Starfield A Detailed Guide To The Early Game

Starfield: A Detailed Guide to the Early Game

So, you’ve just stepped out into the vast universe of Starfield! It can feel a little overwhelming at first, but don’t worry, this guide is here to help you navigate those crucial first few hours. We’ll cover everything from character creation to your initial quests, making sure you’re well-prepared to explore the stars. Let’s get started!

Character Creation: Setting the Stage

Before you even see the stars, you’ll craft your character. This isn’t just about looks; it’s about the skills and background that will shape your journey. Here’s what to consider:

Backgrounds: Your Past Matters

Your background gives you three starting skills. These aren’t permanent, you can always improve other skills later, but it gives you an initial direction. Think about the type of character you want to play.

• Combat Focus: If you want to focus on shooting and fighting, look for backgrounds like “Combat Medic,” “Bounty Hunter,” or “Soldier.” These give you skills in combat, health, or using weapons.
• Exploration/Science Focus: If you are more curious and want to explore planets and figure things out, consider backgrounds like “Explorer,” “Diplomat,” or “Cyber Runner.” These will provide starting skills in science, research, or social interaction.
• Utility Focus: if you want to specialize in crafting, trading or stealing. backgrounds such as “Industrialist,” “Homesteader” or “File Not Found” are great choice.

Traits: The Good and the Bad

Traits add both benefits and drawbacks to your character. These are optional, but can really impact gameplay. Some traits are useful while others provide a unique challenge. Consider these carefully:

• Introvert/Extrovert: Introverts are good when they are alone, and Extroverts become powerful when exploring with companions. Choose according to your play style.
• Empath: You get powerful when your companions are happy, but get weak if companions are upset.
• Kid Stuff: You’ll send money to your parents, but they will occasionally visit you to provide some gifts.
• Taskmaster: Crew members are stronger but the price of hiring them is higher.
• Wanted: You deal more damage when your health is low, but bounties will come after you often.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with different combinations! You can always start a new game if you don’t like your choices.

First Steps: Mining and the Main Quest

“One Small Step”: Your First Mission

After creating your character, the game drops you into the “One Small Step” quest. This will take you on a little tutorial to teach the basics of the game mechanics. You’ll learn about:

• Mining: You’ll learn to use your cutter to extract resources from minerals. This is important for crafting, so keep doing it whenever you come across new minerals.
• Movement and Scanning: How to move around, jump, crouch, and use your scanner to examine things. Scanning everything is a good idea to figure out what’s around you.
• Combat: You’ll fight some low-level enemies to understand the combat system. Practice aiming and using cover.
• Interacting with NPCs: You will meet some characters and learn to speak with them. It is very important to talk with NPCs because they will give you quests and provide useful information.

The Artifact and Constellation

You’ll soon find an intriguing artifact and meet the members of Constellation, an organization of explorers. This is where the main story really takes off. You’ll join Constellation, visit The Lodge and will learn more about their mission. Follow the main quest line in early game to progress the game smoothly.

Navigating New Atlantis: Your New Home

The Lodge: Your Base of Operations

The Lodge will serve as your base of operations. Inside The Lodge you can:

• Rest and recover: Sleep in your room to replenish your health.
• Talk to Constellation members: Interact with the members to get new quests and learn more about the Starfield universe.
• Research and Craft: Use research stations to make new items and upgrade your equipment.
• Store your items: Store extra resources, weapons, and armor safely so you do not have to carry them around.

Exploring New Atlantis

New Atlantis is a large city and it might feel overwhelming, but if you take the time to explore you will find a lot of cool stuff. Here are some things to consider:

• Shops: There are several stores in New Atlantis where you can buy and sell various items. This is a good way to make some quick credits early game.
• Side Quests: You can pick up various side quests from the NPCs within the city. These can provide you with great rewards and improve your experience.
• Points of Interest: Check around for notable places, like the United Colonies headquarters, or the commercial districts, which are great source of items and side quests.

Early Combat: Tips and Tricks

Combat is an essential aspect of Starfield. Here are some tips to make you fight better in the early game:

Weapon Choices

Early on, you’ll find a variety of weapons. Experiment with them and see which you like best. Some useful weapons are:

• Pistols: Good for short range combat. Easy to find and use.
• Rifles: Ideal for medium range encounters. Great for taking down enemies quickly.
• Shotguns: Powerful at short range, especially against multiple enemies but has a shorter range.

Combat Basics

The combat system in Starfield is similar to other Bethesda games, with some additions:

• Use Cover: Don’t just stand out in the open. Utilize cover to avoid taking damage and plan your attacks.
• Aim for the Head: Headshots deal more damage, so try to be accurate.
• Use Grenades and Mines: If you’re surrounded by enemies, throw a grenade to deal area damage. Mines can be used to secure exits and protect you against enemies.
• Medpacks are essential: Stock up on Medpacks to heal yourself during or after combat.

Space Combat

Space combat can be tricky at first, but it gets easier with practice. Here’s some tips for fighting in space:

• Use your shields: When you are in space fight, you will come across space battles. Shields are very crucial in space battles. Try to keep them up at all times.
• Lock Target: Before engaging in space combat, make sure you are locking your target properly. Locking target will make it easier to shoot down your enemies.
• Boost Often: Boost your ship to quickly turn or dodge attacks in space.
• Use Laser and Missile: Make good use of laser and missiles to efficiently take down your enemies.

Skill System: Leveling Up

As you play, you’ll level up and gain skill points. Spend them wisely to improve the skills that match your play style. Here is a breakdown of skills:

Physical Skills

These skills improve your character’s physical prowess.

• Weight Lifting: Increases the amount of items you can carry. Useful if you tend to collect a lot of things.
• Stealth: Makes it easier to sneak around enemies. Perfect for avoiding combat if you choose to do so.
• Gymnastics: Improves your movement and ability to move around quickly. Good for exploration.

Social Skills

These skills help you to manipulate NPC and make your life easier.

• Persuasion: Makes it easier to convince people to help you or give you things.
• Commerce: Helps you get better prices when buying and selling items.
• Leadership: Boost your crew to make them more efficient.

Combat Skills

These will help you excel in combat situations.

• Ballistics: Increases the damage of ballistic weapons.
• Lasers: Increases damage when using laser weapons.
• Targeting Control Systems: Improves accuracy while aiming.

Science Skills

These improve your ability to understand and explore the world.

• Medicine: Improves how well medpacks heal you.
• Scanning: Makes it easier to scan planets and learn more about them.
• Research Methods: Allows you to research new crafting blueprints.

Tech Skills

These skills help you to make your ship better and your technology more efficient.

• Piloting: Helps you to fly advanced ships.
• Ship Engineering: Lets you upgrade the parts of your ship.
• Weapon Engineering: Lets you upgrade your weapons.

It’s best to choose a few skills to focus on early in the game, rather than trying to improve everything at once.

Exploration and Gathering

Scanning Planets

When exploring, always scan planets. Scanning will help you to understand the resources that exist on the planet. This is important for crafting. It helps you to know what to expect when you land.

Gathering Resources

Resources are vital for crafting. When you are in planet, always collect the following resources:

• Iron: Used in many crafting recipes.
• Aluminum: Useful for building and upgrading stuff.
• Copper: Another common resource that is used in many recipes.
• Lithium: Used to make ship and weapon upgrades.

When exploring on planet, look for rocks, plants, and unique materials. Scan them all and gather as much as you can carry.

Crafting and Research

Research

Research will provide you access to new weapons, armors, and ship parts. You can unlock new research by scanning stuff, completing quests or finding them on your journey. Always try to complete research.

Crafting

Once you collect resources and do research, you will be able to craft different items. Some items to craft are:

• Medpacks: Heals your character and keeps you alive.
• Weapon Mods: Improves your weapon’s power.
• Armor Mods: Improve your armor’s strength and protection.
• Ship parts: Repair and upgrade your ship with ship parts.

Crafting becomes more and more important as you progress through the game, so learning how to craft early will help you later on.

Making Money

Selling Resources

Gathering resources early game is essential. You can sell the resources for easy money.

Completing Quests

Many quests will provide you credits. Completing quests is very helpful for your progress.

Selling Items

When exploring, you will find many unique items. You can sell those in shops for extra money.

Trading

You can also trade with NPCs to get what you want, rather than using credits.

Having some credits will always help you, so don’t forget to make some money in the early stages.

Companions and Crew

Recruiting Crew

As you progress, you will have the opportunity to recruit various companions. Here are some things to consider about them:

• Each Companion has a unique skill: Each companion specializes in specific area. Choose your companions according to their skills.
• Companions can fight with you: Companions are great to help you in fight. They can distract enemies and even provide extra damage.
• Some Companions can be romanced: Some companions can be romanced in this game. if you are interested, you can romance them.

Managing Your Crew

Having a good crew will help you in the long run. Here are some things to keep in mind:

• Assign crew to your ship: If you have a ship, always assign your crew members to operate different parts of the ship.
• Assign crew to your outpost: If you make an outpost, always assign crew members to manage the outpost.

Companions and crew will make the game more fun and provide you with various benefits.