Starfield’s a giant game set in space, so it’s only fitting that there are space police to keep your looting in check. Some items you come across like drugs and harvested organs will show a yellow symbol next to their name indicating that these are Contraband – as if that wasn’t obvious already – and if caught in your possession during a scan, the police force of that area will be on you in seconds. The end result then is either paying off a hefty fine and losing your goods, going to jail, or fighting to the death protecting them.
The upsides to hoarding Contraband in Starfield is that they sell well and usable items seem to give you cool benefits. Specific cities like Neon allow you to carry as much of them as you’d like, but if you want to take them into restricted areas, this guide on how to find, smuggle, and sell Contraband in Starfield will help you out.
Where To Find Contraband In Starfield
Since Contrabands are illegal goods, you won’t find them lying around in strictly governed areas such as New Atlantis or Cydonia. Neon is a city that allows Contraband within its territory, and if you’re in the area, the bartender in town sells a few Aurora you can use to slow down time, though you won’t be able to take the vial outside of city limits – at least not without a fight.
You’ll also find Contraband in enemy spaceships or while exploring the surface of different planets. Lock-picking chests is also a great way of getting your hands on them. They generally still are hard to get, but push past the first dozen hours of Starfield and you’ll have a bunch of them sitting in your inventory.
How To Smuggle Contraband In Starfield
Getting Contraband in Starfield is the easy part, it’s smuggling them that will make your nerves ache. Once you have Contraband, entering or exiting most of space will lead to getting you scanned by patrols.
The best way to avoid Contraband detection in Starfield is by installing scan jammers on your ship, and depending on the rarity and capability of the jammer, it’ll set you back anywhere from 2,000 to 20,000 space creds.
Adding Shielded Cargo Holds by customizing your ship is another great way of making scanners ineffective. Acquire the Deception skill on top of that, and your Contraband smuggling success rate will go up exponentially. Or if you’d like the easy way out, get yourself a cheap cargo hold or jammer and scum save till you succeed (we don’t judge here).
Where To Sell Contraband In Starfield
If you’ve made it past the dozens of guards, then hoorah, you’re now going to be living the high life. In order to sell Contraband in Starfield, you simply need to head over to the nearest Trade Authority booth. If you have yet to find any, then there’s one in the beginning of the game in New Atlantis on Jemison, and another in The Key in the Kryx system.
The Trade Authority will be more than happy to take the Contraband off your hands. You’ll get a handsome reward in return, and though it might be a little less than you expect at times, it’s still plenty to make your exploits till New Game Plus a whole lot easier,
