The contraband business is a worthwhile sideline in Starfield if you don’t get caught. You can find out here on MeinMMO how you can successfully procure, hide and sell smuggled goods.
What is contraband? These are usually high-priced items that you can only get rid of at certain points of sale.
The problem: When approaching one of the civilized planets, you will often be scanned and the local law enforcement officers will be happy to take the smuggled goods from you – as a reward there is a bounty for you. By the way, while they’re at it, the cops will take away all the stolen goods.
You can find out how you can get smuggled goods past the controls and who takes the stuff from you here in the guide.
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Starfield: Contraband – Get, Hide, Sell
Where do you get contraband goods from? You can find her Starfield large contraband containers to collect the valuable goods. In addition, ships boarded by pirates and mercenaries are considered an excellent source.
The same applies as with stolen goods: Pay attention to the symbols on the right in the display field when picking up items. If you pick up something with a yellow symbol, you won’t get through the security scan if you don’t hide the goods.
How do you hide contraband? The basis for hiding contraband are “cargo shields”. If you have “cargo shields” installed, you can see the strength of these smuggling shields in the ship overview.
The higher the shield strength, the more illegal stuff you can transport. But beware: there is still a chance that the contraband will be discovered. The closer the bulk of the contraband comes to the strength of the “cargo shields”, the higher the risk of discovery.
This helps with smuggling:
“Cargo Shields” and “Scan Disruptors” are very rarely found at vendors. Capture or search ships that you didn’t destroy in battle and keep an eye out for the components.
By the way: It doesn’t help if you simply throw smuggled goods into your ship instead of stowing them properly. Then the stuff will definitely be detected by the scanners.
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How do you sell contraband? At a dealer or vending machine of the “Trade Control”. The “Trade Oversight” branding is hard to miss. They use a bright yellow to match the contraband:
You can find a Trade Oversight vendor in all major cities, such as Neon or Akila City. You can also look out for vending machines from friendly vendors at larger landing sites.
Smuggling can be very lucrative, but with a bit of bad luck it can quickly become expensive. Keep an eye out for cargo shields and scan jammers or you won’t be able to get rid of your bounty anytime soon.
However, a fast ship is always helpful: you can get one of the best spaceships in Starfield early, but you can easily miss it