Starfield is set in a futuristic world with big guns, sturdy armor suits, and highly trained foes. So, naturally, you must come up with a sound strategy to survive the horrors of the game. Fortunately, unlike other modern RPGs, Starfield doesn’t force you to play as a pre-defined character. Instead, you have the freedom to polish your character build however you like. For instance, if you are a fan of stealth, you can go with a silent assassin build. Similarly, if you plan to shoot everything in sight, a powerful tank build is your best shot.
The only problem is that you must choose everything from your character’s background to traits, skills, and even which guns you plan to wield. Therefore, this article provides a comprehensive Starfield tank build guide to help you create your dream character.
Table of Contents
Best Starfield Tank Build:
When playing Starfield as a tanky character, you don’t need to travel far away to find your gear. As the game is set in a futuristic setting, you are bound to find heavy weapons and sturdy space suits around every corner. However, it is up to you to choose the best weapons and advanced skills to complement your build.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to creating the best tank build in Starfield:
Best Background for Tank Build:
Before you start your intergalactic adventure, you must choose a background for your character. This option plays an important role both for role play and attributes. Therefore, it is crucial to choose a background that goes well with your dream build.
Secondly, your main goal is to choose an option that offers Wellness, Ballistics, and a bonus optional skill. From the 12 available options, here are the best backgrounds that suit any survivability build:
- Soldier
- File Not Found
- Combat Medic
For this build, our goal was to mimic a Star Wars Jedi stormtrooper. So, we started with the Soldier background, as it offers a combination of Wellness, Booster Pack Certification, and Ballistics. Alternatively, if you just want a non-Star Wars character, the File Not Found background seems like a reasonable selection. Lastly, if you are always low on HP, you can choose the Combat Medic to cover that flaw.
Best Traits for Tank Build:
Unlike the Starfield melee build, you don’t need to focus on increasing your physical strength through perks. Instead, your goal is to prolong your survivability while maintaining a steady rate of fire. So, you can choose from the following traits for your character:
- Terra Firma: First things first, you will need as much HP and oxygen for your travels. So, Terra Firma increases these stats whenever you are landed.
- Alien DNA: Alien DNA further boosts the HP and oxygen supplies to match your tank build demands.
- Wanted: This trait increases your damage output from all weapons when you are low on health. So, this trait will give you the notorious adrenaline rush.
Best Skills for Tank Build:
Until now, everything you choose has pretty much been pre-defined and divided among the available options. However, once you start your adventures, you will be on your own. The good news is that you can grind XP and earn character points to unlock some of the best skills.
These skills will help shape your tank build over the course of the game. However, it is important to prioritize your investments according to your playing style. Secondly, you can’t unlock all 86 skills in a single playthrough. So, here are the best skills to unlock and upgrade for this build:
- Wellness: Rank 4
- Pain Tolerance: Rank 3
- Weight Lifting: Rank 4
- Marksman: Rank 3
- Heavy Weapon Certification: Rank 4
- Nutrition: Rank 3
- Energy Weapon Dissipation: Rank 3
- Rejuvenation: Rank 4
- Shotgun Certification: Rank 3 or 4
- Ballistics: Rank 4
- Isolation: Rank 3
- Medicine: Rank 4
- Spacesuit Design: Rank 3
Starborn Powers for Tank Build:
The tank build doesn’t rely on your Starborn Powers. However, you can add a few to your build to enhance your efficiency further. Moreover, you will need a few powers to get the upper hand in every battle. So, here are the best Starfield Powers to unlock for your build:
- Anti-Gravity
- Inner Demon
- Reactive Shield
- Supernova
- Phased Time
Best Weapons for Tank Build:
Now comes the fun part: your weapon arsenal. Every tank build solely depends on your weapon selection. Now, there are numerous weapons and upgrades available in the game. However, your selection mainly depends on the playing style, battle strategies, and role-play objectives.
The good news is that you can wield everything from pistols to heavy mini-guns with this build. For instance, if you are a fan of Nemesis from RE, you can get a mini-gun from The Well. Alternatively, if you prefer a shotgun, the Pacifier and Breach seem like suitable options. Lastly, the Urban Eagle will make a reliable sidearm to pull out when you run out of ammo.
Here are some of the best weapons to choose for your build:
- Mini-Gun: A powerful sanitary gun that fires hundreds of rounds per minute. You can acquire it from UC Surplus in New Atlantis.
- Urban Eagle: It is one of the strongest pistols in Starfield. You can purchase it from random vendors in New Atlantis and Neon.
- Experiment A-7: A legendary Shotgun capable of diminishing the entire Crimson Fleet or any other group. You can acquire it from the Deadrock Mining Outpost in New Atlantis.
- Breach: A modular Shotgun suitable for all forms of combat. You can upgrade it with explosive rounds to deal even greater damage. It is found in random chests, or you can purchase it from any weapon merchant.
- Pacifier: The Pacifier is a common Shotgun mainly suitable for close-ranged encounters. You can find it in random chests, loot it from corpses, or even purchase it from restocked vendors.
- The Mag Sniper: The best sniper rifle in Starfield, capable of killing any foe with a single bullet. You can purchase it from random merchants after character level 30.
Some Tips & Tricks:
If you follow this roadmap, you will end up with the most powerful tank build in Starfield. However, you can’t solely rely on your weapons and gear items to win every battle. So, here are a few tips and tricks that will surely enhance your strategies:
- Always aim for the head, even if you are carrying the most powerful weapons in Starfield.
- Use your Boost Pack to get an advantage before unleashing your firestorm.
- Grenades are your best friends when taking down enemies behind cover. Moreover, you can also use explosives to cover your retreat.
- Don’t forget to improve your weapons on the workbench with polymer, adhesives, Caelumite, and other crafting materials. (Install one on every outpost)
- Mobility is the synonym of survivability. So, don’t stick to one place; instead, move around the area while picking out your foes.
- Move to cover when reloading the mini-gun and other weapons with a lengthy reload time.
- Lastly, you will need medpacks, so collect as many as possible, and if you can’t find any cover, use the Reactive Shield to gain some time.
Conclusion:
You can create some of the strongest RPG builds in Starfield. These builds range from stealthy assassins to fast-paced warriors and even heavily armored tanks. The only problem is that you must polish and customize every aspect of the build to fit your taste. Therefore, this article provides the perfect guide to creating a tank build in Starfield.
