For probably the most half, touring between star programs in Starfield is automated and also you’ll do it by the menu(s) utilizing your grav drive to grav bounce between programs. Generally, although, there’s one additional step.
Our Starfield grav drive information explains tips on how to energy up your grav drive for a grav bounce, plus a proof of what that pesky “grav drive pending” warning means, and a rundown of the grav drive’s limitations.
grav bounce
Your first go to to a brand new star system means choosing the star from the menu, leaping to the star system, choosing a planet (or moon) to go to, after which touchdown on that planet at a touchdown goal. When you’ve achieved all that, you may quick journey to that touchdown goal once more with lots much less work.
energy up your grav drive
Performing a grav bounce, although, requires you to have energy accessible in your grav drive. Whereas piloting your ship, you’ll see your energy distribution within the decrease left of your HUD. That is the way you’ll stability out energy to your weapons, shields, and engines throughout fight (through the use of the D-pad). It’s additionally the place you’ll assign energy to the grav drive.
What ‘grav bounce pending’ means
In case your grav drive is totally powered down and there’s no additional energy from the reactor accessible, you’ll get a warning in your display screen that claims “grav bounce pending.” This simply implies that you’ve picked out a vacation spot within the Starmap menu, however the grav drive doesn’t have energy. As quickly as you unlock energy and assign at the least one slot of juice to the grav drive, the countdown will begin and also you’ll bounce away.
The pace of that countdown is just not measured in seconds, thoughts you. It’s truly a measure of how a lot energy you may have assigned. In the event you solely have one notch allotted to the grav drive, it’ll tick down slowly. In the event you max it out, it’ll rely down shortly — useful data if you happen to’re making an attempt to grav bounce out of a firefight.
How far are you able to grav bounce?
There are a couple of limitations on how far your ship can grav bounce. Largely, you’ll see this as warning on the Starmap saying you may’t take the journey your plotting.
It’s by no means actually clear, although, tips on how to resolve the problem(s). The constraints are all interconnected, and contain three issues: the route, the grav drive bounce vary, and your gasoline.
Route
In the event you hover over a distant star within the Starmap, you’ll discover that the route it plots for you isn’t a straight line — it bounces between stars in shorter (grav) jumps that ultimately find yourself at your goal. However you may’t make any journey that jumps by a star system you haven’t visited earlier than and, if you happen to attempt, you’ll see an “Unexplored route” warning.
That is represented visually by sure legs of your journey turning purple (components you’re in a position to bounce are in white). Hint that purple a part of the road again to the place it stops being white, and that’s the primary system you haven’t visited but.
Grav drive bounce vary
The following, barely extra intuitive limitation comes out of your ship’s grav drive. How far your ship can bounce — its bounce vary — is the utmost distance between two stars (legs on that lengthy route) your ship can deal with. In the event you attempt to make a bounce that exceeds your bounce vary, you’ll see a “Out of vary” warning on the Starmap.
Your ship’s grav drive you may have determines the utmost that its vary will be, however the mass of your ship will scale back it. With the intention to enhance your bounce vary, you’ll should improve to a greater grav drive with the Ship Builder.
Gas
The final limitation is gasoline — and it’s a lot much less clear how this works. The route you are taking to get between programs is made up of smaller jumps by programs you’ve visited earlier than (see above). The utmost distance coated by every of these legs is decided by your grav drive’s bounce vary (above). The quantity of legs that make up any given journey is proscribed by your gasoline.
Every leg eats up a number of the gasoline, so your most gasoline limits the variety of jumps any given journey can contain. In the event you attempt to plot a route that makes use of extra gasoline than your ship can carry, you’ll get a “Out of gasoline vary” warning.
You’ll have to improve your gasoline tank(s) within the Ship Builder to take these actually lengthy journeys.