Character creation is only the first step to a unique build. Starfield has plenty of skills, perks, and abilities that will make your character proficient in certain aspects of the game. These include intimidation, weapon proficiency, ship handling, and even outpost management.
While leveling up your character, you will be met with the choice of picking the skills that will positively impact your character's ambitions and objectives. As said above, these Starfield skills will vary greatly in their bonuses and boosts, providing customization options far more intricate than what we are used to.
With that being said, let us discover the great variety of Starfield skills you can unlock during your interstellar travels in the galaxy. Take notes and prepare yourself for an epic custom-tailored journey that will exploit the best of your abilities.
Starfield Skills - All Perks & Abilities Guide
There are a total of 89 different Starfield skills. These are divided into five different skill types: Combat, Physical, Science, Social, and Tech skills. Each of these skills will also feature ranks that will further increase each of the skill's bonuses. Depending on your character build and your play style, unlocking specific skills will be the way to become a master of your craft.
Depending on your selected background, you'll be equipped with three initial skills unlocked right from the start.
Below, we'll break down the skills per tree, and then separate the skills on each tree by levels.
Combat Skills
Level 1
- Ballistics: “Centuries of conflict have proven that when it comes to threat elimination, few things stack up to the reliable power of combustion.” Ballistics will provide weapon damage and range boosts:
- Dueling: “Considered by many to be a lost art, close attacks with a melee weapon can often be deadlier than ranged combat when carried out by a skilled practitioner.” The Duelling skill will provide extra melee damage, making close encounters a piece of cake.
- Lasers: “Personal laser weapons are in widespread use across the Settled Systems, and specialised training can greatly increase their effectiveness.” Your proficiency while using energy weapons will be increased thanks to the Lasers skill.
- Pistol Certification: “Considering the popularity of the personal sidearm in the Settled Systems, familiarity with such weapons is often considered essential.” You will deal increased damage by using firearms.
- Shotgun Certification: "The cornerstone of close quarters combat, or COC, the shotgun has proven a simple, deadly weapon for hundreds of years"
Level 2
- Demolitions: “Give your grenades more oomph by taking the Demolitions skill, allowing you to clear rooms and blow away highly-armoured foes.” Should you pick explosives as your weapons of choice, the Demolitions skill will cause more powerful and larger explosions.
- Heavy Weapons Certification: “As if heavy weaponry couldn’t get any deadlier, you can take the Heavy Weapons Certification skill to bump up the damage of your heavy ordinance, and make yourself harder to kill at the highest rank.”
- Particle Beams: While considered by some to be exotic, particle weapons can be a devastating combat option, subjecting a target to multiple forms of damage."
- Rifle Certification: "Whether used for combat, hunting, or some other deadly purpose, the rifle has become a mainstay of Settled Systems weaponry."
Level 3
- Marksmanship: "Perhaps no combat scenario is more frightening, or lethal, as a single-shot weapon wielded by someone skilled in critical shot placement."
- Rapid Reloading: "In the chaos of combat, the seconds needed to reload your weapon could be the difference between life and death"
- Sniper Certification: “Only a trained sniper truly understands all the elements necessary to patiently and effectively neutralize a target at excessive range.”
- Targeting: ”The Targeting skill improves the accuracy of your guns and ranged weapons when firing without aiming.” Increase your accuracy by reducing your shots’ spread.
Level 4
- Armor Penetration: "By identifying gaps of weak points in body armor, an attacker can often gain a tactical advantage in combat"
- Crippling: "Specifically targeting the pressure points and nerves of various limbs can disable an opponent, limiting their combat effectiveness"
- Sharpshooting: "For those who specialize in precise targeting that maximizes damage, combat is often a quickly efficient affair."
Physical Skills
Level 1
- Stealth: “For a combatant who values discretion above all else, the ability to approach a target while undetected and kill with a silenced weapon is as terrifying as it is effective.” Whenever hidden, you will deal more damage.
- Weight Lifting: “Someone’s been bulking out at the gym! With the Weight Lifting skill, you can carry more in your inventory than ever before.” Your character will be able to carry more items by increasing your weight-carrying limits.
- Wellness: “By embracing an active lifestyle and good nutrition habits, one may improve their overall sense of health, and even gain prolonged life expectancy.” This skill will give you more resistance and allow you to survive more enemy hits before you are defeated.
- Boxing: "Once considered a sport of kings, boxing is still practiced as a recreational competitive activity, but its combat applications can't be denied."
- Fitness: "In space, the greatest commodity is oxygen, and the increased lung capacity gained by a regular physical fitness regimen is essential to survival"
Level 2
- Energy Weapon Dissipation: "Considering the widespread use of energy weapons in the Settled Systems, specialized training to minimize damage is considered invaluable."
- Environmental Conditioning: "In the Settled Systems, even oxygen-rich planets and moons may have an atmosphere that is hazardous to human beings."
- Gymnastics: "From navigating the elevations of alien landscapes to exploring derelict ships in Zero-G, gymnastic training is invaluable for improving both safety and maneuverability
- Nutrition: "Advanced nutritional science is no substitute for good life choices, and knowing how much and when to eat can be just as important as the food itself."
- Pain Tolerance: "Pain hurts - but only if you're not strong enough to take it."
Level 3
- Decontamination: “It’s hazardous no matter where you land in the Settled Systems. Fortunately, the Decontamination skill gives your immune system a little boost.” Will increase your chances to recover from any illness you may get while exploring alien planets.
- Martial Arts: “Who needs guns or even knives to deal some damage? Just use your fists, and a little bit of Martial Arts training.” This skill will increase your unarmed melee damage capabilities.
- Cellular Regeneration: "Whether through secret experimentation or just plain healthy living, boosting the body's ability to naturally recover from injuries can mean the difference between life and death."
Level 4
- Concealment: “Need to stay hidden? Don’t want to trip the alarm? Take the Starfield Concealment skill to hide your tracks and remain undetected.” Will make your character harder to detect.
- Neurostrikes: “Want to knock someone out with your bare fists? The Neurostrikes skill will daze them long enough to reduce any foe to tears.” Your character will know where to strike precisely to stun your target with this Starfield skill.
- Rejuvenation: "Utilizing both ancient meditation techniques and newly developed breathing exercises, it's possible for one to actually trigger their body's natural healing ability."
Science Skills
Level 1
- Astrodynamics: “Advanced technology is one thing, but it takes skill, patience, and a little bit of love to coax even more capability out of a ship’s grav drive”.
- Geology: With a better understanding of minerals, you could use your cutter and mine resources with ease thanks to the Geology skill.
- Medicine: “Only through advancements in medical training and technology has humanity been able to withstand the galaxy’s many dangers.” The Medicine skill could increase the effectiveness of med packs and overall health recovery.
- Surveying: “Humanity now has access to untold alien worlds, and the ability to decipher all that data while on the ground has become an essential skillset.” This skill could make scanning a lot easier, being able to detect available resources on planets or even scanning enemies a simple task.
- Research Methods: "A researcher may complete projects faster, and even gain unexpected insights."
Level 2
- Botany: The study and usage of plants. The Botany skill improves the scanner and also influence the amount of resources collected per plant.
- Scanning: You can detect uncommon inorganic resources on planet and moon surfaces, and more information about ships in space.
- Spacesuit Design: You can craft improved spacesuit, helmet, and pack mods, and research additional mods at a Research Lab
- Weapon Engineering: You can craft improved weapon mods at a Weapon Workbench, and research additional weapon mods at a Research Lab
- Zoology: Get more common organic resources from creatures and harvest from them without harming them, learn additional info about them from the scanner, and allows you to produce animal resources at your outposts
Level 3
- Astrophysics: "A ship's scanner receives vast amounts of data, but it takes a trained mind to efficiently analyze it all."
- Chemistry: "When crafted by skilled and safety conscious, chems can be used to enhance health and performance across the Settled Systems."
- Outpost Engineering: Focused on base building, Outpost Engineering may provide boosts and access to specific outpost options and modules.
Level 4
- Aneutronic Fusion: Ship reactors produce 1 extra unit of power
- Planetary Habitation: You can build outposts on planets with extreme temperatures (Deep Freeze and Inferno). Increase the maximum number of Outposts you can build by 4
- Special Projects: You can research experimental projects at a Research Lab
Social Skills
Level 1
- Commerce: “In the Settled Systems’ free market economy, almost anyone with the right skill set can open and run a successful business.” This could potentially increase the player’s ability to do business on a major scale.
- Gastronomy: “Access to brand new worlds means access to brand new ingredients, and there is almost no limit to the delicious foods and drinks a talented chef can prepare.” This skill will allow you to cook and brew like no other, with each rank unlocking new recipes.
- Persuasion: “In the Settled Systems, the nuanced ability to listen and discuss can often accomplish far more than simply shooting first and asking questions later.” You will receive more speech points to persuade characters.
- Scavenging: “There are those who can find just about anything, and their success is usually dependent on knowing how, and where, to look.” This could increase the number of items and their rarity in containers.
- Theft: ”While not entirely honourable, and certainly not legal, it is nonetheless occasionally necessary to discreetly remove property from someone’s person.” This skill will improve your ability to pickpocket and reduce the chance of being caught.
Level 2
- Intimidation: “The ability to strike fear into an opponent, causing them to flee so that you can escape or attack first, can prove critical in a battle.” Allow you to infuse fear in enemies’ hearts, many of whom are more powerful than you.
- Deception: Ships 10% stronger will automatically surrender to piracy demands. Enemy contraband scans are 10% less effective.
- Diplomacy: You can force a target NPC at or below your level to stop fighting for a while.
- Isolation: Do +10% weapon damage and gain 15 Damage Resistance for each Spacesuit and Helmet equipped when you don't have a companion or any crew.
- Negotiation: You now have access to Bribery in speech challenges
Level 3
- Instigation: One of the more aggressive Starfield skills. This could potentially increase your character’s skill to cause a certain situation, with conflict often being the main objective.
- Leadership: “How can your companions follow you if you don’t have a little skill in Leadership? Fortunately, this skill boosts your relationships quickly.” Will make your character erode with charisma, making it easier for you to earn affinity points.
- Outpost Management: Additional cargo links can be placed at outposts
Level 4
- Xenosociology: This skill will grant you the ability to control alien creatures, allowing you to command them to do specific tasks.
- Manipulation: You can force a target NPC at or below your level to obey commands for a limited time.
- Ship Command: You can have up to four active crew members
Tech Skills
Level 1
- Boost Pack Training: You can now utilize boost packs.
- Security: “While the standardised digital locking mechanism is renowned for its security, any code can be broken with the proper training.” Will allow you to unlock and hack increasingly advanced locks.
- Piloting: You can now utilize ship thrusters.
- Ballistic Weapon Systems: You can now utilize boost packs.
- Targeting Control Systems: Unlocks ship targeting functionally
- Targeting Control Systems: Increase your ship’s combat capabilities by increasing your ship’s targeting skills.
Level 2
- Payloads: “Any pilot can haul cargo, but it takes a special determination and training to maximize cargo space.” Will improve your ship’s cargo-carrying capacity.
- Energy Weapon Systems: Energy ship weapons have 10% increased damage and cost 15% less to use in Targeting Mode
- Engine Systems: Energy ship weapons have 10% increased damage and cost 15% less to use in Targeting Mode
- Shield Systems: Your ship has 20% increased shield capacity
Level 3
- Missile Weapon Systems: Ship missile weapons do 10% more damage, and their Targeting mode cost is reduced by 20%.
- Particle Beam Weapon Systems: Ship particle beam weapons do 10% more damage, and Targeting mode cost is reduced by 10%.
- Robotics: “In an age where robots and autonomous turrets are employed in a combat capacity, the study of robotics can be instrumental in gaining a tactical edge.” Increase the amount of damage dealt to robots and turrets.
- Starship Design: This skill will unlock the ability to use advanced ship modules during ship customizations.
- Starship Engineering: “Starship Engineering is a Starfield skill which will impact your approach to Starship customisation.”
Level 4
- Automated Weapon Systems: Automated ship weapons do 10% more damage and reduce all targeting mode costs by 20%.
- Boost Assault Training: Nearby enemies take damage when you boost and have a chance to catch on fire.
- EM Weapon Systems: EM ship weapons have 10% increased damage and cost 15% less to use in Targeting Mode.
These are all the Starfield skills you can get in the game. To unlock each of them, you will need to collect XP to level up. Use Skill Points to unlock a specific type of skill like the ones above. Then, get to a certain milestone, like defeating some foes or picking a certain amount of locks to continue ranking your skills.
While you're here sure to check out how dialogue works in Starfield and all the planet cities revealed so far.
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