Skyrim's best trick returns in Starfield

NPCs in Starfield are still being subjected to the oldest Bethesda trick in the book, but they’re learning.

Starfield players, who got early access, have dived into Bethesda’s galaxy at a break-neck speed. So far, they’ve torn the game apart in an attempt to see how vast the open world truly is, and while there’s been a fair share of complaints, even some refunds due to in-game pronouns, most are enjoying themselves.

Check out our review for Starfield below

While some are blitzing through the main story, with some going much faster than others, many are taking their time, taking in the sights, soaking up the atmosphere, which is apparently the recommended way to play.

During their travels, players have been interacting with the various NPCs that bring each world to life, whilst also testing one of the old Bethesda tricks in the book, stealing things with a bucket.

As I’m sure most are aware, if you picked up a bucket in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and even Fallout 4, and placed it over the heads of NPCs, you could rob them of their personal belongings without fear of them getting aggravated and trying to kill you.

Many players wanted to recreate this trick in Starfield to see if it still works but were unfortunately left disappointed.

While you can place a bucket over people’s heads the same as previous games allowed, as confirmed through several Reddit posts, the NPCs have somehow acquired the power of X-ray vision and can see through the bucket as you’re running your thieving hands across their stuff.

This means you won’t be stealing stuff the old-fashioned way, you’ll either need to get the NPC out of the room, or throw caution to the wind and commit daylight robbery while facing the consequences.

It’s disappointing, but it also makes sense. The bucket trick made it stupidly easy to rob people blind (literally) and in a game like Starfield, which relies on crafting and material harvesting, that trick could quickly become overpowered.

Starfield is currently available for Xbox Series X/S and PC via early access, and will officially release for everyone else on the 6th of September.