Starfield: Comprehensive Guide to the Bounty System
Starfield presents a vast open world where you have the freedom to pursue whatever your heart desires. However, there are certain mechanisms in place ...
Claire Jackson
Sept 01, 2023
Starfield presents a vast open world where you have the freedom to pursue whatever your heart desires. However, there are certain mechanisms in place to monitor your actions, and the bounty system is one of them. Whenever you violate specific laws or disregard the rules of a faction, a certain bounty is attributed to you.
Anyone belonging to this faction will become hostile towards you and attack upon making eye contact. This significantly restricts your freedom of movement and prevents you from visiting half of the solar systems if you cross paths with the wrong individuals. Fortunately, there is a simple way to clear this bounty.
How The Bounty System Works
Starfield features multiple factions, but the two primary factions where you can acquire a bounty are the Freestar Collective and the UC Vanguard. These factions control the majority of civilized solar systems. When you click on a specific solar system, you can see in the top right corner who controls it.
If you get caught stealing, attacking an NPC, or carrying illegal items in your inventory, a specific bounty will be assigned to your character. It's important to note that your bounty does not transfer between different factions. You can increase your bounty by causing chaos within one faction while still being in good standing in the solar systems controlled by the other faction.
When you click on a faction's solar system, you can see your current bounty displayed under their name in the top right corner.
If you flee from the area where you acquired the bounty and later wish to return, the faction's guards and ships will immediately become hostile towards you. Fortunately, there are several ways to get rid of your bounty, although most of them require some amount of money.
How To Remove Your Bounty
You have several options to get rid of your bounty, and the choice depends on your financial situation and inventory. The easiest way to clear it is to immediately speak with a nearby guard upon receiving the bounty. As long as you don't initiate hostility, the guards will not shoot at you right away.
The guard gives you three options:
- Pay the Bounty money and get your stolen items confiscated including any Contraband in your inventory.
- Serve some time in Prison and get your stolen items confiscated.
- Refuse to cooperate and start a fight where every guard and NPC with a weapon will start attacking you.
If you have already initiated a confrontation by attacking one of the guards, you can simply holster your weapon, and they will stop shooting.
You can holster your weapon by holding down the reload button, but this can only be done once during each confrontation.
The second method to get rid of your bounty is to look for self-service bounty clearance terminals. These can be found right next to mission boards in various bars worldwide, but they are most commonly found in bars near a spaceport. The easiest places to find the terminal in each faction are as follows:
UC Vanguard |
Head over to Jemison City and go left as you get into the main city to find a bar called The Viewport. You can find the board to the left inside this bar. |
|---|---|
Freestar Collective |
Head over to Neon City and you'll find a hotel just beside the Reliant Medical shop. The hotel has a bright board, which makes it hard to miss. You'll find the Clearance board inside. |
Make sure to use the terminal in the faction where you don't have a bounty, so that you won't be shot at on your way there.
Lastly, you can always revert to a previous save file if you want to remove your bounty without having to pay anything. However, note that there is an additional cost if you choose to remove your bounty through the self-service terminal. In return, you get to keep all of your items.