Starfield companions list, crew members, and how to recruit them

Starfield is all about making friends — and immediately putting them in grave danger. On your adventures across the galaxy, you’ll come across a rogue’s gallery of potential companions and crew members.

The breadth of companions and crew members is one of the true delights of the Starfield, and means that everyone’s playthrough will have be a little bit different, depending on who’s rolling with whom.

In this Starfield guide, we’ll walk you through how the game’s companions work, how to recruit companions, the difference between crew members and companions, and how to recruit crew members.

How companions work in Starfield, and how many companions are there?

Companions in Starfield are characters who follow you around. They’ll automatically help you out in combat if you get into a scrape, and most companions will even hold onto some of your stuff if you need extra room in your inventory.

Different kinds of companions

Not all companions function the same way, so we’ve broken them up into four broad categories:

Constellation companions
Optional companions
Hireable companions
Crew members

We’ll break down how these companion types differ from each other below, and give you a few character examples.

How many companions are there in Starfield?

While we know there are more than 20 unique companions to pick from in Starfield, it’s not entirely clear what the exact number is. The galaxy is vast, after all, and filled with folks looking to make a quick buck or go on an adventure.

Can your companions permanently die?

Outside of one narrative exception, we have not seen a companion die permanently, however we have seen them go down in combat.

The deal here seems to be that companions can fall onto the ground semi-unconscious (they crawl around in a “down-but-not-out” state), and you can revive them. If combat ends, or enough time has lapsed, they can pick themselves back up.

But even if you shoot your own companion over and over (on accident or, uh, for science) you can’t permanently remove them from your game. The only way a companion can die is for that aforementioned narrative reason, which we’ll let you look up at your own risk.

Can you romance your companions?

You can romance some of your companions, yes! It seems that you can definitely romance the four Constellation members (outside of Vasco). The Polygon staff has only been able to personally confirm Andreja so far, but there are flirt options with the other three companions as well.

As for the rest of your crew, it’s not entirely clear — although we certainly encourage you to give it a shot with Mickey Caviar (yes, that’s a very real name for a possible party member) and report back in the comments.

Constellation companions

Starfield’s Constellation companions are the big five. These are fully fleshed out companions and, more than likely, are the ones you’re going to roll with for most of the game. You’ll gather all five of these team members over the course of the main story and they’ll have a lot to say about events in Starfield’s world if you decide to talk to them. (And you want to talk to them, otherwise they’ll constantly badger you to talk to them.)

Vasco

Vasco is your extremely cool robot companion, and is the first character you’ll go adventuring with during the “One Small Step” mission. He specializes in helping out on your ship.

Barrett

Barrett is the first member of Constellation you’ll meet, but you won’t be able to officially recruit him until the “Back to Vectera” mission, which early on in the campaign. He specializes in helping out on your ship.

Sarah Morgan

Sarah is the leader of Constellation, and she’ll be your first human companion when you meet her at the end of the “One Small Step” mission. She specializes in using laser weapons.

Andreja

Andreja is a Constellation member that you’ll meet during the “Into the Unknown” quest, when Vladimir sends you to look for her. She specializes in stealth.

Sam Coe

You’ll meet Sam Coe and his delightful daughter Cora during “The Empty Nest,” early on in Starfield’s main campaign. He specializes in rifles and having the same voice as Deus Ex: Huam Revolution’s Adam Jensen. (That last one isn’t on his character sheet, but it should be.)

Optional companions

Optional companions are fleshed-out characters who you can recruit as part of missions. You don’t need these characters to come with you, and they won’t factor into your story. But if you’re building up a network of outposts, you’ll want to staff it with these helpful folks.

It’s worth mentioning that these characters can also come with you as you adventure around space. They can even assist in combat. Just don’t expect them to respond to things happening in your quests the way the Constellation members do.

Here are just a few examples of optional companions, all of which you can encounter on the main quest:

Moara Otero

Moara is a character you’ll rescue during “The Old Neighborhood,” Starfield’s second mission. You can find him in the Broken Spear bar in Cydonia. He’ll join your crew if you ask him. He specializes in marksmanship and some ship weapon systems.

Lin

You can return to Supervisor Lin — your boss when you first start the game — during the “Back to Vectera” mission. She specializes in outpost management.

Heller

Heller is your absolute dumbass of a co-worker on Vectera, and Lin’s loyal sidekick. You can also recruit him during “Back to Vectera.” He specializes in being an outpost engineer.

Rafael

Rafael is a character you won’t meet until the “Entangled” mission, many hours into the main quest. If you choose to side with him (a decision that will make sense when you get there), he’ll say he needs a break but will eventually join you as an engineer if you ask.

Adoring Fan

The Adoring Fan is an optional “companion” you can only get if you take the Hero Worshipped trait when making your character. If you do, this absolute weirdo will follow you around and help you out — whether you want it or not. He specializes in stealth, scavenging, and carrying your stuff for you.

Hireable companions

Hireable companions are a little different than the story-based companions, and split the difference between an optional companion and a crew member (we’ll get to them in a bit).

You’ll need to recruit these companions from the local watering hole and pay them a heap of Credits via a one-time transaction (you can also talk most of them down from their asking price with Persuade). But once you’ve bought their loyalty, they’ll join your crew or outpost, and can even adventure alongside you and chat. Each of them have their own name and personality — some of which are easier to stomach than others.

We’ve found hireable companions at four local bars:

Astral Lounge, Neon
The Viewport, New Atlantis
The Hitching Post, Akila
Broken Spear, Cydonia

Mickey Caviar

Mickey Caviar is a chef and quite a character (with quite the haircut). You can find him in the Astral Lounge on Neon. He specializes in food and health skills. You can hire him for 9,000 Credits.

Rosie Tannehill

Rosie is a doctor. You can find her in The Hitching Post in Akila. She specializes in healing and health skills. You can recruit her for 12,000 Credits.

Omari Hassan

Omari Hassan is a spaceship engineer. You can find him in The Hitching Post in Akila. He specializes in your ship’s shield system and ship engineering. You can hire him for 16,500 Credits.

Gideon Aker

Gideon Aker is a missile guy. You can recruit him in The Viewport in New Atlantis. He specializes in running your ship’s weapon systems. You can hire him for 12,000 Credits.

Simeon Bankowski

Simeon Bankowski is a sniper. You can recruit him in The Viewport in New Atlantis. He specializes in dealing damage from afar with sharpshooting skills. You can hire him for 15,000 Credits.

Marika Boros

Marika Boros is a shotgun gunner. You can recruit her in The Viewport in New Atlantis. She specializes in all things bullets, including shotguns. You can hire her for 16,500 Credits.

Andromeda Kepler

Andromeda talks to the player in Starfield

Andromeda Kepler is an engineer. You can recruit her in the Broken Spear bar in Cydonia. She specializes in outpost engineering and piloting. You can hire her for 15,000 Credits.

Crew members

Crew members functional a bit differently than companions, as they are more of a set of skills than a personality — they don’t even have names. Crew members, like hireable companions, cost credits to recruit, and they can be very expensive depending on how many skills they have.

Like hireable companions, hiring crew is a one-time fee.

Where and how to hire crew

The player talks to an Outpost Management Specialist in Starfield

You can find crew members to hire in some of the game’s major hub cities — the same places you can find the named hireable companions. Neon, for example, has a host of goobers you can find in the Astral Lounge, over in the corner by the bar — each more expensive than the last. We’ve also found one or two at The Viewport in the New Atlantis Spaceport and Broken Spear in Cydonia.

Because these crew members are randomized, we can’t tell you where to find someone with a specific set of skills. Just keep your eyes peeled and your pocket flush with Credits for when you find that perfect employee.

Random crew member examples

The player talks to a potential crew mate in Starfield

You can tell someone is a potential crew member because they have a title that’s different from “citizen,” and because when you talk to them you can see their skills in the top right of your screen.

Here are some examples of crew members you can recruit in Starfield.

Defense System Specialist — Specializes in Ship Systems; 7,000 credits
Propulsion Specialist — Specializes in Piloting; 7,500 credits.
Missile Weapons Specialist — Specializes in Missile Weapon Systems; 6,000 Credits
Payload Specialist — Specializes in Payloads, 6,500

If you hire any of these people, they’ll join your crew roster like anyone else, and you can assign them to your ship or an outpost at your leisure.