Starfield backgrounds
A detailed breakdown of all the Starfield backgrounds so you can build the ultimate Spacefarer with the best starting skills and bonuses.
The role of Starfield backgrounds is to provide your Spacefarer with a set of starting skills for their journey. In addition to the three starting skills you get, each background also has a short piece of flavor text to set the roleplaying scene. So far we’ve seen the titles of 16 different Starfield backgrounds as well as the accompanying skills for several of them.
Unlike Starfield traits, backgrounds don’t come with negative side effects and won’t align you with any Starfield factions, but your chosen background may still be reflected in certain NPC interactions.
Here are the Starfield backgrounds:
- Beast Hunter
- Bouncer
- Bounty Hunter
- Chef
- Combat Medic
- Cyber Runner
- Cyberneticist
- Diplomat
- Explorer
- Gangster
- Homesteader
- Industrialist
- Long Hauler
- Pilgrim
- Professor
- Ronin
Beast Hunter
Bio entry
Not yet revealed.
Starting skills
Not yet revealed.
Speculation
With a name like Beast Hunter, you’d expect this Starfield background to unlock powerful buffs to your attacks against planetary fauna and creatures. Expect starting skills that grant bonuses to your attacks against the beast-like enemies you’ll face on Starfield planets and moons such as Kreet. Other benefits could include boosts to your survival skills, or buffs to your Starfield armor.
Bouncer
Bio entry
Not yet revealed.
Starting skills
Not yet revealed.
Speculation
Bouncers are likely to be sturdy close-combat specialists, so expect skills that boost your unarmed or melee combat abilities, as well as buff your defensive side.
Bounty Hunter
Bio entry
Not yet revealed.
Starting skills
Not yet revealed.
Speculation
The Bounty Hunter is one of the most tantalizing Starfield backgrounds on offer, and it’s possible that this backstory will affect your interactions with criminal NPCs. After all, if there’s an outstanding warrant for your arrest you’re unlikely to strike up a friendship with a bounty hunter.
Chef
Bio entry
While the unrefined masses scarfed down Chunks by the shipload, you catered to those with a more… discerning palate. In your kitchen, countless alien species became true culinary masterpieces.
Starting skills
- Gastronomy – you can craft specialty food and drinks, and research additional recipes at a Research Lab
- Dueling – you do 10% more damage with melee weapons
- Wellness – gain 30 points in maximum health
Speculation
The Chef background is all about gaining extra sustenance, so it’s fitting that your Wellness skill provides an immediate boost to your max HP. The Gastronomy skill lets you craft specialty food and drinks, tying into the Starfield research laboratory system. All that time spent dicing onions has also made you handy with a blade, so you start the game dealing 10% more damage with melee weapons. Tasty.
Combat Medic
Bio entry
Leave it to human beings to fight over something as infinite as outer space. That’s where you come in. You’ve never been afraid to take on the enemy… but you’d much rather take care of your friends.
Starting skills
- Pistol Certification – you do 10% more damage with pistols
- Medicine – Med Packs heal 10% more
- Weight Lifting – increase your total carrying capacity by 10 kilograms
Speculation
While the Combat Medic starting skills all look fairly straightforward, the bio entry demands a second look. The flavor text here refers to ‘taking care of your friends’. Does that mean you’ll be healing allies as well as yourself in Starfield? Could it hint at a Starfield multiplayer mode? Probably not, but it does suggest that we might be able to expect greater interactivity between the player and Starfield companions during the heat of battle.
Cyber Runner
Bio entry
From Neon to New Atlantis, the megacorps stand as monuments to power, prestige and profit. You’ve worked both for and against them, on the inside and out, often sacrificing conscience for credits.
Starting skills
- Pistol Certification – you do 10% more damage with pistols
- Security – you can attempt to hack Advanced locks, and bank two auto attempts
- Persuasion – gain an increased chance of success in speech challenges
Speculation
The Cyber Runner background may sound specialised, but it’s actually a solid all-rounder, offering you three separate ways to solve any problem: smooth-talking, expert hacking, and bullet-based violence. It also makes us wonder if you’ll already have clout or infamy with the Xenofresh Corporation and Ryujin Industries factions present in Neon.
Cyberneticist
Bio entry
Robots? Mere toys. Neuroamps? Good for parlor tricks. The Colony War may have made implants and upgrades available to veterans, but you once saw a greater future. Humans and machines, as one.
Starting skills
- Medicine – Med Packs heal 10% more
- Robotics – you deal 10% more damage to Robots and Turrets
- Lasers – you deal 10% more damage with laser weapons
Speculation
The Cyberneticist is perfect for players who really want to get to grips with the more futuristic elements of Starfield’s setting. Forget old-fashioned blades and primitive revolvers – you’re too busy melting robots with your laser rifle.
Diplomat
Bio entry
The wars are over. Peace now reigns the Settled Systems. But only because there are those quietly fighting to keep it. Because of you, agreements were signed, words were heeded… lives were spared.
Starting skills
- Persuasion – gain an increased chance of success on speech challenges
- Diplomacy – you can force a target NPC at or below your level to stop fighting for a while
- Bargaining – buy items for 5% less and sell them for 10% more
Speculation
Let’s not beat around the bush – the Diplomat is a bit of a wet blanket. Compared to the other Starfield backgrounds, they’re going to be at a disadvantage in a gunfight, but the upside here is that they’re unmatched when it comes to influencing (and even manipulating) those around them.
Explorer
Bio entry
Not yet revealed.
Starting skills
Not yet revealed.
Speculation
The Explorer background is arguably one of the most open-ended of all of the options we know about so far. It may be that starting skills include boosts to your mapping or traveling capabilities, or perhaps you can look forward to greater access to high-end Starfield ships from the get-go.
Gangster
Bio entry
Not yet revealed.
Starting skills
Not yet revealed.
Speculation
Personally, we’re hoping that at least one space-age tommy gun will feature in the big list of Starfield weapons. Okay, that may be a little far-fetched, but we’d expect starting skills that focus on persuasion and/or intimidation, as well as a better than average firearms proficiency.
Homesteader
Bio entry
Not yet revealed.
Starting skills
Not yet revealed.
Speculation
Self-sufficiency is sure to be key to the Homesteader background, so expect starting skills that enable you to make more with less – whether you’re using Starfield materials to craft new tech and gear or assembling Starfield outposts in the intergalactic wilderness.
Industrialist
Bio entry
Not yet revealed.
Starting skills
Not yet revealed.
Speculation
There are a few benefits that the Industrialist background might have access to. One is bargaining, which lets you buy items for 5% less and sell them for 10% more. You might also expect them to be skilled at acquiring and using Starfield materials to build and craft whatever they require.
Long Hauler
Bio entry
Not yet revealed.
Starting skills
Not yet revealed.
Speculation
There are two ways we can look at this background: personal carrying capacity and ship cargo hold space. We expect this background is geared towards the traders and would-be space-freighters amongst you, or those who just want to pick up everything in sight!
Pilgrim
Bio entry
Not yet revealed.
Starting skills
Not yet revealed.
Speculation
We already know that there are several Starfield religions – including the Enlightened, the Great Serpent, and Sanctum Universal – so it stands to reason that the setting would include religious pilgrims, too. This background could offer you a unique quest or provide you with a small reputation boost with each religious faction. Alternatively, it could relate back to the religious fanatics of the House of Varun.
Professor
Bio entry
Not yet revealed.
Starting skills
Not yet revealed.
Speculation
There’s very little to go on with the Professor background, but Fallout has previously featured perks which increased experience gain – though this is an unconfirmed skill. It may however provide you with a reputation bonus towards more academically-inclined factions like Constellaton.
Ronin
Bio entry
Not yet revealed.
Starting skills
Not yet revealed.
Speculation
If we take the historical Ronin – a masterless samurai – as the inspiration for this background, we can almost certainly count on a melee weapons boost or a proficiency with specific armor.