Starting Starfield involves creating your character, completing the initial tutorial missions, and then following the main questline while exploring planets and engaging in combat.
Ready to jump into the vast universe of Starfield? This Starfield complete beginners start guide will help you get your bearings. The game can feel overwhelming initially with its scale, but breaking it down into simple steps makes it manageable. It will help you learn the basic mechanics quickly.
Focus on character creation and then just start playing the initial quests. The game does a pretty good job of teaching you the ropes. Don’t worry about doing everything at once, just explore what interests you. This approach helps you enjoy the process of this amazing journey.
Starfield Complete Beginners Start Guide
Welcome to the vast universe of Starfield! It’s a massive game, and stepping into it for the first time can feel like you’re landing on an alien planet without a map. Don’t worry, this guide is here to be your trusty navigation system. We’ll break down everything a new player needs to know, from character creation to exploring distant galaxies. Get ready to explore, build, and become a legend among the stars!
Getting Started: Character Creation
Your journey in Starfield begins with you! Creating your character is a key first step, and the choices you make here will influence your adventure. Let’s go through it step-by-step.
Choosing Your Background
Your background is like your past life. It gives you three starting skills, which help you in specific areas from the very beginning. For example, if you choose the “Diplomat” background, you’ll be good at persuading people. On the other hand, “Combat Medic” provides skills for fights and healing. Consider the type of play you’re most interested in. Don’t worry too much, you can level up any skill through game play, so this doesn’t lock you in. Here are some examples:
- Diplomat: Persuasion, Commerce, Negotiation
- Combat Medic: Pistol Certification, Medicine, First Aid
- Explorer: Surveying, Astrophysics, Botany
- Bounty Hunter: Piloting, Targeting Control Systems, Marksmanship
Picking Your Traits
Traits add interesting quirks to your character. They give some bonuses, but also come with some challenges. You can select up to three traits. Some traits are related to specific factions, while others might affect your relationships or game mechanics. It’s good to read each trait carefully before choosing it. Here are a few examples:
- Alien DNA: You have more health and can use alien meds better, but normal meds don’t work as well.
- Taskmaster: Your crew is better, but you pay more for their services.
- Dream Home: You get a cool house, but you have a big loan.
Remember, these choices are meant to give your character depth and make your experience unique. There are no “wrong” choices, just different paths!
Understanding the User Interface
Once you’re in the game, you’ll see various parts of the user interface. It might look overwhelming, but let’s break it down.
Heads-Up Display (HUD)
The HUD shows important info, like:
- Health Bar: How much life you have left.
- Oxygen Meter: How much oxygen you have. It goes down when you sprint or explore in places without breathable air.
- Compass: Points you to quest markers and locations.
- Ammo Counter: How many bullets you have for your current weapon.
The Menu System
The menu system is where you access everything you need. You can get here by pressing the ‘Menu’ button on your controller or the ‘Esc’ key on your keyboard.
- Inventory: This is where you hold all your items, weapons, and armor.
- Skills: Here, you can spend skill points that you get when you level up.
- Quests: This tracks all your current objectives.
- Map: This lets you travel to different places.
- Ship: Lets you modify or upgrade your ship.
Learning how to navigate the menus is an important part of playing Starfield. Spend some time getting comfortable with each section!
Basic Gameplay Mechanics
Starfield has various core mechanics you will be interacting with throughout your gameplay. Let’s take a closer look at them.
Movement and Exploration
Movement in Starfield is pretty straight forward. You can walk, run, and jump. But keep an eye on your oxygen meter, especially when you are outside on planets. The jetpack lets you jump higher or propel yourself forward, helping you reach out of the way places. When exploring, remember to look around, there are often hidden resources, and unique places to find.
Combat
Combat in Starfield involves using various weapons, from pistols to rifles to melee weapons. It’s important to note how much damage your weapon causes, how accurate it is, and how many rounds it holds. You can also use skills to improve your combat abilities. Don’t be afraid to try out different weapons to see which ones suit your playstyle the best. You also have access to different kinds of armor that provide various levels of protection against damage.
Dialogue and Persuasion
Talking to different people is a huge part of Starfield. Your choices in conversations will affect what happens next. Sometimes, you will even need to use your persuasion skills to get others to do what you want, or maybe even convince them not to fight. Your background and skills will help with dialogues. So always try to talk to the non-playable characters (NPCs), because you might get a new quest, a new location, or just hear more about the Starfield world.
Understanding Skills and Leveling Up
As you play through Starfield, you’ll level up, gain skill points, and improve your character. Understanding how this works is very important.
Gaining Experience
You gain experience points (XP) by doing pretty much anything in Starfield, such as finishing quests, defeating enemies, exploring new areas, crafting items, and completing surveys. When your XP bar fills up, you level up!
Using Skill Points
When you level up, you’ll get a skill point to spend on skills. There are five different categories of skills in Starfield: Physical, Social, Combat, Science, and Tech. Spend your skill point wisely, and choose skills that help your gameplay. Don’t be scared to try out different options. Remember you can improve multiple skills. For instance, you could improve your skill in using pistols or your skills in persuasion.
Here’s how skill points work:
- Each skill has four ranks.
- Each rank unlocks additional effects or bonuses.
- You must complete the previous rank’s challenge to progress.
- For example, if you want rank 2 in Persuasion, you must successfully persuade someone once at rank 1.
Example Skill Categories
- Physical: Increases health, carrying capacity, and physical attacks.
- Social: Enhances your persuasion, bartering, and leadership skills.
- Combat: Improves your skills with various weapons, like rifles and pistols.
- Science: Unlocks new research options, and improves your medical skills.
- Tech: Enhances your ship-related skills and engineering abilities.
Experimenting with different skills is a great way to see what works best for you. Remember, you can always change your play style later, too.
Starfield’s Main Story and Factions
The main story of Starfield begins with you, as a miner, discovering a mysterious artifact. This will take you on an adventure to unravel the mysteries behind these artifacts, as you join Constellation. Constellation is a group of explorers who are interested in learning more about the mysteries of the universe. During this story, you’ll come across various other factions that each have their own goals and beliefs. It’s good to interact with all of them and see which one you want to align with the most.
Key Factions
- Constellation: A group of explorers and scholars who study space.
- United Colonies: A large government faction focused on order.
- Freestar Collective: A collection of settlements on more frontier planets.
- Crimson Fleet: A group of pirates who cause trouble in space.
- Ryujin Industries: A company that deals with the latest tech.
Choosing a faction to align with will change your experience. Each faction has its own quests and stories, so you’ll be able to see different sides of the Starfield world.
Exploring Planets and Star Systems
Starfield’s universe is enormous! Getting around space and planets is a key aspect of the game. Here’s what you need to know.
Navigating the Star Map
You use the Star Map to travel between star systems. It shows all the known stars, planets, and locations. Select a location to set your course, and then get in your spaceship to travel there.
Scanning Planets
When you reach a new planet, you can scan it. Scanning will reveal different resources, fauna, and flora on that planet. This is a crucial part of the exploration. Scanning helps you find places to visit, and you can complete surveys of planets. Surveys provide some extra money and help you understand the resources on each planet. The more you scan, the more information you collect.
Landing and Exploring
Once you’ve scanned a planet, you can land at different locations on its surface. Some areas are safe, while others might have dangers like alien creatures or hostile settlements. Be prepared for anything! Each planet is unique, with its own gravity, atmosphere, and resources. Make sure you have enough oxygen, the correct weapons, and armor before landing on new planets. And don’t forget to loot!
Ship Customization and Space Combat
Your ship in Starfield is your home base. It’s where you travel, fight, and carry items, so it’s important to understand how it works.
Ship Components
Your ship is made up of various components like:
- Engines: Helps you move faster and get through space more efficiently.
- Weapons: Helps you fight off hostile ships.
- Shields: Protect you from incoming damage during space combat.
- Grav Drive: Allows you to jump to different star systems.
- Reactor: Powers the various systems on your ship.
Ship Building
You can customize your ship to fit your style. You can purchase new modules or modify the ones you already have. Ship building is a pretty fun part of the game. It allows you to design your spaceship with new weapons, engines, and cargo holds. Think about your needs, do you want speed and maneuverability, or more cargo space? Do you want better weapons and shields? There are a ton of options!.
Space Combat Basics
Space combat in Starfield involves piloting your ship and using your weapons to take down enemy ships. Space combat is a lot different than ground combat. In space, you need to manage your ship’s power, shields, and weapons. Learn to use the boost to get around enemy fire, lock on to the enemy target, and use the right weapon for the situation. Practice makes perfect, so don’t be scared to take on a few pirate ships.
Crafting and Resource Management
Crafting and resource management are very important to your progress in Starfield. Here is what you should know.
Collecting Resources
You’ll find resources all over the planets. You can mine rocks, gather plants, and loot from various storage containers. It is important to keep an eye out for useful stuff. You can use them to craft items or modify your weapons. You can gather resources like Iron, Aluminum, Copper and so much more.
Crafting Basics
Crafting in Starfield helps you to create new items and upgrade your existing equipment. You can build and upgrade weapons, ammo, medicine, and even outpost structures. Use crafting tables, like the research station or industrial workbench, to make items from the resources you’ve gathered. Crafting is a way to make the exact thing you need for your current mission.
Outposts and Base Building
Starfield allows you to build your own outposts. Outposts can be used as bases or supply centers. You can use various resource harvesters to collect materials for you. In addition, you can add storage containers and crew stations to your outpost. You can create your own little base anywhere, so consider it as your own little home!
Tips for Beginners
Now that we have covered all the basics, here are a few extra tips to help you out.
Always Loot Everything
Looting is one of the keys in Starfield. You’ll find resources, weapons, ammo, and credits on most enemies and in containers. The more you loot, the more items and resources you’ll have at your disposal. Also, don’t be afraid to sell loot at shops for money. Money always comes in handy!
Complete Side Quests
Besides the main story, there are lots of side quests. Side quests help you level up, and teach you more about the world. Side quests are often the best way to gain experience, and often lead you to exciting places to explore.
Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment
Starfield is all about exploration and finding your own way. Don’t be afraid to try out different weapons, skills, ship designs, and ways to play the game. This helps you find a play style that works for you.
Save Often
Space can be dangerous, so save your game often! You can save manually, or use the auto save. When something goes wrong, you can go back to a previous save point.
Join a Faction
Choose a faction that you are interested in. You can join multiple factions throughout your Starfield journey, which can give you different viewpoints of the game’s story. Every faction has some exciting quests and different perspectives.
Use Your Scanner
The scanner is a vital tool. Use it to find resources, places of interest, and enemies. The scanner will help you learn more about the area around you.
Talk to Everyone
Talking to different characters is very important. Many of them can give you quests or just provide valuable knowledge about the world.
Starfield is a game that rewards exploration and experimentation. There is no single correct way to play, so find what you enjoy. Don’t be afraid to explore, try different things, and see where your journey takes you. With this guide, you’re now better equipped to start your adventures among the stars! Have a great journey, space traveler!
Starfield Guide: 15 Things You NEED To Do First
Final Thoughts
This Starfield complete beginners start guide equips you with essential knowledge. Focus on the main story early on. Understanding the skill system is key for progression.
Explore planets carefully, gathering resources. This is must for crafting and upgrades. Remember to save your game frequently. This prevents frustration.
Enjoy your adventure in the vast universe. It’s an amazing experience.
