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Starfield Ship Battle In Space
Screenshot: Bethesda Game Studios

Why are my turrets not firing in Starfield?

There is no weapon more finicky than these.

Starfield turrets can be finicky, especially on ships. If you’ve equipped your ships with them and they’re not working, you may wonder why your turrets aren’t firing, but there are solutions. Below we’ll go over the most common issues, and then dive into how to fix them.

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Why don’t my turrets work in Starfield?

There are a number of reasons why your turrets won’t fire in Starfield. Here are the reasons why your turrets don’t work in Starfield:

  • Your target is out of range

  • Your ship design is keeping them from firing

  • Your target isn’t locked

  • A bug or glitch

The first three issues are more common than you’d think and are likely the cause of your issues.

Related: How to easily farm ships in Starfield

Make sure your target is in range of your turrets

A common reason auto turrets may not fire in Starfield is that the target is beyond the range of the turret. Turrets have a limited range, so if the target is too distant, the turrets can’t hit it. A ship can’t be shot from 1,000 meters away, so get closer and see if you keep having trouble hitting it.

Ensure your turret isn’t blocked by other ship parts

It is important to consider your ship’s design when it comes to the functionality of your autoturrets. A change in ship design or the acquisition of new turrets has proved helpful for some players. There are certain ship configurations that can block the view of turrets or prevent them from aiming properly.

turrets need targets to lock onto

Your autoturrets aren’t just an overpowered weapon you put on your ship, they need a target locked in. When in ship combat, you’ll notice that you’re incredibly inaccurate when you’re not locked onto an enemy, so why would you fire? turrets work the same way, they wait until an enemy is locked in to start firing at it.

Related: Best place to build a ship in Starfield

Starfield bugs

Bethesda games are well known for their bugs and glitches, and Starfield is no exception. When you have ruled out all of the above issues and your auto turrets still refuse to fire, it may be a game bug. It can be annoying, but if you have double-checked these issues, it is beyond the scope of in-game fixes.

How to fix turrets not firing in Starfield

There are a number of solutions and ways to make your autoturrets more reliable. Below are the best fixes for them not firing:

  • Level up your Automated Weapon Systems skill – This skill may need an upgrade to improve the speed and accuracy of your turrets.

  • Modify your ship’s design – Change the placement of your turret or see if another one may work better. The best ship designs tend to favor weapons further away from the body of the ship. Also, make sure your reactor is powerful enough to power your turret alongside your regular weapons.

  • Make sure to lock onto enemies – This takes time, so don’t assume Locking is the same as Locked On

  • Troubleshoot the game

Sometimes, issues are as temporary as your game session. Try exiting the game and restarting it after a brief period if you suspect a glitch is causing the problem. Worst case scenario, you may need to submit a bug report to Bethesda.

For more Starfield help, make sure to stay on PC Invasion.


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Aggy
Aggy has worked for multiple sites as a writer and editor, and has been a managing editor for sites that have millions of views a month. He's been the Lead of Social Content for a site garnering millions of views a month, and co owns multiple successful social media channels, including a Gaming news TikTok, and a Facebook Fortnite page with over 600k followers. His work includes Dot Esports, Pro Game Guides, Attack of the Fanboy, Try Hard Guides, Android Police, N4G, WePC, Sportskeeda, and GFinity Esports. He has also published two games under Tales and is currently working on one with Choice of Games. He has written and illustrated a number of books, including for children, and has a comic under his belt. He writes about Starfield and CS2 for PC Invasion, among other things.