Best ship weapons in Starfield

The best ship weapons for early and endgame combat.

Image credit: Eurogamer/Bethesda Softworks

Guide by Jessica Orr Senior Guides Writer

Published on Oct. 16, 2023

Having the best ship weapons in Starfield makes traversing any area of the starmap a breeze, taking out hostile ships sometimes without even having to shoot manually.

To help you out, we've detailed the best weapons for ships in Starfield below, which includes the best EM, Ballistic, Particle, Laser, and Missile ship weapons.

For more help understanding ships, we've also got pages on best ships, best ship Reactors, how to steal ships, and how to increase Crew Capacity.

On this page:

Explainers:

Ship weapons explained
Auto and Turret ship weapons explained

Best ship weapons:

Best Ballistics ship weapon
Best Laser ship weapons
Best Particle Beams ship weapons
Best Missiles ship weapons
Best EM ship weapons

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If you'd like more help in your galactic adventures, visit our Starfield guides, tips and tricks page.

Ship weapons in Starfield explained

The four most important things to note about ship weapons in Starfield are:

Increasing weapon power doesn't increase damage.
You can add multiple weapons to each ship weapon slot as long as they are the exact same.
Some of the best ship weapons are locked behind Skills and character level.
Assigning Companions and crew members with ship perks can help increase ship weapon damage.

Weapon Power

It may seem counter intuitive, but increasing the power of your selected weapon doesn't affect how much damage it does. Instead, it increases the recharge rate of that weapon type. This can help with your DPS during longer battles, but putting more power into weapons won't initially help at the start of a fight, or for shorter battles.

cropped view of the ship power metre — In this example, our missles recharge the slowest, and our lasers recharge the quickest. | Image credit: Eurogamer/Bethesda Softworks

Multiple Ship Weapons

Don't just settle for one Ballistic weapon, add as many as you can! No matter what ship weapon type (EM, Auto, Missiles etc.), as long as a ship weapon has the exact same name as the first one installed, you can continue to add the same weapon until you reach its maximum allocation for that particular weapon.

You can add the same weapon if you select an installed weapon while in the ship builder menu, then press 'Duplicate'.

ship builder view of placing many missile ship weapons on a dull green and maroon ship — Image credit: Eurogamer/Bethesda Softworks

For example, if you added the CE-19 Missile Launcher to a ship, you will be able to add a maximum of four CE-19 Missile Launchers. A missile with any other name would not be allowed on your ship. However, you would still be able to add other weapon types, such as the Reza 30 THz IR Pulse Laser, which has a maximum allocation of three.

So to get the best DPS out of your ship in this example, you would equip four CE-19 Missile Launchers and three Reza 30 THz IR Pulse Lasers.

Weapon Skills and character level

Not every ship weapon is available to you at the beginning of Starfield, as some are locked behind Skills and character levels. Unlocking certain Skills is also required to get the most damage potential out of the different weapon types.

Here are the relevant ship weapon Tech Skills required to unlock all ship weapons and their damage boosts:

Ballistic Weapon Systems (Tier 1)
Piloting (Tier 1)
Targeting Control Systems (Tier 1)
Energy Weapon Systems (Tier 2)
Missile Weapon Systems (Tier 3)
Particle Beam Weapon Systems (Tier 3)
Starship Design (Tier 3)
Automated Weapon Systems (Tier 4)
EM Weapon Systems (Tier 4)

skill tree menu with the ship desinger skill and its rank perks showing — Image credit: Eurogamer/Bethesda Softworks

Assigning Companions and crew members

Companions and crew members have their own Skills that can help you out with ship combat in tandem with your own ship Skills. So, make sure you assign people on your ship who actually benefit your ship's damage capabilities if you want to boost your DPS in a simple way.

Barrett in a space suit with his skills listed. — Image credit: Bethesda Softworks

Barrett is one of the best companions for your ship, as he has the Particle Beam Weapon Systems at Rank 3, and is an early recruit. Andreja, Gideon Aker, Jessamine Griffin, and Moara Otero are also beneficial to different types of ship weapons, so you might want to assign one or more of them to your ship as well.

Starfield Auto and Turret ship weapons explained

The "Auto" in a weapon's name actually stands for Automatic ammo. It's Turrets you're after if you want the type of ship weapons that fire automatically. Adding to the confusion, you can get Turrets that fire Automatic ammo, and they're called Auto Turrets.

In short, you don't need Auto Turrets to fire weapons automatically, you just need Turrets. For example, the Dragon 241P Pulse Laser Turret will fire automatically, as it's a Turret-type weapon that happens to fire Lasers.

cropped ship builder view of a turret ship weapon — This weapon fires automatically because it is a Turret. | Image credit: Eurogamer/Bethesda Softworks

Best Ballistics ship weapon in Starfield

The best Ballistic ship weapon in Starfield is the Vanguard Hellfire Autocannon. We would list alternatives, but it's got such a low unlock requirement there's really no reason why you shouldn't equip it other than personal style preferences and specific combat needs other than hull DPS.

Here are the Vanguard Hellfire Autocannon's stats:

Class: B
Hull Damage: 18
Shield Damage: 5
EM Damage: 0
Fire Rate: 7.50
Range: 800
Max equippable: 6
Character level unlock: 1
Skill unlock: Piloting (Rank 3)

The Vanguard Hellfire Autocannon is available from player Level 1 with the Piloting Tech Skill at Rank 3, but you need to do a few UC Vanguard missions before it becomes available at ship technicians. This doesn't take long when compared to how long unlocking Skills and upping character levels takes, however, so it's well worth doing to unlock this amazing Autocannon weapon early in your playthrough!

Just make sure to equip six of them on your ship to get the most damage out of the Vanguard Hellfire Autocannon.

ship builder view of a ballistics ship weapon — Image credit: Eurogamer/Bethesda Softworks

Best Laser ship weapons in Starfield

There are two Laser ship weapons we recommend, with one to use in the endgame, and one to use throughout your playthrough until you can unlock the very best Laser for your ship.

Reza 300 PHz SX Laser

The best Laser ship weapon in Starfield is the Reza 300 PHz SX Laser. Here are the Reza 300 PHz SX Laser's stats:

Class: C
Hull Damage: 19
Shield Damage: 63
EM Damage: 0
Fire Rate: 1.50
Range: 800
Max equippable: 3
Character level unlock: 36
Skill unlock: Piloting (Rank 4), and Starship Design (Rank 2)

Although it takes a while and a fair few Skill points to get access to it, the Reza 300 PHz SX Laser is more than worth it! There's also a Turret version available that automatically fires after you initiate combat, and as it can fire faster than you, the Turret version increases the DPS further. However, you need Ship Design at Rank 4 in order to get the Turret version.

Vanguard Starseeker Pulse Laser

As it takes a while to reach the requirements to unlock the Reza 300 PHz SX Laser, we recommend the Vanguard Starseeker Pulse Laser in the meantime.

Here are the Vanguard Starseeker Pulse Laser stats:

Class: C
Hull Damage: 8
Shield Damage: 21
EM Damage: 0
Fire Rate: 6.0
Range: 1,000
Max equippable: 3
Character level unlock: 1
Skill unlock: Piloting (Rank 4)

As this is a Vanguard ship weapon, you need to complete the first few missions in the UC Vanguard mission chain before it becomes available to purchase from ship technicians. Although there are marginally better Laser weapons available as you climb character levels, we don't really think they're worth the investment before you can get the Reza 300 PHz SX Laser and its Turret variant.

ship builder view of a laser ship weapon — Image credit: Eurogamer/Bethesda Softworks

Best Particle Beams ship weapon in Starfield

Just like Ballistics, there's only one Particle Beam you should be aiming to get, and that's the Vanguard Obliterator Autoprojector. Here are the Vanguard Obliterator Autoprojector's stats:

Class: A
Hull Damage: 11
Shield Damage: 11
EM Damage: 0
Fire Rate: 6.65
Range: 3,000
Max equippable: 6
Character level unlock: 1
Skill unlock: None.

The Vanguard Obliterator Autoprojector is arguably the best ship weapon in the whole game, as it has such a high DPS and such a low unlock requirement. All you have to do is complete the first few UC Vanguard missions and then you can head to a ship technician to buy up six of these for your ship.

While the PB-175 Auto Helion Beam has slightly better DPS at the start of the fight, the Obliterator Autoprojector outperforms it in every other way, so there's very little reason to swap it to another Particle Beam weapon when you unlock the Obliterator Autoprojector.

ship builder view of a particle beam ship weapon — Image credit: Eurogamer/Bethesda Softworks

Best Missiles ship weapons in Starfield

There are two Missile ship weapons we rank above the rest, with first one useful in the endgame, and the second to use throughout your travels until you can unlock the best Missile-type.

Atlatl 280C Missile Launcher

The best Missiles ship weapon in Starfield is the Atlatl 280C Missile Launcher. Here are the Atlatl 280C Missile Launcher's stats:

Class: C
Hull Damage: 264
Shield Damage: 264
EM Damage: 0
Fire Rate: 1.00
Range: 4,000
Max equippable: 3
Character level unlock: 43
Skill unlock: Piloting (Rank 4), and Starship Design (Rank 3)

Although we don't recommend using Missiles over other ship weapon types due to their poor DPS performance over time in a fight, the Atlatl 280C Missile Launcher is the best DPS you can get for both hull and shield damage from the initial burst of fire.

Atlatl 270C Missile Launcher

The next best Missile ship weapon is the Atlatl 270C Missile Launcher.

Here's the Atlatl 270C Missile Launcher stats:

Class: C
Hull Damage: 149
Shield Damage: 149
EM Damage: 0
Fire Rate: 1.00
Range: 4,000
Max equippable: 3
Character level unlock: 10
Skill unlock: Piloting (Rank 4)

For once, the Vanguard Missile type is not the best low-level ship weapon for your Missiles. By the time you reach Rank 4 in piloting, you'll be close to character Level 10, so it won't take too long to get your hands on the Atlatl 270C Missile Launcher. It's good enough to see you through until you can get the better 280C version.

ship builder view of a missile ship weapon — Image credit: Eurogamer/Bethesda Softworks

Best EM ship weapons in Starfield

For disabling ships, there are two EM ship weapons we recommend, with first being the best EM weapon overall, and the second being useful throughout your playthrough until you can unlock the best.

Nullifier 1750 Suppressor

The best EM ship weapon in Starfield is the Nullifier 1750 Suppressor. Here are the Nullifier 1750 Suppressor's stats:

Class: A
Hull Damage: 1
Shield Damage: 1
EM Damage: 48
Fire Rate: 1.50
Range: 800
Max equippable: 4
Character level unlock: 38
Skill unlock: Starship Design (Rank 3)

Em weapons are best for disabling a ship so you can board and steal the ship, or if you want to try and deal with a dispute in space as peacefully as possible. The Nullifier 1750 Suppressor lets you do this the quickest of all EM ship weapons in Starfield.