Ghastly Knight

Ghastly Knight

Freestar Collective Freestar Collective

Member since

About

Describe Yourself

Love scifi and space settings like Starfield.

Things You Love About Starfield

I love that you can play Starfield in so many different ways. Some can lean into cozy outpost and ship building. Others can explore and experience the beauty of different worlds and wildlife with a fantastic photo mode. There can be a lot of combat with a nice variety of guns and gear for those that want to lean into the gunplay in side and radiant quests. It is some of the best of science fiction applied to a Bethesda formula that I know and love, and I pray they continue to build on the lore in more expansions.

Favorite Quest(s)

Groundpounder, Vanguard and Freestar questlines, "rescuing" Barrett

Favorite Companion(s)

Andreja, Barrett and Jess

Favorite Ship

Dragonfire and Narwhal (vanilla), but I also love to build my own

Favorite Weapon

Big Bang, Hard Target, Beowolf

Play Style

Combat-focused and ship building

Hours Played

1,281 hours

Current Playthrough Status

Several characters in various stages; some NG+8 or so, others on first universe

Collections

Best Mods for a Pirate Character

### Ye be Warned This is not intended for those new to Starfield. Mods like these, many designed for more experienced players wanting to forego the main quest line (or at least delay it), will make life more difficult without giving you context for where you're at in the universe. ### Premise So you want to be a space pirate? Great! This collection of mods will help get you started off right. If you use these, you'll start the game as a pirate in your very own pirate ship (a humble Crimson Fleet Ghost), and you'll be docked to The Key - the HQ for the Crimson Fleet - all thanks to the *Crimson Start New Game* mod by SKKmods. In fact, you'll be starting 2-3 quests into the Crimson Fleet quest line having already joined the faction, and you'll be asked where your loyalties like (spy or not for Sysdef). ### Follower Options In vanilla Starfield, there are not nearly enough companion options that tolerate piracy. Of course, you can broaden that pool with mods like *No Angry Companions* by AlmightySE which ends most of the judgement by Constellation. Here are others to consider that have a more natural fit with your pirate: 1. **Jessamine Griffin** - Smuggler found in The Last Nova (bar) on The Key. One of my personal favorites in the game. 2. **Betty Howser** - You'll find her adrift on her ship orbiting Heinlein I. Bring a ship parts pack and she'll join your crew. Another great option! 3. **Mathis Castillo** - You'll be forced to spend more time with him if you continue the Crimson Fleet quest line, and the choices there will decide whether he's a companion option or an enemy. 4. **Sophia Grace** - Gang member on Neon found in Madame Sauvage's Place. ### Other Tips 1. The Kryx System puts you surrounded by more mid-level star systems. Be careful where you pick your starting battles. 2. You'll be aligned with Crimson Fleet from the start, so even with *Crimson Fleet - Less Fleet More Heat* mod from cyberpsyche you'll find most POIs, when exploring, are occupied by friendly Crimson Fleet. The *NPC Spawner Dangerzone* mod by naerv will help liven things up anytime you want and provide an ample supply of gear to loot and sell. :) 3. Piracy requires a lot of enhancements to your ship. Cargo space to fit all your loot will be at a premium for awhile unless you mod around that.

22 mods

Best Player Homes

11 mods

Immersion Enchancements

Some mods just help in the immersion of the game by changing the way things look or sound or behave. These are ones I'd recommend for that. I aim to stay true to the lore of the game with these

9 mods

Best Quest Mods

These are the mods that are more story content or help control the quests in some way.

24 mods

Best Armor and Clothing Mods

Whether it's a reskin or totally new armor or clothing, these are some of the best I've seen in Starfield so far.

24 mods

Best Quality of Life Mods

Some mods just help make life in the Starfield better in general. These tend to smooth out the experience and/or reduce tedious tasks.

7 mods

Best Follower Mods

Do you enjoy controlling minions/followers in games? If so, these mods will elevate your experience in Starfield.

13 mods

Best Custom Weapon Creations/Mods

The base Starfield game has some excellent options for a range of play styles, but sometimes we want to experiment with additional weaponry. Here are some creations worth checking out if you're interested in expanding your armory.

5 mods

Best Star Wars Mods on Xbox

85 mods

Best Survival Mods

3 mods

Best POI Additions

This is a collection of mods that add to the POIs that can spawn in the game.

10 mods

Best Ship Mods

18 mods

Mod Ratings

Deimog

9.5/10
Deimog

This is a very nice vehicle option made by BGS and offered as an alternative to the Rev-8. By comparison, it has a fully enclosed cabin and a much better weapon: the mounted rocket launcher. Its boost is a bit more limited, but it has greater speed. I also tend to think the 3 color options stand out more on the panels of the Deimog when compared to the roll cage of the Rev-8. Vasco still fits nicely in the back and will still go through similar animations on your journeys. Originally, I preferred the rover look of the Rev-8, but - in the last month or two - the Deimog has really grown on me.

Robin Locke - UC Fly Girl Companion

I want so badly for this mod to succeed, but I tried it on a new character recently in 2026. Sadly, it reached a state - after she goes off on her own for the first time on Neon - where it kept crashing my game completely. Every time I tried to leave Neon, the game crashed. I tried disabling the creation on my load order, but all game saves for that character crashed when trying to load it. After doing some research, I found that there were many other moments in her quest line, or other quests, where the game would crash or cause areas to become inaccessible. I applaud the author for continuing to add to the creation (new content, lip sync with voiced lines, etc), but there are still bugs in it - perhaps conflicts with other creations - that lead to fatal errors in the game. It's a real shame because I like her personality and enjoyed having her as a companion, otherwise.

Trackers Alliance: The Complete Bounty Series

Originally, this was called just The Vulture when it came out in 2024. At the time, it was also 700 credits - which was badly overpriced for just 1 bounty and one of the basic ones at that. Thank goodness Bethesda has recently added 5 more all-new bounties to round out the series and now it is renamed "The Complete Bounty Series." I'm glad to say it lives up to that name, and the price tag is now quite the bargain for what you get (and those that bought it previously get the new content in an update for free). The variety of bounties and story lines is excellent and some of the best you'll find anywhere in Starfield. All of them continue the trend of giving unique gear at the end. Two of them go even further with new player homes and one gives a new, quality ship. The stories explore several different types of criminals and scenarios that sometimes put your character in some uniquely challenging situations. I hope you go into them with as few spoilers as possible.

Simple Cloaks (Crimson Fleet) (PORT)

I just wasn't a fan of how this cloak was done or how it was implemented. First, it replaces a hat in the vanilla game, so you'll occasionally find NPCs in the game wearing this cloak when it doesn't make sense for them. For instance, this occurs with Aevi from Aevi's Aerospace. The cloak itself looks good from the back (like the screenshot), but it does not fit well when looking at any character's face while wearing it. I prefer the cloaks you get with Varuun X by zone79.

Crimson Fleet Outfitted

9/10
Crimson Fleet Outfitted

This is a great addition if you want the pirates to look more realistic on breathable worlds. Instead of constantly wearing their suits, they'll be wearing various clothing outfits. Combine this with the same mod author's enemy face variety mod and you're well on your way to having the needed diversity that would exist in the Fleet. I just wish their outfits were able to be snagged with immersive looting.

Enemy Face Variety

8/10
Enemy Face Variety

This is a great addition to any playthrough if you use any mod that takes helmets off more on breathable worlds. Bethesda clearly thought we'd never see the faces of some groups like Ecliptic, so they all look like the same 4 people. I highly recommend grabbing this small mod to add some much needed diversity there.

Project Viper - Covenant

9/10
Project Viper - Covenant

I started exploring the locations on Serpentis II last night, and I am now thoroughly impressed with the attention paid to making this new factions and their new POIs. So many nods to the Va'ruun faith in the decor and they just fit perfectly with the biomes. Just beware of the Apex enemy units. The smaller POI has 1 and the larger POI (the Logistics center) has 2-3 of them. My character was around level 40, and these Apex guys could one-shot me even on Very Easy difficulty. In fact, I had fun bringing in 20+ Crimson Fleet reinforcements to tackle these Apex guys. They have Starborn powers, so they are zapping all over the place and switching between melee and guns. The tense chaos was so much fun - especially in the cramp spaces they lurked. They were picking off my friendly units left and right. Even non-Apex units could overwhelm you at points since the guns this group carries can do some serious damage.

The Key - Captain's Quarter Furnished

This is one of the smallest homes you can get in the game, so any furnishings will be limited here. However, DownfallNemesis does well with the space. It all fits well with the theme, and I like the placement of the weapon bench and the mannequins. It's a nice touch being able to change the gender of the mannequins.

Defying Fire: Welcome To Arinya (Defying Fire pre-release)

Amazing work has gone into this truly unique location. It has great voice acting and personality to both its characters and the location itself. I love the history that has been crafted around the company-run mining "town" and how the locals have dealt with things. Highly recommend this one. The author has been posting about the planned expansions, with new cities on the same world, which I am excited to see.

Cedar Crest Villa

4/10
Cedar Crest Villa

For a home, it's rather barebones. There are swamp biomes on this world with better views than this location as well. There are better options out there - either from other free mods or just make your own outpost.

No Angry Companions

10/10
No Angry Companions

Simple and effective. Vanilla behavior from Constellation companions can be so confusing. They can become furious at you while simultaneously killing everyone in sight. Now you just get the killing rampage without all the judgy anger. Win-win for some :)

Better Piracy - Trade Authority Kiosk At The Key

Pretty straightforward mod, but it definitely helps with the grind as a pirate. I get why it wasn't added in the vanilla game. The fleet already dislikes a TA vendor being on The Key, so someone would have probably destroyed a kiosk in a drunken rage. For the player, however, it certainly makes selling off things a bit more convenient.