The Comspike is a useful piece of technology that can be acquired by doing the main Crimson Fleet storyline. While being a unique requirement in order to finish the quest line “Into the Void”, it also has a few benefits afterward. When paired with the conduction grid, you can gain some truly unique benefits that make your life as a pirate easier! The main reason you may want the Comspike outside of the pirate questline is the unique ability to improve targeting and lock on costs. Altogether, these bonuses make your ship more deadly, and cost nothing but a little bit of a grand theft starship!
Comspikes are a type of equipment in the same classification as a scan jammer. In this case, instead of allowing you to smuggle goods through different planets, you can track ships easier. Tracking and added firepower make the Comspike a great modification for any bounty hunter or smuggler. These parts can be found in the prototype ship at a U.C. testing facility. You won’t initially gain access to this item until you receive the “Eye of the Storm” quest! Remember that even after the questline is over you can keep the parts you’ve gotten, making your ships more effective and unique.
*Spoilers for Starfield‘s Crimson Fleet’s Kryx Legacy storyline*
Looking for more Starfield content from Keengamer?
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Comspike Explanation
The Comspike is a unique device that can be found on a prototype ship for the U.C. Its purpose is to track pirate vessels and target their equipment more efficiently. Fortunately, because of this, the equipment serves as highly sought-after smuggling tech that can disable the ships of authorities. It’s a sensor-class piece of equipment that when paired with sensor jammers makes your ship highly effective against planetary scanners. Keep in mind that this technology also allows your lock-on times for missiles and system targeting to work quickly.
The Comspike grants your ship a twenty percent decrease in time on both of these fronts. Therefore, your ship will be better suited to pack tactics of most conventional pirate outfits. With this piece of equipment, you can limit the effectiveness of EM weapons against your ship since it’s paired with the conductor grid. Finally, this piece of hardware is highly classified, thus by having it, you’ll have an upper edge over most other ships you come into contact with!
Comspike Importance *spoilers*
Primarily, the Comspike is required for the quest “into the void”, being used to locate the Gal Bank Legacy transport. This when put in tandem with the conductor grid can seriously limit the amount of time needed to get your hands on the prize. Of course, alone the Comspike will get you nowhere as the electromagnetic storm around you would rip your ship to pieces. That’s why when in unison with the conductor grid that limits EMF energy, you’ll be able to find the dreams of the fleet themselves. Of course, this technology is also highly important for any self-respecting smuggler as it gives them an added edge over their pursuers.
The Comspike can be found in the equipment section near scan jammers
Further, the Comspike can be seen as a great assault ship part of its combat prowess. In short, being able to target enemy systems more accurately and efficiently makes your own assaults more aggressive. Finally, it allows you to make the ultimate decision of protecting the crimson fleet or wiping them out as the combat mod is useful in the fights to come. Just don’t forget to upgrade these mods onto your ship before going after the legacy, or else you won’t be able to get into the system.
Installing The Comspike
Putting the Comspike onto your ship can be as easy as talking to Jazzy after you’ve received the quest to install them. From there, go to the modify ships menu and make sure you go to the equipment section. As stated before the Comspike’s classified as the same type of technology as sensor jammers, placing them in the same parts of the region. Along with your Comspike you will find a conductor grid near which can be equipped as well. Both items cost nothing as you acquire them from quests. In order to do this l, you’ll have to complete the pirate questline up until the point where it asks you to install the parts.
Effectiveness
The Comspike does its job well, making your ships more combat-effective and being able to track the legacy. Unfortunately, once you complete the questline this second function becomes relatively useless for the player. Still, the combat bonuses make it something that can make your ship more valuable. It doesn’t count as a unique ship part thus can’t work towards your spaceship design perk. In spite of this, the abilities it grants directly enhance your targeting perk in such a way that you gain an additional rank through this item. This is indirect, however, the Comspike affects the same system as the targeting perk.
Comspikes offer the player a unique bonus to targeting and missile locking
That being said, when put on a smuggling or attack ship these perks have the best results. You can easily attribute your fire to one system or another, or outright disable enemy ships. On top of this, you’ll be able to lock your missiles onto targets quickly, which can help with the missile weapon efficiency perk. Finally, when dealing with multiple ships, the Comspike helps you move from target to target more fluently! All of these reasons make the Comspike a highly prized part that can be acquired from a major side quest line.
Obtaining The Comspike
When you are seeking to acquire the Comspike, you will have to break into a top-secret U.C. Security facility that houses a prototype ship. You’ll do so by either obtaining a uniform and Blending in or shooting your way out of the place. It matters what you do here because if you go guns blazing, you could make enemies with the U.C. and anger Commander Ikande. If you choose stealth, you’ll do menial tasks and sneak around vents to activate the vessel. Whichever way you go, you’ll have to go to the prototype ship, which is in a different hangar.
In order to get onto the satellite you will have to join the crew of a Crimson Fleet contact. By coming with them, you’ll be able to get aboard the space station and then you can continue your mission. Don’t go guns blazing too early or you might lose this Crimson Fleet contact. If you do it stealthily, she’ll still leave after you’ve acquired the ship, but until then you’re safe. The U.C. has multiple Marines and checkpoints you need to avoid to stop her from leaving.
The Comspike is used primarily to track the Galbank Legacy transport that Jasper Kryx was after!
Once acquired, you will alert the space station in its entirety where it will scramble fighters. Luckily, you can easily activate the grav drive as soon as you undock the station. From here you will want to make your way back to Kryx so you can turn in the prototype, and get your ship back. As a result, this prototype ship looks like a modified gladius and handles like one too. You will not want to stick around the space station as the scrambled fighters chew through shields quickly.
Tracking The Legacy
The reason why the Crimson Fleet is even after the Comspike is because of the fact they want to track the Galabank Legacy Transport. This ship got lost in an electromagnetic storm while housing millions of credits and the corpse of Jasper Kryx himself. This device, the Comspike allows the player to navigate through the electromagnetic storm to the Legacy with ease. Beyond this, the module gives the pirates a bit more firepower in their arsenal. Primarily though, this vessel upgrade was intended for chasing pirates. Ironic seeing how it will be used to help enrich the pirates. Tracking the Legacy without the Comspike is impossible as in order to enter the system you’ll need both the Comspike and the conductor grid.
Prototype Ship
The ship you’re after can be elusive at best, and a top-secret prison sentence at worst. It’s called the “Prototype Vessel” and it’s inside the secret space station. Lightly armed, it’s more for finding crafts than fending them off. Once you start getting damaged by the scrambling fighters the space station sends your way, you’ll notice. Fortunately, this hybrid gladius vessel seems designed for long hauling and distant travel rather than fighting. So you can easily count on your heavy shields and grav drive to get you to safety when a fight breaks out.
Will you use the Comspike to defeat the pirates with Commander Ikande, or will you help the pirates under the direction of Delgado?
Though the prototype ship can’t be kept, it will be scrapped and most of its parts made available in Jazzy’s shop. This means so long as you have access to the gladius template you’ll be able to rebuild this unique vessel. That being said, you may want to add more sufficient firepower to this modified gladius as it doesn’t really fair well on its own. Against larger vessels or multiple combatants, even the bonuses of the Comspike don’t help you, as the hull and shields aren’t that strong. Instead, they can handle just enough to merit an escape, emphasizing its prototype nature.
Comspike Post-Quest
After you finish the quest, there’s not much you’ll have going for you besides the initial combat bonuses. I’m bummed they only made the secondary effects of the Comspike last for one mission. I’d love to be able to track vessels for piracy or bounty hunting. It’ll just be another targeting upgrade that takes up space on your ship without any of these features. Therefore, make sure you don’t forget it’s there since it adds five masses to any vessel it’s placed on. However, if you enjoy missile builds or need help dealing with targeting issues, the Comspike can be a great bonus!
Associated Perks
Comspikes has two major perks, missile weapon systems and targeting. They’re both under the ship skill tree, and they’re both able to further the comspikes bonus. For one, the Comspike acts as a single rank in each of these perks and thus stacks with them at any level. Secondly, the Comspike makes your character more potent than even the best targeting ships due to this modification. Finally, the Comspike is ideal for any assault build, even though those are the two main associated perks. All weapons systems benefit from more efficient aiming and locking-in potential!
-source: PowerPyx
Targeting
One of the first perks you’ll want to get in order to make the most of the Comspike is the targeting perk. This allows you to target systems more effectively and gives you more free motion with your weapons. When you build up the piloting perk, you can upgrade targeting by disabling various parts of enemy ships. Allowing you to snap onto targets nearly two times as fast as a standard pilot is capable of. Targeting will make the most of smuggling and multiple-ship attacks, as you can make short work of your targets.
Missile Weapon Systems
There’s a third-tier perk under the ship section of the skill tree called Missile Weapon Systems. The Comspike can further enhance your damage and lock-on capabilities for all missiles with this perk. Because of this, the missile weapon systems perk can be your best friend late game. Unfortunately, unless you spec entirely on ship modifications, you Aren’t likely to get this perk until mid to late game. Despite this, the perk in question allows the player to make the most of their new ship modification.
In a similar vein to the targeting systems, MWS can upgrade your ships to 50% lock-on efficiency, with an additional 20 percent from the comspike. Because of this, you can easily tear through rockets with an improved capacity, and destroy targets quickly. The only thing you need to worry about when it comes to this perk is the fact that missiles are in short supply, and take a while to reload.
Jazzy is the only ship mechanic that can put the conductor grid and Comspike onto your ship
