Starfield: All Skills Explained

Starfield skills are extremely important for every player. There are 82 unique skills in the game, and each corresponds to a certain power-up. You can gain and upgrade these skills to unlock abilities like stealth, sneak, boost pack, and weapon damage bonuses. In short, your character builds, playing style, and battle strategies mainly depend on your acquired skills.

The only problem is that you gain only one skill point on each character level. So, it’s virtually impossible to unlock all skills in a single playthrough. Furthermore, the amount of grinding required to even unlock and upgrade the critical skills is too much. Therefore, this article explains all Starfield skills so that you can shortlist the ones that you need for your build.

How do Starfield Skills Work?

Before we dive into the details, it would be best to take some time to learn the basics. Skills are an important fragment of the whole Starfield formula. There are 82 skills in Starfield that you can unlock by investing character points. You will gain a +1 point every time you advance a character level.

Once you gain a skill point, you can open the skills menu and unlock any available skill. These skills are divided into 5 main categories or skill trees, namely:

• Physical: Overall resilience and basic stats like weight capacity, HP, and Oxygen.
• Combat: Weapon expertise and damage boosts.
• Social: Dialogue options, commerce, and companion romance.
• Science: Crafting, Outpost Building, Resource Research.
• Technology: Security, Starfield ship builder and customization, and boost packs.

These categories are then further classified into 4 tiers or sub-categories. You will unlock a new tier after investing a couple of points in the previous section. For instance, you must invest at least 3 points in Tier 1 to unlock Tier 2. Here are the number of points required to unlock a new category:

• Novice or Tier 1: Unlocked by default
• Advanced or Tier 2: 3 points in Tier 1
• Expert or Tier 3: 7 points in Tier 2
• Master or Tier 4: 11 points in Tier 3

Lastly, each sub-category or Tier contains various skills. However, skills from higher Tiers don’t necessarily mean that they are better than previous ones. Once you acquire a skill, you can upgrade it with skill points by up to 4 ranks. Each rank unlocks better options and increases your efficiency with that particular skill. However, you must complete a skill rank challenge before you can upgrade that particular skill.

All Skills in Starfield:

There are 82 Starfield skills divided into various skill trees and Tiers. Here is a brief explanation of every skill from each category:

Physical Skills:

These skills govern your general resilience and well-being. You must unlock the majority of these skills for melee builds and unarmed character strength. Furthermore, certain skills in this category will increase your inventory capacity and damage taken from physical attacks.

Novice or Tier 1:

• Boxing: Increases the damage output of unarmed attacks and reduces oxygen consumption of power attacks.
• Fitness: Increases the overall Oxygen capacity or stamina to utilize in various activities.
• Stealth: Enables the stealth meter and makes you harder to detect when sneaking.
• Weight Lifting: Significantly increases your carrying capacity so that you can carry more items in your inventory without getting overburdened.
• Wellness: Increases your HP or maximum health points bar.

Advanced or Tier 2:

• Environmental Conditioning: Increases resistance against environmental hazards and status effects like airborne, thermal, and radiation.
• Energy Weapon Dissipation: Reduces the damage taken from energy weapons and particle beams.
• Pain Tolerance: Reduce damage taken from physical attacks by up to 15%.
• Gymnastics: Grants mobility in zero-G, unlocks combat slide, and greatly reduces fall damage.
• Nutrition: Increases the efficiency of food and drinks by up to 50% so that you recover more HP.

Expert or Tier 3:

• Decontamination: Significantly increases the chance to recover from infections naturally.
• Cellular Regeneration: Allows you to recover from injuries naturally and reduces the chances of getting injured.
• Martial Arts: Increases the player’s efficiency and damage output with melee weapons and unarmed attacks.

Master or Tier 4:

• Neurostrikes: Allows you to stun your opponent with unarmed build attacks.
• Rejuvenation: Enables you to regenerate HP when out of combat. At final rank, you will even slowly gain HP during combat.
• Concealment: Improves stealth, boosts sneak attacks, and increases the damage output of ranged sneak attacks.

Combat Skills:

This skill tree improves your efficiency with different types of weapons. You must acquire at least two skills from this category, depending on your playstyle and weapon of choice. For example, a Tank build requires Heavy Weapon Certification or shotgun certification.

Novice or Tier 1:

• Ballistics: Increases damage of ballistic weapons by up to 30%.
• Dueling: Grants various buffs and increases your efficiency while wielding melee weapons.
• Pistol Certification: Boosts the damage output from pistols by up to 50%.
• Shotgun Certification: Increases the damage done with shotguns by up to 30%.
• Lasers: Laser weapons deal up to 30% more damage.

Advanced or Tier 2:

• Rifle Certification: Increases the damage from rifles by up to 30% and significantly reduces the reload time.
• Heavy Weapon Certification: Increases damage output of heavy weapons by up to 30% and grants 25% physical resistance while aiming down the sight.
• Incapacitation: Increases damage output of EM weapons by up to 15%. At rank 4, there is a 15% chance to deal 300% damage with EM.
• Demolitions: Increased efficiency with throwables and explosives, also reduces the damage taken from explosives.
• Particle Beam: Particle Beam weapons deal up to 30% more damage.

Expert or Tier 3:

• Marksmanship: Increases chances of critical hits with non-automatic ranged weapons by up to 15%.
• Rapid Reloading: Reduces the reload time of ballistic weapons, EM weapons, energy weapons, and particle beam weapons.
• Sniper Certification: Increases your steadiness, range, breath holding time, and damage when using sniper rifles and scoped weapons.
• Targeting: Increases your accuracy, range, and damage output when shooting a ranged weapon without aiming down the sight.

Master or Tier 4:

• Crippling: Increases chances to down enemies after dealing some damage. Moreover, it also increases the damage on downed enemies by 100%.
• Armor Penetration: Reduces the enemies’ armor status by up to 50% when you attack them.
• Sharpshooting: Increases the critical hit damage on the head, leg, and torso with ranged weapons by 50%.

Social Skills:

Social skills improve the outcomes of your social interactions. You can invest in these skills to develop diplomatic traits, get better deals, persuade other NPCs, and even develop romantic relationships with your companions.

Novice or Tier 1:

• Commerce: Reduces the cost of buying stuff by up to 20% and increases the selling price of your goods by up to 25%.
• Persuasion: Increases your chances of success when persuading others by up to 50%.
• Gastronomy: Improves your crafting and research skills for food and drinks.
• Theft: Unlocks pickpocketing and improves your chances of success by up to 50%.
• Scavenging: Increases the chances of finding extra credits, medpacks, caelumite, chems, ammo, and misc items when searching containers.

Advanced or Tier 2:

• Diplomacy: You can force any targeted NPC up to 20 levels higher to stop fighting until they are attacked again.
• Deception: Ships up to 50% stronger than yours will automatically surrender to piracy demands. Also, reduces the contraband scanners’ efficiency by up to 50%.
• Negotiation: Unlocks bribery and reduces the cost of bribing others by up to 50%. Sometimes, bribes won’t even cost any money at rank 4.
• Intimidation: Force opponents up to 20 levels higher than yours to flee for a short time.
• Isolation: Increases the damage output by up to 40% and gains resistance when you haven’t assigned any crew member as your companion.

Expert or Tier 3:

• Outpost Management: Improves your outposts by granting additional links, robots, crew slots, and increased production.
• Instigation: Force opponents up to 20 levels higher than yours to attack their allies for a short time. At rank 4, the target will keep attacking until its ally is dead.
• Leadership: Improves your companion’s efficiency by increasing their capacity, affinity, and healing powers and unlocks the auto revive option.

Master or Tier 4:

• Xenosociology: Force alien creatures up to 10 levels higher than yours to obey your commands, flee, stop fighting, or attack their allies for a limited time.
• Ship Command: Increases the number of active crew members on your ship by up to 8 members at rank 4.
• Manipulation: Force enemies up to 20 levels higher than yours to obey your commands for a short time.

Science Skills:

Science skills are extremely important for all playstyles. These skills improve your mobility, efficiency of consumables, allow you to craft better goods, gather more resources, and improve your outposts.

Novice or Tier 1:

• Astrodynamics: Improves grav jump range by up to 30% and reduces jump drives fuel cost by up to 50%.
• Medicine: Med Packs, Trauma Packs, and Emergency Kits restore up to 50% HP and grant the chance to cure a status effect.
• Geology: Yield more rare and exotic inorganic resources from surface objects.
• Surveying: Adds zoom levels to your handy scanner and increases the scanning distance by up to 50 meters.
• Research Methods: The number of resources needed to craft items and complete research is reduced by up to 40%.

Advanced or Tier 2:

• Scanning: Detect better inorganic resources and acquire better combat information about ships in space.
• Spacesuit Design: Craft better spacesuits, helmets, and pack mods with reduced resource requirements.
• Botany: Get better resources from plants, cultivate some of them at your outposts, learn faster about them, and harvest exotic resources like adhesives.
• Zoology: Get better resources from creatures, breed some of them at your outposts, and learn faster about them.
• Weapon Engineering: Craft up to master-level weapon mods directly from the workbench.

Expert or Tier 3:

• Chemistry: Research and create superior chemicals at a research lab.
• Astrophysics: Allows you to can any planet or moon up to 30 light-years and grants up to 50% chance to discover a trait while scanning.
• Outpost Engineering: Allows you to research and construct superior outpost modules and structures.

Master or Tier 4:

• Aneutronic Fusion: Ship reactors will generate up to 5 extra units of power.
• Planetary Habitation: Allows you to create outposts on planets with extreme temperatures, extreme pressure, toxic atmospheres, and extreme gravity conditions.
• Special Projects: Research experimental projects at any research lab and craft rarer manufactured goods at an industrial workbench.

Technology Skills:

Tech skills will definitely help you pilot some of the best ships in Starfield. These skills can improve your ships, ship weapons, piloting skills, weapon systems, and ship designs. So, if you really wish to safely travel through the humungous universe, consider at least 3 skills from this tree.

Novice or Tier 1:

• Ballistic Weapons Systems: Increases ballistic ship weapon damage by up to 50%, reduces recharge time by 30% and reduces the cost by 20% when used in targeting mode.
• Boost Pack Training: Unlocks Boost Packs, reduces fuel consumption, and improves fuel regeneration.
• Piloting: Allows you to use ship thrusters and pilot class B and C ships at higher levels.
• Security: Hack up to master-level locks and computers with up to 5 auto-hack attempts.
• Targeting Control Systems: Unlock ship targeting mode and reduces the time to lock onto enemy ships by up to 60%.

Advanced or Tier 2:

• Energy Weapon Systems: Energy weapons on your ship inflict 30% increased damage, and the cost is reduced by 45% in targeting mode.
• Payloads: Improves the cargo-carrying capacity of your ships by up to 50%.
• Engine Systems: Increases your ship’s top speed by up to 20%. At rank 4, all attacking enemy ships will disengage until you stop boosting.
• Shield Systems: Increases the carrying capacity of your shielded cargo by up to 60%.

Expert or Tier 3:

• Starship Engineering: Starfield ships will repair up to 25% faster, increase damage mitigation, and occasionally repair the whole ship when you repair any single module.
• Robotics: Increases your damage output against robots and turrets by up to 30%. Moreover, you can control other robots, make them fight their allies, or even abandon the battle.
• Missile Weapon Systems: Increases the damage output of ship missile weapons by up to 30% and reduces the cost of target mode by up to 60%.
• Particle Beam Weapon Systems: Increases the damage output of ship particle beam weapons by up to 30% and reduces the cost of target mode by up to 30%.
• Starship Design: Allows the installation of high-end ship modules.

Master or Tier 4:

• EM Weapon Systems: Increases the damage output of ship EM weapons by up to 30% and reduces the cost of target mode by up to 45%.
• Boost Assault Training: Allows you to damage nearby enemy ships when you activate the boost. At higher ranks, you can hover while boosting and even phase time until you release the booster.
• Automated Weapon Systems: Increases the damage output of automated ship weapons by up to 30% and reduces the cost of target mode by up to 40%.

Conclusion:

Skills are the building block of all character builds in Starfield. You can choose from over 80 unique skills to create your dream build. These skills charge up your attacks, refine your defenses, and even polish the best traits of different backgrounds. However, you can only unlock a limited number of skills in a single playthrough. Therefore, this article explains all Starfield skills so that you can make an informed decision.