Starfield Skills Guide: Crafting the Ultimate Character in Space
In any deep RPG, the skills available offer insight into its universe. And Starfield is no exception. With an extensive array of skill choices, it’s often a challenge to pinpoint where to invest. The backgrounds in Starfield serve as a foundational launchpad, offering a glimpse into your character’s past before their galactic adventures began. As you develop your character, there will likely be a desire to diversify your skill set.
Most of our current knowledge is pieced together from freeze-framing trailers and showcases, attempting to decipher any snippet of information. So, while this list might not be exhaustive, we’ve ventured some educated guesses where details remain elusive.
Skill Groups
The skill classifications in Starfield are segmented into five categories: Physical, Social, Combat, Science, and Tech.
You might wonder, where do the boundaries lie? Physical and Combat can appear interchangeable at first glance. However, Physical skills primarily encompass non-weapon-based abilities, including stealth and hand-to-hand combat. In contrast, Combat skills exclusively involve weaponry.
Distinguishing between Science and Tech can be even more elusive, blurring the lines between categories. Generally, Tech seems to focus on interactions with stationary machinery, like computers. On the other hand, Science delves into the exploration and understanding of alien worlds and aspects related to starships.
Yet, there’s a catch: starship engineering falls under Tech. It’s admittedly a bit ambiguous. If you’re leaning towards a scientific role, gravitate towards Science. But if engineering or hacking piques your interest, Tech is likely the way to go.
Note: Skills marked with an asterisk (*) are those we’ve identified by name only, without any detailed insights.
Physical Skills
*Concealment: While it might seem curious to have Concealment as a distinct skill from Stealth, it’s possible that Concealment focuses on disguising objects or smuggling contraband past security, rather than staying out of sight.
Decontamination: This skill enhances your chances of fending off infections, essentially boosting your immune response.
*Martial Arts: Even in a world where adversaries are armed with futuristic weapons, there’s sometimes nothing more effective than a well-placed punch.
*Neurostrikes: Details remain under wraps, but the name conjures images of precise attacks targeting neural pathways, perhaps incapacitating foes by targeting specific pressure points.
*Stealth: Still to be unveiled. Likely pertains to moving around unnoticed on foot.
Weight Lifting: Represents your physical strength. Every level you advance allows you to carry an additional 10 kg.
Wellness: Boosts your maximum health by 30 points for each level you acquire.
Social Skills
Bargaining: Enhances your economic edge, decreasing the cost of purchases by 5% and boosting the selling price by 10% with each rank.
*Commerce: While it initially seems similar to Bargaining, this might delve deeper into advanced economic strategies. Perhaps we’ll see opportunities to invest in interstellar ventures?
Gastronomy: Enables you to concoct specialty dishes and beverages, and explore new recipes in a Research Lab. The benefits of progressing in this skill remain to be seen.
Instigation: At the first level, you gain the power to compel foes at or below your rank to turn against their allies temporarily. It also likely unveils novel dialogue avenues.
Intimidation: Starting at rank 1, you can deter adversaries at or below your level, making them flee temporarily. Progressing further intensifies this ability, affecting even stronger foes and prolonging their retreat time. This skill might also introduce fresh conversational options.
Leadership: From the first rank, companions are more inclined to trust you, increasing their affinity by 15% faster. The nuances of this affinity system are still unclear, but forging bonds seems beneficial.
*Outpost Management: Given the division of Outpost skills between Engineering and Management, this skill might focus on optimizing and maintaining an established outpost’s operations.
Persuasion: Boosts your likelihood of succeeding in verbal challenges.
*Scavenging: Though its classification as a “Social” skill is perplexing, it might elevate the quantity or caliber of materials retrieved from dismantling machines or spacecraft. Alternatively, it could enhance your loot discovery rate.
*Theft: Contrary to being “social”, this skill might encompass covert actions. With Security already addressing lock manipulation, Theft might resemble Skyrim’s Pickpocketing skill, allowing stealthy item retrieval from unsuspecting targets.
Xenosociology: Empowers you with the ability to manipulate alien beings. This includes calming aggressive ones, directing them to flee, instigating them against other entities, or issuing specific commands.
Combat Skills
Ballistics: Each rank boosts damage dealt by ballistic weapons by 10%.
Demolitions: Enhance your explosive power with each rank, increasing damage by 10% and expanding the blast radius by another 10%.
Dueling: Wield melee weapons with added potency, enhancing their damage by 10% for every rank achieved.
Heavy Weapons Certification: When aiming down sights with a heavy weapon, enjoy added resilience to incoming damage.
Lasers: Laser enthusiasts rejoice! Each rank augments the damage of laser weapons by 10%.
*Marksmanship: Given that Targeting elevates hip-fire precision and Sniper Certification focuses on scoped accuracy, this skill likely enhances your aiming capability using standard sights.
*Particle Beams: Wouldn’t be too surprising if this skill amplifies the damage of particle beam weapons by 10% for each rank.
Pistol Certification: Master the art of pistols, adding 10% more damage with each rank acquired.
Rapid Reload: With each rank, you gain a potential to hasten your reload speed by approximately 12.5%. It remains uncertain if progressing ranks also elevate the odds of a “superfast reload.”
*Rifle Certification: Going out on a limb here, but it’s plausible that this skill improves rifle damage by 10% with every rank.
*Shotgun Certification: Two theories: either each rank boosts shotgun damage by 10% or, less likely, it bestows the power to invoke an eldritch entity from intergalactic voids to craft you a sandwich.
Sniper Certification: Elevate your sniper game by reducing aim sway for scoped weapons with each rank achieved.
Targeting: Enhance your instinctual shooting accuracy when firing without relying on sights or scopes.
Science Skills
Astrodynamics: Enhance your ship’s grav drive potential, extending the distance covered in a single leap.
Astrophysics: Boost your proficiency in moon scanning, increasing your likelihood of uncovering a trait by 10%. This aids in setting expectations before exploration.
*Botany: Possess profound knowledge about extraterrestrial flora. Perhaps understanding which species offer health benefits?
Chemistry: Excel in concocting chems (interstellar pharmaceuticals) and innovate new formulas at a designated Research Station.
*Geology: Deepen your understanding of cosmic minerals. This skill might aid in pinpointing valuable deposits on uncharted planets.
Medicine: With every rank, elevate the efficacy of med packs, healing an additional 10% of hit points.
*Outpost Engineering: Delineated between Engineering and Management under Outpost skills, this likely dictates the logistics or feasibility of constructing outposts.
*Surveying: Potentially a counterpart to Astrophysics, this could assist in amassing preliminary data about a planet prior to descent.
Tech Skills
Boost Pack Mastery: Starting from rank 1, you can harness boost packs. Advanced ranks likely enhance your agility.
*Missile Weapon Modules: Given the distinct “Weapon Modules” categorization apart from conventional combat abilities, these could pertain to starship-mounted weapon operations, especially since there’s no mention of a “Gunnery” skill so far.
*Starship Particle Beam Modules: This further supports the notion that “Weapon Modules” emphasize starship weaponry, given the existence of the Particle Beams combat skill.
Cargo Efficiency: Optimizes your starship’s storage capacity, allowing for increased cargo within the same space.
*Starship Maneuvering: Measures your proficiency in navigating the ship with flair and precision.
Robotics Expertise: Each rank boosts your damage against robotic entities and turrets by 10%. It’s somewhat amusing if that’s its sole function. One would anticipate a broader application for such a sophisticated understanding of robotics.
Security Protocols: Every rank unlocks the ability to tackle more complex locks, eliminating the bypass of intricate challenges just with adeptness in lockpicking. Additionally, you can accumulate “auto-attempts,” potentially allowing for swift bypass of simpler locks without engaging in the minigame.
*Starship Modulation: This likely represents the skill set essential for conceptualizing and customizing starships, possibly providing cost efficiencies or unveiling advanced features.
*Starship Targeting Mechanisms: If Weapon Modules signify damage capabilities with starship armaments, this skill could be pivotal in ensuring their precision.
Skill Progression in Starfield
In Starfield, leveling up a skill typically demands the completion of specific challenges. For many weapon skills, it entails eliminating a designated number of adversaries using that weapon category. For instance, the Security skill advances as you unlock more mechanisms. This approach echoes the system in Skyrim but offers clearer insight into the precise prerequisites, enabling skill progression through means beyond mere repetitive use.
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