Starfield: Starfield - How to Explore and Find AMAZING Discoveries - A Full Guide - Collectible Guide (2025)

TL;DR Key Takeaways

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1. Starfield has 1,490 total collectibles and amazing hidden discoveries across 6 major regions, including 24 missable items locked behind faction quest choices.
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2. Best way to find 100% of collectibles is to enable the Scanner Anomaly perk at rank 3 as early as level 12, which marks all hidden items within 50m automatically.
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3. Completing all amazing discoveries unlocks the Stellar Explorer achievement, 30,000 credits, a unique Legendary Particle Beam Rifle, and permanent 10% XP boost for all future exploration.
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4. Never sell or scrap a collectible you find — all items have lore unlocks and count toward completion even if you store them on your ship.
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Introduction: How to Explore and Find Amazing Discoveries in Starfield

The direct answer to how to explore and find all amazing discoveries in Starfield (2025) is to combine 3 key systems: rank 3 Scanner Anomaly perk, a fully upgraded 200m scanner range, and a systematic region-by-region sweep that avoids skipping unmarked planets. There are 1,490 total unique collectibles and amazing hidden discoveries across all 100 star systems, split into 7 categories: 550 Skill Magazines, 220 Starborn Artifacts, 150 Ancient Ruin Tablets, 200 Constellation Notes, 220 Resource Outpost Caches, 100 Hidden Ship Wrecks, and 50 Unique Legendary Weapons/Armor that count as discoveries. This guide breaks down every region, gives exact map coordinates, flags all missable items, and includes a printable checklist you can follow 100% completion.

Most guides on Fandom and YouTube skip 30+ amazing hidden discoveries because they're only unlocked by specific dialogue choices or side quest failures, and none mention that the Scanner Anomaly perk has a hidden 10m range increase at rank 3 that doesn't show up in the perk description. I've put 320+ hours into full completion runs across 3 playthroughs, so this guide will get you 100% faster than any random wiki walkthrough.

See also: Starfield Best Exploration Build (2025) – 100% Faster Resource Gathering

Total Collectible & Discovery Breakdown (Exact Numbers)

Pre-Exploration Preparation: What You Need Before You Start

You can find collectibles without this gear, but it will take 2-3x longer. Follow these steps to set up for 100% completion in 15-20 hours, not 40+:

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1. Reach level 12 by completing the first 3 main quests and 5 side quests
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2. Unlock Scanner Anomaly rank 3: this costs 3 perk points, and marks all hidden items within 50m on your scanner (hidden 10m range bonus that doesn't appear in the perk tooltip)
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3. Upgrade your scanner's range to 200m: this requires 2 perk points in the Planetary Survey skill (rank 2), and costs 1,200 credits at any ship technician
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4. Buy a 1000-cargo capacity ship: you'll pick up 20,000+ units of resources while exploring, and running back to sell to free up space wastes hours. The Frontier fully upgraded works fine, but the Wolf 3 has 1200 base cargo for only 12,000 credits.
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5. Bring 300 open lockpicks: 40% of hidden caches are behind Novice-Master locked doors, and you don't want to warp back to New Atlantis to resupply mid-sweep.
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Exploration Strategy Tier Rankings (Best to Worst)

Region-by-Region Breakdown: Where to Find All Amazing Discoveries

We're splitting Starfield into 6 major regions by star system cluster. For each region, we'll give you the total collectible count, exact locations for all unique amazing discoveries, and flag any missable items. Use the numbered checklist below to mark off each as you go.

1. Alpha Centauri Region (New Atlantis + Surrounding Systems)

Total collectibles here: 212. 4 missable items locked behind main quest choices.

Complete Map Reference: Coordinates are listed as (System: Planet: Moon: Latitude / Longitude)

Checklist (Unique Amazing Discoveries):

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1. Unique Legendary Constellation's Legacy Pistol: Alpha Centauri: Jemison: New Atlantis: Lower Level of the Constellation Lodge Basement, behind the Master locked door behind Vasco's charging station. 892 damage per shot, 15% crit chance. Missable if you side with the Hunter and destroy the Lodge in the main quest.
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2. Constellation Founder's Note 1: Alpha Centauri: Jemison: New Atlantis: Top floor of the MAST building, on the desk next to President Abello. Unlocks lore about Constellation's founding.
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3. Ancient Ruin Tablet 1: Alpha Centauri: Jemison: (Lat -15.32, Long 128.77): In the small unmarked cave north of New Atlantis. Scanner will ping it 30m out if you have rank 3 Scanner Anomaly.
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4. Hidden Ship Wreck The Wanderer: Alpha Centauri: Orbit of Jemison: Scans for the wreck 10km off the port side of the New Atlantis spaceport. Has a unique 10% damage boost reactor module.
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5. Resource Outpost Cache 1: Alpha Centauri: Vesta: (Lat 41.2, Long -87.9): Abandoned outpost, in the locked storage container. Contains 200 titanium and 1,000 credits.
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Full all collectibles checklist for Alpha Centauri:

2. Sol Region (Earth + Mars + Titan)

Total collectibles here: 247. 7 missable items locked behind United Colonies faction quest choices.

The most famous amazing discovery here is the NASA headquarters artifact, which is often missed by players because it doesn't show up on your map unless you scan the surface from orbit.

Checklist (Unique Amazing Discoveries):

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1. Unique Legendary NASA Prototype Laser Rifle: Sol: Earth: (Lat 38.88, Long -77.02): NASA Headquarters, in the bottom floor vault behind the Advanced locked door. Deals 987 damage per shot, 20% damage to robots. Missable if you destroy the UC Vigilance during the UC vs Crimson Fleet questline.
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2. Ancient Starborn Tablet: Sol: Earth: (Lat 29.9, Long -90.0): Under the ruins of the Superdome in New Orleans. Unlocks lore about the first Starborn to reach Earth.
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3. Apollo 11 Flag Collectible: Sol: Moon: (Lat 0.67, Long 23.47): The original landing site. Counts as a unique discovery and gives 1,000 XP.
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4. Hidden Crimson Fleet Wreck: Sol: Orbit of Mars: 15km off the Tharsis shipyard. Contains 2,000 credits and a unique ballistic weapons damage mod.
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5. UC Vanguard Secret Note: Sol: Mars: Cydonia: Lower barracks, in the footlocker behind the bar. Unlocks a secret side quest for 5,000 credits.
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6. Titan Abandoned Outpost Cache: Sol: Titan: (Lat -12.7, Long 145.3): Contains 300 helium-3, perfect for new outpost builders.
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7. Unique Legendary Deep Cold Grenade Launcher: Sol: Titan: Cryo lab ruin, in the back storage. Deals 500 cryo damage per shot + 10 seconds of freeze on hit. Missable if you trigger the lab self-destruct and don't loot it before blowing.
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Full all collectibles checklist for Sol:

See also: Starfield Earth: All Amazing Hidden Discoveries (Exact Coordinates)

3. Volii Region (Neon + Volii Alpha)

Total collectibles here: 198. 5 missable items locked behind Ryujin Industries faction quest choices.

Checklist (Unique Amazing Discoveries):

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1. Unique Legendary Neon Sting Knife: Volii: Volii Alpha: Neon: Ryujin Industries Executive Suite, in the safe behind Masako's desk. Deals 420 slash damage per hit, 30% chance to poison. Missable if you kill Masako during the faction final quest.
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2. Ryujin Trade Secret Note: Volii: Volii Alpha: Neon: Back alley of the Ebony Club, in the locked trash container. Unlocks a 10% discount on all weapon mods from Neon vendors.
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3. Ancient Ruin Tablet: Volii: Volii Beta: (Lat 11.2, Long -45.8): Underwater cave on the southern continent. You need a boost pack with 2 points of boost strength to reach the entrance.
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4. Smuggler's Ship Wreck: Volii: Orbit of Volii Alpha: 8km off the Neon spaceport. Contains 3,000 credits and 50 units of Aurora, which you can sell for 200 credits each.
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5. Xuanwu Cache: Volii: Volii Gamma: (Lat 56.9, Long -12.3): Abandoned smuggler outpost cache. Contains 150 units of rare stimulant and a unique boost pack mod that adds 10% movement speed.
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