Starfield New Game Plus: Differences after the ending explained

There are all sorts of New Game Plus options around these days and you'll be glad to learn that there is indeed one in Bethesda's latest. It's one heck of an offering, too, but one that requires a lot of explaining.

Read on to find out everything there is to know about the Starfield New Game Plus mode.

Read more on Starfield:

• Starfield review - our final verdict
• Starfield tips and tricks - how to get started
• Starfield character creation - all your options explained
• How long is Starfield? The hours you'll need
• Will Starfield ever come to PS5? Developer comments
• Starfield cast - all voice actors
• Starfield companions - who to recruit
• Starfield soundtrack - how to listen
• Starfield storage guide - don't be overburdened
• Starfield FOV - change your point of view
• Starfield FPS - developers explain 30fps
• Starfield PC requirements - specs needed
• Starfield performance - potential fixes
• Starfield factions - all possible groups

Does Starfield have New Game Plus?

Yes, there is a Starfield New Game Plus mode! It isn’t called New Game Plus, but it is there and available to play through once you have completed the main missions and finished the story. Well, what you might have thought was the main story, anyway.

We don't want to give too many story details away but spoilers follow, unfortunately.

Once you have built the Unity, at the story's climax, you are given the choice to walk away from it and carry on in this universe (with everything you’ve earned up to that point remaining) or walk inside of it and begin again in a new universe.

If you opt to enter the Unity, you essentially start a New Game Plus run — you will carry over all your powers and perks and any progress you've made on research and your overall stats. You will also keep the Frontier ship, and you will unlock the Starborn Guardian 1 ship and Starborn Astra space suit.

You will lose everything else, including items such as digipicks, as the game essentially restarts – but you will be able to skip the entirety of the main quest on your second playthrough, and any future playthroughs, if you so desire.

Starfield New Game Plus differences: What can you do after the ending in Starfield?

After completing Starfield’s story and seeing its ending, you can choose to carry on from that point or enter another universe to begin again with a number of bonuses and differences in a New Game Plus mode.

If you choose to carry on in the original universe, you can finish off any side quests, visit any locations you haven't gotten around to yet, complete any unfinished temples, and polish off any relationships that you've been hoping to convert into romance.

Go down the New Game Plus route, however, and you can begin again with your current level, traits, skills, powers and the Frontier ship intact. You will lose everything else, however, but gain a selection of cool new things.

Here’s what you get in Starfield New Game Plus:

• Starborn Guardian ship - a great free ship
• Starborn Astra Spacesuit (full outfit)

In terms of Starfield New Game Plus differences, things get a little complicated. Spoilers follow, of course.

You can keep going through multiple New Game Plus runs in Starfield. Each time you do, you will get new rewards and changes to quests.

Each time you head through Unity and start a new run, your Starborn Guardian ship will upgrade through six models.

Likewise, your Starborn Astra Spacesuit will upgrade from its first iteration all the way through 10. Each new Starborn Astra Spacesuit will have random stats and have a new appearance and will replace the previous one.

You can't upgrade or change the Starborn ship or Spacesuit in any other way, making further New Game Plus runs looking a little more tempting.

Any power you've already collected will be upgraded when you collect it again from the relevant temple. There are no new temples, with 24 being available to find and complete in each playthrough.

The locations of each temple will change in a new playthrough, but their layouts will not.

Think of each New Game Plus run as going into a new alternate universe. In one run, the Constellation crew at the Lodge might all be normal, in another they will have been replaced with children, all killed by the Hunter, and more, including a Lodge full of different versions of your own character. It can get pretty wild.

The new Starborn dialogue option will alter the story and allow you to skip the majority of its missions, even unlocking a brand-new story mission: 'Among the Stars'.

If you do revisit the main story in a New Game Plus run, you'll now be able to avoid a companion being killed in 'High Price to Pay'. Look for the dialogue option, when the time is right, to move the artefacts out of the lodge.

Certainly, Bethesda has baked a lot of content into the New Game Plus portion of Starfield! It's time to get back out there...

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