Starfield skills

Starfield skills are the building blocks for your character. While your equipment, faction allegiance, and weapon choices will have a significant impact on gameplay and the story, the biggest changes you can make to your character are through the skills you select at the start of the game and when you level up.

Each skill has four ranks which require skill points to unlock. You can unlock the Rank 1 of any skill with a skill point, but you’ll need to complete a rank up challenge in order to advance the skill to Rank 2 or higher.

Every Starfield skill

Filter

Category TypeCombatPhysicalScienceSocialTech Tier1234

Sort Skill nameItem CodeTier AscendingDescending

Reset filters

Found 82 posts. Displaying page 1 of 2.

Next >

Name	Category Type	Item Code	Tier
Aneutronic Fusion	Science	002C2C5A	4
Armor Penetration	Combat	0027DF94	4
Astrodynamics	Science	002C5560	1
Astrophysics	Science	0027CBBB	3
Automated Weapon Systems	Tech	0027B9ED	4
Ballistic Weapon Systems	Tech	002CE2C2	1
Ballistics	Combat	002CFCAB	1
Boost Assault Training	Tech	0008C3EE	4
Boost Pack Training	Tech	00146C2C	1
Botany	Science	002C5557	2
Boxing	Physical	002C59DF	1
Cellular Regeneration	Physical	0028AE14	3
Chemistry	Science	002CE2C0	3
Commerce	Social	002C5A8E	1
Concealment	Physical	002C555E	4
Crippling	Combat	0027CBBA	4
Deception	Social	002CFCAF	2
Decontamination	Physical	002CE2A0	3
Demolitions	Combat	002C5556	2
Diplomacy	Social	002C59E1	2
Dueling	Combat	002CFCB0	1
EM Weapon Systems	Tech	002C53B2	4
Energy Weapon Dissipation	Physical	002C59E2	2
Energy Weapon Systems	Tech	002C59DB	2
Engine Systems	Tech	002CE2DE	2
Environmental Conditioning	Physical	0028AE17	2
Fitness	Physical	002CE2DD	1
Gastronomy	Social	002C5A94	2
Geology	Science	002CE29F	1
Gymnastics	Physical	0028AE29	2
Heavy Weapons Certification	Combat	00147E38	2
Incapacitation	Combat	0027DF96	2
Instigation	Social	002C555D	3
Intimidation	Social	002C59DE	2
Isolation	Social	002C53AE	2
Lasers	Combat	002C59DD	1
Leadership	Social	002C890D	3
Manipulation	Social	002C5555	4
Marksmanship	Combat	002C890B	3
Martial Arts	Physical	002C5554	3
Medicine	Science	002CE2DF	1
Missile Weapon Systems	Tech	002C5558	3
Negotiation	Social	002C555F	2
Neurostrikes	Physical	002C53B4	4
Nutrition	Physical	002CFCAD	2
Outpost Engineering	Science	002C59E0	3
Outpost Management	Social	0023826F	3
Pain Tolerance	Physical	002CFCAE	2
Particle Beam Weapon Systems	Tech	002C2C5B	3
Particle Beams	Combat	0027BAFD	2
Payloads	Tech	00143B6B	2
Persuasion	Social	0022EC82	1
Piloting	Tech	002CFCAC	1
Pistol Certification	Combat	002080FF	1
Planetary Habitation	Science	0027CBC2	4
Rapid Reloading	Combat	002C555A	3
Rejuvenation	Physical	0028AE13	4
Research Methods	Science	002C555C	1
Rifle Certification	Combat	002CE2E0	2
Robotics	Tech	002C5553	3

Found 82 posts. Displaying page 1 of 2.

Next >

There are 82 Starfield skills in total split between five categories: Physical, Social, Combat, Science, and Tech. You get your first three skills at the beginning of the Starfield story by selecting a Starfield background during character creation.

As you earn experience from adventuring, you will earn enough to level up. On levelling up, you will earn skill points which you can use to upgrade existing skills or purchase new skills.

Each Starfield skill tree is divided into four tiers, with higher tiers requiring a set amount of skill points to be spent on lower tier skills within that skill tree.

What are the best Starfield skills?

Your choice of Starfield skills will ultimately depend on how you choose to play the game, but there are certainly some options that are more widely useful than others.

The Ballistics skill is especially useful as an early pick, since so many of the weapons you pick up in the game’s first act are likely to deal ballistics damage. Persuasion is another Starfield skill that’s useful in a wide variety of situations, and will often save you from difficult combat encounters or time-consuming extra steps in Starfield missions.

Wellness and Medicine are also some of the best Starfield skills to choose early on, since extra health is always useful.

What are the best Starfield skills for my build?

If you’re looking for which specific skills you need to harness to achieve the build of your dreams, we’ve got you covered. Below you can find advice on which of the various skills to opt for across a selection of builds. Just keep in mind, you can eventually unlock all the skills through various New Game Plus playthroughs, but it’s still a good idea to prioritize certain skills to get your build off the ground before the main quest becomes too daunting.

Stealth builds – For stealth builds, you should prioritize skills like Theft, Security, Persuasion, Scavenging, Stealth, and Fitness. These five are a great place to start as they give you access to digipicking and pickpocketing, while also making it more likely for you to get through tricky conversations without things evolving into a gunfight.

Social builds – Social builds are all about human interaction, so the Diplomacy, Commerce, Persuasion, Deception, and Manipulation skills all come into play. If you’re particularly combat averse, Instigation and Intimidation also help to turn enemies against each other or force them to flee.

Melee builds – If you’re opting for the hands-on approach to combat, the important skills are Martial Arts, Crippling, Dueling, Boxing, and Neurostrikes. It’s also a good idea to pick up the Pain Tolerance and Wellness skills early on to keep you fighting against enemies with high HP.

Samurai build – While the necessary Ronin background gives you access to skills such as Dueling, Scavenging, and Stealth, the ideal samurai also needs to be equipped with Wellness, Gymnastics, Pain Tolerance, and Martial Arts.