How to Use Targeting Control Systems in Starfield (VATS)

You will encounter various space combat while exploring the universe in Starfield. Although your ship automatically has a target lock feature, you can increase your lethality by unlocking the Targeting Control Systems skill.

Starfield Targeting Control Systems Guide

You can activate the advanced targeting controls by spending a Skill Point on the Targeting Control Systems skill in the Tech category. There are four tiers you can unlock in this skill node:

• Rank One: Unlocks Ship Targeting Functionality.
• Rank Two: Reduces your lock-on time by 15 percent and target-locked ship’s attack speed by 25 percent.
• Rank Three: Reduces your lock-on time by 30 percent and increases your chance of critically hitting a target-locked ship by 10 percent.
• Rank Four: Reduces your lock-on time by 60 percent and deals 20 percent more damage to enemies while in targeting mode.

To activate the Targeting Control Systems, you need to fully lock on to an enemy ship and press the X button. Once you enter the targeting mode, you will zoom in on your opponent, and you can now manually target specific parts of the enemy’s ship. I recommend hitting ENG (Speed) or SHD (Barrier) systems to quickly take down your opponents.

Do note that your enemies can still hit you while you’re in the targeting mode. So, you may want to avoid using this feature when fighting several spaceships.

Now that you know how the Targeting Control Systems works, you can increase your understanding of Starfield space combat by reading our ship power allocation system guide. Although the game gives a tutorial when you first board The Frontier, it does not go in-depth about the function of each system. For example, you may want to allocate more power to LAS and BAL during combat to increase your damage.