You'll be visiting Starfield cities a lot as you play the game since they're some of the most important locations with unique shops, quest, characters, and more to find. There are settlements across the stars in Starfield, ranging from dusty outposts to luxury hotels and corporate-owned company towns, but major settlements like New Atlantis, Akila City, Neon, and the Key serve as central locations around which major aspects of the plot revolve. The main story will take you to these cities, but you could always visit them before that if you fancy exploring. I've found all the major cities in Starfield and have explained what they're all about below!
All Starfield cities and settlements you should visit
There are four main Starfield cities and some other, lesser settlements that we've listed below, including what you can expect and their locations.
- Major Cities
- New Atlantis (HQ for United Colonies and Constellation on Jemison, Alpha Centauri System)
- Akila City (HQ for the Freestar Rangers on Akila, Cheyenne System)
- Neon (HQ for Ryujin Industries on Volii Alpha, Volii System)
- The Key (Space Station HQ for the Crimson Fleet Pirates in orbit around Suvorov, Kryx System)
- Towns and Settlements worth visiting
- Cydonia (Shady mining town on Mars, Sol System)
- New Homestead (Museum-like settlement dedicated to humanity's past on Titan, Moon of Saturn, Sol System)
- Hopetown (Company town formed by starship-manufacturing corporation Hopetech on Polvo, Valo System)
- Gagarin Landing (Depressed manufacturing town on Gagarin, Alpha Centauri System)
- Paradiso (Large hotel on Porrima II, Porima System)
As you can see, the major cities each serve as your main point of contact for one of the major Starfield factions, though you can find representatives and members of those factions all across the galaxy - it's just that if you're planning on joining them and getting missions, you'll need to go to the locations marked above.
Beyond those there's further settlements that players can discover, certainly less extensive than the major cities in size, but spread all over the explorable planets. Starfield star systems with settlements in of any size are marked with a little white symbol of several rectangles (i.e., a little skyline), which you can use to home in on populated worlds.
With that in mind, we'll cover the four major cities you need to find out about below:
New Atlantis
- Faction(s): United Colonies, Constellation
- Planet: Jemison
- System: Alpha Centauri
New Atlantis is the headquarters for both Constellation, the main story faction of explorers, as well as the United Colonies. You'll come back here a lot over the course of the main plot, and you might notice that it's not just the biggest city in Starfield, it's the biggest city that Bethesda has put in any of the games at time of writing.
Things to do in New Atlantis: Aside from being a focal point for many major story quests in the Starfield Constellation questline, New Atlantis is also where you can sign up for the UC Vanguard, a faction of peacekeepers, and effectively become a space cop, if that's what appeals to you.
Akila City
- Faction(s): Freestar Collective
- Planet: Akila
- System: Cheyenne
Akila City is the home of the Freestar Collective faction, and represents the "space western" fantasy, a dusty settlement on the plains and the final frontier where individual liberty is prioritised. Historically the Freestar Collective and United Colonies have not gotten along, though there's seemingly a wary, arm's-length peace as players enter the game. Which is good, as Akila City is already busy trying to defend itself from the prehistoric predators that roam the planet, wolfy monsters called the Ashta.
Things to do in Akila City: The main draw of Akila City is the Freestar Rangers, a group of space cowboys that the players can join as part of the Starfield Freestar Collective questline in order to hunt pirates in space and on other worlds. There are also missions closer to home, dealing with the threat of the Ashta and working on both sides of the law.
Neon
- Faction(s): Ryujin Industries
- Planet: Volii Alpha
- System: Volii
Neon is in Freestar Collective space, but is really its own entity, a glitzy pleasure city run by the various corporations and industries that financed it - the main two being the Xenofresh Corporation (who initially built it as a big fishing platform) and Ryujin Industries, who since turned it into a proper settlement after the discovery of a drug called Aurora.
Things to do in Neon: Neon is Starfield's foray into cyberpunk, and players here can expect everything you'd associate with the genre and the idea of the "megacorporation". The main draw for players is probably Ryujin, who have their headquarters here and who players can join to start a career in industrial espionage - this is via the Starfield Ryujin questline, which features the Starfield Guilty Parties and Starfield Sabotage missions. There's also a broad array of shops and stores that are pointedly and notably not very regulated, so players with a lot of credits can burn them up on a variety of high-end or rare goods.
The Key
- Faction(s): Crimson Fleet Pirates
- Planet: Space Station in orbit around Suvorov
- System: Kryx
The Key is a former UC prison space station taken over by the Crimson Fleet Pirates that now acts as their headquarters, and serves as a good-sized settlement to trade, share tips and work out their nefarious plans. Unlike the other cities, they're not likely to welcome outsiders - if you want some help, check out our guide on how to join the Crimson Fleet Pirates in Starfield. Once they see you as a friend, they'll let you in.
Things to do in the Key: The Key serves as a place to gain missions from the pirates in the Starfield Crimson Fleet questline, whether you're there legitimately or as an undercover agent. It also serves as a means to gain rare ship components needed for Starfield contraband smuggling, as well as being where you can pawn any contraband or stolen goods you obtain along the way.
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