How to Complete Overdesigned in Starfield

You can get a mess or the best.

Michael Dawson

and

Daphne Fama

Published: Sep 14, 2023 09:37 am

Walter has a lot of faith in us. Perhaps some significantly misplaced faith in us. And that faith now extends to the belief that, somehow, we’ll be able to help his R&D team complete development on Stroud-Eklund’s latest shipbuilding project. Here’s how to complete Overdesigned in Starfield.

Where to Find the Overdesigned Quest

Starting the quest Overdesigned is actually pretty simple. You’ll first need to talk to and help Walter Stroud with a few things. Walter can be found in The Lodge at New Atlantis. This will be on the planet Jemison, which is in the Alpha Centauri System.

Once you help Walter with the quest All That Money Can Buy, he’ll ask another favor of you. You’ll be sent to the Narion Solar System to visit his company to help with a new starship design. This will begin the quest Overdesigned.

How to Complete Overdesigned and Get the Kepler-R Ship in Starfield

After speaking to Walter, he’ll push you to help the Research and Development team over at Stroud-Eklund Staryard get over their developmental hump. Because… I guess we know a lot about ships. Whatever strange logic Walter’s following, it’s best to see it through. Especially since it’ll end with us getting a cool ship.

There are two ships that this quest can lead to. The Class-B Kepler S and the Class-C Kepler-R. The Class-B Kepler S is significantly better, more refined, and more focused. So, I’ll highlight the method to grab that ship.

Now, let’s jump in.

Head to Stroud-Eklund Staryards

Our destination is a station orbiting Dalvik, the moon of Deepala, in the Narion Solar System. Glide over to it and dock.

Find Jules

Our next step is to find our liaison, Jules. Head through the lobby and turn left. Then make your way through the vaguely brown and orange doors.

Photo of lobby interior space in Starfield — Screenshot by Prima Games

Jules will be at the head of a long table, having a meeting with a few other Staryards researchers.

And things aren’t going well.

Speak with her and she’ll be incredibly snarky. But for good reason. Why are we here again?

Solve the Budget Issue

This is our first choice that matters. You’ll have the choice between a small budget and a large budget. To get the better ship, opt for the larger budget. But if you want to explore your options, here’s what both paths will lead to.

The Smaller Budget –

You’ll need to convince Frank to let go of some of his design ideas. To do this, you’ll need to pass a Persuasion check with at least six points. This is extremely easy to do if you have the Negotiation skill and don’t mind burning a few credits.

You’ll then move onto the next step.

The Larger Budget –

You’ll have to convince Jules herself to get this approved. And that’s done with a Persuasion check, which will require you to hit six points. Unlike Frank, you can’t Negotiate with Jules, making this the harder of the two options.

If you pass that, you can move to the next step.

Speak to the Board

So, no one really wants to talk to us, and this step is completely optional if you want the better ship. But here’s the vision of each person at the table. Some of their features will find their way into both ships.

Ella Chaudhry – Exploration. She doesn’t elaborate further, but I assume big fuel capacity and grav jump distance.

Mike Ababio – Huge ship and cargo capacity, basic weapons and shields.

Nev Papadopoulos – Recreational and family-oriented. A lot of space for crew members, mid-sized, not focused on weapons or scientific equipment.

Frank Yilmaz – Luxury craft, mid-sized, spacious, most expensive modules available, built around comfort and defensive measures. Not offensive.

Jules – Strong weapons, tough defenses, good speed and maneuverability. Small.

Complete Market Research

Now that we have a sense of what everyone is proposing, head outside of the boardroom. Right outside the door is a Mission Board where we can pick up a mission.

You only need to complete one bounty to get the better ship.

Photo of interior space in starfield — Screenshot by Prima Games

Select the bounty or passenger mission that you like (or both), then go complete it. It’s very likely that they’re different from ours. We had “destroy the Crimson Fleet Ghost at Al-Battani” and “Transport Traders to Akila.”

Note, the transport quest has a timeline. If you are a member of the Crimson Fleet and you’re worried about how this will affect your standing in the faction… don’t be. If you kill the entire ship, there’s no one to report the bounty. Grim, but effective.

Once you’ve completed the mission(s), speak to Jules.

Speak to Jules

It’s now our job to pick one of two team-building exercises to get us over the last hurdle.

To get the best ship, select the first option which forces the team to make compromises. Here’s what it looks like.

Photo of Kepler S in Starfield — Screenshot by Prima Games

Out of curiosity, I went with the meditation route, picking all the first options with the exclamation points. It was painful. It also leads to a worse ship, seen below.

Photo of Kepler R in Starfield — Screenshot by Prima Games

Speak to Walter Stroud

No matter what option you go for, head back to Walter Stroud in the Lodge to tell him you’re done. He’ll congratulate you on a job well done (especially if you went with the feature-cutting option in the step before this). He’ll also hand you 9,500 Credits and the keys to the ship you helped design. Nice!

The reward for completing the quest is based on a leveled amount of credits, which means the amount you get depends on your character’s level. The other reward, besides the ship, is 200 exp.

And now that you have your brand new ship, why not give it a nice name to celebrate the occasion? We named ours Bebop.

What Ship to Get in Overdesigned

Completing the Overdesigned quest gives you a choice of two ships: the Kelper R and the Kepler S. The Kepler S has better stats, so we recommend going with this one. The Kepler S is a lean, unarmed ship with fast engines and a great grav drive. The Kepler R is the exact opposite: an overdesigned, bulky, slow freight-like ship.

The Kepler R is going to be your jack-of-all-trades ship with rounded stats, so keep that in mind when picking. The Kepler S can also be upgraded to even out its deficiencies. However, the selling price on the Kepler R is better, so if you don’t care about either ship, you could sell it for some good money.