While the name might be confusing, Starfield Shielded Cargo Holds offer no protection against attacks. Instead, they are used to hide the illicit and illegal contraband that you might be smuggling. Since Shielded Cargo Holds are a vital part of a smuggling ring, players can’t just buy a Shielded Cargo Hold at every other vendor. You actually need to jump through some hoops to get one. This guide will help you learn how to get a Shielded Cargo Hold for their ships in Starfield.
How to get Shielded Cargo Holds in Starfield
There are a few ways you can get your hands on a Shielded Cargo Hold in Starfield, each with varying degrees of difficulty and advantages.
Stealing a Ship
The easiest way to get a shielded cargo hold in Starfield is to get it from a stolen ship. To steal a ship, you need to dock with and board a ship and kill all the crew members to take control of the ship. Afterward, head to the Ship Services Technician to edit the design of the ship. This will allow you to rip apart the parts from the ship and use the Shielded Cargo Hold if it has one.
Not all ships will have shielded cargo holds. Most civilian ships have basic cargo holds and these won’t be any useful. You can check the ship’s stats in the pause menu as long as you are in the pilot’s seat.
The best way to guarantee that you get a shielded cargo hold is to target smuggler ships. Crimson Fleet is the best option, as the faction is already a smuggler faction in Starfield, and all their ships are equipped with excellent shielded cargo holds that you can use. Any hold with high capacity, both basic and shielded will be an excellent loot for your endeavors.
Buy Shielded Cargo Holds
Buying your own shielded cargo holds allows players to pick what specs they want in their hold, instead of depending on the mercy of Crimson Fleet smugglers.
However, this requires you to join the Crimson Fleet themselves. Once you are part of the faction, Crimson Fleet’s underground vendors can sell you Shielded Cargo Holds.
You can also find a Rare Parts dealer who might have a Shielded Cargo Hold up for sale. One Rare Parts dealer can be found in the Porrima System. Head to planet Porrima II and meet Lon Anderssen.
Lon Anderssen can be found in the Red Mile club on Porrima III. Here, head into the room directly opposite the entrance room. Lon Anderssen will sell you all the parts you need for your ship that are not available on the open market, and one of these is the Shielded Cargo Hold.
Advantages of Shielded Cargo Hold in Starfield
Even though these cargo holds are shielded, they provide no physical safety to the player’s ship or the cargo stored inside the shielded cargo hold. Additionally, the entire hold isn’t even shielded, only a selected portion of your cargo will be shielded, so why waste effort getting one?
Well, when you enter a new star system and reach the orbit of a planet, you will have to pass an inspection from the law enforcement of the star system. If you are trying to smuggle any contraband like Aurora, there is a chance that the scan might detect it. This will result in ships chasing you down and a bounty placed on you.
To avoid this scan, you can put the contraband you have within the shielded cargo hold. If your contraband is under the shield limit of your cargo hold, there is a 60% chance that the contraband will not be detected. You can safely smuggle contraband anywhere you like in your shielded cargo hold.
