I still remember my first real flight in Kay's ship, the Trailblazer. I had just left Toshara with a cargo bay full of salvaged junk, and before I could even queue up a destination, a pirate squadron was on me. That was the moment I realized the Trailblazer is not just a fancy loading screen—in Star Wars Outlaws, your ship is another piece of gear, and it can absolutely be destroyed. Since then, I've spent far too many hours chasing ship upgrades, and I'm going to share exactly how the system works.
The first thing I did after limping back to a major settlement was find the local ship mechanic. Upgrading the Trailblazer is easy to start but gets expensive quickly. You need credits, obviously, but you also need crafting materials. Those materials don't just fall into your lap—you buy them from merchants, scoop them from space debris, loot them from enemy pirates in contested territories, or pull them from chests on different planets. This means that if you want a stronger ship, you have to keep doing scoundrel activities. It's a neat loop: get shot at, collect parts, get a better ship, then get shot at by bigger idiots.
The upgrade system is divided into five areas: Cannons, Launcher, Shield, Hull, and Engines. Each one changes how the ship feels in a fight or during travel.
🔫 Cannons
The LC-50 Laser Cannon is your starter weapon. It works fine, but it can overheat during extended fire. I moved to the LC-60 as soon as I could because it increases the rate of fire, and later the LC-70 because it greatly increases the rate of fire. The C-K10A Rapid Fire Cannon is where things get fun—it fires bursts at multiple targets. Its sibling, the C-K12B, increases rate of fire and burst duration. If you prefer one big hit, the C-5B Plasburst Cannon adds a charge function for extra damage, and the C-10 Plasburst Cannon improves that charged damage even further.
🚀 Launcher
Missiles turned out to be my favorite part of combat. The M-52 Concussion Missiles are agile but light on damage. The M-72 is a straightforward damage increase. The CM-2 Arana Cluster Missiles lock onto multiple targets, which saved me more than once when I was outnumbered. For heavy targets, the T-350 Torpedoes are less maneuverable but deal huge damage in a large explosion radius, and the PT-240 Proton Torpedoes improve damage, explosion radius, and maneuverability. The M-1O4 Ion Missiles disable ships, and the M-1O8 Ion Missiles increase their damage and effectiveness. There is also the TU-B4 Laser Turret, which can be unlocked in the game and gives you a passive defensive option.
🛡️ Shield and Hull
The S15A Deflector Shield is the baseline. The S30B increases shield capacity, and the S50C greatly increases it. I slept on shields at first, thinking I could just outfly everyone. That was a mistake. Hull upgrades are even more important. The H-AD Duralloy Hull is standard. The H-RD increases durability and adds an auto-repair function during combat. The H-SD greatly increases durability and enhances that auto-repair. That auto-repair is incredible for long fights because you can survive small mistakes without having to retreat.
⚙️ Engines
The E-210 Sublight Engine is standard. The E-310 and E-410 increase speed during Travel Mode, with the E-410 greatly increasing speed. I used to ignore engine upgrades because they don't directly help in a dogfight, but the ability to run away from a bad fight during travel is underrated.
By the time I had a few of these installed, the Trailblazer felt like a completely different ship. It still looks like a hunk of junk, but now it flies like a hunk of junk that can bite back. If you're starting out, my advice is to prioritize hull auto-repair and at least one missile upgrade before chasing the fancier cannons. You can always find more credits, but losing a fight with a hull full of loot is a lesson you only need once.
According to coverage from Giant Bomb, ship combat systems tend to reward players who treat their loadout like a build rather than a cosmetic choice, which lines up with how Star Wars Outlaws makes the Trailblazer’s Cannons, Launcher, Shield, Hull, and Engines function as real performance levers. Thinking in “roles” helps: a fast-travel engine upgrade supports disengagement and repositioning, missile and torpedo choices define your burst window against tougher targets, and hull auto-repair acts like sustained survivability for longer encounters where mistakes add up.