Summary
To anyone who has already put a lot of time intoStarfield, let’s be honest, Spacesuit Mods are so much less interesting than Weapon Mods. Weapon Mods can make guns fire explosive ammo, white-hot fire ammunition, EM-Damage bullets that stun enemies, and much more. Meanwhile, most Spacesuit Modifications simply increase one of the base stats of the Spacesuit.
RELATED:Starfield: The Best Unique Companions, Ranked
That said, out of all the Spacesuit Mods inStarfieldand across all 4 levels of crafting players will unlock (default and then Spacesuit Mods 1, 2, and 3), there are still a couple that have some pretty massive impacts on gameplay, so let’s go over the best of them out of the available 10 to choose from.
1x Cosmetic, 1x Fiber
N/A
First up is probably one of the least exciting Spacesuit Mods, but also one of the earliest ones that players will be able to build, Ballistic Shielding. Ballistic Shielding is simple, it just increases the Physical Resistance of the Spacesuit by a bit. The reason this is preferable over EM or Energy Shielding is simply because Physical Damage is what players will be taking more often, on average. Physical Damage includes damage from regular bullets, melee damage, and damage from explosions.
And, while players will find themselves up against enemies using laser weaponry or robots welding EM Damage implements, more often than not it’s going to be a good old-fashioned basic gunfight. Still, keep in mind that this Mod doesn’t increase the Physical Resistance by all that much, as onthe incredible 116 Resistance Mantis Spacesuitit only increased it by 9 points of DR.
4x Caelumite, 3x Adhesive, 1x Microsecond Regulator
Spacesuit Mods 3
Anyone who has raided a Crimson Fleet outpost or fought against a group of Ecliptic Mercenaries occupying some abandoned factory knows that as soon as one of them detects that the player is there, the whole group is alerted and will be pointing their guns at the player as soon as they enter the room. Frankly, the enemy AI inStarfieldhas some issues, and some fans have already put the work into address these issues with mods.
RELATED:Starfield: Easter Eggs To Other Bethesda Games
So while, at a glance, most players would assume this Mod is only useful for someone building more into a Stealth-based character, it’s actually pretty useful on just about anyone. The longer it takes for enemies to detect the player, the closer they can get without having to dodge, boost, and weave through an onslaught of gunfire, after all. And, once certain Powers are introduced a bit later in the story, this element of surprise can lead to even bigger advantages for the player.
2x Semimetal Wafer, 1x Positron Battery, 3x Titanium
Spacesuit Mods 2
Now this next recommendation is a bit ‘hyper-specific’. In all of the Fallout titles, there was always a sizeable subset of players who loved the idea of running around the wasteland swinging a melee weapon around instead of relying on guns. And, those people are finding this low-tech vs. high-tech prospect even more appealing inStarfieldsince they’ll be using knives to counter guns that shoot lasers. And to be honest, they’re right to be into that idea because the contrast is hilarious.
This is all to say that melee builds seem to be pretty popular inStarfield, and are actually pretty strong overall if built correctly. This Exo Servos Mod is an easy way to work towards that goal of making an overpowered melee build. In fact, with Ballistic Shielding in Slot 1, Optimized Servos in Slot 2, Exo Servos in Slot 3, and Gravitic Composites in Slot 4, players can easily approach enemies to swing at them without worrying about much of anything.
2x High-Tensile Spidroin, 2x Tungsten, 2x Adhesive, 1x Polymer
Heavy Shielding is, yes, just the better version of Ballistic Shielding. While this is another boring pick, being able to add a good chunk of Physical Resistance to just about any Spacesuit will have a pretty massive impact. That said, the fact that players will need to research Spacesuit Mods 3 before gaining access to this does feel like a bit much for a decent boost to general defense (not to mentionthe higher-tier resources it uses).
RELATED:Starfield: Every Faction, Ranked
However, this is a good time to start talking about the Slots of the Spacesuit upgrades. All Spacesuits have 4 Slots that players can Mod, with each Slot having, at most, a couple of different options. So, while in comparison to all the other Spacesuit Mods Heavy Shielding may have seemed just ‘alright’, when compared to Exo Servos which is a mod for a very specific type of build, it’s obviously the better option as a whole.
2x Positron Battery, 1x Microsecond Regulator
No matter the playstyle players eventually land on inStarfield, they’regoing to be running around a lot. Even if they’re a Space Pirate they’ll still be running a lot, if they’re focusing only on the campaign they’ll be running tons, and they’ll be running almost constantly if they’reinto Surveying and Scanning Planets.
There are a couple of different ways for players to make it a bit easier to run around.They can put Skill Points into Fitness, they can build around Gymnastics Final Rank speed buff after sliding, they can abuse thespeed buff from the Amp Aid item, or they add Mods onto their gear that make running easier. This is exactly what Optimized Servos do, as they noticeably reduce the amount of Oxygen used while running. And, the only other option for the second slot is Explosive Shielding, which is really only necessary for players who find themselves unable to run away from grenades or those who step on landmines pretty often.
2x Sealant, 1x Polytextile, 1x Adhesive
Last up, while Pocketed isn’t the best way for players to increase their carrying capacity overall, especially compared to the other option, which is Gravitic Composites, it does make sense to grab it given how aggressivelyStarfieldseems to push managing over encumbrance. Anyone familiar with any of Bethesda’s past titles knows that a large portion of the gameplay loop is scrouging around every room for goodies to use or sell after the mission is over.
However,Starfieldseems to have both increased the sheer volume of lootable items per room as well as reduced the amount of mass players can carry by default. So, again, long-time fans of Bethesda games have likely already experienced running around while over-encumbered numerous times in this game. Compared to every other method of increasing carrying capacity (Skills, food, apparel, etc…) Pocketed probably increases it the least with a meager 5kg buff, but something is always better than nothing.
Starfieldis available now for PC and Xbox Series X|S.
