Starfield has many hidden tricks and features that Bethesda doesn't fully explain during the initial few missions. These features and tricks are easy to miss if you are unaware of their existence, so we decided to give you guys the inside scoop on some things we wish we had known about in Starfield earlier.
Boost Packs
If you are new to Starfield, or even if you are countless hours in, you may be scratching your head wondering how all the trailers and gameplay videos show player characters jet-packing their way across locations. Fear not, my friends, as we will share with you how to take to the skies yourself and cut the time you spend walking significantly.
The boost pack is an item that should have been available from the very start of the game. This is only the case if you pick the Bounty Hunter or Soldier backgrounds, which immediately unlock boost packs. For those who haven't chosen either background mentioned, you'll only need to reach Level 2 to get the single skill point you need to unlock Boost Pack Training. Head to the skills menu and spend at least one point in Boost Pack Training in the Tech skill tree.
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After you unlock the skill, you can equip a boost pack and somewhat cut down on lengthy journeys. The boost pack without mods does not allow you to shoot around in the sky like Tony Stark; short controlled bursts are on offer. The skill can be upgraded to allow for longer boosting by spending more skill points, but on the flip side - you don't have to buy or find any fuel for the pack as it auto refills when not in use. A handy equipable for gaining the advantage during combat or for those platforming sequences found around the main cities' towering structures.
Infinite Stamina
Your spacefarer isn't going to win any 'most athletic' awards in Starfield. Even when you max out the fitness skill, losing stamina seems to happen fast and regularly, which doubles when over-encumbered. Combine this with the absence of land vehicles in the vanilla game, and traversing any planet can quickly become a chore.
Luckily, there is a trick to give yourself a better chance at keeping your lungs full and stamina topped up while exploring. First, you will want to obtain the Personal Atmosphere power by tackling the artifact temples. What this does is it creates a bubble around your character that constantly tops up O2 levels while moving around. Activating this power will make traveling on foot less stressful. However, there is a caveat when it comes to over-encumberance.
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Carrying around too many items for your character to move efficiently is inevitable; this will cause the O2 bar to drain fast until you unload some items to reach your character's weight-carrying capacity. Using the Personal Atmosphere power will allow you to go over the limit but is capped at a few thousand items; after hitting the limit, your O2 will drain as before, even with the power activated, so don't attempt to make yourself a walking storage unit and unload some items to resume infinite stamina glory.
Losing XP
In any modern RPG, it is a guarantee that the game you choose to play will require you to gather some form of XP or experience points. Starfield is no different; gaining XP from completing quests, shooting down pirate spaceships, or even...big game hunting will result in some XP to boost your player level.
XP is used to increase your level and unlock new abilities, and on the skill tree, you will need to go off the beaten track a bit to gain XP to unlock things if you have a specific build in mind. Collecting XP is tough in Starfield post-main story; there is little to be gained from the leftover side quests once the faction missions are complete, so you wouldn't want your XP taken off at this stage by any means.
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That brings us to the next thing we wish we had known earlier in Starfield - Arrests remove XP from you as a penalty! Yes, you read that right; you can lose hard-earned XP should you find yourself on the wrong side of the law, so be sure to avoid getting caught doing anything you shouldn't, or at least clean up before you leave to avoid this penalty being applied.
Captain's Locker
Storage space is an issue for most Starfield players; in fact, all Bethesda titles usually make you think about inventory management. In Starfield, though, it seems to be that you run out of storage very quickly compared to previous titles from the studio.
Now, while we have already included a tip explaining how to carry more items on your person, you will want to unload your haul at some point to use in crafting, Outpost design, or even spruce up the ship. Luckily, each ship has a cargo hold to stash all your space loot, but there is also a secret personal locker on every ship you obtain.
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The Captain's locker is a smaller container you can find on each ship to hold even more items. Sure, it doesn't match the space you get in cargo holds, but it is perfect for stashing the likes of NASA memorabilia from that time you went to Earth or delicious goodies gifted to you by the space grandma when you meet her. Be sure to scope out the Captain's locker on each new ship to gain some extra storage.
Quick Cutter Access
The cutter in Starfield can come in handy at times; it will damage an enemy in a scrape and can be used to mine various materials. Wouldn't having an extra slot for your trusty cutter in the quick wheel menu be handy? You can do this trick to free a slot up for another weapon.
Take your cutter out of the quick wheel menu; you no longer need to have it in there. The best way to get to your cutter quickly is to activate the scanner and press your primary fire key/trigger to automatically bring out the cutter, saving you a slot in the quick selection wheel.
We have all been exploring that newly discovered planet, scanning away happily, and then... "ARGH GIANT SPACE BUG!" Causing a frantic scramble to put the scanner away and bring out a gun to defend yourself. Well, you can save yourself from becoming the alien hordes' breakfast by using the quick cutter tip and using it as a temporary weapon to push them back to re-assess the situation.
Pass Time Quickly
In Starfield, you will often need to wait for events to happen. Merchants restocking and Outpost Production are two examples of events requiring in-game time to pass before you can use them again/collect your manufactured products.
There is an easy trick to speed up this process and make Credits flow like a stream into your space bank account. First, you need to head to a planet like Venus, where time passes differently; once you arrive, simply get out of your Captain chair and find another seat on board your ship to use the wait function.
Waiting one hour of Venus time will pass 100 hours in Universal Time, guaranteeing the merchants will reset and your Outpost will have manufactured the expected goods. Use this tip wisely; you don't want to end up like Matthew McConaughey in the movie Interstellar!
Fast Travel Saves Time
Yes, this may be obvious; the clue is in the name 'fast travel,' but hear us out. Most of the game will see you traveling around on foot, thanks to the lack of ground vehicles or by ship. Usually, ships are used to travel between systems using grav jump to reach far away. This is how to make it to the unexplored regions, but you don't have to planet-hop planets on the return journey.
Now, the easy way of using fast travel is on foot and viewing your ship by locating the icon and selecting the option to fast travel there rather than walking all that way back. Handy and saves time, right? Well, we have another trick that will save you hours.
When visiting the Settled Systems' far reaches, you must jump from planet to planet depending on your fuel levels. Now, this is how to make it to the unexplored regions, but you don't have to planet hop to return home. Simply open the galaxy map and select a planet such as Jemison in the Alpha Centauri system, select the landing point for New Atlantis, and voila - instant travel back home without having to grav jump all the way!
There are plenty more secret tricks to learn in Starfield; let us know your top tip for 'the space game' in the comments!
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