Ever wanted to become a space pirate? Well, here's your chance. Here's our guide on how to join the Crimson Fleet in Starfield, as well as how to start its questline.

Starfield Guide – How To Join The Crimson Fleet

Starfield Crimson Fleet Questline

To start the Crimson Fleet questline, you will have to make some progress in the game's main story. During “The Old Neighbourhood”, Sarah Morgan will bring you to the MAST building and introduce you to Commander John Tuala. He will invite you to join the UC Vanguard. Join it, then finish the entirety of the UC Vanguard questline. After finishing the Grunt Work quest (the second quest in the UC Vanguard questline), Commander Tuala will tell you to head over to the UC Vigilance and talk to Commander Ikande. This will give you the quest “Deep Cover”, which starts off the Crimson Fleet Questline.

Alternatively, players can also commit a crime and get thrown in jail. This includes committing a crime in UC-owned territory (like New Atlantis or Cydonia), carrying contraband, or assaulting someone (and holstering your weapon). Once the player commits the crime, instead of going to jail, the player will instead be dragged to the UC Vigilance for interrogation.

How to Join the Crimson Fleet

There are two options to join the Crimson Fleet. The first is by going to the UC Vigilance and accepting Commander Ikande's quest to become a double agent for the Crimson Fleet. The second is available if you end up in jail. Ikande will show up in prison and give you an offer: join the UC SysDef in their plans against the Crimson Fleet or refuse. Accepting his offer will bring you to the UC Vigilance as usual. This path will take you down the path of becoming a double agent.

Rejecting his offer, on the other hand, will make the UC SysDef a permanent enemy. They will dump you in Cydonia afterward. Walk down the ramp, and a man named Sebastian Lynne will approach you. He will give you An Invite slate, pointing you towards the next objective.

Either way, you will have to prove yourself to become a member of the Crimson Fleet. This part of joining the fleet will go differently depending on which path you take. If you become part of Ikande's operation, you will first go to Cydonia with a shipment of Auroro, an illegal substance. Bring it to the Trade Authority, and she will point you to Adler Kemp in the Broken Spear. The Invite slate will also point you toward Adler Kemp, so this is where the two questlines merge.

Kemp will make you collect Karl Fielding's debt to him, which you must try to get as peacefully as possible. After doing so, Kemp will send you over to Naeva Mora, who is in orbit in Europa. She will send you on a quest to kill Austin Rake, a traitor to the Crimson Fleet. If you are under the UC SysDef, you will have options to end this peacefully. Otherwise, you will have to either kill everyone on Rake's ship or convince the crew to kill Rake themselves.

After carrying out the mission, you must return to Naeva, who will be under attack by Ecliptic mercenaries. Kill them all, and return to Naeva. She will then give you the coordinates to The Key, the home base of the Crimson Fleet. There, she will give you a guide to the space station, before bringing you to Delgado, the Fleet's leader. He will then officially invite you to the Fleet as a Rook, or newbie.

Crimson Fleet Rewards

The rewards for joining the Fleet will vary depending on your allegiance. If you joined the Fleet via the UC SysDef, you will have another mission happening alongside the Crimson Fleet questline. In this mission, called Burden of Proof, you will have to collect a total of twenty (20) slates containing evidence against the Crimson Fleet. Turning over these evidence slates will reward you with Credits and EXP. However, this option is not available if you joined the Fleet using the other method.

Additionally, you will have to decide at the end of the Crimson Fleet questline (Legacy's End) if you will side with the UC SysDef or the Crimson Fleet. If you join the Fleet via Commander Ikande, you will receive the choice to pick between the two. Otherwise, you are forced to take the side of the Crimson Fleet. Your final reward will change depending on who you side with.

If you side with the UC SysDef and help in taking down the Crimson Fleet, you will receive the following rewards:

  • 250,000 Credits
  • Access to the UC SysDef Mission Board
  • SysDef Formal Uniform
  • Access to the UC Vigilante
  • Delgado's Outfit, Spacesuit, and Unique Gun
    • Only available if you decide to kill Delgado
  • Enemy of the Crimson Fleet
    • You will no longer be able to access the Crimson Fleet Mission Board, start quests with them, have Mathis as your crew member, and more.
  • Your companions will likely approve of this decision

If, instead, you side with the Fleet and decide to take down Commander Ikande, you will receive the following rewards:

  • 250,000 Credits
  • The Crimson Fleet is no longer hostile to the player
  • Access to Crimson Fleet side quests, Mission Board, and The Key
  • Mathis can become a Crew Member (but only if he didn't get kicked out of the Fleet)
  • The UC Vigilance will no longer be available for access
  • Your companions will likely disapprove of your decision

That's all the information we have about how to join the Crimson Fleet in Starfield, and how to start its questline. Starfield is available on Xbox Series X|S and PC now. Check out our gaming news articles for the latest in gaming news.