‘For Starfield essential tips for new gamers, prioritize completing early main story missions to gain access to ship upgrades and valuable skills. Focus on resource gathering and crafting to improve your equipment and survival.’
Venturing into the vast universe of Starfield can feel overwhelming, especially for new players. The sheer scale and number of systems can easily disorient. We’ve all been there, so here’s a guide to assist you with your space journey.
This article provides key guidance to make your initial playthrough smoother. These Starfield essential tips for new gamers will help you navigate the complex systems and enjoy the wonders of the game. Focus your initial efforts wisely!
Starfield Essential Tips for New Gamers
Stepping into the vast universe of Starfield can feel like a giant leap for a new player. There are so many planets to visit, quests to complete, and skills to learn! Don’t worry, it’s not as overwhelming as it first seems. This guide will break down the most important things to know when starting your cosmic adventure. We’ll explore character creation, essential skills, ship management, and so much more. Think of this as your friendly handbook to becoming a space explorer in no time.
Character Creation: Your First Footprint
Before you even set foot on a distant planet, you’ll need to create your character. This isn’t just about how your character looks, but also about shaping how they will play. Starfield gives you plenty of options, and here’s how to make wise choices right from the start:
Backgrounds: Your Space Story
Your chosen background is more than a fun title. It gives you three starting skills that influence how you play in the beginning. Here’s what you need to know about a few popular backgrounds:
- Explorer: If you love to wander and check out new places, Explorer is a solid pick. It starts you with skills in surveying, which helps you learn about planets, and also boosts your character’s fitness. This is great for new players eager to see the sights.
- Bounty Hunter: Do you like a good fight? Bounty Hunter gives you skills in piloting, targeting, and combat. You’ll be a tough opponent in battles, right from the beginning. This is good for people who plan to face lots of enemies.
- Diplomat: If you prefer to talk your way out of situations, Diplomat is the best option. You’ll be better at persuading people, negotiating, and making friends. This is best for people who prefer not to get into fights.
Don’t feel stuck with these starting skills. You can learn new skills as you progress through the game. The background just gives you a little boost to begin with. Choose the one that fits with how you think you’d like to play, because the best pick is what you want.
Traits: Adding Personality
Traits add another layer of character customization. These are little bonuses or challenges that affect how you play. When picking, remember that some have both positive and negative sides. Here are a few to consider:
- Extrovert: If you like to have companions with you, this trait is perfect. Your performance goes up when you are travelling with a friend. However, it goes down if you go solo.
- Taskmaster: Your ship crew are very efficient when you are travelling with them. That makes this trait very helpful for exploring. However, sometimes they can be a little bit demanding.
- Introvert: If you plan to be a lone ranger, consider this one. It’s the opposite of Extrovert. You get a bonus when alone, but a penalty if you have friends with you.
You can pick up to three traits. It’s important to read what each one does carefully. Some traits can make things tougher in the beginning. There is no perfect choice for traits. Pick what makes your game feel fun to you!
Essential Skills: Level Up Wisely
As you play, you’ll earn skill points. These points help you learn new abilities or improve the ones you have. Picking the right skills early on can make a big difference. Here are some skills every new player should think about:
Combat Skills: Staying Alive
In Starfield, you’ll probably run into a fight from time to time. Investing points into combat skills will help you stay safe. Here are a few options to look at:
- Ballistics: If you love using guns, this skill is for you. It increases your damage with ballistic weapons like pistols and rifles.
- Laser: If you prefer laser weapons, this skill will increase their damage. It’s a great option for people who like futuristic guns.
- Pistols & Rifles: Both of these increase the damage you can do with either of these specific weapons. Having a good command over each of them will definitely make your fight easier.
- Medicine: Staying alive is important. This skill will help you use medical supplies in a more efficient way. When in trouble, healing quickly can make all the difference.
Tech Skills: Helpful Tools
Tech skills focus on interacting with technology. They can make your life easier and help with exploration. Consider these:
- Scanning: When you are on a planet, scanning helps you learn about plants, animals, and resources. It’s also useful for finding out where places of interest are located.
- Piloting: This is an absolute must if you want to travel in different ships and go into difficult places in space. The better you are at piloting, the more options you have.
- Security: If you want to pick locks and enter into places you normally aren’t meant to, then this skill is very important to unlock those places. Sometimes it will help you find rare resources.
- Engineering: This helps you repair your ships more effectively, making them last longer in space fights. It is an important option for long explorations.
Social Skills: Talking Your Way Through
Not all problems in Starfield need guns. Sometimes it’s better to talk your way through situations. Consider investing in these:
- Persuasion: This makes it easier to convince people to agree with you. Talking your way out of trouble can be easier than fighting.
- Commerce: If you’re good at commerce, you can buy things at lower prices and sell items for more money. This can be very important, because resources are limited in space.
- Diplomacy: If you plan to take on quests, you’ll want to be friendly with different groups. This skill can unlock different conversation paths and sometimes new quests.
It is worth noting that skills are your way of progression through the game, and it is an absolute must to choose them wisely. As you play the game, try to find the best skill set for your playstyle and focus on that.
Ship Management: Your Space Home
Your ship is more than just a way to travel. It’s your home, your base, and your weapon. Keeping it in good shape is vital. Let’s learn more about that:
Ship Customization: Making it Yours
You can modify your ship to suit your style. Here are some important things to keep in mind:
- Engines: Better engines mean faster travel times. Upgrading them can also get you out of tricky situations quickly when needed.
- Shields: Strong shields protect you from damage during space fights. Upgrading shields is important if you fight a lot.
- Weapons: Having more powerful weapons means being able to deal more damage to enemy ships. This makes space combat a lot easier.
- Cargo Space: If you love to collect resources, consider upgrading your cargo space. Having more storage can be important when you have lots of valuables.
You can get new parts from ship technicians at spaceports. Experiment with the options to build a ship that fits your needs.
Maintaining Your Ship
Your ship can take damage during space fights. It is important to keep it maintained, or it can break down during travel.
- Repairing: Use ship parts to repair your ship after battles. You can find these at most ship technicians and often during explorations.
- Upgrading: Constantly upgrade parts of your ship so that it stays competitive against new enemies you face.
- Crew: A good crew member can help in space fights and ship maintenance. Check out the skills of crew members to make sure they help in the best way possible.
Taking good care of your ship will get you much further. You can fly through space safely and efficiently if you treat your ship well.
Exploration and Resource Gathering
Exploring planets and gathering resources is a huge part of Starfield. It is very important to be aware of the correct way of exploration and resource gathering. Here’s how to do it efficiently:
Scanning Planets
Before you land on a planet, scan it from your ship. This will help you see what types of resources are available. It also helps you find points of interest like caves and research labs.
Resource Types
Different planets have different resources. You can collect these resources to craft equipment, repair your ship, and build outposts. Here are some common resource types:
- Minerals: These are used for crafting and making repairs. They are found all over planets in rocks.
- Plants: These can be used to craft medicines and other helpful items. They are found in nature.
- Gases: You’ll need special equipment to harvest these resources. Gases can be used for a variety of different crafting options.
Surveying
Use your scanner to survey plants, animals, and minerals. Surveying unlocks more information and gives you data you can sell. This is a good way to make some extra credits, which you can use to upgrade your stuff.
Outposts: Your Home Away from Home
Outposts can act as bases for resource gathering. You can set them up on a planet and automate resource collection, which makes resource gathering faster and easier. This can be very useful for long games.
- Location: Find a location rich with resources to make your outpost as useful as possible.
- Buildings: Start off by building resource collectors, storage units, and living quarters for your crew.
- Management: Add crew members to your outpost to improve its efficiency, and make sure it runs smoothly.
Exploration and resource gathering will help you progress very quickly in Starfield. It is important to be familiar with all these different concepts so that you have an easier and fun time in the game.
Navigating the Starfield Universe
Space can be huge and it is very easy to feel lost, but here are some tips for new gamers to navigate space smoothly. Here is what you need to know about navigating the Starfield Universe.
Understanding Starmaps
The starmap is your main tool for navigating. It can be a little confusing at first, but you need to get comfortable with it. Here are the important things to keep in mind.
- Star Systems: Star systems are groups of planets and space stations. You can fast travel to any star system you have previously visited.
- Travel Paths: Check the connections between the star systems. You need to follow this path to travel from one star system to another.
- Navigation: Click on the destination you want to travel to and the game will show you the correct route.
Grav Jumps
To travel between star systems, you need to do a grav jump. This uses your grav drive and consumes a small amount of fuel. Here is how you do a grav jump.
- Fuel: You need to have fuel in your ship for a grav jump. If you run out of fuel, you will have to make a long and slow trip or ask for help.
- Destination: Pick a destination in the starmap. The game will show you what you need for travel.
- Prepare: Press the button to initiate the grav jump. It will start the process and after a short wait you will arrive at the new system.
Fast Travel
Fast Travel is a very useful option in the game, and should be used when you are familiar with a location and want to quickly go back there. Here are some important things to keep in mind when using fast travel.
- Locations: You can fast travel to any city, settlement, or previously visited place. This will reduce travel time.
- Safety: When you fast travel, it saves the time you would spend flying through space. This way, you can avoid space battles.
- Starmap: You will have to open your starmap and click on the previously visited location in order to do a fast travel.
Navigating through the Starfield universe can seem difficult at the beginning but once you have gotten comfortable with the system, you will fly easily between different star systems.
Quests and Factions
Starfield has a main story quest line, but there are also a lot of side quests. Quests will give you great rewards and help you explore more of the game. Here is what you need to know about the different quests and factions in the game.
Main Story Quests
The main story quests are important, and focus on the core mystery of Starfield. When you complete them you will gain important knowledge of the game. Follow the storyline closely as these quests are important for getting the best experience.
Side Quests
You’ll find lots of side quests in cities and space stations. They often give you rewards and interesting side stories. Try to take on quests that are within your ability range. Here are some options to keep in mind.
- City Quests: Talk to people in cities to take on new quests. These quests are good for money and experience.
- Exploration Quests: Look at your map to find exploration quests, as they take you to unexplored places. This is a good option for new players to get a feel for the game.
- Faction Quests: Some side quests are specific to factions. Completing them will help you become more important in those groups.
Factions: Choosing Your Allies
In Starfield you’ll meet different groups called factions. Each faction has its own goals and beliefs. You can join them and work your way up through their ranks. Here are some of the main factions:
- Constellation: This faction is about exploring the unknown and learning about the universe. They play a very important role in the main quest line.
- United Colonies: If you like the idea of law and order in the galaxy, you can join the United Colonies. They are a strong group with a lot of military strength.
- Freestar Collective: If you like being independent, this faction might be for you. They have many different colonies and have a lot of exploration opportunities.
Joining a faction gives you access to new quests, resources, and opportunities. Picking one might feel like a big decision, but the best thing to do is to try out a few before settling down.
Saving the Game and Difficulty
Lastly, here is some important information about saving your game and the different difficulty options in Starfield. Here are the important points to remember:
Saving
Starfield has auto saving, but it’s a good idea to save your game manually too, because the autosave might be from a little bit ago. This way, if something goes wrong you can always load your manual save.
Difficulty
Starfield has several difficulty options. If you’re new to the game, starting on normal difficulty might be the best option. But here are a few tips.
- Normal: Normal is good for a balanced experience. Enemies are challenging, but you won’t have too much difficulty.
- Easy: If you are having a hard time at the beginning of the game, switch to easy mode. In easy mode, the enemies are easier to beat.
- Hard: If you like a challenge, hard is a great option to try. This will make fights much harder.
You can change the difficulty at any point in the game, so don’t be afraid to change it when needed. The important thing is to make sure you have a fun gaming experience.
Embarking on your Starfield journey might seem like a lot at first, but with these essential tips you will become a skilled space explorer in no time. Remember to take things slow, learn from your mistakes, and most importantly, enjoy the amazing experience of exploring the vast galaxy of Starfield. Good luck and happy travels through the cosmos!
Starfield: 15 Essential Tips and Tricks
Final Thoughts
Focus on main story missions first to understand the game. Manage inventory frequently to avoid becoming encumbered. Explore planets carefully; you can find valuable resources. Always keep an eye on your oxygen and health levels.
Engage with various factions to get unique quests and rewards. Remember skill points are crucial, so select wisely for a must fulfilling gameplay. These are your Starfield essential tips for new gamers.



