Selling planetary research data in Starfield can bring in good credits, but the pay is usually below the "list price". Based on hundreds of hours of gameplay, our Starfield expert Alex reveals where you can earn the most money with scan data.
Here's the deal: If you've chosen planet scanning as your source of income in Starfield, it's not a bad choice in principle. Alex, our expert on Starfield, has discovered during 300 hours of gameplay that, with the right preparation and some know-how, planets can be scanned completely rather quickly - our guide shows how it works.
However, customers pay for planetary research data nowhere near the amounts indicated in the inventory. Can't research data be sold somewhere for its actual value? Well, Alex was able to find a buyer who will pay very handsomely for data.
Accordingly, you'll learn in this guide:
You may have noticed that commissioned planetary scans pay a lot more credits than "free scans". Job board customers, for example, will pay a pretty decent 8,000 credits for a fully scanned planet, but you don't get to choose which planet you'll be analyzing.
Planetary research data is worth a whole chunk of credits. (Starfield)
Therefore, it is better if you stick to the oddball Phil Hill from LISS when it comes to selling research data. He also has a small condition, namely that it must be scan data from "moons and planets with oxygen atmospheres and indications of life". But that's it, so you can look for suitable planets that can be scanned relatively quickly.
To find Phil Hill, travel to Mars in the Sol system. There you will land in Cydonia and enter the Broken Spear pub. You may even have been there before, because there is a station of the main story. Namely Adler Kemp, who works for the Crimson Fleet. Phil Hill is sitting just a few steps away from Kemp, in the main room of the Broken Spear. It's the blond guy grinning contentedly at the table to the right of the stairs.
Phil Hill of LISS is easily as annoying as he looks. But he pays planetary research data well. (Starfield)
If you approach Phil, you'll have to endure a strangely delivered story about LISS, a community of "self-determined colonists". The short version is that he has made getting out of space society his business. To do this, Phil needs data on potentially colonizable planets that he can offer as new habitats to his dropout clients.
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The cunning businessman also asks you to recruit new candidates for LISS. It's easier to do this with the help of brochures that you can push into the hands of interested parties. You can get them by approaching Phil again after your first dialogue and asking him about the subject. He then charges you for the printing costs of the brochures: 100 credits.
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