How level up Starfield Piloting skill fast

Sinking skill points into the Starfield Piloting skill unlocks the ability to fly Class B and Class C ship, making it a must-have if you plan on decking out your ship with the best reactors, engines, weapons and so on in the game. But, the Piloting Skill’s unlock requirements make ticking through the ranks pretty tedious – you’ll need to hunt down and destroy a set number of ships for each tier.

We’ve figured out a way to level up the Piloting skill fast in Starfield, which we’ll walk you through below. If you haven’t already, read our Starfield review. We also have a break down of Starfield ship customisation and the Starfield Lair of the Mantis puzzle solution to help you get one of the best early game ships, the Razorleaf.

Trick to level up the Piloting skill fast in Starfield

To level up the Piloting skill, you’ll need to do the following:

• Rank 2 – destroy 5 ships
• Rank 3 – destroy 15 ships
• Rank 4 – destroy 30 ships

You can grav jump to systems in the hope of finding pirates and spacers to gun down, but it’s a long process. We’ve found a much faster and vastly more efficient way to destroy the required ships – the Vanguard Pilot Simulator.

You’ll find the sim in the Mast United Colonies headquarters building in the Mast district of New Atlantis, on Jemison in the Alpha Centauri System. Head inside the building, past the welcome desk, and into the elevator. Choose the Vanguard Pilot Simulator floor.

The simulation spawns a succession of enemy ships for you to gun down. They all count towards the destroyed ship requirement for the Starfield Piloting skill. No need to jump between systems in search of ships to fight or rack up expensive ship repairs. Rinse and repeat until, you’ve destroyed the required ships, ranking up as you go.

If you visit the UC building and the Vanguard Pilot Simulator floor isn’t available, you’ll need to progress the UC faction quest line. The specific quest to get through is called Supra Et Ultra. It involves signing up for the Vanguard, going through the recruitment hall, successfully completing a few tiers of the pilot sim, then swearing an oath.

There you have it, a quick, painless way to rank up the Starfield Piloting skill quickly. For more help in your journey across the Settled System, check our the best Starfield spacesuits, how to lock pick in Starfield, our Starfield outpost guide, and how to get the Starfield Almagest jackpot from Olympus.