All Starfield skills: Categories, tiers & skill trees explained
Starfield skills are an essential part of the game and we've got a list of all of them here. It's important to know which are the best skills to get first, as well as what kind of skills you can obtain down the line.
Starfield is a brand-new role-playing game from Bethesda Game Studios and with a new IP, comes a whole new way to handle progression throughout the game. While there are plenty of ways to customise your character during your playthrough, your skills will be a constant that you can alter every time you level up.
So, if you want to think early on how you'll level your protagonist, check out all of the Starfield skills, how they work, and what you should get first.
- We've also covered how Starfield outposts work
How do skills work in Starfield?
Click to enlargeSkills in Starfield give you passive buffs or award you special abilities that make your character unique. You'll start the game with three skills based on your character background, and then you can earn new skills as you progress.
There are a total of 82 skills in the game, which all fall under one of five categories: Physical, Social, Combat, Science, and Technology.
Each category also has four tiers of skills that are unlocked sequentially. To unlock all the tiers in a skill category, you will need to invest the following amount of points into skills belonging to that category:
- Tier 2 - Three points
- Tier 3 - Seven points
- Tier 4 - Eleven points
- Check out all of the Starfield console commands and item IDs if you're looking for cheats like god mode and noclip
How to level up skills in Starfield
Click to enlargeEach time you level up, you will earn a skill point to use on one of the Starfield skills, allowing you to unlock a completely new one or upgrade a rank for a skill you already have.
However, to level up a skill you already have, you will first need to complete the challenge associated with it, which unlocks the next rank.
As there is no level cap in Starfield, you can theoretically gain all the skills in the game and level them up to the max, though you will need to reach level 328 to achieve this.
- Check out how to play Starfield early
All Starfield skills
Below, we'll cover all Starfield skills by category, breaking down each skill and what they do in-game.
Physical skills
Click to enlarge| Skill (Tier) | Effect |
| Boxing (Tier 1) | Unarmed attacks do more damage, and power attacks use less oxygen |
| Fitness (Tier 1) | Increases your maximum oxygen |
| Wellness (Tier 1) | Increases your maximum health |
| Weightlifting (Tier 1) | Increases total carrying capacity |
| Stealth (Tier 2) | Adds a stealth meter, makes you more difficult to detect when sneaking, and increases sneak attack damage |
| Pain Tolerance (Tier 2) | Reduces the physical damage you take |
| Nutrition (Tier 2) | Makes food and drink more effective |
| Gymnastics (Tier 2) | Unlocks new physical effects like a combat slide, and improves your stability in Zero G |
| Environmental Conditioning (Tier 2) | Increases resistance to Environmental damage |
All Starfield skills continued below...
| Skill (Tier) | Effect |
| Energy Weapon Dissipation (Tier 2) | Reduces the energy damage you take |
| Cellular Regeneration (Tier 3) | Increases chance to recover from injuries naturally |
| Decontamination (Tier 3) | Increases chance to recover from infections naturally |
| Martial Arts (Tier 3) | Unlocks new effects during unarmed combat |
| Neurostrikes (Tier 4) | Gives you a chance to stun enemies |
| Rejuvenation (Tier 4) | Regenerate health outside of combat |
| Concealment (Tier 4) | Unlocks new effects during stealth |
Social skills
Click to enlarge| Skill (Tier) | Effect |
| Commerce (Tier 1) | Increases selling prices and lowers purchasing prices |
| Theft (Tier 1) | Unlocks pickpocketing and increases chance to succeed |
| Persuasion (Tier 1) | Increases chance of success to persuade someone |
| Scavenging (Tier 1) | Increases chance to find extra currency or items when searching containers |
| Gastronomy (Tier 1) | Can craft special types of food and drink |
| Deception (Tier 2) | Increases chance of ships surrendering to piracy demands, and reduces the chance of an enemy contraband scan to succeed |
| Diplomacy (Tier 2) | Unlocks the ability to force an NPC to stop fighting |
| Intimidation (Tier 2) | Unlocks the ability to force an NPC to flee |
| Negotiation (Tier 2) | Unlocks bribery options in speech and reduces bribery cost |
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| Skill (Tier) | Effect |
| Isolation (Tier 2) | Increases weapon damage and damage resistance for each Spacesuit and Helmet equipped when you have no companions or crew |
| Instigation (Tier 3) | Unlocks the ability to force an NPC to attack their allies |
| Leadership (Tier 3) | Unlocks new effects for companions |
| Outpost Management (Tier 3) | Unlocks additional options for existing Outposts |
| Manipulation (Tier 4) | Unlocks the ability to force an NPC to obey your commands |
| Ship Control (Tier 4) | Increases amount of active crew members |
| Xeniosociology (Tier 4) | Unlocks the ability to force alien creatures to take certain actions |
Combat skills
Click to enlarge| Skill (Tier) | Effect |
| Ballistics (Tier 1) | Increases Ballistic weapon damage |
| Dueling (Tier 1) | Increases Melee weapon damage |
| Lasers (Tier 1) | Increases Laser weapon damage |
| Pistol Certification (Tier 1) | Increases pistol damage |
| Shotgun Certification (Tier 1) | Increases shotgun damage |
| Demolitions (Tier 2) | Increases explosion radius and damage |
| Heavy Weapons Certification (Tier 2) | Increases heavy weapon damage |
| Incapacitation (Tier 2) | Increases EM weapon damage |
| Particle Beams (Tier 2) | Increases particle beam weapon damage |
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| Skill (Tier) | Effect |
| Rifle Certification (Tier 2) | Increases rifle weapon damage |
| Marksmanship (Tier 3) | Increases critical hit chance |
| Rapid Reloading (Tier 3) | Increases reload speed with weapons |
| Sniper Certification (Tier 3) | Increases sniper weapon damage and reduces sway |
| Targeting (Tier 3) | Increases accuracy when not aiming |
| Armor Penetration (Tier 4) | Reduces the effects of armour on your attacks |
| Crippling (Tier 4) | Increases the chance to down an enemy from an attack |
| Sharpshooting (Tier 4) | Increases critical damage to certain limbs |
Science skills
Click to enlarge| Skill (Tier) | Effect |
| Astrodynamics (Tier 1) | Increases the efficiency of grav jumping |
| Geology (Tier 1) | Increase the resources you gain from surface objects |
| Medicine (Tier 1) | Restore additional health faster with medicine items |
| Research Methods (Tier 1) | Reduces resources required to craft items and complete research projects |
| Surveying (Tier 1) | Adds zoom to the hand scanner and increases scan distance |
| Botany (Tier 2) | Increase the resources you gain from plants |
| Scanning (Tier 2) | Detect more resources on planet and moon surfaces, and learn from ship scans |
| Spacesuit Design (Tier 2) | Unlocks the ability to craft better spacesuits and pack mods |
| Weapon Engineering (Tier 2) | Unlocks the ability to craft better weapon mods |
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| Skill (Tier) | Effect |
| Zoology (Tier 2) | Increases the resources you gain from creatures |
| Astrophysics (Tier 3) | Increases scan range and chance to discover a trait when scanning |
| Chemistry (Tier 3) | Unlocks the ability to craft better chems |
| Outpost Engineering (Tier 3) | Unlocks the ability to research and construct better outpost modules |
| Special Projects (Tier 4) | Unlocks experimental research projects and unlocks the ability to craft better manufactured components |
| Planetary Habitation (Tier 4) | Unlocks the ability to build outposts on less-habitable planets and increases maximum number of outposts |
| Aneuronic Fusion (Tier 4) | Increases the extra units of power produced by the ship reactor |
Technology skils
Click to enlarge| Skill (Tier) | Effect |
| Ballistic Weapon Systems (Tier 1) | Increases Ballistic ship weapon damage |
| Boost Pack Training (Tier 1) | Unlocks the ability to use boost packs and increases their efficiency |
| Piloting (Tier 1) | Unlocks high class ships and improves ship flying |
| Security (Tier 1) | Allows you to hack more secure locks and use more auto attempts |
| Targeting Control Systems (Tier 1) | Unlocks ship targetting and reduces time it takes to lock onto ships |
| Energy Weapon Systems (Tier 2) | Increases Energy ship weapon damage |
| Engine Systems (Tier 2) | Increases the top speed of ships and their boost time |
| Payloads (Tier 2) | Increases ship cargo hold carrying capacity |
| Shield Systems (Tier 2) | Increases ship shield capacity |
All Starfield skills continued below...
| Skill (Tier) | Effect |
| Missile Weapon Systems (Tier 3) | Increases ship missile weapon damage |
| Particle Beam Weapons Systems (Tier 3) | Increases ship particle beam weapon damage |
| Starship Engineering (Tier 3) | Increases ship repair speed and damage mitigation |
| Starship Design (Tier 3) | Unlocks the ability to install better ship modules |
| Robotics (Tier 3) | Increases damage to robots and turrets, and unlocks the ability to force robots to take certain actions |
| Automated Weapon Systems (Tier 4) | Increases automated ship weapon damage |
| Boost Assault Training (Tier 4) | Increases efficiency of boost packs and unlocks new abilities |
| EM Weapon Systems (Tier 4) | Increases EM ship weapon damage |
- Here's how to match look and aim sensitivity in Starfield
The best Starfield skills to get first
Click to enlargeStarfield obviously has a lot of skills to obtain, but certain skills are best to get first, with one of the best skills to get first being Weight-Lifting.
The Weight-Lifting skill is extremely helpful early on as it lets you carry more gear. When you're not sure what kinds of items or resources you need, you'll probably end up hoarding lots of stuff. Weight-Lifting can offset this by giving you more carry capacity.
Another excellent early skill in Starfield to pick-up is Security, as this lets you unlock harder locks. You'll encounter lots of locks across the Settled Systems, so it's best to get this early so you don't miss out on any good loot that might be inside.
Boost Pack Training is another great one. You can use Boost Packs to gain more mobility and break your fall if you jump from a great height. This is very helpful for exploration.
Generally, going for skills that increase your weapon damage is a good idea. However, it's best to wait until you know what kind of weapons you like before you commit to these skills. You might start with Lasers but find out you prefer using Shotguns.
That's all for our coverage of the Starfield skills, and now you know all the skills and skill trees in the game, what you should get first and how categories and tiers work.
For more Starfield guides, stick with GGRecon. Alternatively, take a look at the Starfield system requirements to see how well you can run the game.
