Summary
An ostensibly widespreadStarfieldbug makes weapons reload much slower than intended by making the game attempt to apply reload speed bonuses to throwables instead of whatever gun the player is holding. Although no official update for the game has yet attempted to fix thispeculiarStarfieldbug, the fandom has already figured out several ways to side-step the problem.
Bethesda’s latest RPG offers two main mechanisms for improving one’s weapon reload speed: apparel bonuses and the Rapid Reloading skill. The former option is somewhat more accessible, not least because there are over a dozen pieces of clothing in the game that offer a 5% reload speed boost, so the chances of stumbling upon one of them before long are fairly high. Alternatively, investing some skill points in Rapid Reloading allows the player to get at least a 30% reload speed buff on select weapons. That bonus is significant enough thatRapid Reloading is widely touted as one of the bestStarfieldCombat skills.
However, it turns out that a fairly prevalent bug can prevent both of those bonuses from processing correctly. As recently demonstrated by Reddit user joldsworth04, equipping something like a grenade is a surefire way to miss out on any reload speed bonuses inStarfield. That’s because the game erroneously attempts to apply those buffs to throwables instead of the protagonist’s primary weapon. The first player reports of this issue date back to early September, indicating that the problem has been in the game since day one. Game Rant was able to replicate the bug onStarfieldversion 1.8.84, which is its latest beta release.
The mechanics of this erroneous interaction allow players to side-step the problem by simply unequipping throwables. Alternatively, theunofficial Starfield Community Patch fixes this and many other bugs. The change resolving the reload speed issue is attributed to Nexus Mods user Argonil, who’s credited for over 30 other fixes included in the popular community patch.
Modding the game is currently only an option for PC gamers, while the Starfield Community Patch is even more restricted due to its dependency on the Starfield Script Extender (SFSE), which supports the Steam version of the RPG, but not its PC Game Pass and Microsoft Store counterparts. But ifFallout 4andSkyrimare any indication, there’s a decent chance that this community patch will eventually be made available on all platforms after Bethesda launchesStarfield’s Creation Kit in early 2024.
Starfield
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Starfield is the first new universe in 25 years from Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout 4. In this next generation role-playing game set amongst the stars, create any character you want and explore with unparalleled freedom as you embark on an epic journey to answer humanity’s greatest mystery.The year is 2330. Humanity has ventured beyond our solar system, settling new planets, and living as a spacefaring people. From humble beginnings as a space miner, you will join Constellation – the last group of space explorers seeking rare artifacts throughout the galaxy – and navigate the vast expanse of the Settled Systems in Bethesda Game Studios’ biggest and most ambitious game.
