Starfield early game tips
center around focusing on main quests first, scavenging every resource you find, and improving your ship early on.
Venturing into the vast expanse of Starfield can be overwhelming at the start. You’ll be bombarded with choices, but some actions will give you an advantage early. Focusing on the initial story quests gives you access to key locations.
These locations are important to gain essential gear and resources. This also provides a good path to build your skills and abilities. Remember to grab every item and resource you see during this exploration. Don’t forget to upgrade your ship and equip it. Knowing these Starfield early game tips can make a significant difference in your initial hours of playing.
Starfield Early Game Tips
So, you’ve just jumped into the vast universe of Starfield, and it feels a bit like being thrown into the deep end of a really, really big swimming pool, right? It’s okay, everyone feels that way at first! This game is massive, with so many planets, spaceships, and things to do. It can be a little overwhelming, but don’t worry. We’re here to guide you through those crucial first few hours so you can start your spacefaring adventure like a pro. Think of these tips as your training wheels, they’ll help you get comfortable with the game and avoid common mistakes.
Starting Strong: Your Character and First Mission
The very first choices you make in Starfield matter, and they set the tone for your whole play through. Let’s talk about how to get started on the right foot:
Choosing the Right Background
Starfield doesn’t have classes in the traditional sense. Instead, it has backgrounds, and these backgrounds provide you with starting skills. These skills are going to be super helpful in those first few levels, and they determine what kind of playstyle you will start with. For example, if you pick the “Bounty Hunter” background, you will start with skills in combat and ship piloting. If you pick “Diplomat” you’ll be better at talking your way out of trouble. Think about how you want to play, and pick a background that fits that.
- Combat Focused?: Try Bounty Hunter, Combat Medic, or Soldier.
- Stealthy?: Pick Cyber Runner or Ronin.
- Explorer?: Try Explorer or Professor.
- Talker?: Diplomat is a great option.
Don’t worry too much, you can build other skills later, but choosing the right background helps you get a strong start.
Understanding Your Starting Skills
Each background starts you with three skills. Take a good look at those, and think about how they will help you in the early game. The game doesn’t tell you a lot about what the skills do in detail, so here is some quick information about few of the skills.
- Piloting: This lets you fly better ships. It is important to upgrade this as you get better ships, it will unlock the next ship classes in the game for you.
- Targeting Control Systems: This skill makes your weapons in your ship stronger and more effective against enemy ships. This skill will be super handy in early fights.
- Persuasion: You will be talking to lot of people in Starfield, this will help you pass more conversations and get better deals.
- Security: This skill makes it easier to pick locks to get into chests and rooms, which can give you valuable loot early in the game.
- Medicine: This skill helps you get more out of healing items and treat your injuries.
Understanding how these skills work and improve them will make your start in Starfield smoother.
First Mission: ‘One Small Step’
The very first mission is really about showing you the ropes. It is like a giant tutorial, that lets you practice moving, shooting, and exploring. Take your time and pay attention to the prompts. The first objective is going to be going to the Argos Extractors, the mine, and collecting some materials. After that, you’ll be taken on a little adventure, meet new people and introduced to the world of Starfield. This is your first chance to talk to people, use your skills and begin to craft your own path in the galaxy. Don’t just rush through it, get a feel for the game.
Exploration and Resource Gathering
Starfield is huge, and you will be spending a lot of time exploring and collecting things. Here’s how to make the most of it:
Scanning Everything
Your scanner is one of the most valuable tools you have. It lets you scan plants, animals, and minerals. Scanning lets you know what things are, if they are useful and if you are going to encounter any danger around them. Use the scanner often and scan everything you see to start to get familiar with the world. Scanning also gives you experience points which will level up your character, so it is a good idea to do this often.
Resource Management
You will pick up lots of resources, they can be anything from iron to food to little trinkets. You should always be looking for the red rocks, which are generally resources you can mine. The resources are important for upgrading your gear, crafting and building, so picking up everything you find is key, especially early on. Be aware of your carrying capacity, and make sure to sell off extra resources you don’t need at the traders. Also, make use of the cargo hold in your ship, which can carry a lot of stuff. The crafting and research system can seem intimidating early game, but stick with it and see what resources you’ll need for specific projects.
Planetary Exploration
Don’t be afraid to get off the beaten path. Each planet you go to will have various points of interests. These are the key to exploring Starfield. Take a look at the planet view before you land, you should be able to see these points of interests on the map. Once you land, use your scanner to locate the points of interest again. They can be anything from abandoned outposts to natural landmarks and you will almost always find something interesting in them. They may have resources, combat or story events, they are always worth checking out.
Combat and Survival
Fighting is a big part of Starfield, so here’s what you need to know to stay alive and win those battles:
Understanding Enemy Types
You will fight a variety of enemies in Starfield, from pirates to dangerous alien creatures. Each enemy has its own strengths and weaknesses. Some might be heavily armored, and some might move fast. Pay attention to how they fight, and change your tactics accordingly. For example, use high damage weapons on armored enemies, and try to keep mobile against fast enemies. Use cover strategically, as it is the key to surviving in Starfield.
Here are a few common enemies and how you might approach fighting them:
- Human Pirates: These guys are the most common enemies you’ll find, they use various weapons and try to stay in cover. They are not that tough early on, so focus on your aim and stay in cover.
- Spacers: Similar to pirates, these are common human enemies, sometimes they have better weapons and armor.
- Alien creatures: These creatures are quite different from the human enemies, and have different methods of attack. They may be fast, tough or have ranged attacks. You need to change your tactics depending on what alien creatures you are fighting.
- Robots: Robots will have armor, so using energy weapons is key in destroying them. They are generally slow moving, so use cover to your advantage and stay out of their firing lines.
Weapon Variety and Ammo
Starfield has a good variety of weapons, from pistols to rifles, to melee weapons, and each one has its own use. Experiment with the different types and find what suits your playstyle the most. Ammo is also important, try not to waste it, and make sure you are looting it as much as possible. Keep an eye on the ammo counter, and make sure to switch to the appropriate weapon type, that’s going to save you a lot of headaches in the long run. When you are fighting, don’t be afraid to change weapons based on how effective they are being. The damage stats of the weapons on the menu will help you choose the right weapon for the right situation.
Using Meds Effectively
You will get injured quite often in Starfield, and using your medical items at the right time is key for survival. Use your healing items wisely and avoid wasting them. Use them before the fight starts if you are low on health. Pay attention to the medical conditions as well, some injuries will need to be healed with specific medical items, don’t just use one type of item and hope that works. You will find different items to treat different medical conditions throughout your journey, be sure to pick them up as you go.
Ship Management and Space Combat
Your ship is your home in Starfield, so taking care of it and knowing how to use it in a fight is really important.
Basic Ship Controls
Flying your ship for the first time is going to feel different. The controls may take a little time to get used to, but don’t worry. Here are few basic things to get you going:
- Throttle: Use your throttle to change the speed of your ship. Use it to go fast, and slow down to engage in battle.
- Boost: Boosting is important for fast travel in space. Use it to get away from the battle, or to close the distance between you and other ships.
- Weapons: Each ship has different weapons on it, you will find more different ships and weapons as you explore more in the game.
- Guns: These weapons deal ballistic damage, they are very effective against enemy shields and hulls.
- Lasers: These weapons use energy, they are good against shields and can also do decent damage to the ship.
- Missiles: Missiles are the most powerful, they do the most damage, use them as last resort.
- Targeting: Target the ships you want to shoot at, you will see the health bars of the enemy ships, as well as the shields. Pay attention to this and change your tactics during battle.
Engaging in Space Combat
Space combat may feel tough early on, but you will get better with time. Focus on targeting the enemy ship, and use your boost when necessary. Here are few tricks that will help in early space combat.
- Shields: Use your shields to reduce damage from the enemy ships, use boost to quickly move into safety to recharge shields if you need to.
- Targeting System: Target the enemy systems, taking out engines will cripple the enemy ships and make them easier to kill.
- Movement: Movement is key, don’t just sit in one place, the enemy ships will pick you off quickly if you do that. Move a lot to keep the enemy guessing, and to give yourself time to recharge shields.
Ship Upgrades
Your starting ship isn’t great, it’s just an ok ship. As you progress in Starfield, you will find better ships, and ways to upgrade the ones you have. Ship upgrades will cost you credits or resources, so make sure you are using your money wisely. Better ships are essential for being able to travel further distances, and take on better enemies.
Making Money and Trading
Credits are the currency in Starfield, and you will need them to buy ships, weapons and resources. Here’s how to get them:
Selling Loot
After your explorations, you will find that you have a lot of loot, some of it is going to be junk, but a lot of it you can sell. Sell all the junk you find and sell all the extra resources that you don’t need. You can find a lot of traders, and most major cities will have various shops to sell your unwanted items.
Completing Missions and Jobs
Completing missions for the various factions, will give you lots of credits and experience points. Check out the bulletin boards at the settlements, they are generally the easiest way to find the missions. As you progress through the main story, you will also get access to the bigger story missions. Each mission will be more difficult and reward you with better items and more credits.
Here are few types of missions you will generally find in the Starfield.
- Retrieval: Go to a location and pick up the item. These are easy and good for beginners.
- Combat: Go to a location and take out the enemy, these will test your fighting skills.
- Exploration: Go to a planet and scan the flora and fauna, this will make you explore and is very rewarding.
Trading and Bargaining
When you are trading with shops, you can use your persuasion skills to get better deals. Use your persuasion skill on the traders and you can get more money for your items, and also buy items cheaper. This can save you a lot of money in the long run, and helps you get better items. Investing in the Persuasion skills early, can make your bargaining much better and easier in the long run.
Understanding the User Interface
Starfield has lots of menus and screens, it may take a while to get used to it all. Here are a few things to know:
Navigating the Menus
The main menu is where you find your inventory, skills, research, quests and more. Take your time to get familiar with the various screens, and you will have much easier time playing through Starfield.
Understanding Your Skills
As you level up you will gain skill points, these can be spent to improve your character. Each skill has multiple levels, and each level improves the efficiency and effect of each skill. Investing your skill points in the right skills is crucial for a good start in Starfield.
Using the Scanner
We have already talked about the scanner, but it’s worth mentioning again. The scanner is key to exploration and gathering resources. Use the scanner to find interesting points of interest, and to pick up resources and scan the creatures.
Important Things to Remember
Here are the key takeaways, that you must remember.
- Take Your Time: Starfield is a big game, don’t rush, explore and enjoy.
- Save Often: Save your game often, you never know when something goes wrong.
- Experiment: Try different weapons, different ships, different skills, find what you enjoy playing.
- Talk To Everyone: Talk to the people you meet, they can give you missions or important information.
- Have Fun: Most Importantly, have fun with the game, it is meant to be enjoyed.
Starting out in Starfield can feel like a lot, but remember that everyone starts somewhere. By paying attention to these tips, and exploring the galaxy you’ll be having lots of fun in no time. Remember to stay curious, experiment with different strategies, and most of all, enjoy your space adventure. You got this!
Starfield Tips And Tricks That Will Make You Overpowered Early (Starfield Things To Do First)
Final Thoughts
Prioritize main quests for faster progress. Engage with faction quests early for rewards and world context. Scavenge everything, resources are vital for crafting. These initial actions will help you establish a strong foundation.
Allocate skill points wisely; focus on combat or persuasion first. Explore planets methodically and gather diverse materials. Selling unwanted goods helps you earn credits, an essential currency. These steps significantly benefit new players.
Following these crucial Starfield early game tips will make your beginning experience much smoother. Investing time in resource gathering and careful skill selection is essential. Proper quest engagement is also vital for game progression.
