Who are the Starborn in Starfield? You’re likely searching this because you’ve heard about the Starborn through the grapevine, or you’ve just encountered them in-game and you want to know exactly who they are before you proceed. It’s safe to say they’re harboring secrets, but exactly who are they and what do they know?
There are plenty of Starfield factions, but the one nobody knew about before launch is the Starborn, who have very fancy looking Starfield ships indeed and can go invisible when in combat. But which of the many Starfield planets are they from, and what’s their deal? Here’s the lowdown on the Starfield Starborn faction.
Of course, it goes without saying that there are enormous spoilers for the main story of Starfield here, so tread carefully.
Starfield Starborn faction explained
The Starborn are people who have passed through The Unity, a power at the center of the universe created by The Creators. Passing through The Unity allows an individual to be reborn, and as you may be starting to put two and two together, is how Starfield new game plus works.
You’ll first encounter Starborn during the main story, when you finish the quest All That Money Can Buy and a ship called Helix approaches you in outer space, warning you to stop your hunt for the artifacts. After grav jumping away, the quest Starborn begins, which only involves chatting to various members of the Starfield Constellation faction back at the lodge.
The next quest, Further Into The Unknown, sees you encounter Starborn again, as every artifact you try to acquire has a Starborn appear and fight you. I’m not sure if this was scripted or random, but a Starborn ship also landed near the artifact on Procyon-B I, with five Starborn wandering around the landing site.
The Starborn are people who can essentially travel through the multiverse, and can create a new universe at will. You’ll run into some named Starborn eventually – in fact, you may have already encountered The Hunter, as he’s chilling out at the Viewport in New Atlantis right at the start of the game. Eventually, you’ll need to choose between The Hunter and Emissary, which determines how the end of the game goes and how you’ll tackle restarting the game with all your skills intact.
How to get Starborn ships and armor
When you kill a Starborn, their body disintegrates and you only receive quantum essence, so you cannot loot their body, nor can you access their ship, as the entrance says inaccessible if you try.
The easiest way to get both a Starborn ship and the Starborn armor/spacesuit is by entering new game plus via The Unity. You’ll wake up inside a Starborn ship, known as a Starborn Guardian, wearing a Starborn Spacesuit. Every time you start another new game plus, your Starborn Spacesuit will be upgraded, so you become even more powerful. There are 10 Starborn Spacesuits in total, from Starborn Spacesuit Astra to Starborn Spacesuit Venator.
When it comes to the Starborn Guardian ship, while it is immensely powerful, has an immensely fast top speed, and a cargo hold of 950, it cannot be modified or upgraded in any way. So it is technically possible to build a ship that is better than the Starborn Guardian, if you have enough Starfield credits.
That’s everything you need to know about the Starfield Starborn people and what they do in the game. For more, make sure you’re reading up on the Starfield endings and what they mean, along with the Starfield romance guide so you can choose who you want to woo for your next playthrough.
Still looking for more? While a good Starfield wiki can be a handy source of information, our new Starfield Database goes further, offering you daily news, searchable databanks, and even interactive tools.