How to Dock With the Eye in Starfield

The Eye is an impressive space station (or star station as it’s called in the game) owned by the legendary space-exploring organization, Constellation. It makes for an awe-inspiring sight when you first encounter it. However, getting to the station and docking with The Eye are separate matters entirely.

Because the game’s systems don’t explain docking procedures very well, you may be trying to dock with The Eye multiple times before finally succeeding. This article will help you get it right and make all your landings smoother.

Docking With The Eye

The Eye is located in the Alpha Centauri system, close to the other Constellation base of operations on Jemison: the Lodge. Your first encounter with this star station will be the main story mission Into the Unknown. Docking with The Eye—or in fact docking with any vessel—can be difficult and confusing owing to the lack of interface prompts, leading many players to crash their ship on the first few attempts.

However, docking with The Eye is a simple procedure, as long as you know the correct order of actions. Here are the steps to follow:

1. To navigate to The Eye, open the Starmap from the menu.
   
2. Navigate to the Alpha Centauri System. The Eye will be to the side of the planet Jemison. Hover your cursor over the station and press E (PC) or A (Xbox) to travel there.
   
3. You will travel to the outskirts of Jemison, moving towards the Eye. Keep flying straight.
   
4. Enable your ship’s targeting mode by pressing E or A again. It should pick up the station.
   
5. You’ll need to get in range of The Eye before docking. Increase your flight speed by pressing LShift (PC) or the left stick down (Xbox).
   
6. Once within 500 meters of the station (watch the distance counter in your targeting reticle), you’ll see the option to dock with or hail The Eye. Press and hold R (PC) or X (Xbox) to dock.
   
7. After a brief cutscene, you’ll have the option of boarding, undocking, or getting up and walking around your ship.
   

If the option to dock with The Eye isn’t appearing, you need to first make sure that the station is on your reticle. If you’re currently targeting some other object, you can cycle quickly by pressing the E key on your PC or the A button on your controller. If you keep The Eye in the middle of your reticle, it’ll be targeted automatically. Aim for the blue interface diamond that’ll appear in the center of the station and the menu should pop up.

Once you’ve docked with your ship, you can board the station directly or access it by walking to your ship’s airlock.

Undocking From The Eye

With your business concluded you’ll need to undock with The Eye before you leave. Importantly, you can’t fast-travel while docked to any ship or station in the game. You’ll need to return to the pilot’s seat before you can undock your ship. Once there, press the Spacebar on the PC or Y button on the controller to undock.

Hailing Ships and Stations

Hailing is a good way to find out more about a ship or station, and a precursor to a friendly boarding. When targeting a ship or within 500 meters of it, you’ll see the Hail button appear, sometimes next to the Dock button. To hail a ship:

1. Hover the reticle over the ship and press E on your keyboard or A on your controller to target it.
   
2. Once within range, press and hold F (PC) or A (Xbox) to hail the ship. A voice will tell you a little more about the ship and whether it’s friendly, hostile, or abandoned.
   

A simple hail may be all you need to access docking at a station. Some hailed ships may also offer you the ability to trade with them. After a successful hail, a dialogue box will appear. Choose the Let’s Trade option, and you’ll be taken to the trading window.

If you’re allied with the pirates of the Crimson Fleet, or have a bounty on your head by the faction of the ship you’re hailing, they’ll want nothing to do with you. If you press the matter, you’ll find yourself having to board the ship by force.

Boarding a Hostile Ship

Constellation isn’t going to object to you boarding their vessel, but there are plenty of other factions and ships that will. If you’re trying to board a hostile ship in Starfield, there are a few things to do before you can safely dock:

• Make sure you have some skills invested in space combat. The Targeting Control System skill is essential to boarding hostile ships and will allow you to target different key systems.
• Destroy the ship’s engines to immobilize it. Cycle through the targets on your reticle until you find the engines. Keep firing until the ship grinds to a halt. Be careful, you can still be fired on.
• Make sure no other ships are around. If they attack your ship once docked, you could lose it for good.

Once you’ve immobilized the ship, you can board it when within 500 meters. The docking procedure will be the same as for The Eye. Once on board, have your companions and weapons at the ready. You’ll need to eliminate all hostiles on board.

When the dust has settled and all enemies are dead, you can explore and loot whatever you want from the ship. You can then leave the ship adrift in space by returning to your own ship, or commandeer it for your own roster.

For higher classes of ships, you’ll also need to have a high Piloting skill level to commandeer them. If you don’t, the ship’s systems will remain locked to you. Rank three will give you access to Class B ships, while rank four will make Class C ships available to you as well. You can advance in rank by destroying enough enemy ships.

To commandeer a ship, simply sit in the pilot’s seat in the cockpit and undock from your ship. The hijacked ship will become your new home ship, with all items and functions automatically transferred over. Your old ship will be added to your ship’s roster and you can always get back to it when visiting a Space Technician. You can have up to nine ships on your roster.

Finally, be aware that some commandeered ships may be carrying contraband, which could cause you to be fined or imprisoned when visiting planets in the Settled Systems. Pirate ships of the Crimson Fleet are regular carriers of illegal goods.

Ready to Dock

Docking, like many interface systems in Starfield, is not intuitive or well explained by the game itself. However, once you know how, you’ll be docking and undocking from ships and stations like a pro. So long as you remember how to target The Eye and at what range to start docking procedures, you shouldn’t have any problem visiting the Constellation members, waiting for you on board.

What is the hardest part about docking for you? Do you prefer a friendly or unfriendly approach when it comes to boarding? Let us know in the comments section below.