Starfield is Bethesda’s biggest RPG to date. It features a massive universe with over 1,000 unique planets to explore. These planets are periodically scattered in every direction, ranging from north to south. Furthermore, you can also visit different star systems and even galaxies and find signs of thriving communities. However, like any other game, there is an end to your missions. So, how long does it take to beat Starfield?
Before we can answer this question, we must first acknowledge the different playing styles around the globe. Some players only focus on the main story quests, whereas others also consider side quests. Lastly, there are the completionists who wish to experience everything that the game has to offer. Therefore, this article provides the maximum and minimum hours to beat the game.
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How Long to Beat Starfield?
According to Tom Howard, it takes at least 30 hours to complete Starfield’s main story missions. However, this duration doesn’t consider the side activities, optional quests, faction missions, and even exploration. In other words, you can complete the Starfield speed run in 25 to 30 hours.
So, before you cancel your plans for the weekend, you must evaluate your playing style and gaming preferences. In some cases, players didn’t see the sun for a whole month, while others are still firing up their devices for a couple of hours each day. Here is the estimated time to beat Starfield based on different playing styles:
Beating Only the Main Story:
The first category is dedicated to players who only explore the main story. Even in this case, Starfield is quite big compared to Skyrim and the Fallout series. There are 18 main story quests in the game, all of them are connected to the Constellation Faction.
Even in this category, you can either rush through the game and complete it in minimum time, or you can explore to some extent. For instance, if you rush through the main story, skip all cutscenes, and avoid unnecessary conflicts, you can beat Starfield in about 20 to 23 hours.
Similarly, if it is your first time playing the game, and you don’t know exactly where to go, the completion time will increase. So, if you rush through the story, skip cutscenes, make all the right decisions, and engage in some exploration, you will beat the game in 35 to 40 hours.
Starfield: All Main Quests
There are 18 main quests in the game. However, some of these quests are directly linked to other quests and misc missions. Here’s a list of all 18 main story quests in Starfield that you must complete to unlock the ending.
- One Small Step
- The Old Neighborhood
- Into the Unknown
- Back to Vectera
- The Empty Nest
- All That Money Can Buy
- Starborn
- Further Into the Unknown
- Short Sighted
- No Sudden Moves
- High Price to Pay
- Unity
- Unearthed
- In Their Footsteps
- Entangled
- Revelation
- Missed Beyond Measure
- One Giant Leap
Beat Main Story and Faction Missions:
Starfield’s main story quests are quite comprehensive, but they aren’t good enough to satisfy the thirst of most players. As a result, players turn to faction missions to squeeze out a little extra juice from the game. There are 5 major factions in the game, namely, Constellation, Ryujin Industries, Crimson Fleet, Freestar Rangers, and United Colonies (Vanguard).
You can easily join all of these factions without any problem. However, some factions have conflicting missions, and your choices may affect your standing in the other group. Still, if you are careful, you can easily join all factions in Starfield.
Now, completing each faction questline adds almost 10 hours or more to the game’s duration (excluding Constellation). So, if you complete the main story quests, i.e., Constellation missions, and complete the UC Vanguard quests as well, your gameplay will extend by 10 hours.
In other words, if you complete all the main quests as well as the missions from the remaining 4 factions, you will be spending around 70 hours in the playthrough. Lastly, the duration can still vary if you spend some time in exploration, space dogfights, and watch a few cutscenes.
Beat Main Story, Faction Mission, and Misc Missions:
You can spend quite a few hours completing the main quests and faction missions. However, Starfield has plenty of extra content to keep you hooked. For instance, there are over 130+ side quests or misc missions in Starfield. We are still unsure about this number as our team members are finding new side quests every day.
Moreover, these side quests or misc missions are rewarding, powered by in-depth lore, and non-repetitive. So, if you turn your attention to these quests, you can easily enjoy about 40 hours or more gameplay in a single playthrough.
In other words, completing all main story quests, faction missions, and misc missions (side quests) will take anywhere around 120 hours or more. However, we still haven’t acknowledged the activities and board missions in this calculation.
Starfield 100% Completion Duration:
Bethesda is notorious for creating seemingly endless games. In the past, we have seen how Skyrim managed to stay alive for over a decade; the same goes for Fallout 4 and New Vegas. So, we can expect the same endless content from Starfield.
Unfortunately, no player has managed to 100% complete Starfield for the time being. Basically, you must complete all main story quests, faction missions, misc missions, board missions, and activities to reach the 100% completion mark.
Furthermore, you must also acquire all major weapons, ships, armor, and ship weapons and discover the maximum level cap to complete the game. So, it may come as a piece of bad news for some completionists; there is no way to unlock this achievement without cutting ties with your friends and families.
According to our rough estimates, 100% completion in Starfield can take anywhere from 180 to 200+ hours. You might still miss a thing or two, even after spending so much time in the game. Moreover, thanks to our active modding community, Starfield doesn’t seem to die off until the release of Elder Scrolls VI.
Conclusion:
Starfield is one of the largest RPGs in the world, the biggest among all Bethesda titles. You can guess the depth of this world from the fact that despite its release in September, players haven’t found the maximum level cap. Moreover, they even haven’t figured out the total number of side quests in the game. Therefore, this article will help you understand how long it takes to beat Starfield based on your playing style.
