When it comes to building up your ship in Starfield, you’re presented with a lot of choices that’ll heavily impact how your ship functions. The shield you get can determine how long you’ll last in battle, the Cargo Hold will choose how much loot you may take from place to place, and don’t even get me started on weapon choice. All this time later, I’m still trying to work out what’s best there. One such ship part is less known about, but great for those going after some deliciously illegal goods. Here’s how to get a Scan Jammer on your ship in Starfield.
Where to Get a Scan Jammer in Starfield
To get a Scan Jammer in Starfield, you’ll either want tosteal a ship with one or purchase onefrom a Ship Services Technician. If you’re looking to steal one, then you’re at the mercy of RNG to determine whether the ship has a Scan Jammer. You’ll need to keep stealing ships and inspecting them to see if they have a Scan Jammer. From there, you’ll need to use that ship whenever you want to snag some contraband.
If stealing and searching 30 ships doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, then you’ll likely want to buy and install one. For this, two specific Ship Services Technicians will sell them. Depending on your situation, you can visitJazz aboard The Key. This requires progress in the Crimson Fleet storyline, along with certain conditions at the end of the mission line. If you don’t have access to that, then you’ll want to visitLon at the Red Mile. This can be found in the Porrima system, on the planet of Porrima III. Porrima is marked in the Star Chart, so it’s hard to miss.
Once you speak to either of them, select“I’d like to view and modify my ships.”. This will open up your ships, through which you’ll want to open the Ship Builder for that particular ship. Open the Add menu using the key listed in the bottom right, then navigate to the Equipment tab. This will bring up several Scan Jammers with each costing a different amount.
What Does a Scan Jammer Do?
With a Scan Jammer installed on your ship, you’ll heavilyincrease the chancesof passing through the scanners around Freestar/UC-controlled systems. This will only work if you also have a Shielded Cargo Hold installed, which can also be bought from either The Key or Red Mile. This enables you to sell your loot without these governments catching on and screwing you out of your supplies.
What’s the Difference Between Each Scan Jammer?
As you’re able to tell from the names and prices, there’s a difference between each Scan Jammer. These differences are as follows:
If it were me, I’d suggest getting the Multi-Frequency Scan Jammer over either of the others. There’s a bit of a premium, but given how small that premium is, the higher chance is more than worthwhile. Keep in mind that you’ll needRank 2 in Starship Designto purchase this one, so you might need to level some skills first. It can be found in the Tech skill tree.
How Else Can You Smuggle Contraband in Starfield?
If purchasing a Scan Jammer isn’t your thing, there are other ways to smuggle contraband in Starfield. Most notably, you can visitThe Den, located in the Wolf system. This is a station that won’t detect your contraband upon entering, and houses a Trade Authority rep more than willing to buy said contraband. Other than that, you have the Deception skill in the Social skill tree. The ranks for that skill are as follows:
If you’re looking for more help with contraband smuggling, check out our guide onhow to get a Shielded Cargo Hold in Starfield.
Shawn Robinson
Shawn is a freelance gaming journalist who’s been with Prima Games for a year and a half, writing mainly about FPS games and RPGs. He even brings several years of experience at other sites like The Nerd Stash to the table. While he doesn’t bring a fancy degree to the table, he brings immense attention to detail with his guides, reviews, and news, leveraging his decade and a half of gaming knowledge. If he isn’t writing about games, he’s likely getting zero kills in his favorite FPS or yelling at the game when it was 100% his fault that he died.
More Stories by Shawn Robinson
