I'm a stand-up comic by night and write for HGG by day. Most of my gaming happens at an improvised desk at the Days Inn right outside whatever small town I'm in for the night.
Reviewed by Benjamin Barr
Crewmates in the 2023 Bethesda title Starfield are one kind of NPC you can recruit to your group of spacefaring adventurers. These particular NPCs boost the capabilities of your starship or help you with managing the “Outposts” in the game, providing passive benefits or active assistance in combat. They are also engaging and talkative personalities for you to interact with, albeit more limited than the more complex “companion” class of NPC’s that come with their unique questlines and opportunities for romance. Below, I’ll be giving an overview of some of the very best crewmates you can recruit, along with how to find them and how to make the most of their abilities.
#8 Gideon Aker
Gideon is a weapon specialist for spaceships, making him one of the best crew members to leave on board your spacefaring vessel. He’s great with both ballistic weapons and missile systems, letting both of them fire more often and do more damage when he’s assigned to the ship. This combination of specializations makes him a great crew member in the early game with the default ship loadout.
You get a chance to hire Gideon at a bar called The Viewpoint, which you’ll find rather quickly when you enter New Atlantis. His asking price is rather steep compared to other crewmates, but with a high enough persuasion you can bring him down from 16,500 credits to 8,250.
#7 Marika Boros
Marika is certified with a shotgun, making her one of the better close-range fighters from among the crew member class of companions. Additionally, she’s good with ballistic weapons and particle beam weapon systems, providing some bonuses to both of those weapon types aboard your ship. This makes her a great companion to watch your back directly early on, while moving onto the ship eventually.
Just like Gideon, Marika will also be available for hire at The Viewport in New Atlantis. Her fee of 13,000 can be reduced by 5,000 with some successful persuasion checks. A great early-game crew member, Marika will serve you well in all sorts of combat.
#6 Omari Hassan
Omari Hassan is a ship mechanic you can meet in Akila City at a bar called The Hitching Point. He seeks a better life for his family by following you into the stars in search of money and glory, specifically the 16,500 credits it costs to bring him on board. Omari is a specialist at keeping your shield systems up and running, with three points in shield systems and a single point in starship engineering.
His points in shield systems give your shields more hit points, and the amount of skill he has in this means it’s a very large improvement. Shields are very important for keeping your ship afloat, especially in the early game, saving you the massive expense of repairing your ship when you engage with pirates or mercenaries in the depths of space. Starship engineering, on the other hand, helps with repairing your ship more quickly when it inevitably takes damage in the lightning-quick dangers of space combat.
#5 Moara Otero
Moara is part of the United Colonies military called the Vanguard, and it shows in his combat capabilities. He’s an excellent marksman with two points in that skill, helping him to do more damage with non-automatic ballistic weaponry. This makes him an ideal crewmate for the more combat-oriented parts of the game, where you want your backup to be doing as much damage as possible while staying a safe distance away.
The second skill you’ll get from Moara is in EM weapons, some of the electromagnetic weapon systems in place aboard your ship. These help you do more damage and recharge your weapons more quickly, letting you rapidly take down more ships than you would otherwise be able to handle. You can meet Moara early in the game when his ship is hijacked by spacers. When you rescue him from this gnarly situation you can offer to let him join your crew.
#4 Andromeda Kepler
A versatile crewmate, Andromeda is helpful on board your ship or managing an outpost. Her points in aneutronic fusion and piloting will make your ship more effective with a higher power output and a quicker top speed, both of which are valuable attributes for all kinds of spacefaring situations. Additionally, Andromeda has some skills with Outpost Engineering, meaning when you assign her to watch over one of your deep space outposts, it will increase the rate of mineral extraction, making her one of the best crew members in the game for watching over your most expensive mining operations.
You can meet Andromeda Kepler at the Broken Spear bar in the underground mining colony of Cydonia on Mars. She will ask for 13,500 as her hiring price but you can talk her down with a successful persuasion check to a more reasonable fee of 6,750. While she isn’t a great choice to have around as a battlefield sidekick, Andromeda is one of the best crew members when it comes to the more passive benefits of having an extra hand around.
#3 Heller
Heller is one of the first characters you’ll meet in Starfield, one of your coworkers in the Argos mining facility that falls under attack by dangerous mercenaries in the early part of the game. He comes with points in Geology, a skill that lets your crewmates and companions give you rocks and minerals as gifts regularly. Heller’s best attribute though is that he is truly the best at watching over your outposts with the huge bonus he’ll give to their production.
Being one of the first characters you can meet, Heller is sociable and funny, making him an easy priority to get into your crew regardless of his abilities. During the Back to Vectera quest early in the game, you’ll get an opportunity to recruit Heller and rescue him from yet another difficult situation.
#2 Adoring Fan
The Adoring Fan is a reference to another Bethesda character from the Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, whereupon achieving a certain rank in the arena you’re rewarded with a wood elf companion that follows you around heaping praise on your every action. In Starfield you don’t have to go quite that far to get a groupie. The adoring fan will join you on your adventures if you pick the “Hero Worshipped” trait at character selection, appearing in New Atlantis after you visit Constellation for the first time. His appearance and lines are all references to the Oblivion character, and he’s even voiced by the same voice actor.
With his bonuses towards carry weight and scavenging, the adoring fan is a great pack mule to keep around until you can find a better companion, as well as just being generally easy to live with no matter what kind of decisions you want to make in the depths of space. That’s just an easy consequence of his obsession with you.
#1 Amelia Earheart
That’s right, the renowned pilot from Earth’s history is indeed an unlockable crewmate in Starfield, and just like the original timeline she’s one of the best pilots you can get behind the wheel in your ship. She also comes with two points of a rifle certification, letting you give her a strong, long-range gun to snipe your enemies and watch your back with added damage.
You can start the quest series to unlock Amelia as a companion by visiting the Charybdis system. Without giving too much away of one of Starfield’s best questlines, you’ll need to defeat some other historical figures before Amelia will be willing to leave the Crucible in Charybdis with you, but once you do you can recruit her for free. Just don’t let her fly the ship anywhere too far without you.
You must sign in to comment.
Don't have an account? Sign up here!