Have you collected contraband in Starfield? The game gives you a lot of information but never quite tells you what contraband is and what to do with it. During some missions, you end up with contraband but it never seems to just present itself to you. If you want to be a true space pirate, you will want to collect all of the illegal goods and know how to get rid of them.
Space is a dangerous place and if you aren’t careful, you could wind up in a megaprison or simply get your ship destroyed with you inside it. If you want to be a true pirate and handle illicit goods, you will need to know how to get rid of them. Here is what to do with contraband in Starfield.
What is contraband in Starfield?
Simply put, contraband is goods that are illegal in the Settled Systems. Nearly every time you go around a planet, there will be a ship that comes by and scans you for illegal goods. At first, this can seemingly come out of nowhere since you won’t have access to contraband right away in the game.
If any contraband is detected on your ship, you will ultimately end up getting thrown in prison or outright killed in a space battle. If you get imprisoned, you will lose a bunch of credits as you either try to bribe your way out or pay off your bounty. You will also lose all of your contraband this way.
Fleeing from the authorities with your stolen goods will lead to a large bounty being placed on your head. When this happens, you will periodically get bounty hunters trying to chase you down.
How to get contraband in Starfield
Contraband comes in many types. Ultimately, in Starfield, you will get most of your stolen goods by stealing from others, pilfering homes and ships, or simply buying items on the black market. Mostly, you will find your contraband by going toe-to-toe with space pirates and bounty hunters.
While in a city, you can steal various items from homes or from the pockets of unsuspecting civilians. If you decide that you want to start stealing from others, it will be good to have the pickpocketing and stealth skills to make your life a little easier.
How smuggle contraband in Starfield
Now that you have collected all of this contraband, you need to sell it. Before this, you need to smuggle it onto a planet or get it to a Trade Authority ship. There are two methods of smuggling contraband in Starfield – a scan jammer or a shielded cargo hold. Both items can be attached to your ship for a nominal fee of course. You can get these parts added to your ship by talking to a ship engineer for the Crimson Fleet.
You can gain access to the Crimson fleet in a few ways. First, you can talk to a United Colonies SysDef member. The alternative route is to get thrown in jail and make a deal to infiltrate the Crimson Fleet.
After getting access to the Crimson Fleet, you will be able to speak with special ship engineers who can equip your ship with the items needed to smuggle contraband.
How to sell contraband in Starfield
Once you have your ship ready to transport these goods, you will need to sell them. This can be done by talking to the Trade Authority. They appear in a few places around the Settled Systems.
The first place you will likely discover this trade group is in The Well under New Atlantis. There are a few other areas around the Settled Systems. You can also sell your items at the Red Mile in Porrima on Porrima III.
