Starfield players who are familiar with the Elder Scrolls series will be very familiar with guards shouting at you in Oblivion if you violate the law and you can expect something similar for surrendering in Starfield. However, there are a few important things to know about how it all works and this article will take you through how to surrender in Starfield including when you can and can’t do it.
Starfield Surrender System Explained | How to Surrender
It is indeed possible to surrender peacefully in Starfield but there are a few caveats to how the system works. It is not as simple as just “holster your weapon” as some people may say. If you have committed any small crime, i.e. stolen items then if you see a guard running at you, don’t run and most importantly do not fire. This is when you can Holster your weapon by holding X on Xbox or R on PC.
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If they approach you and a dialogue interaction ensues, you’re in the clear. They will tell you that you’re going with them to somewhere (the prison) and all you have to say back is something along the lines of “I’m Ready” at which point you will have surrendered peacefully. Whatever you do though, avoid choosing the dialogue option with “[attack]” as that is not a surrender.
How to Pay a Bounty in Starfield
If you have caused a bit more chaos such as killing a lot of innocent people or attacking guards, then you will not get the immediate option to surrender — your bounty will likely be too high and your happy character will suddenly be met with a barrage of gunfire. If the guards run up to you then definitely try to holster weapons again but there is no guarantee of a surrender. Instead, you will have to seek out a bounty kiosk and pay the fine there.
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If you are near a bounty kiosk in the location you are in then you can try and make a run for it to try and clear the bounty but the guards may be too close on your tail. Instead, I would suggest you travel to New Atlantis (if you aren’t already there) as there is a Bounty Kiosk very close to the fast travel point in the Viewport Bar and easy to reach. The kiosks just look like terminals in a cuboid-shaped box sitting at the side of walls.
Once you have found one, interact with it, and then pay the bounty that it asks you to pay on the screen. This will then clear you of your bounty and you won’t have to kill any guards in the process meaning that your bounty won’t be raised any higher than it currently is. You may have to sneak around a bit to reach a kiosk safely but this is much better than causing more damage — otherwise, a recent save load is always an option of course to stop this surrender issue entirely!
