Companions & Crew – Starfield

Starfield features several characters who can accompany you in your exploration of the Settled Systems. They can join your crew to help man your spaceship, operate your outposts, craft, and fight. Some can even be romanced. In this guide, we’ll cover all we know about the game’s companions, and — once the information becomes available — how to get them to join your crew.

There are 20 named companions in total, as well as some generic crew members with simpler capabilities. The four main Constellation companions are the most sophisticated, and are the only ones that can be romanced. All companions have their own set of skills that you can make use of and which can stack with your own, but they don’t level up. They can follow you, carry your stuff, and fight at your side.

One of the game’s social Skills, Leadership, is all about maximizing your affinity with your companions. To rank up this skill, you will need to run around a lot with an active follower. In contrast, the Isolation skill makes you more effective when flying solo.

There are also two Character Traits that are affected by the presence or absence of companions: Introvert and Extrovert. The former makes you use less oxygen when traveling alone but more when traveling with a companion, while the latter trait does the opposite. Playing without a companion is a perfectly valid option that is supported by the game mechanics, but playing with one is likely to provide the most benefits.

Now without further ado, let’s take a look at the companions we’ve seen so far.

Constellation Companions

The four main Constellation members who will join your crew have more advanced quests and interactions than other companions. Their stories are closely linked with the main quest, and they can also be romanced. We know of three of these companions already.

Barrett

Thanks to the official timeline on the Starfield website, we know a few things about Barrett, who we’ve seen a few times in trailers and gameplay footage. We know that he joined Constellation in 2305, which is 25 years before the start of the game. Before that, he was a United Colonies physicist, but government work didn’t suit him. We also know that he found the original Artifact in the Constellation archives in 2326. And two years before the start of the game in 2328, he convinced Constellation to purchase “The Eye,” a modified deep space scanner. It seems that he is a senior member of the organization. He’s also very adept at the Starship Engineering skill, so he may be able to help you upgrade your ship.

Sam Coe

Sam Coe made an appearance in the Developer Direct showcase, where he was the only companion we saw sharing a romantic scene with the Spacefarer. Thanks to the official timeline, we know that he’s a descendant of Solomon Coe, the founder of the Freestar Collective. He has a daughter, Cora Coe, and they both joined Constellation together in 2327, three years before the start of the game. Sam seems to be a bit of a rebel, having stolen a ship and gone on a joyride when he was a teenager, and living on the fringes ever since. He has a high rank in the Piloting skill and can probably help you navigate the Settled Systems.

Sarah Morgan

Sarah Morgan is the voice we’ve heard narrating so many of the official Starfield videos, and she seems to be a particularly central character in the game as the leader of Constellation. From the official timeline we know that she started out as the youngest head of the United Colonies Navigator Corps in 2319, 11 years before the start of the game, but that she joined Constellation shortly after when the Navigator Corps was shut down. She became acting Chair of Constellation in 2325, five years before the game begins. We also know that Sarah saw combat during her time with the Navigator Corps, and she still carries that trauma with her. Sarah has a high rank in the Astrodynamics skill, which may help you in your travels across the Settled Systems.

Other Companions

Companions other than the main four Constellation crew members don’t have quite as much depth and can’t be romanced, but they’re still capable followers.

Adoring Fan

If you’ve played Oblivion, you may recognize this guy from that game. In Starfield he’s been made into a full-fledged companion. To recruit the Adoring Fan, you have to have the Hero Worshipped background. The Adoring Fan will then show up and ask to join your crew. He has some proficiency in the Concealment skill, which is probably appropriate for a stalker.

Heller

Heller appears to be an employee of Argos Extractors, the company you’re working for at the start of the game. From what we’ve seen in the Developer Direct showcase, it looks like you’ll be rescuing him on an unknown planet or moon. He’ll then offer to join your crew. Heller has a high rank in Outpost Engineering, so he should be able to help you with your outpost development.

Marika Boros

We haven’t seen much of Marika Boros yet, but it looks like she can be recruited at The Viewport in the city of New Atlantis. She has some skill in Ballistics and Shotgun Certification, so she’s probably good to have around in a fight.

VASCO

The first companion we ever saw in his very own trailer, VASCO is a companion who also happens to be an industrial robot. Designed by Lunar Robotics, he was refurbished by Constellation and is equipped for exploration across all kinds of rough terrain. We don’t know anything about his skills yet, but he is combat-capable.

Crew

Beyond the named companions we covered above, you’ll be able to recruit other crew to help you man your outposts. So far, the only one we know about is a robot called Security Mini Bot. There will also be generic human crew members who can be hired for a one time fee. The robot doesn’t have any skills like the named companions do, and is shown as stationed at an outpost. Your other companions can also be assigned to outposts, but that will probably make them unavailable to travel at your side. It’s unclear if these generic crew can also function as followers or if they can only work as crew for your ship and outposts.