Navigating the expansive universe of Starfield requires mastering its fast-travel mechanics, which is different from older Bethesda titles. Typically, Bethesda’s games offer vast landscapes where fast travel feels optional, but in a game like the upcoming space RPG, fast travel is integral. You’ll find yourself often relying on it to jump between disconnected locations, particularly when it comes to quests or simply exploring.
Your initiation into the world of fast travel in Starfield starts early. Right after creating your character and completed an initial flying tutorial, you’re on your way. It formally kicks in once you need to do a mission on a planet called Kreet. The game gives you the keys to the universe, so to speak, with two categories of fast travel: a local planet and star system grav jumps. More options become available once you set foot in New Atlantis, the capital of Jemison in the Alpha Centauri system.
On a planet or moon, initiating fast travel is straightforward. Open the menu, select the map in the upper-left corner, and voila! You can choose your destination from the points of interest, landing zones, or even your ship. Of course, fast travel doesn’t work if you’re over-encumbered – this should be familiar for those who liked having Lydia around in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to be your glorified pack mule – in combat or inside specific facilities like caves within bases. It’s not a cure-all for navigation, and you’ll have to keep in mind certain restrictions based on your current status. Each item in your inventory has a mass, and if you cross the limit, you’re grounded until you lighten the load. Fortunately, the game has a Weightlifting Skill that, when upgraded, lets you carry more.
Things get a bit more complicated when you’re dealing with grav jumps to other star systems. Your ship’s fuel and grav drive come into play, and you have to allocate power to different ship systems, often diverting it from shields and/or weapons to make sure you get enough ‘umph’ for the jump. The more power allocated to the grav drive, the less time you’ll have to wait for the jump to initiate. You can make this adjustment even in combat, a feature that might just save your skin if you find yourself outgunned in the new star system. But note, you can’t just jump to any star system. You’ll need to have already discovered the specific path or node connected to it. Your fuel, measured in He3 Tanks, and the Jump Range of your Grav Drive, dictate your star-hopping capabilities. If you’re falling short, you might need multiple jumps, each affecting your overall fuel consumption. You can upgrade your ship or invest skill points in Astrodynamics to improve these stats and make your life easier.
With a massive galaxy serving as your playground, the game also incorporates a variety of ways to make the fast-travel experience more user-friendly.
For example, if you’re ever lost during a quest, the pause menu offers a “set course” option to take you to the relevant quest location instantly. Your scanner also becomes a handy tool, whether you’re on foot or piloting your ship. With a press of a button (F for PC users), you can locate your point of interest and jump directly to it without having to pull up your map. Moreover, for Xbox controller users, buttons like X and Y have been utilized to streamline this process even further.
Despite its importance, fast travel in Starfield does have its limitations. As previously mentioned, you can’t fast travel to places you haven’t yet discovered. This rule applies to everything from city districts to planets and star systems. In an unvisited star system, for instance, the star map marks them in red, indicating your inability to jump there directly. But even these restrictions have workarounds, like stopping at closer planets to refuel or expand your travel radius.
Overall, Starfield offers a layered yet intuitive fast-travel system, complete with a smattering of restrictions and a good dose of player choice.
Whether you’re popping from one district to another on New Atlantis or making a grav jump from Alpha Centauri to a yet-undiscovered star system, you’ll find the journey often as engaging as the destination.
As you go about your cosmic adventures, remember, the galaxy is not just vast; it’s also remarkably accessible, if you know how to navigate it.
