In Starfield, there’s a substantial population of NPCs, and unintentionally offending any of them can lead most players to a frustrating trip back to the loading screen. This has been a major challenge for me during my time with Bethesda’s latest space adventure. Perhaps I’m a bit trigger-happy, but I’ve frequently found myself hitting the reload key when a stray shot accidentally hits an NPC or spaceship, triggering immediate hostility and a hefty bounty. Fortunately, a solution is on the horizon.
One significant leap into the world of the best Starfield mods, the “Simple Offense Suppression” mod created by ‘powerofthree,’ addresses one of the most vexing issues in Bethesda’s RPG game. While your friends and allies won’t turn hostile unless you persistently attack them, neutral characters or ships lack such restraint. It’s far too easy to accidentally make enemies with no way to resolve the situation other than engaging in a fight to the death, potentially disrupting related Starfield missions or forcing you to reload your game.
With the installation of the “Simple Offense Suppression” mod in Starfield, neutral NPCs and ships will be categorized as ‘friends’ solely for the purpose of determining their behavior when they are inadvertently hit by a stray shot. This means that attacks outside of combat will provoke hostility (after all, anyone might get upset if someone unprovokedly shoots them during a peaceful situation), but they can withstand several hits during combat without any negative consequences.
You can even adjust the number of hits they can tolerate if you find the default setting too lenient. Alternatively, there’s an option to label them as ‘allies.’ In this case, they will withstand a few friendly hits outside of combat and won’t react at all if you accidentally hit them during a firefight. This is particularly useful if you prefer less precise weapons in Starfield.
As is often the case, it’s the simplest mods that feel the most indispensable, and this one is no exception. Starfield has some aspects that break the immersion a bit, but none are as frustrating as unintentionally angering an entire town due to a single mistaken shot.
If you appreciate the convenience of having a protective buffer, you can obtain the Starfield “Simple Offense Suppression” mod from here, where you’ll also find installation and configuration instructions. Please note that you’ll need the Starfield Script Extender mod for this to work. If you plan on modding Starfield at all, this is likely a must-have if you don’t already have it.
Now that you can interact with NPCs without fear of causing offense, you can focus on building the best Starfield ships and assembling a complete crew by locating all Starfield companions.
If you’re still in search of more information, while a good Starfield wiki can be a valuable resource, our new Starfield Database offers daily news, searchable databanks, and interactive tools for a more comprehensive experience.