Space battles in Starfield are virtually inevitable. Some missions will require you to fight one or more battles against enemy ships, or you might be ambushed while simply exploring the Settled Systems. While these encounters can prove challenging at times, there are even greater threats lurking out there in space.

Some ships you can own may be so special that they can be thought of as legendary. But, those are not what the game itself refers to as “Legendary Ships.” These are actually massive battleships controlled by various hostile factions. Here are all of Starfield’s legendary ship encounters, ranked by difficulty.

3 Va’ruun Shroudbearer

Intimidating, But Nowhere Near Invincible

Of all the political factions in the Settled Systems, none are more secretive than House Va’ruun. So far, no player has been able to find their home territory. While this legendary ship’s name may suggest a connection to that secrecy, destroying it will still not reveal their home. The Va’ruun Shroudbearer is a level 45 battleship, and is accompanied by 3 level 14 Va’ruun Hymn class fighters. But while this may be the most intimidating legendary ship in appearance, its stats are pretty lame overall. The Shroudbearer has no shields of any kind. It has decently powerful lasers, but its remaining weapon systems are far weaker than anything that the other two legendary ships are packing.

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Without a shield, the easiest way to destroy the Va’ruun Shroudbearer is by stacking up ballistic weapons on your ship. Destroying the 3 smaller fighters first will make this legendary ship encounter much easier as well. But, don’t bother weakening any legendary ship in an attempt to board it. They simply cannot be boarded at all, and their special Class M reactors make them impossible for human players to pilot anyway.

Va’ruun Shroudbearer Stats

2 Spacer Scavenger Blattodea

Don’t Underestimate This Hunk Of Junk

Blattodea is the order of insects which contains cockroaches and termites. Many species of these are considered invasive and destructive pests, so it’s fitting that Spacers named their legendary ship after them. But don’t expect to be able to take this particular pest down quite so easily. Although the Blattodea is only level 35, its weapon systems pack a surprisingly powerful punch. It’s also significantly faster than it looks, making it difficult to stay out of reach while you take down its accompaniment of fighters. Those 3 are also diverse in style and skill: a level 10 Spacer Raven, level 14 Spacer Coyote, and level 18 Spacer Vulture. The Blattodea’s lethal particle beam cannons make it far more dangerous than the Shroudbearer.

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The Blattodea’s powerful ship weapons and variety of fighter craft can make it a challenge, but for some reason this legendary ship also possesses no shields. You just have to cut through its massive hull, making ballistic weapons very appealing here. Its reactor is also quite a bit smaller than the other ships. But this legendary ship is the only one that actually has loot in its cargo hold. So destroying it honestly feels even more satisfying than destroying the most powerful ship in Starfield.

Spacer Scavenger Blattodea Stats

1 Ecliptic Battleship Camulus

The Most Powerful Ship In The Settled Systems

Camulus was a Celtic war deity often associated with the Roman god Mars. Although clearly a force for violence, he was therefore also seen as a bringer of order rather than of purely destructive chaos. That’s supposedly the way of life for Ecliptic mercs: maintaining control through organized violence. In practice, though, they’re pretty much the same as Spacers or Va’runn Zealots. Comparing the Camulus to the other 2 legendary ships feels like a joke. Not only does it have a shield, but that shield is intensely powerful at over 4000 hit points. The Camulus also has more Hull points than the Shroudbearer and Blattodea combined. Its weapons damage rating is only slightly higher than the Blattodea, making it possible to survive the encounter. But taking it down is a serious chore even with the most advanced weapons. The 3 level 12 Ecliptic Stilettos that follow it around are like fleas next to the Battleship Camulus.

One of the best strategies for fighting particularly tough ships such as the Camulus is by adding turrets to your ship’s weapon systems. Particle beam turrets have especially long range, and their equal damage to both Hull and Shields makes them ideal for taking out weaker ships. Letting those handle the Camulus’ fighters can make the battle a bit easier. Using full-powered lasers on its shields, then shifting all power to ballistic guns against its hull, can also be quite effective.

Ecliptic Battleship Camulus Stats

How To Find Legendary Ships

One of the biggest challenges to fighting these war machines is simply finding them in the first place. There are only 3 legendary ship locations across the entire Settled Systems, and they appear in totally random places all the time. You’ll need to check the starmap in just about every system and look for the “Ship” icons.

Legendary ships only spawn at the icons that read “Ship” and not at “Sensor Contact” or “Hostile Activity.” While this can help narrow down the search, it may still take several hours just to find one legendary ship location. The 3 legendary ship events are dramatically outweighed by all the other randomized possibilities. So it’s a good idea to check every “Ship” icon you see. Once you find a legendary ship, that icon will turn into a star, and its text will change to the name of the specific ship.

Sometimes, Starfield’s legendary ships move to new star systems, and there seems to be no way to track this until you find them again. Once they move, they’ll keep the star icon at their new location. But, the text will change to “Hostile Activity” for some reason. Turning your difficulty up may increase your odds of finding a legendary ship location, but this constant movement still makes it extremely tough to pin down their locations.

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