The shipbuilder in Starfield offers complete customization for the exterior of your ship, to the extent that players are able to create near-perfect replicas of famous ships from various media. Surprisingly, the ability to customize the interior of your ship is basically nonexistent. This means that adding or changing workbenches/crafting stations to your ship is quite tedious, but there is a way.
You can change the interior of your ship in Starfield, just not customize it. Instead, you are stuck with the choice of any of the pre-designed Habitat Modules from the Ship Builder menu. Different Habs have different interior aesthetics, benefits, and workbenches.
Starfield Ship Habitat Modules, explained
Your choice of Hab is the only thing that determines what workbenches/crafting stations you will have on board your ship. You’ll notice that the Frontier, the ship you receive during the tutorial, has a Research Station on it. This is not exclusive to the Frontier, but rather a feature of the Nova Galactic All-in-One Berth 2×1 A. The Research Station is not the only thing determined by this Hab—if you put this Hab on any other ship, the entire interior except for the cockpit will be identical to the Frontier.
Of course, Research Stations are not the only Crafting Station that can be added to your ship. Every different type (Spacesuit Workbenches, Weapon Workbenches, Industrial Workbenches, Pharmaceutical Stations, Cooking Stations, and Research Stations) can be added to your ship, you just have to pick the correct Habitat Module that offers whichever Station you’re after. Sounds simple enough, right? It would be if there were any way to preview Hab Modules before you purchase them. It’s bewildering, but there is no way. You have to go into this blind—hoping for the best while you waste your Credits guessing and checking until you find a Hab with the specifications you’re looking for.
How to add a Workbench to your ship in Starfield
Luckily for you, dear reader, I spent over an hour and 50,000 Credits trying to make my ship an all-in-one flying laboratory, which meant undertaking the incredibly frustrating process of checking every Hab until I found the ones I needed. Here is exactly how to get each Workbench on your ship by selecting the appropriate Hab Module in the Ship Builder Menu.
The fact that you cannot preview is nightmare fuel, but, Bethesda almost made up for it by including all Workbench types in one Hab Module. The Hab that you are looking for is a Workshop. Many different manufacturers make a Workshop Hab, and all of them are 2×1, meaning they’ll fit any ship that is flight-worthy. Here is the full list of Ship Habitat Modules that will add Workbenches to your ship in Starfield.
- Deimos Workshop 2×1
- Nova Galactic Workshop 2×1
- HopeTech Workshop 2×1
- Stroud Workshop 2×1
- Taiyo Workshop 2×1
Each one will add a Spacesuit Workbench, Weapon Workbench, and Industrial Workbench to your ship. The only difference is in aesthetics, with one exception. The Stroud Workshop also includes a Research Station, making it far and away the best choice of Workshop. The Stroud Workshop can be purchased/added to your ship by opening the Ship Builder with the Technician in Akila City or Neon City (it is not available from New Atlantis’ Technician).
How to add Crafting Stations to your ship in Starfield
The all-in-one convenience of the Workbenches isn’t available for Crafting Stations, unfortunately. There isn’t any Habitat Module that has a Cooking Station, Research Station, and a Pharmaceutical Station in one, but each can still be added separately.
How to add a Pharmaceutical Station to your ship
Pharmaceutical Stations can be found within the Science Lab Habitats and the Infirmary Habitats. Here is the full list of Habitat Modules that will add Pharmaceutical crafting to your ship:
- Deimos Infirmary 2×1
- Nova Galactic Infirmary 2×1
- HopeTech Infirmary 2×1
- Stroud infirmary 2×1
- Taiyo Infirmary 2×1
- Deimos Science Lab 2×1
- Nova Galactic Science Lab 2×1
- HopeTech Science Lab 2×1
- Stroud Science Lab 2×1
- Taiyo Science Lab 2×1
These Habs are all very easy to locate and offer only aesthetic differences. Between New Atlantis, Akila City, and Neon City, you can find each of these Habitat Modules. If aesthetics doesn’t matter to you, pop over to the most convenient city. If it does, simply choose the manufacturer whose design best matches your vision.
How to add a Cooking Station to your ship
If you ask me, there is no reason to do this, as Cooking Stations are weirdly isolated in Habs. That said, maybe you’ve got all the other Stations/Workbenches and your ship still has room for another Hab, or maybe you just like cooking. Whatever the case, Most All-In-Berth Habs have Cooking Stations, and most Living Quarters Habs have Cooking Stations. Here is the full list of Habs that add Cooking Stations to your ship:
- Deimos All-in-One Berth 2×1
- Nova Galactic All-in-One Berth 2×1 A (also has a Research Station)
- HopeTech All-in-One Berth 2×1
- Stroud All-in-One Berth 2×1 B
- Taiyo All-in-One Berth 2×1
- Taiyo All-in-One Berth 2×2
- Deimos All-in-One Berth 3×1
- Stroud All-in-One Berth 3×1
- Deimos Living Quarters 2×1
- Nova Galactic Living Quarters 2×1
- Stroud Living Quarters 2×1
- Taiyo Living Quarters 2×1
- Deimos Living Quarters 3×1
Why Cooking Stations are seemingly treated as the hottest commodity that a sacrifice must be made for is a mystery to me, but alas. Those are your options for having a Cooking Station on board your ship.
How to add a Research Station to your ship
If you want to know How to add a Research Station to your ship in Starfield, it’s one of the easier additions you can make. Like the Pharmaceutical Stations, Research Stations are included in each Infirmary and Science Lab module. Unlike the Pharmaceutical Stations, however, you can also find Research Stations in Workshop habs.
Here is the full list of ship habs that let you add a research station to your ship in Starfield.
- Deimos Infirmary 2×1
- Nova Galactic Infirmary 2×1
- HopeTech Infirmary 2×1
- Stroud infirmary 2×1
- Taiyo Infirmary 2×1
- Deimos Science Lab 2×1
- Nova Galactic Science Lab 2×1
- HopeTech Science Lab 2×1
- Stroud Science Lab 2×1
- Taiyo Science Lab 2×1
- Deimos Workshop 2×1
- Nova Galactic Workshop 2×1
- HopeTech Workshop 2×1
- Stroud Workshop 2×1
- Taiyo Workshop 2×1
- Nova Galactic All-in-One Berth 2×1 A
You’ll want to pick the Research Station ship hab that makes the most sense for you. If you find yourself doing a lot of Weapon or Spacesuit Crafting, a Workshop hab will place the Research Station right next to your Weapon and Spacesuit stations. Similarly, if you spend most of your time crafting healing items, you’ll want an Infirmary or Science Lab.
Why you need a Research Station on your ship
If you do any amount of crafting and weapon or spacesuit modding in Starfield, you’ll want a Research Station on your ship. To make anything you craft or mod more powerful or to access new crafting or modding options, you’ll have to regularly pour resources into a Research Station.
When you’re out exploring the cosmos, you can stumble upon various Workbenches pretty often. While Research Stations can be found in a similar way, they’re a bit rarer. Having a Research Station on your ship just eliminates any unnecessary traveling or wandering whenever you want to upgrade your crafting options.
The most efficient Hab Module design in Starfield
Personally, I simply run a Stroud Workshop 2×1, which grants all three Workbenches and a Research Station, as well as a Deimos Living Quarters 3×1 for pure aesthetics (it has a Cooking Station, but I couldn’t care less. Mostly, it has a yoga mat that Andreja will do push-ups on). So long as your ship includes the Stroud workshop, you’re running the best possible Hab design in Starfield.
