We don’t really need to use all the bars, they mostly there to allow for installation of things like better weapons/engines/shields or more of the same type of weapons/engines.
Which is what the better parts is all about, with some weapons/engines/shields requiring higher level reactors. While we need to upgrade our pilot perk to be able to fly ships with B or C class reactors as well.
Any ship can be upgraded to be anything, so yes. Basically it’s just a matter of upgrading the reactor. The bigger and better the reactor, the more power you have to designate to the bars.
edit: Although it should be noted that more powerful reactors generally take up more space, so you may have to do some rejigging to the rest of the Frontier to fit it in. Like move a cargo compartment or something. I don’t recall off the top of my head how the Frontier is laid out or how big its default reactor is.
I was lamenting how few derelict ships i was finding. Started a new modded playthrough and i have been getting a lot.
Its either blind luck, or might be seeded in some way.
I somehow missed this when it was first posted, but apparently two weeks ago they unveiled the winning design. It’s kinda cool looking, hopefully they’ll also release it in the game.
I think the frontier starts as a class A, my only real change was to make mine a class B so I could have a better shield and some changes to how far I can go and how much cargo room I had. I also changed up my weapons a bit. But it’s got the same basic layout as I liked that ship too.
Thanks for the information guys. I appreciate it.
I can fly those higher class ships as that skill is maxed out. I just started working on the skill that increases the ship’s range of flight and using less fuel. I need to put one more skill point into it to get halfway to maxed out but more importantly, I will have the points required to acquire a master skill where you can add a reactor bar for the first three levels and on the fourth level, add an additional two levels for a total of five. The reactor I have is the best one available on the list and has 20 bars. With the ability, it will increase to 25.
I’m trying to just “edit” the ship and keep upgrading it that way from the already preset list of engines and weapons, etc. as opposed to swapping out actual modules in the ship builder. Researching online, it seems that better reactors and whatnot become available later on when you’re higher level or perhaps when reaching a certain point in the main story. I don’t remember which.
Be careful if you bought the Tactical Pistol from the Creation shop. It breaks your audio.
I’m not that familiar with the upgrade route, but it seems to me the limiting factor when upgrading the reactor is your Starship Design level.
I just checked the ship mechanic in Akila, and the best reactor I can get via Upgrade on the Frontier is the Stellarator 380T, from the starting Stellarator 330T. They’re both A class.
So, from that it seems that not only are you limited to A class if you only use Upgrade, but you’re also limited to the model of reactor. Because the Frontier has a Stellarator reactor, that’s the upgrade path you’re locked in to.
The 380T Stellarator generates 26 bars of power, but if you go to the ship builder, you can get something like the B class 104DS Mag Inertial, which generates 39.
Best of all, the B class generators fit into the same slot as the A class, so no rejigging of the ship is necessary. And looks-wise, most B class look very similar to the A class, so you won’t even alter the appearance very much.
I know you don’t want to tinker too much, but just swapping out the generator for another one of the same size and shape is very simple.
Thanks for all that information. I will definitely look into swapping out the reactor. Getting a 39 bar reactor plus an extra 5 for the upgraded skill (eventually) will give me 44. Once I wrap up the Ryujin faction quest line today, I’ll look into the ship stuff because I want a stronger ship but don’t want to get rid of the Frontier. lol
Thanks again. 
The ship you get from the Freestar Rangers questline is a nice upgrade from the Frontier.
I still have that ship with the Frontier. Haven’t used it though. Holding onto it until I upgrade the Frontier more and will then sell it off. I’m going to upgrade the reactor like Astrakan mentioned and see how that goes. If it goes good, then I will just sell off the other ship I have from the Rangers quest line.
Two things to keep in mind:
Better reactors are heavier, so you’ll probably want to also upgrade the engines. Just using the Upgrade Ship functionality should be fine for that, no need to swap them out entirely. The upgraded White Dwarf engines on the Frontier are perfectly capable of moving a class B reactor.
I’ve already maxed out my Aneutronic Fusion skill, which is the one that give you more reactor power, so it’s possible the figures I gave you already include that boost. Not sure really if the specs when looking in the ship builder take skill level into account, or if that bonus is only visible once you’ve installed the parts.
Noted. Thanks.
Even if the skill is taken into account, I would basically have double the reactor bars that I have now at 20. Work the next two days but Thursday, I’ll be checking this all out before continuing the Ryujin quest line. Thanks. Will post Thursday or Friday once I upgrade the reactor.
Some guy has been posting Starfield comics to Reddit. Here’s his latest one, volume 17:
Here’s his Deviant Art page with the rest of them:
https://www.deviantart.com/olivierlepyrate/gallery/91014503/the-radiant-huntress-vol-1
Couldn’t find it posted here, but this is a pretty good reddit thread about the use of powers.
This one is a little newer an shows off a new use.
That reminds me of an idea I had playing one of the last Ryujin missions recently.
Light spoilers: it’s stealth heavy. I was finding the mission a bit confusing, so looked up guides. I found a Steam thread where many people voiced frustration with the mission: too obtuse, stealth system not good enough, confusing directions etc. it got me thinking.
Some said they attempted it with little stealth equipment/levels. Others, who had more success (though still some frustrations) did. It made me think Starfield has an interesting problem.
On the one hand, the game, like most Bethesda games, is so open you can do anything and everything. You can simultaneously be a pirate, a policeman, a trader, a smuggler, a deputy of one faction, a militiaman of its rival. It makes no sense from one perspective, but enables minimal friction in terms of letting the player explore and do what they want. The issue this breeds is that you can start a thread of quests, such as Ryujin, without, perhaps, being prepared for them. You can still finish it, but not in the way, perhaps, best suited to the mission designs.
On the other hand, the skill system is deceptively liberating, and there is a strong possibility in the use of buffs, specific gear, and powers. From silencing footsteps to having a stealth metre depicting light levels etc, to camouflage abilities, dash abilities, ‘see through walls’ style stuff.
The problem comes in letting the player meet a situation better suited to a specific skillset and gear/power use that they may not have, and the game doesn’t nudge you to explore that, and thus see the levels, systems and gameplay possibilities in the best light - they are there, and under appreciated, if anything. It’s a bit caught between two ends.
But as you said the game is very open, I remember doing the Ryujin missions originally without any stealth perks or powers and I thought that it was super fun finding the gaps to get through.
The powers and stealth perks really help, but everything was more than doable without them. One thing I want to try next time through is grabbing an item and throwing it across the room,just to see if the guards react to it like arrows in Skyrim.
I literally just finished the Ryujin faction quest line and while I love the story, characters, etc., I absolutely hated that every mission excluding one revolves around stealth. A quest later on was horrible so I agree with those who voiced their displeasure in it. What’s weird is that you would think that you would be able to perhaps change outfits (ala Hitman) to get through the location in order to accomplish the objectives but nope.
Oh well. Three faction quest lines done. Just have to do the Crimson Fleet which I did last September before all my save files were deleted after they were duplicated in-game. SMH.
Anyway, since I know how that one is, I rate the faction quests as follows -
I loved and enjoyed the first three completely in every aspect. Ryujin on the other hand was only for the story, characters, etc. which was really good and arguably better than the other three even though it wouldn’t be by much, it was the gameplay and the restrictions and forced requirements that I didn’t like at all.
Work tomorrow but come Sunday, I will get back to the main quest line as well as the Crimson Fleet. I’m getting to the end eventually in due time. lol
We can use clothes as a disgue in one of the Ryujin missions(maybe more don’t know), but we only have so much access after a certain point. Which is why we need to sneak in a get the access to move around like we belong, I think there is an explication on reddit.
One of the Crimson Fleet quest also let’s us do that, where we start as an intruder and after getting far enough we can dress in a military outfit and literally just fake our way to the objective and fly away.
You also need the stealth skill unlocked and possibly maxed out as well which I don’t have unlocked due to the fact that im playing Starfield as a first person shooter. Stealth and melee don’t exist in my play through unless required like the Ryujin missions. Either way, im glad I wrapped up that faction quest line. lol