In this Starfield tips guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know for the perfect start in Bethesda’s sci-fi RPG.
Starfield is massive—and it can feel overwhelming at first. That’s why we’ve put together this comprehensive guide to help you quickly find your footing in Bethesda’s open-world universe. If you discover additional useful tips along the way, feel free to share them in the comments or on Discord. Enjoy!
This Starfield tips guide shows you:
- What to look for when choosing traits and backgrounds
- What you should do first in Starfield
- The best skills to pick early on
- Which items are actually useful
- How to manage your inventory
- How to succeed in persuasion dialogues
- Why the scanner is so important
- How to find interesting planets
Starfield Tips: The Essentials at a Glance
Here’s a quick summary of our most important tips. You’ll find more detailed explanations in the corresponding sections below.
- Your background and traits determine your starting skills and passive bonuses. Beginners should go with a balanced setup rather than specializing. Traits can be removed later—but skills cannot.
- Invest early in key skills like Weight Lifting, Boost Pack Training, and Ballistics to stay effective.
- Don’t focus solely on the main quest, even though it unlocks key abilities.
- A great starting point for newcomers is joining the Vanguard faction in New Atlantis.
- Prioritize healing and status recovery items. Items without descriptions or basic food are usually not worth picking up.
- Use your ship’s cargo hold to store items and keep your inventory clear. Vendors let you sell directly from it.
- Use the scanner to locate items, track objectives, and find fast travel points.
- Many planets are boring. Check the star map before landing.
- Set up your favorites properly. Assign frequently used weapons and items to avoid constant inventory management.
- Persuasion isn’t just about skill points. Pay attention to context and choose dialogue options accordingly.
Which Background Should I Choose in Starfield?
After creating your character, you’ll need to pick a background. Backgrounds are especially appealing for roleplayers, as they provide a short backstory for your character—while also determining your starting skill set. Each background grants three skills.
Don’t worry—you can’t really go wrong here. As the game progresses, you’re free to develop your character in any direction. However, you can’t remove skills once chosen.
Beginners should opt for well-rounded backgrounds that don’t focus too heavily on one area like spaceflight, research, or resource gathering:
- Beast Hunter: Strong combat abilities and stamina. Unlocks better food recipes for increased health regeneration.
- Space Scoundrel: Skilled with pistols, strong in persuasion, and a capable pilot.
- File Not Found: More health, solid combat skills, and good piloting ability.
Starfield Tips: Which Traits Should I Choose?
In addition to backgrounds, you can select up to three traits. These can affect difficulty or provide various advantages and drawbacks.
For example, the “Hero Worshipped” trait gives you a devoted fan as a companion. With “Kid Stuff,” you can visit your parents anytime and receive gifts—but you’ll also need to send them credits regularly.
If you later decide you don’t like a trait, you can have it removed. You just need to find the right NPC depending on the trait. Religious traits can be removed in churches, Alien DNA requires scientists, and you can simply cut ties with your parents or dismiss your fan if needed.
What Should I Do First in Starfield?
Starfield can feel overwhelming early on. The main quest starts off somewhat confusing and throws you into different situations with little guidance. Don’t let that discourage you. The key takeaway: don’t just blindly follow the main quest. Mix in side missions and smaller tasks.
By the time you reach Neon, you should start branching out. At that point, you’ll have learned all core systems, met most factions, and recruited your Constellation companions—making it the perfect time to explore freely.
To really enjoy Starfield, stay curious and step off the beaten path. Turn off your quest marker and wander through cities like New Atlantis, Neon, or Akila City—you’re bound to stumble upon something interesting.
The Best Starter Quest
If you want something more concrete: After joining Constellation, head to New Atlantis and sign up with the Vanguard. You’ll find them in the MAST district inside the large UC building with colorful banners.
The Vanguard introduce you to Starfield’s lore, teach you spaceship combat, reward you with credits, and send you on an engaging questline across diverse locations. You’ll also earn a very useful reward at the end.
You Need the Main Quest for Key Abilities
Wait—didn’t we just say to ignore the main quest? Sort of. While it’s not the strongest part of Starfield, you shouldn’t skip it entirely.
That’s because it unlocks powerful special abilities that significantly enhance combat. To avoid spoilers, we’ll just mention the relevant mission name: “Into the Unknown.”
Which Items Should I Collect in Starfield?
Like any Bethesda game, Starfield is packed with loot. Early on, the sheer number of items can be overwhelming. To avoid being over-encumbered within minutes, focus on collecting the following:
- Items that restore health (Med Packs, Trauma Packs, etc.)
- Items that cure status effects like burns, fractures, or poisoning
- Items that provide temporary passive bonuses (oxygen efficiency, carry capacity, resistance)
- Ammunition, weapons, and suits
Avoid picking up items without descriptions, like tablets, plates, or tape. They take up space and usually sell for very little. Basic food isn’t worth it either, as the healing is negligible.
With weapons and suits, experiment. Try different guns and keep what fits your playstyle. Sell valuable gear you don’t need.
For suits, focus on protection stats. Clothing often offers minor passive bonuses (like +5% persuasion), but these are usually less impactful.
- Tip: If you’re carrying too much, give items to your companions. Talk to them and choose “Trade Gear.”
Use Your Ship’s Cargo Hold
Your ship’s cargo hold is essential storage. Empty your inventory whenever you return to your ship so you’re ready for the next mission.
You can access it in two ways:
- On your ship: Use the console (usually in the cockpit).
- Within the same area as your ship: Open the ship menu and press X to transfer items.
- Important: You can sell items directly from your cargo hold when trading. Switch menus using shoulder buttons until you reach the cargo tab.
Starfield Tips: Use the Scanner
Press the left bumper (LB/L1) to activate the scanner. This has several advantages: it highlights all nearby items, making loot much easier to spot.
It also displays subtle arrows on the ground that guide you to your next objective. This is especially helpful in complex interiors where quest markers can be unreliable.
The scanner also enables fast travel. Highlight known locations to trigger the fast travel option at the bottom of the screen.
You can also fast travel back to your ship—as long as you’re in the same area, not over-encumbered, and not in combat.
Set Up Your Favorites Properly
To avoid constantly opening your inventory, use the favorites system. It’s somewhat hidden and not well explained.
With a controller, you can assign up to 12 items to the D-pad. Mark items as favorites (Y/Triangle button), then select them via directional inputs.
A practical layout might look like this:
- 3 weapons on the right D-pad
- 3 healing and buff items on the down D-pad
- 3 grenades on the left D-pad
- 3 special abilities on the up D-pad
Which Skills Matter Most in Starfield?
Starfield’s skill system is simple but well-balanced. Skill points are limited, and you can’t respec—so early choices matter.
- The three most important skills are Weight Lifting, Boost Pack Training, and Ballistics. These increase carry capacity, unlock jetpack usage, and boost damage with common weapons.
Key Skills in the Physical Tree
To travel efficiently and avoid constant encumbrance, invest in:
- Fitness: Increases oxygen for longer sprints.
- Weight Lifting: Boosts carry capacity.
- Stealth: Unlocks the detection meter while sneaking.
Key Skills in the Social Tree
Social skills help in quests and allow non-violent solutions:
- Persuasion: Improves dialogue success.
- Diplomacy: Enables peaceful resolutions and new dialogue options.
Key Skills in the Combat Tree
Ammo can be scarce, so don’t rely on just one weapon type:
- Ballistics: Boosts damage for common weapons.
- Dueling: Useful when you run out of ammo.
Key Skills in the Science Tree
You can mostly ignore crafting early on, but these skills are still useful:
- Astrodynamics: Increases grav jump range.
- Scanning: Improves scanner range.
Key Skills in the Tech Tree
Important for pilots—but also great for all builds:
- Boost Pack Training: Unlocks jetpack usage.
- Security: Allows lockpicking.
Dialogue: How to Persuade Any NPC in Starfield
In certain conversations, you can persuade NPCs to get what you want. You usually have three attempts to earn enough persuasion points.
If an NPC has six empty slots, you’ll need to earn six points within three rounds. Each dialogue option carries a different risk level and reward.
Low-risk options (1–2 points) are green, medium-risk options (3 points) are orange, and high-risk options (up to 6 points) are red. The higher the risk, the more important your Persuasion and Diplomacy skills become.
But skills alone aren’t enough—you also need to read the room. Pay attention to context and how your counterpart behaves.
A great example is Petrov the Collector in the quest “No Sudden Moves.” He loves flattery and showing off his wealth. If you want access to his vault, just play to his ego. With the right dialogue choices, you can succeed even with low skill levels.
How to Find Interesting Planets in Starfield
With over 1,000 planets, not all of them are worth visiting. Many are barren and lack meaningful content.
Always check the star map description before landing. It tells you what to expect. “Barren” planets are usually not worth your time.
Also consider temperature. Extreme conditions require proper protection, or you’ll suffer status effects. Flora and fauna are another indicator—if it says “none,” expect a lifeless environment.
