The best way to get started in Starfield is to focus on the main questline, complete early side missions for experience, and regularly upgrade your gear.
Embarking on your journey across the vast expanse of space in Starfield can feel overwhelming at first. That’s why we’ve created this Starfield quick start guide for new player. This will help you navigate your first few hours successfully.
Understanding the key systems early on, like crafting, research, and ship customization, will also greatly enhance your gameplay. Don’t feel pressured to explore everything at once. Take it slow.
Starfield Quick Start Guide for New Players
So, you’ve just jumped into the massive universe of Starfield? That’s awesome! It can feel a little overwhelming at first, with so much to see and do. This guide is here to help you get your space legs and avoid feeling totally lost in the cosmos. We’ll go over some important things you should know right at the start, helping you have a much smoother and more fun journey. Think of this as your personal Starfield astronaut training program – no space suit required!
Creating Your Character: More Than Just Looks
Before you even take off, you get to make your own character. This is more than just choosing a hairstyle; it affects how you play the game. You’ll pick a background and choose traits. Here’s a bit more detail:
Backgrounds
Your background is like your past job. It gives you three starting skills. Here are a few examples, and what they generally mean for your starting playstyle:
- Bounty Hunter: Starts with piloting, targeting control systems, and combat skills. Great if you want to dive into fights and spaceships battles early on.
- Diplomat: This background gives you persuasion, commerce, and wellness skills. If you want to talk your way out of problems, this is for you.
- Explorer: You will begin your game with the skills of surveying, astrodynamics, and medicine. This is for the player who loves to get out there and see every corner of the galaxy.
- Chef: This background gives you Gastronomy, Scavenging and Wellness. If you like to look for rare ingredients to make some tasty food, this could be perfect for you.
- Cyber Runner: This background starts with stealth, security and theft. For the player who likes to be sneaky and maybe a little bit of a criminal.
Pick one that sounds interesting to you. Don’t stress too much, you can still level up any skill later in the game!
Traits
Traits are like little bonuses or challenges that make your game a little bit different. You can choose up to three, and some are good, some are bad, or maybe both! Here are some examples:
- Introvert: You get a boost in stats when you play solo, but you are a little weaker when you have a companion.
- Extrovert: This is the opposite of the introvert trait. Your stats increase when you are with a companion, but suffer a bit when you play alone.
- Wanted: You’ll have some bounty hunters chasing you around, making things more exciting. It could be dangerous, but might be exciting for you.
- Taskmaster: If you plan on having a ship with crew, then this trait could really benefit you. You get bonuses in ship combat and weapons when your crew are happy.
- Kid Stuff: You will sometimes encounter your parents as a random event. You will also send them money automatically every week.
Read through these carefully, as they have a real impact on your game. Try to pick traits that fit how you want to play.
Pro Tip: Don’t get stuck on this for too long, you can change some aspects of your character later in the game using console commands. And you will also pick up more skills and traits, as you level up.
Understanding the User Interface (UI)
The first time you play the game, the user interface can seem like a lot to handle. It’s okay! Once you start to understand it, you will find it very easy to navigate. Here’s a breakdown of some key parts:
Health, Oxygen, and Boost Meter
At the bottom left of your screen, you’ll see three bars. These are important for survival:
- Health Bar: Shows how much damage you can take. If it reaches zero, you need to load your last save.
- Oxygen Bar: When this runs out you start losing health. Pay attention to this bar especially when exploring!
- Boost Meter: Shows how much you can boost while running or jumping.
Compass and Minimap
At the top of your screen, you have a compass showing the important things that you want to go to. Follow these markers to quests, shops, and other areas.
When on a planet, the compass is also a minimap. It shows the area around you.
Inventory and Menu System
Press the designated button to open the main menu. From here you can navigate to:
- Inventory: Shows everything you’re carrying. Make sure that you are not carrying too much!
- Character: This is where you can see your current stats, skills, and traits.
- Missions: Keep track of your tasks and quests here.
- Ship: Manage your spacecraft, including its load out, modules, and crew.
- Star Map: The place that you will use to travel across the universe.
Spend some time getting to know the menu system. It will become your best friend!
Pro Tip: Always check your inventory for important items after doing a mission. This can include keys, important documents, or other items that can lead to more quests.
Your First Steps: The Beginning
The beginning of Starfield guides you through some important parts of the game. Pay attention to what the characters are saying.
Mining and Resource Gathering
At the very start, you’ll learn how to mine resources using your laser cutter. This is important, as you will need these materials to craft and improve your gear. Always scan planets and areas that you explore to pick up all the resources you can.
Combat Basics
You will soon find yourself in combat with some pirates. Pay attention to how to use your gun. Remember to use cover and watch your oxygen bar, as sometimes you will run out very quickly if you are not careful.
First Mission
The beginning mission is designed to teach you about how Starfield works. You will be lead from place to place, introducing you to new characters, how to travel, and the main mission. Follow the instructions and you will be well on your way to becoming a space explorer.
Pro Tip: Complete the very first mission. This will introduce you to the main story of Starfield. As you complete missions, you will see your skills and level rise.
Navigating the Starfield Universe
Starfield is a big place! Here’s how to get around:
Using the Star Map
The Star Map is where you will go to travel across the universe. You select the star system, then the planet, and finally the specific place where you want to land. You will sometimes need to travel to different space stations to get information to help you progress through missions. Take your time to learn how the map works, and soon you will be travelling like a pro.
Grav Jumping
To travel to different star systems, you need to use the Grav Drive in your ship. This is called grav jumping. To do this, select a star on the Star Map, and you can then initiate your jump. The larger the distance you are jumping, the more fuel it will use. So make sure you have enough for your trip!
Landing on Planets
When you are in a planet’s orbit, you will then get to pick a landing location on the surface of the planet. Sometimes the game will mark a specific place you will need to land, and other times you will just be picking a random location to explore. Choose your location and get ready to explore!
Pro Tip: Don’t be afraid to explore the different star systems. You never know what you will find!
Combat Tips and Tricks
Combat is an important part of Starfield. Here are some things you should know to help you win fights:
Weapons
Starfield has many different weapons, including pistols, rifles, shotguns, and melee. Try out all the different types to see what you like best. Different enemies may be weak to a certain kind of damage, so switching your weapon type can help you win.
Cover System
Make sure that you take cover when you are in a firefight. This will reduce the amount of damage that you take. Use the environment around you to give you the best chance of winning.
Boost Packs
Boost packs allow you to jump a lot higher and farther than normal. You can use your boost pack to get out of difficult combat situations, and get yourself in a better position to take on your enemies. Make sure you learn how to use this quickly to give you the best advantage in combat.
Healing Items
Healing is important during combat. Make sure that you always have some healing items available in your inventory. Keep your eye on the amount of healing supplies that you have, and make sure that you buy or find more before you go exploring.
Pro Tip: Don’t always run into a fight. Use cover, try to pick off enemies one at a time, and make sure that your health bar is always up.
Skills and Leveling Up
As you do things in Starfield, you will gain experience, and level up. Each time you level up, you will gain a skill point that you can use to purchase skills in your skill tree. This can be done by opening your character page from the menu. You can choose to improve the skills you are already using, or you can choose to learn new skills.
Skill Trees
The skills tree is divided into 5 main areas:
- Physical: Skills that involve your character’s body such as stealth, weight lifting, or fitness.
- Social: Skills involving interacting with other people such as persuasion, intimidation, or commerce.
- Combat: Skills that involve fighting like weapons, shields, and ballistics.
- Science: Skills involving the scientific nature of Starfield, such as research, medicine and geology.
- Tech: Skills involving the tech aspects of Starfield like ship building, piloting, and laser weapons.
Early Skill Recommendations
Here are a few skills that are beneficial to acquire at the start of the game.
- Boost Pack Training: Allows you to use a boost pack.
- Weight Lifting: You can carry more items.
- Persuasion: Talking your way out of trouble can be important.
- Security: Helps with hacking locks.
Think about your preferred playstyle and try to focus on skills that benefit that. Don’t be afraid to try different combinations as you gain more experience.
Pro Tip: Look at skills that have different skill levels. You don’t have to choose all new skills, you can increase existing skills for even better results.
Ship Management
Your ship is very important in Starfield. It’s your home in the galaxy, so treat it well!
Upgrading Your Ship
When you have enough credits, you can start to upgrade your ship. You can purchase new weapons, engines, shields, and many other modules. Visit a ship technician to see all the options available.
Ship Customization
You can also customize the look of your ship. Visit a ship technician to change the layout of the ship, add new colors, or completely rebuild your ship from scratch. There are a lot of options, so be creative!
Crew Management
You will encounter people as you play, and they will often ask to join your crew. You can assign crew to different posts in your ship, and they will provide different bonuses for you. You can also have them assist you in missions.
Pro Tip: You can also earn credits by picking up contraband, and sell it at The Den, located in the Wolf system.
Exploring Planets and POIs (Points of Interest)
Exploring is a huge part of Starfield. There are so many things to see and do in the many planets that are available for you to explore. Here are some important aspects:
Scanning Planets
When you enter a planet’s orbit, you can scan the planet to learn more about it. This can reveal different resources that are on the planet, or can uncover unique locations that you can explore on the surface of the planet.
Discovering POIs
As you explore, you will see different icons on your compass. These are POIs, or places to investigate. Sometimes these are outposts, caves, or other unique places. Make sure to visit each of them, you never know what you will find!
Surveying
As you visit planets you can use your scanner to survey the planet. Surveying is simply discovering all of the flora, fauna and resources on a planet. This can also open up new outposts that you can build. You can upgrade your surveying skills in the science skill tree.
Pro Tip: It is a good idea to visit a planet that is low level before trying to survey a high level planet.
Outposts and Crafting
Outposts allow you to set up bases on the planets. This can be used to gain resources and build unique items.
Building Outposts
Once you have surveyed a planet, you can select a landing spot and set up an outpost. You can build habitats, crafting stations, resource extractors and more.
Crafting
You can use the resources that you extract from your outposts or pick up while exploring to create new items. You can build weapons, armor, food, medical items, and even ship parts.
Pro Tip: Try to find the materials for building outposts early in the game, and build them quickly. They will provide a great source of resources for crafting.
There’s a lot to get to grips with in Starfield, but don’t worry! Just take things at your own speed, explore and most importantly, have fun! The galaxy is waiting.
Starfield – Ultimate Beginners Guide | How To Have The Perfect Start
Final Thoughts
Follow this quick start guide, new player. Focus on the main quest initially. Scavenge resources and upgrade gear regularly. Don’t hesitate to explore, but prioritize story early.
Engage with factions to gain benefits. Invest in essential skills first. This Starfield quick start guide for new player will certainly make early space exploration much easier. Remember that patience is key for enjoying this game fully.
