10 Starfield mods you need to play now that the Creation Kit is out

People have been modding Starfield since day one, but the release of the Creation Kit has added a ton of variety to the available mods. 

PC gamers have a bit of an advantage in the world of modding, but here I’m going to focus on mods that are available to any Starfield player through the Creations platform, regardless of platform. There are some great paid mods available through Creations, but I’m specifically going to focus on free mods here so you can get in and start playing right away. 

Dark Universe: Crossfire

One of my biggest disappointments with Starfield at launch was the lack of things to do in space. The Dark Universe: Crossfire mod goes a long way toward fixing that problem by adding nearly a dozen new types of events that show up as POIs when you’re traveling between planets. This mod does warn you that it may cause some stability issues with your game, and I have gotten a few crashes in my travels since installing. That said, the added pirate fights, distress calls, and abandoned ships are worth the occasional restart to me. Your mileage may vary. 

Starshards

The Starshards mod is a simple and engaging way to speed up your skill progression. While exploring planets, you’ll occasionally see a shard fall to the ground. Collect three of the shards, and you’ll earn a skill point. Starfield’s May update gave us several ways to speed up leveling, but I still wanted more skill points and found this to be an excellent solution. 

Darkstar Manufacturing

There are a couple of different Darkstar mods, but so far Darkstar Manufacturing is my favorite. I didn’t do much crafting in my initial playthrough, but Darkstar adds a bevy of new crafting options and really overhauls the entire system. As an added bonus, the mod also makes some changes to the loot system, giving you even more motivation to get out there and explore some POIs. 

Non-lethal Framework

The shooting mechanics in Starfield are great, but sometimes I don’t want to end every encounter with a death – or twelve – on my hands. In the base game, you’re forced to either kill or run away from your enemies, but the Non-Lethal Framework mod gives you another option. The mod adds handcuffs to the game and gives you the option to detain enemies after hitting them with EM weapons or calming them down with the Diplomacy or Manipulation skills. 

Useful Brigs

If you’re planning on downloading the Non-Lethal Framework mod, then you should also make sure to grab Useful Brigs. The two work hand-in-hand to let you roleplay as an interstellar bounty hunter. This mod lets you take prisoners onto your ship, finally giving you an actual reason to add a brig via the ship builder. The mod also adds a couple of ways for you to hand prisoners over to various factions for some sweet, sweet credits. 

Galactic Pawn Shop

This is more of a quality of life mod than anything, but I really appreciate what Galactic Pawn Shop does. It’s not, unfortunately, an actual location in-game, but rather a small terminal that you can add to your ships, apartments, and outposts. The terminal lets you sell your stolen goods and contraband, plus you can pick up some random items at the same time. It’s a convenient way to offload your shadily-obtained goods before heading to a civilized world. 

Avontech Shipyards

For me, Starfield is almost two different games. There’s shipbuilding, and there’s everything else. The Avontech Shipyards mod adds new ship parts that bring some Star Wars and The Expanse vibes into the game. What’s even better is that the parts are available anywhere you choose to build your ship, so as soon as you get the mod installed you can dive right into construction. 

Place Doors Yourself 

Ship builders rejoice! Place Doors Yourself does exactly what it says on the box. The mod finally lets you move the doors around on your ship, but there is a caveat. Place Doors Yourself gives alternate versions for every hab in the game, and the alternates are the only habs that allow you to place doors wherever you want. You essentially need to rebuild your ship with the new habs to get this to work, but I’m not one to ever complain about more time in the shipbuilder.

Smarter Spacesuit Auto-Hide

This is another mod that does one simple thing, but Smarter Spacesuit Auto-Hide has been a real boon for my immersion. The base game has some ways to deal with the constant need to take off/put on your spacesuit, but this mod just automates the whole process and lets me focus on living my best spacefaring life. No need to worry about looking silly wearing a suit unnecessarily or accidentally asphyxiating by heading into vacuum without a helmet. 

Immersive Looting

The default loot system for Starfield was something that rubbed me the wrong way when I first started the game. I really wanted the ability to loot the weapons and armor that my enemies were using, and luckily the Immersive Looting mod now lets me do that. It also adds some immersive effects to bodies that you strip clean on the surface of harsh planets, which goes a long way toward making Starfield feel not just more realistic but also more dangerous.