroy its internal engines. In order to do that, unlock the Targeting Control Systems skill from the skill tree and have at least level 1 on it.

Now target the ship you want to board and attack it after getting close. This will work for enemy ships like the Va’ruun faction or other space pirates who will attack you on sight.

As for civilian ships, you can hail them, which will stop their advance, and then board them. You can then force a hijack. To board a ship, you will need to:

• Press the X button on the controller or Space on the keyboard. Then you can select the ENG (engine) option and then enter Target lock mode.
• Use your ship’s arsenal of weapons to while down the engine health and then destroy it completely. Try not to go overboard and destroy the hull itself, as it will then destroy the entire ship and you will have nothing to hijack.
• Once the ship is stationary, press X or Space to dock and your character will automatically board the ship.

---

How to steal or hijack a ship in Starfield

Once you have boarded the ship, it’s time to start the hijacking. To steal a ship, you will first need to:

• Kill all the enemies inside as there will be a lot of hostile combatants who will not take too kindly to you taking over their vessel.
• Now the number of enemies and their difficulty level will depend on the size of the ship and its class. The bigger and more the size, the harder will it get for you to hijack it.
• After you have killed them all, you will then need to eliminate the pilot and take the reigns yourself. However, to do this, make sure to have at least one point in the Piloting skill. You will automatically have the skill unlocked if you are making a class with one of the following backgrounds: Bounty Hunter, Long Hauler, Space Scoundrel, or File Not Found.

However, it’s important to note here that to pilot ships of the higher class, you will be required to invest more points in the piloting skill line. After hijacking a ship you will be able to sell it for a high value.