All Starfield factions and how to join them
Militaristic, religious, or straight-up criminal. There's a faction for every type of Starfield player to join.
Starfield, much like any other Bethesda RPG, has a handful of factions for you to join. These varied factions might align with your character's interests, you might accidentally waltz into them, or you’ll maybe find yourself running into trouble with them. Either way, you shouldn’t neglect factions since they offer some of Starfield's most involved storylines and best quests.
You’ll run into new companions, more quests, and maybe even dabble in some crime as a result. If you do particularly well (or badly) you might even find yourself becoming a leader of some factions… Without further ado, here’s all factions in Starfield and how to join them.
All major factions in Starfield
First things first, yes, you can join every single faction in Starfield without a hitch. For example, joining up with the United Colonies will not get you in trouble with the Ryujin Industries, and so forth.
That said, some of the major factions do have conflicting interests, and you might find yourself in hot waters later down the line, or at the very least, you'll be facing multiple conflicts of interest. Bear this in mind.
There are multiple main factions in Starfield to choose from and even more minor ones, and you can join all of them if you wish. The major factions, which we’ll be dealing with in this guide, are as follows:
- Constellation
- United Colonies
- Crimson Fleet
- Freestar Collective
- Ryujin Industries
How to join all factions in Starfield
Now, let’s run through what each faction in Starfield is about, and how you can join them.
Constellation
Constellation is the first faction you’ll come across. This largely mythical group is made up of some unique characters that have one thing in common; discovery. They’re particular interested in the artifact you’ll have found during the introduction, and you’ll have no choice when it comes to joining them.
- How to join the Constellation faction
Following your first main quest, you will be advised to visit the Constellation at The Lodge on New Atlantis. Inside, you’ll meet the Constellation’s leader, Sarah Morgan, and following your conversation with her, you’ll be given ‘The Old Neighbourhood’ quest. Complete this, and you’ll be accepted as a new member of the Constellation.
Be sure to chat with all the members that are present for some interesting lore on how they came to join the Constellation, and some more general factoids about the faction you’ve just joined. Sarah Morgan can also be recruited as a companion, and you can later marry her if you wish.
United Colonies
United Colonies is another faction that you will encounter, and can join, very early on in Starfield if you’re sticking to your main quests. It’ll just so happen that Sarah, leader of the Constellation, will have a contact within the United Colonies that she needs us to speak to.
This particular faction is the largest military and political force in Starfield, and they’re a surefire way to toughen your character up.
- How to join the United Colonies Vanguard faction
To join them, you’ll want to speak to Tuala in the MAST District on New Atlantic about signing up with the UC Vanguard.
This will then kick off the ‘Supra Et Ultra’ quest, which will see you register for the Vanguard and complete some training to ensure that you are fit enough for the job.
Make your way to the Vanguard Orientation Hall and interact with the terminal. Agree to enlistment here, and then make your way through the Orientation Hall (which is super impressive) and into the Vanguard Pilot Simulator. You’ll need to board a ship, and will then be left to defeat as many Tiers of opponents as possible before the time runs out.
You’ll need to successfully defeat at least three Tiers of opponents to pass your initiation exam for the UC Vanguard. Once you complete it, speak with Commander Tuala in his office and go make your pledge. You’ll then be branded as a new, official member of the United Colonies.
That said, if you want to join the Crimson Fleet later as an informant for UC, you’ll want to complete the following UC quest you’re assigned - ‘Grunt Work’ - first.
Freestar Collective
The Freestar Collective in Starfield is made up of three Settlements. Unlike United Colonies, who focus on military and political feats, the Freestar Collective is only concerned about keeping the peace. They previously had conflict with the UC, known as the Colony War, but this has since been settled.
- How to join the Freestar Rangers faction
To join the Freestar Collective, you’ll need to pay a visit to the planet of Akila in the Cheyenne System. More specifically, you’ll want to head to Akila City.
Once you arrive, you’ll be informed by security that a nearby GalBank is being robbed and a hostage situation has turned awry in the process. This will kick off the ‘Job Gone Wrong’ quest that sees you help handle the criminals behind the robbery. You’ll need to speak to Daniel Blake and offer your help, then persuade the bank robbers to stand down. Speak with Daniel Blake again to be given 3000 Credits for your help.
Afterwards, you’ll be given the ‘Deputized’ quest, which will see you speaking to Ranger Emma Wilcox at the Rock, which is a bar in Akila City. Tell her you’re interested in joining the Freestar Rangers, and she’ll request that you go to a nearby terminal in the bar to pick up, and complete, one of the Freestar Ranger missions.
Do that and return to Emma afterwards, make your pledge to Daniel Blake, and you’ll finally be branded not just a member of the Freestar Collective, but a Deputy!
Crimson Fleet
The Crimson Fleet is one of the first major antagonist factions you’ll find in Starfield. This group is made up of space-faring Pirates, mainly, and as you might’ve already guessed - or discovered - their main priorities are stolen loot and contraband.
- How to join the Crimson Fleet faction
If you want to join the Crimson Fleet, there isn’t actually a way to just sign up with them unlike other factions. Instead, you’ll first need to have joined the UC Vanguard and completed your first quest with them as a member, ‘Grunt Work.’
Towards the end of the ‘Grunt Work’ quest, you’ll be told to return to Jemison and speak with Tuala again. While he’ll assign you the follow-up quest for ‘Grunt Work’ - ‘Delivering Devils’ - he will also say that UC SysDef needs help infiltrating the Crimson Fleet, kicking off the ‘Deep Cover’ quest.
This will see you meeting with Commander Ikande aboard the UC Vigilance, who will assign you to worm your way into the Crimson Fleet and gather information about them. You’ll then be sent off to Cydonia to speak with Saoirse Bowden and Adler Kemp, and will have to settle someone's debt for them.
Once that’s all done, the quest ‘Rook Meets King’ will begin, and you’re well on your way with infiltrating - and joining - the Crimson Fleet.
Ryujin Industries
Ryujin Industries is located in the city of Neon; a water-locked, cyberpunk-esque city that night dwellers will adore. These guys distribute technology all across the Settled Systems, and pride themselves in being a leader of technology since their conception.
- How to join the Ryujin Industries faction
To join the Ryujin Industries, you’ll likely hear some NPCs talking about job opportunities within the faction. Even if you don’t, you can head straight to a Ryujin Industries Kiosk (we found one near the Galbank on Jemison) to apply for a job with them.
Once you have submitted your job application for Ryujin Industries, you will kick off the ‘Back to the Grind’ quest. You’ll need to travel to the city of Neon on Volii Alpha in the Volii system to get to where Ryujin Industries is located. Once there, make your way to the Ryujin Tower to attend your job interview for the faction.
Imogene Salzo will interview you, asking some standard questions about why you want to work there and your experience. She clearly wants the process to be over as quickly as possible, so you’ll have no trouble at all winging this. Imogene will then send you to grab coffee for her, so chop-chop.
After a small altercation at the coffee shop, return to Imogene. She’ll promote you (nice) and then ask you to introduce yourself to the rest of Ryujin Industries, who are just in the next room. Return to talk with her following this, and ‘Back to the Grind’ will be completed, and you are a fresh new Ryujin Industries recruit.
Starfield minor factions
Starfield has more factions than those named above, but many of them are minor, unjoinable, or ones that we simply haven’t discovered too much about yet. These are as follows:
- Xenofresh Corporation - The manufacturer’s of space drug, Aurora, who are headquartered in the city of Neon.
- Ecliptic Mercenaries - A minor military faction that complete bounties and so forth.
- Spacers - Another minor military faction that is often more hostile than the Ecliptics.
- House of Va’ruun - A religious organisation who follow ‘The Great Serpent.’
- Enlightened - A religious organisation that values knowledge and science more so than a God.
- Sanctum Universum - A religious organisation in the pursuit of God.
- Red Mile - Described as “Takeshi’s Castle in space” by VG247 EiC, Dom. That’s all we’ll say for now.