Starfield skills
A complete breakdown of all the known Starfield skills that you'll use to create and shape your ideal Spacefarer over the course of each playthrough
Starfield skills are the building blocks for your character. While your gear, faction allegiance, and 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 whenever you level up.
You get your first three skills by choosing from the different Starfield backgrounds during character creation. Skills are spread across five different categories and each skill has multiple ranks, much like perks in Fallout 4.
The five categories are Physical, Social, Combat, Science, and Tech.
Physical
No information.
Social
No information.
Combat
Ballistics
“Centuries of conflict have proven that when it comes to threat elimination, few things stack up to the reliable power of combustion.”
- Rank 1: Ballistic weapons do 10% more damage.
- Rank 2: Ballistic weapons do 20% more damage.
- Rank 3: Ballistic weapons do 30% more damage.
Challenge: Kill 250 enemies with a ballistic weapon. - Rank 4: Ballistic weapons range is increased by 30%.
Demolitions
- Rank 1: No information.
- Rank 2: No information.
Challenge: Kill 125 enemies with explosives. - Rank 3: Explosives do 30% more damage and have a 30% larger radius.
- Rank 4: No information.
Heavy Weapons Certification
- Rank 1: No information.
- Rank 2: No information.
- Rank 3: No information.
Challenge: Kill 250 enemies with a heavy weapon. - Rank 4: Gain 30 Damage Resistance while aiming down sights with a heavy weapon.
Marksmanship
No information.
Particle Beams
No information.
Rapid Reloading
- Rank 1: No information.
- Rank 2: No information.
- Rank 3: No information.
Challenge: Reload 150 empty magazines. - Rank 4: Gain a chance to reload your weapon twice as fast as normal.
Sniper Certification
“Only a trained sniper truly understands all the elements necessary to patiently and effectively neutralize a target at excessive range.”
- Rank 1: Scoped weapons are steadier and have less sway.
Targeting
- Rank 1: No information.
- Rank 2: No information.
Challenge: Kill 125 enemies without aiming. - Rank 3: Greatly increased accuracy and range when shooting without aiming.
Science
No information.
Tech
No information.
In addition to these skills, we’ve also seen a Starship Design skill with at least two ranks. This appears during the Starfield ship customization section of the official gameplay reveal. It appears that this skill will allow you to purchase improved modules for your ship and that higher ranks will unlock even better modules.