What are the best skills to get first in Starfield?
How does Starfield’s skill system work, and what are the best skills to get early on?It’s well-known that Bethesda RPGs tend to have massive and versatile skill trees that allow you to build your character however you like. ButStarfieldtakes this to a whole new level. Not only are there82 skillsin total broken into5 skill trees, but there are also4 ranks per skill, giving you a huge amount of scope for customising your character’s abilities and playstyle.
Starfieldhas only just released in early access, and players around the world are pouring over the game’s 5 skill trees and figuring out which skills they should unlock first. To help you navigate the skills on offer, we’ve put together this comprehensive guide covering all 82 Starfield skills, along with explanations on how skill ranks work, how to unlock new skills and ranks, the very best skills to get first in your Starfield playthrough, and every single skill challenge you need to complete to get there.
In this guide:
Best Starfield skills to get first
With so many skills to choose between in Starfield, it’s hard to know where to start as a new player. So here are the skills we think you should get first, even if it means just unlocking one rank for now and leaving the other ranks until later on in the game.
The best Starfield skills to get first are:
Rank 1 of theBoost Pack Trainingskill unlocks ajetpackfor your character, which is not only incredibly fun to use for traversal and combat, but exceptionally useful throughout your playthrough.
Speech challenges in Starfield are very important, and can shape your whole run. An early point inPersuasionhelps you to succeed in convincing NPC characters to do what you like.
Put a point intoSecurityand you’ll be able to hack Advanced locks on doors and containers from day one, which can lead to some very lucrative moments early on in Starfield.
While not necessary for sneaking, Rank 1 of theStealthskill gives you a handy Stealth Meter so you can better understand the stealth system, and makes you harder to detect while sneaking.
Rank 1 ofTheftallows you to pickpocket any NPC you like. It’s risky, obviously, but it’s a great way to get surprisingly good items and gear early on in Starfield.
Once you get yourfirst ship, put one point into theTargeting Control Systemsskill to unlock the ability to target individual systems on enemy ships so you can deal with them more strategically.
You’ll need 4 points in the Physical tree first, butGymnasticsunlocks the ability to combat slide, which, like the Boost Pack, is fun and useful in equal measure.
You’ll need 4 points in the Science tree, but after that, a point inSpacesuit Designallows you to research and craft much better spacesuits, helmets, and pack mods.
As time goes on and you increase your player level, you’ll gain the chance to start unlocking the higher tiers and higher ranks of Starfield’s skills. The best skills in Starfield depend largely on your playstyle: do you want to be a stealthy player, or a close quarters specialist? Do you prefer ship-to-ship combat, or exploring, or convincing others to do what you want?
Here are some of the best Starfield skills to get later on:
Concealmentis a fantastic skill from the start, giving you a huge boost to sneak attack damage that wildly increases with higher ranks, alongside a host of other sneaky benefits.
TheDiplomacyskill gives you the ability to force a target NPC to stop fighting. At higher levels, you canpermanentlystop an NPC up to 20 levels higher than you from fighting. That’s huge.
For lone wolf style play, there’s no skill better thanIsolation, which can give you up to 80% increased weapon damage across the board. If that doesn’t fulfil your power fantasy, nothing will.
Xenosociologyallows you to command target alien creatures to do various things, such as stopping, fleeing, or attacking their allies. It’s an extremely useful skill for any player to have.
When you come against enemies with high armour, it can be pretty tough going.Armor Penetrationlets you tear through enemy armor with ease, making it an essential late-game skill.
TheStarship Designskill gives you a much wider variety of ship modules to attach to your ship. Designing ships is a late-game activity so don’t bother with this early on, but later it’s fantastic.
If you really want to lean into jetpack combat tactics,Boost Assault Trainingis there for you. From incinerating enemies to slowing down time, this skill is a dream for jetpack lovers.
Starfield’s 82 skills are split across 5 skill trees, each with a different focus. These skill trees are:Physical, Social, Combat, Science, and Tech. Each time you level up in Starfield, you gain a skill point which you can assign to a particular skill.
Each tree is divided into 4 tiers, or rows, and you need to invest a certain number of points in the previous tiers before you can start unlocking skills in the later tiers. Here’s how many points you need to invest in a skill tree to unlock each tier:
Each skill in Starfield also has 4 ranks, each of which has a different effect. Sometimes it’s an upgrade to an existing effect: for example, Rank 1 of Fitness gives you 10% more Oxygen, while Rank 2 gives you 20%. But other times, unlocking a new rank in a skill will give you a completely new benefit which the previous ranks don’t provide. The first rank of a skill is always freely available for you to spend a skill point on it, but in order to unlock the later ranks in that skill, you need to complete a certainskill challengefor each one. Unless you’ve completed the specific challenge for a skill rank, you can’t unlock it even if you have a free skill point to spend.
Here is the full list of all 16 Starfield skills in the Physical skill tree:
Here is the full list of all 16 Starfield skills in the Social skill tree:
Here is the full list of all 17 Starfield skills in the Combat skill tree:
Here is the full list of all 16 Starfield skills in the Science skill tree:
Here is the full list of all 17 Starfield skills in the Tech skill tree:
The first rank of each Starfield skill is free, but subsequent ranks will require you to have completed a specific challenge before you’re allowed to invest another skill point into that skill. Here is the full list of all Starfield skill challenges for every rank of every single skill in the game:
Looking for more Starfield tips, check-out our guides to thebest Backgroundsandbest Traits.
