Getting a helping hand when setting out in the Settled Systems can make a huge difference in your overall Starfield experience. Many players complain about the game's start being pretty slow and being unable to enjoy it until they have everything set up. You don't have to wait that long if you follow our Starfield tips and tricks.
Everything is covered in this Starfield FAQs guide, from learning about hidden mechanics to straight-up quality-of-life improvements. So, if you're starting, check out all our Starfield FAQ answers.
Use the Scanner
The scanner is your best tool to help you explore in Starfield because it directs you to your objectives and highlights lootable objects. When visiting for the first time, it is easy to get lost in a planet’s environment and miss valuable loot.
Press the LB on your gamepad or F on the keyboard to help navigate your objectives through confusing terrain. Getting into the habit of using it regularly will make navigating a whole lot easier.
Carry More
Inventory management can be a pain early on as most items you carry add a certain weight to your stash. Overencumberment puts certain restrictions on your character, like not being able to fast travel. So, do the following to carry more items in the game.
- Store items on your ship’s cargo hold. You can increase your ship’s carrying capacity by increasing the Payloads skill.
- Make sure to give extra items to your companions.
- Upgrade the Weight Lifting skill to enhance your carrying capacity.
How to Sell Stuff
You can sell your items in Starfield at any vendor or Trade Authority NPC. You can find these vendors in all major cities or at Trade Authority kiosks near landing spots. Many considerations go into selling items, and you should check our Selling Guide for a full breakdown of what things to sell and the best vendors to sell them to. Many considerations
How to Wait and Sleep
Waiting to kill time in Starfield is as simple as finding a chair or a bed. Once you sit in a chair, you'll get the prompt to wait on the bottom right of the screen. Press the corresponding button and choose how long you want to wait.
The same goes for sleeping in Starfield, as you need to find a bed to lie down in. You'll also be shown the local time to universal time conversion and can exploit this on some planets to sleep for a few hours and pass several days in universal time.
How to Use the Boost Pack
You'll probably get your first boost pack when you continue the main story and receive the Constellation Boost Pack from Constellation. Before using it, you must go into your inventory screen and equip it. Additionally, you need to put a point into the Boost Pack Training skill in the Tech skill tree before being able to use it.
Now, you need to press the jump button and press it again to use the Boost Pack. Keep your fuel gauge on the bottom right in mind.
Skill Magazines
Aside from upgrading your character’s skills, you can find Skill Magazines that grant you permanent buffs in the game. From increasing your weight-carrying capacity to enhancing weapon damage, these collectables make the game more approachable.
There are 20 Skill Magazines in the game, and finding them all gives you the Thirst for Knowledge achievement. Head to the Notes menu in your Inventory to keep track of the Skill Magazines you’ve discovered.
Save Weapon Wheel Space
You can save slots on your weapon wheels by using your scanner to mine. It is one of the hidden features of the scanner, but you can quickly access your mining laser with the scanner open.
Just open the scanner and look at a mineable object. Then, press the trigger or fire button to pull out your mining laser. Once you deactivate the scanner, your previous weapon will stay equipped.
Also, learn how to swap weapons with weapon key shortcuts quickly.
Fast Travel Even Quicker
Fast travel in Starfield can be tricky, but you can make it much quicker by travelling from the mission menu. All you need to do is open the mission menu and make sure the mission you want to travel to is selected. Then, hit the Set Course button on your screen.
This will open up the map, highlighting where the objective lies. Then, you can travel to that area, which saves you from having to head to your ship to travel to explored systems.
Join Multiple Factions
Factions are some of the most exciting aspects of Starfield, offering missions that are way better than what your regular run-of-the-mill side quests offer.
The game has five significant factions: Constellation, United Colonies, Freestar Collective, Crimson Fleet, and Ryujin Industries. Luckily, you don’t have to restrict to one faction only as you can become a member of all the factions at once, accessing their perks and rewards.
Use Persuasion to Your Advantage
Persuasion is one of the earliest skills you should unlock as it opens you up to some exciting NPC interactions. When you find a character you can persuade, it gives you a set of dialogue options.
Choosing the right options by learning more about the NPC often makes you walk away with some fantastic rewards. With enough experience in this department, you can unlock auto-persuade, making an NPC listen to you with just the click of a button.
Learn to Prioritize Your Skills
Aside from Persuasion, there are some skills that are essential to be acquired early on. They make the game more fun and engaging and can be a lifesaver in many situations. We recommend that you get your hands on the following skills quickly.
- Boost Pack Training: This skill lets you use the boost packs, making the traversal of a planet much more accessible.
- Security: Getting and upgrading the Security skill allows you to hack all locks and get juicy rewards.
- Targeting Control Systems: This perk makes the ship combat more handy by letting you target the individual components of the enemy ship.
Sleep as Often as Needed
Sleeping in Starfield is a great way to recover your HP and pass the time fully. However, its benefits don’t end there. Sleeping also grants you a well-rested buff that boosts your XP gain by 10% during 24 in-game hours. Moreover, sleeping on the bed with your romantic partner grants the Emotional Security buff, boosting this XP gain to 15% during that time.
Console Commands on PC Make the Game a Breeze
This one is just for PC gamers, so apologies to the Xbox folks. You can use the console commands on a PC and do tons of crazy things in the game. All you have to do is open the console using the (`)button on your keyboard and type in any command you want. You can turn on god mode, kill all the enemies with a button, or even add infinite XP and items to your character.
How to Turn On Damage Numbers
From testing out different builds or seeing your newly acquired weapon in action, turning on damage numbers can help you quantify the damage you inflict on the enemies. You can follow the steps below to turn on the damage numbers and see your guns in action.
- Go to your game settings.
- Select the Interface tab.
- Choose the Show Damage Numbers option and turn it ON.
Now, you can see the damage you deal to the enemies through numbers on your screen.
How to Get More Ammo
Since Starfield has different weapon types, each with its unique ammo type, you’ll constantly find yourself short of them. While buying ammo from gun vendors is an option, it is usually pretty expensive and will drain you of your credits quickly. Here are some alternatives to get more ammo in the game.
- Make sure you’re looking for lootable ammo during exploration. The best way to maximize your ammo acquisition is to level up your Scavenging skill.
- You can also easily steal ammo from NPCs you find all across the map. Unlocking a higher rank in the Pickpocketing skill will help you steal more bullets.
Can You Change Difficulty?
There are five difficulty levels in Starfield that you can choose from initially, ranging from Very Easy to Very Hard. The game starts with Normal difficulty by default, but you can change it anytime during your playthrough if you are struggling with a higher difficulty.
Go to the Gameplay tab inside the settings and select any difficulty you like. It is worth mentioning that changing the game’s difficulty does not impact your achievements. However, it does cause areas to spawn with higher rarity loot if you're looking to farm credits.
How to Crouch
Crouching during combat is a great way of dodging enemy bullets and, at the same time, controlling your recoil while shooting. It seems like a simple mechanic, but it can be a lifesaver during dicey situations. Here is how you can crouch using a controller for Xbox or a keyboard for PC
- Press your controller's Right Stick (RS) on Xbox to crouch.
- On PC, press the CTRL button of your keyboard to crouch.
Additionally, you can learn the gymnastics skill to perform slides and get increased manoeuvrability.
How to Turn off Motion Blur
Motion Blur is often a default game setting as it saves up on your computer’s resources. However, it can break immersion and make the game look dull. If you’re sick of the motion blur ruining your outer space experience in Starfield, here’s how to turn it off.
- Open the game settings.
- Head to the Display tab.
- Select the Motion Bur settings and turn it OFF.
Is there Dismemberment?
Starfield has no dismemberment mechanics implemented, as the focus is more on the gun-toting combat rather than landing criticals to mutilate and weaken your enemies.
How to Return to Ship
You can return to your ship by opening the scanner and looking towards your ship. You'll see the prompt to initiate fast travel, returning you to your ship. So that you know, you can't use this method of fast travel if you are over-encumbered.
Can You Replay Quests in Starfield?
No, your decisions during your main story are permanent, and you cannot replay quests in Starfield. However, once you complete the main story with the Constellation, you can enter New Game Plus and restart the entire story from the beginning.
How to Give Companions Items
It's straightforward to trade items with companions. Walk up to and talk to your active companion, and then suggest that you'd like to trade items. You can give them good weapons for combat or to hold onto your precious items. You can also use companions like the Adoring Fan as your personal mule.
How to Change 1st View/3rd Person
On PC, you can change from 1st person to 3rd person view and vice versa by pressing the mouse wheel. This can be done on Xbox by simply pressing the View button on your Xbox Controller. The first-person view is the default, but the third-person perspective can give you a more expansive, cinematic feel.
Skipping Cutscenes and Dialogue
There are two kinds of cutscenes in Starfield, and you can only skip one of them. The story cutscenes in the game can be skipped by pressing ESC on the keyboard or B on the Xbox controller. However, the game has many loading screen cutscenes, such as your ship landing, initiating a Grav Jump or taking off. These cutscenes cannot be skipped.
Dialogue can be skipped quite easily. You can skip through individual dialogue pretty fast at the click of a button. We suggest not skipping dialogue near the start of the game, as it's integral to understanding the world of Starfield. However, you'll be able to differentiate helpful dialogue and filler pretty quickly as you play more. Note that dialogue integral to the story or part of a cutscene cannot be skipped similarly.
Can You Respec Skill Points?
No, you cannot reset your skill points or respec them at any point in Starfield. No vendor or item lets you do this. Your skill point investments are permanent, and you should think carefully about the skills you level. Your skills will carry over to New Game Plus, and you can only keep increasing them.
How to Delete an Outpost Beacon
To delete an Outpost Beacon, approach it and hold down the button that appears beside the “Rename” option. For PC users, this button is “R,” whereas controller users should press “X.” Ensure you are holding the button down, as just pressing it will only open the Rename menu.
When you press the button, a notification screen will appear, alerting you that removing an Outpost is permanent. You must confirm by pressing "E" on the PC or the "A" button on a controller.
How to Change Language
To change the language in Starfield, you have to open Steam, navigate to your Library and right-click on Starfield from your list of games. From the dropdown menu, select “Properties.” Under the General tab, locate the Language options. Pick any one of the currently available and supported languages.
How to Change Name
You can change your name and pronouns anytime during your Starfield playthrough by visiting one of the many Enhance! shops. This change will cost you only 500 Credits, and you can do it as often as you'd like. Enhance! should be on your list of places to visit in New Atlantis.
How to Loot in Space
To loot a destroyed ship or any lootable objects in space, fly within 500 meters of it, target the thing you wish to steal, and press [A] on the Xbox Controller or [E] on a Keyboard to gather the loot. A small chest icon appearing over the wreckage on your screen indicates that a ship can be looted.
How to Intimidate Enemies
You can intimidate enemies during combat or dialogue after you've invested points into the Intimidation skill.
In Starfield, you need to activate your Scanner, aim it towards your intended target, choose the Social option, and then the Intimidation option to intimidate enemies. The Scanner also gives you the chance of success and the duration of the intimidation. A successful attempt will cause the target to become frightened and enter a state of panic. However, once the intimidation effect concludes, they will revert to their normal state and resume attack.
You can also choose dialogue options around Intimidation with NPCs to push your weight around and get your way with them.
O2/CO2 in Starfield
Starfield's O2 and CO2 gauges operate similarly to the stamina system found in other games—actions like sprinting, melee attacks, or jumping consume O2. Oxygen will deplete a lot quicker from basic actions if you are over-encumbered.
When most of the O2 is used up, it leads to a buildup of CO2, represented by a growing red bar. If this bar fills up, every action that would typically use O2 will start to drain your health, preventing you from sprinting and performing a lot of basic abilities. Stand still to regain your O2 and displace the CO2 buildup.
Those are some Starfield tips and tricks that will help you immensely when starting your interstellar journey. We hope you found them helpful to you. Be sure to check back for even more tips and tricks. While you're here, also check out our best starting builds and advanced shipbuilding guide.
For all things Starfield, stick with us at Starfield Portal.