How To Swim in Starfield

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Traveling through the vast space of Starfield, you will visit thousands of planets with unique landscapes, weather, and gravity. Some planets require you to carry an oxygen tank at all times, others allow you to jump high, and some may boast an abundance of bodies of water. Of course, your character can almost always get to important locations by land, but what about swimming? Luckily, while offering players freedom of movement and a varied gaming experience, Bethesda has ensured your character can swim in Starfield. And we are here to help you and tell you about this mechanic.

Starfield: Swimming Guide

How To Swim in Starfield — Image Source: Bethesda via The Nerd Stash

First, it’s worth noting that you don’t unlock the ability to swim in Starfield, and you can do it from the start of your adventure. In addition, you don’t have to find or use any special equipment, making swimming as easy as walking on dry land. All you have to do to swim in Starfield is enter the water deep enough that your character can’t touch the bottom, after which he will automatically start swimming.

To move in water, you can use the same buttons as for walking on land, so you’ll get used to it quickly. But as you might expect, your speed in the water is a bit slower. In addition, you can jump slightly above the water while in the water. This feature is not very useful for gameplay but will allow you to get out on land faster.

Can You Dive in Starfield?

Unfortunately, you cannot dive into Starfield, and it’s a bit disappointing. After all, with thousands of planets to explore, it would be logical to find a couple of locations covered with water with underwater ecosystems, similar to what we saw in Subnautica. But so far, underwater worlds are not available to players or are absent in the game, so diving is an unnecessary mechanic.

However, Todd Howard stated that the developers support the creation of custom mods for their game. In the end, mods allowed The Elder Scrolls and Fallout to be relevant for so long. So even if the developers do not add underwater locations and the ability to dive in the upcoming updates or DLS, modders will do it instead. The underwater world has the potential for such a space giant as Starfield. And it would be great if swimming and diving were not just a way to move around the map.