Starfield – All Romance Options And Companions

Building your crew in Starfield transforms from a simple recruitment process into a strategic team-building exercise that directly impacts your gameplay effectiveness. Each character brings not just combat assistance but specialized expertise that enhances your ship operations, outpost development, and exploration capabilities.

You’ll encounter numerous potential crew members throughout the Settled Systems, each with distinct backgrounds, motivations, and skill sets that complement different playstyles. Understanding how to optimize your companion roster can mean the difference between struggling through challenges and dominating the galaxy.

Our comprehensive guide breaks down every aspect of Starfield’s companion system, from the four romance-capable main companions to specialized unique crew and generic hires.

The cornerstone of Starfield’s social system revolves around four deeply developed companions who feature extensive personal questlines, romance options, and meaningful character development arcs.

Sarah Morgan

• Recruitment mission: The Old Neighborhood
• Skills: Astrodynamics 4, Lasers 3, Leadership 2, and Botany 1
• Strategic Insight: Sarah excels as your diplomatic specialist, providing optimal outcomes in negotiation scenarios and enhancing your grav jump capabilities. Her leadership skills accelerate affinity gains with all crew members.
• Personality Alignment: She responds positively to honorable decisions and diplomatic resolutions, making her ideal for players favoring persuasion over violence.
• Related guide: Sarah romance and companion quest

The first companion that we romanced was Emily Blunt, sorry, Sarah Morgan.

Barrett

• Recruitment mission: Back to Vectera
• Skills: Starship Engineering 4, Particle Beam Weapon Systems 3, Robotics 2, Gastronomy 1
• Strategic Insight: Barrett becomes indispensable for players focusing on ship combat and maintenance, with his engineering expertise reducing repair times and enhancing weapon performance.
• Personality Alignment: He appreciates scientific curiosity and pragmatic solutions, though he’ll challenge outright cruelty or unnecessary violence.
• Related guide: Barrett romance and companion quest

You’ll need to rescue Barrett before he joins your squad.

Sam Coe

• Recruitment mission: The Empty Nest
• Skills: Piloting 4, Rifle Certification 3, Payloads 2, and Geology 1
• Strategic Insight: Sam’s piloting expertise makes him essential for players who prioritize ship maneuverability and cargo capacity optimization.
• Personality Alignment: As a family-oriented character, he values protecting innocents and honoring commitments, though his rebellious streak appreciates clever workarounds.
• Related guide: Sam romance and companion quest

Sam always has his daughter tagging along.

Andreja

• Recruitment mission: Into the Unknown
• Skills: Stealth 4, Particle Beams 3, Energy Weapon Systems 2, and Theft 1
• Strategic Insight: Andreja serves as the perfect stealth operative for players favoring subterfuge and tactical approaches over direct confrontation.
• Personality Alignment: Her mysterious nature means she appreciates discretion and practical survival decisions, though she’ll challenge needless brutality.
• Related guide: Andreja romance and companion quest

Andrea keeps her secrets close to heart.

Starfield’s romance system operates through a sophisticated affinity mechanic that tracks your compatibility with each companion based on your actions and dialogue choices throughout the game.

• Companions feature a dynamic approval system where specific actions generate positive or negative affinity changes. Making choices aligned with their values accelerates relationship progression significantly.
• To maximize affinity gains, prioritize acquiring the Leadership skill early, as it provides multiplicative bonuses to all positive affinity events.
• Critical Warning: Companions universally disapprove of murdering innocents, theft from allies, or betraying trusts. Repeated offenses can permanently damage relationships beyond repair.
• Affinity milestones trigger at specific thresholds (typically 100/200 affinity points), unlocking personal conversations where flirtation options become available.
• Relationship progression follows this pattern: Friendly conversations → Flirtation opportunities → Romance initiation → Commitment conversation → Marriage quest.
• Practical Benefit: Sleeping with your committed partner provides the “Emotional Security” buff, granting +15% XP gain for 24 in-game hours—a substantial advantage for character progression.
• Strategic Consideration: While the game suggests companions “don’t like to share,” strategic players report successfully managing multiple high-affinity relationships by carefully timing major story progression moments.
• Relationship Reset: If you need to end a romance, you can revert to friendship status, though rebuilding romance requires significant additional investment.
• Reality Check: Unlike recent RPGs like Baldur’s Gate 3, Starfield focuses on emotional connections rather than explicit romantic scenes.

For those who played Baldur’s Gate 3 recently, this is certainly not that type of game.

Vasco

• Recruitment mission: One Small Step
• Skills: Aneutronic Fusion 1, Shield Systems 2, and EM Weapon Systems 1
• Strategic Placement: Assign Vasco to ships requiring enhanced shield regeneration and emergency power distribution capabilities.

Adoring Fan

• Recruitment trait: Hero Worshiped
• Skills: Scavenging 1, Concealment 1, and Weightlifting 2
• Recruitment Insight: This character appears randomly in New Atlantis only if you selected the Hero Worshiped trait during character creation.

Marika

• Recruitment location: Viewport Bar in New Atlantis
• Skills: Shotgun Certification 1, Ballistics 2, and Particle Beam Weapon Systems 1
• Location Tip: Found consistently in the Viewport Bar near New Atlantis Spaceport.

Simeon

• Recruitment location: Viewport Bar in New Atlantis
• Skills: Sharpshooting 1, Sniper Certification 2, and Marksmanship 1
• Recruitment Efficiency: Since Simeon shares location with Marika, you can recruit both efficiently during a single New Atlantis visit.

Gideon

• Recruitment location: Viewport Bar in New Atlantis
• Skills: Ballistic Weapon Systems 2 and Missile Weapon Systems 2

Lin

• Recruitment mission: Back to Vectera
• Skills: Demolitions 1 and Outpost Management 3
• Critical Bug Warning: Multiple players report Lin disappearing permanently when assigned to outposts and switching home ships. Consider keeping her assigned to your primary vessel only.

Heller

• Recruitment mission: Back to Vectera
• Skills: Geology 1 and Outpost Engineering 3
• Bug Confirmation: Heller suffers the same disappearance bug as Lin when managed under similar conditions.

Rosie

• Recruitment location: Akila City bar
• Skills: Medicine 1 and Wellness 3
• Negotiation Strategy: Her 5,000 credit recruitment fee can be reduced to 2,500 credits with a successful Persuasion check.

Omari

• Recruitment location: Akila City bar
• Skills: Shield Systems 3 and Starship Engineering 1
• Financial Tip: Like Rosie, Omari’s fee can be negotiated down, making him cost-effective for players with limited credits.

Mickey

• Recruitment location: Neon bar
• Skills: Gastronomy 1, Wellness 2, and Incapacitation 1
• Value Assessment: Despite being described as a renowned chef, his Gastronomy 1 skill makes him questionable for players prioritizing optimization over completionism.

Rafael

• Recruitment mission: Entangled
• Skills: Outpost Engineering 1, Starship Engineering 2, and Outpost Management 1
• Timing Note: Rafael becomes available very late in the main storyline, making him primarily useful for endgame content or New Game Plus playthroughs.

Gallery

From left to right: Rosie and Omari can be recruited from the Akila bar; Lin and Heller bugged out for us during the campaign and in New Game Plus; This Fusion Systems Specialist NPC was chilling in Neon’s lounge.

Beyond the story-significant companions, Starfield features numerous generic crew members who provide focused expertise in specific technical areas. These specialists populate bars across major settlements including New Atlantis, Akila City, Neon, and Cydonia.

These NPCs typically carry job-specific titles like Fusion Systems Specialist or Outpost Security Chief, with their single skill directly corresponding to their designated role.

Recruitment Strategy: All generic crew require payment upfront, though successful Persuasion checks can reduce fees by 30-50%. Consider their specialized skills as solutions to specific gameplay challenges rather than general-purpose additions.

That covers everything about Starfield’s companion and crew systems. Since you’re building your team, you’ll want to understand the rival factions you’ll encounter throughout your journey.

Starfield offers an expansive universe to explore. For additional strategic guidance and advanced tactics, explore our comprehensive guides hub for detailed walkthroughs and optimization strategies.

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