Category:Starfield - Ship Weapons

Starfield has 5 types of ship weapons: Ballistic, Laser, Electromagnetic, Particle Beam and Missiles. A ship can only carry a maximum of 3 different type of ship weapons.

Each weapon type affect enemy ships differently in combat, depending on the damage type used. Energy weapons are effective against shields, ballistic weapons are effective against a ships hull and EM weapons can disable enemy ships without destroying them, so they can be boarded and stolen.

Below you will find a list of every ship weapon location in Starfield, so you can find the best ship weapon type and which vendor sells it.

Ballistic Ship Weapons

Ballistic Ship Weapons in Starfield are designed to deal damage to enemy ship hulls during space combat. They are the best ship weapon for damaging ship hulls but are not efficient at damaging ship shields (which protect the hull) and so must be paired with another ship weapon type that is more effective against ship shields, like Laser Ship Weapons.

Strategically you should put all the power into energy weapons to maximise your reload speed. Once you have depleted an enemy ships shields, swap to ballistic weapons to destroy them.

Laser Ship Weapons

Laser Ship Weapons in Starfield are designed to deal damage to enemy shields in order to expose their hull to damage. While they are the best ship weapon for damaging ship shields they are not efficient at damaging a ships hull. Laser ship weapons should be paired with another ship weapon type that is more effective against ship hulls, like Ballistic Ship Weapons.

Strategically you should put all the power into energy weapons to maximise your reload speed. Once you have depleted an enemy ships shields, swap to ballistic weapons to destroy the ship.

Electromagnetic Ship Weapons

The primary function of Electromagnetic Ship Weapons are to disable a ships systems but eave the hull of the ship completely intact.

EM weapons are useful for stealing ships. The Targeting Control Systems Skill can be used to target the engines and disable them so the enemies ship cannot flee, you can then easily board the ship to loot its inhabitants and steal it to sell for credits. EM Ship weapons are only worth it if you plan on pirating ships, looting the crew and doing hostage missions.

Particle Beam Ship Weapons

Particle Beam Ship Weapons are arguably the best ship weapon to use in Starfield. They deliver both energy and physical damage which is effective against both the shields and hulls of enemy ships. This means that you can commit all your power to a single weapon type to optimise reload speeds instead of swapping between both Laser Ship Weapons and Ballistic Ship Weapons. While particle beam weapons do not deal as much damage as these other weapon types the trade-off is worth it.

Missile Beam Ship Weapons

Missile Ship Weapons are the strongest ship weapon in Starfield but have extremely long reload times and therefore are normally paired with other ship weapon types.

During space combat you will lock onto enemy ships at 2000m in order to guarantee that your missiles hit them. Missiles deal an equal amount of damage to enemies shields and hulls. Due to the power of Class C Missiles, it's possible to end some ship battles before they have even begun. That said Particle Beam Weapons have a much more consistent DPS but missiles are still a great strategic tool for finishing off enemies when you are outnumbered.