Bethesda loves giving the player-character a one-of-a-kind toy. Skyrim had shouts, and Starfield gives you Stellar powers. The recent Free Lanes update shakes up how one particular resource — Quantum Essence — works, and honestly it makes New Game+ planning a lot more interesting (and a little more chaotic).
What Quantum Essence actually does now
Quantum Essence went from being a panic-button recharge to a multi-tool. After the update it has three main jobs: refill your Stellar power meter in a pinch, permanently upgrade powers from the Powers menu without rerunning temples in NG+, and fund the Quantum Entanglement Device (more on that later). Yes, you can still spam a recharge in the middle of a firefight — but you might regret blowing it on a heal when that sweet upgrade is waiting.
How to upgrade Stellar powers with essence
Upgrading is delightfully simple. Open your inventory or Powers screen, select the Quantum Essence you’re carrying, pick the power you want to level, hit Upgrade, and bam — one level higher. No more replaying the same temple in a New Game+ just for a single rank. It’s basically a quality-of-life cheat sheet, except it isn’t a cheat.
How much essence to level up a power?
There’s no flat rate. Different powers cost different amounts, and each subsequent rank for a given power costs more essence than the last. That scaling keeps New Game+ useful if you want everything maxed, so expect a grind if perfectionism is your love language.
Managing your finite essence supply
Important reality check: Free Lanes adds new ways to get essence, but it doesn’t suddenly make you a walking essence faucet. You’ll still struggle to max every power in a single run. Short strategy: unlock the powers you want first, hoard your essence instead of auto-recharging mid-fight, pick upgrades that match how you play, and when stock runs low finish the run and start NG+ to keep collecting. Also, killing temple guardians is a good source of essence — they drop some when defeated, though they won’t respawn.
The Quantum Entanglement Device — what it is and how it helps
The Quantum Entanglement Device is a craftable Lodge gadget that lets you carry mass-forward between cycles. It starts with a 50 mass capacity and can be expanded to a maximum of 200 mass by spending Quantum Essence. Anything you stash into the device transfers intact to your next New Game+ — weapons, mods, all of it just as you left it.
How to unlock and craft the device
To get the blueprint you need to push the main story almost to the finish: complete the final part of “What Remains…” called “A High Price.” After that someone drops a blueprint in your Lodge room — pick it up and you can build the device at your crafting bench. The basic recipe requires 10 Quantum Essence, 1 Adaptive Frame, 1 Isocentric Magnet, and 1 Tau-Grade Rheostat.
Quick tips before stuffing the device
Upgrade weapons and armor with X-Tech before you stash them because the device preserves exact item states: a Rank 4 legendary weapon will arrive in the next cycle as that same Rank 4 legendary weapon. Don’t push items into the device if there’s still free space you could use — no reason to waste slots. If you’re planning multiple NG+ runs, expand the device’s capacity first (spend essence on storage) before dumping essence into power upgrades.
Quick reference: Stellar powers, where to find them, and what they do
Personal Atmosphere — Location: Alpha — Cost: 45 — Creates an oxygen bubble so you can breathe without a suit and ignore hostile ambient gases.
Gravitational Wave — Location: Beta — Cost: 25 — A pushy shockwave that knocks enemies off their feet (Starfield’s answer to a shout).
Anti-gravity Field — Location: Eta (Procyon III) — Cost: 45 — Messes with local gravity to unbalance foes while leaving you fine.
Premonition — Location: Iota — Cost: 35 — Lets you see how an NPC is likely to respond before you talk to them, helpful for social shenanigans.
Creator’s Peace — Location: Nu — Cost: 25 — Temporarily makes enemies stop attacking — turn the music down and sip your coffee.
Stellar Sense — Location: Chi — Cost: 15 — Ping nearby life on your radar so you stop walking into ambushes like a space plankton.
Gravitational Throw — Location: Dseta — Cost: 15 — A forward dash that also grants a short damage boost.
Reactive Shield — Location: Tau — Cost: 35 — A defensive bubble that cuts damage and can reflect projectiles.
Solar Flare — Location: Zeta — Cost: 25 — Fires a guided plasma orb at a target like a very dramatic laser pointer.
Alien Resurrection — Location: Fi — Cost: 35 — Brings a defeated alien buddy back to life to fight alongside you.
Elemental Pull — Location: Psi — Cost: 25 — Destroys nearby mineral nodes and pulls the resources to you — miners, rejoice.
Void Formation — Location: Omicron — Cost: 45 — Turns you invisible to enemies who haven’t already spotted you.
Eternal Harvest — Location: Lambda — Cost: 25 — Regenerates harvested plants so you can farm forever (well, until your patience ends).
Terrestrial Nexus — Location: Epsilon — Cost: 15 — Forces normal Earth gravity in an area, handy for weird alien terrain.
Vacuum Creation — Location: Gamma — Cost: 24 — Sucks oxygen out of an area; humans without suits will not enjoy this.
Sunless Space — Location: Kappa — Cost: 35 — Fires cold projectiles that freeze and deal damage over time.
Gravity Well — Location: Delta — Cost: 45 — Creates a pull-point that drags and knocks enemies down en masse.
Inner Demon — Location: Epsilon — Cost: 35 — Summons an enemy copy to fight beside you, because who needs friends?
Particle Beam — Location: Omega — Cost: 15 — A straight energy beam that deals focused damage to a target.
Lunar Form — Location: Ro — Cost: 35 — Buffs your resistances so you shrug off more damage while it’s active.
Forced Life — Location: Pi — Cost: 25 — Leech ability: enemy loses health while you gain it.
Supernova — Location: Xi — Cost: 45 — Emits a damaging shockwave from your body that hits everything around you.
Parallel Self — Location: Sigma — Cost: 45 — Summons a perfect copy of you, gear and all, to sow confusion.
Time in Phase — Location: Mu — Cost: 45 — Slows everything around you: bullets, enemies, the whole universe for a beat.
Wrap-up: Quantum Essence is now a tactical currency, not just an emergency heal. Decide whether you’re a hoarder, a spender, or a device-builder — and then ruin one New Game+ run while experimenting with that choice. Enjoy the chaos.
