Starfield Beginner's Tips and Tricks

Everything you need to know before launching into Starfield

Starfield is Bethesda's largest RPG to date, spanning over 1,000 planets across 100+ star systems, a 19-mission main quest, four major faction storylines, and a New Game Plus mode that actually changes the story. The base game launched on PC and Xbox Series X/S in September 2023, the Shattered Space DLC arrived in 2024, and the PS5 version released alongside two new DLCs (Terran Armada and Free Lanes) on April 7, 2026. Whether you just picked it up on PlayStation or you're deep into your third New Game Plus run, this guide covers everything from character creation to endgame Starborn powers.

Full main quest mission log

What should you do first in Starfield?

Before anything else, your character creation choices will follow you for the entire playthrough. Starfield gives you three slots for Traits and asks you to pick a Background, which determines your three starting skills. According to the IGN Starfield guide, the game's main story missions are generally linear but multiple quests can become available simultaneously, so having a clear build direction early prevents wasted skill points.

Here's what the character creation screen offers:

• Background: Determines 3 starting skills. Options range from Soldier and Combat Medic to Diplomat, Cyberneticist, and Xenobiologist.
• Traits: Up to 3 optional modifiers with upsides and downsides. Notable picks include Introvert (bonus O2 when exploring alone), Serpent's Embrace (bonus when grav jumping frequently), and Neon Street Rat (better prices and dialogue options in Neon).
• Skills: Organized into five trees: Physical, Social, Combat, Science, and Tech.

Once you're past One Small Step and The Old Neighborhood, the game opens up considerably. The Lodge in New Atlantis becomes your home base, and companion unlocks begin in earnest: Sarah Morgan joins after The Old Neighborhood, Sam Coe after The Empty Nest, Barrett after Back to Vectera, and Andreja (plus the Anti-Gravity Field Starborn power) after Into the Unknown.

Starfield main quest order: what's the full list?

The main story runs 19 missions from start to finish, with two additional New Game Plus exclusive missions afterward. Below is the complete sequence as documented across both IGN and Game8's walkthroughs:

After completing One Giant Leap, New Game Plus unlocks two additional missions: Among the Stars and Foreknowledge. The IGN guide notes that New Game Plus also changes how certain main story missions play out, so a second run isn't just a replay.

Which faction should you join?

Starfield has four joinable factions, each with a full quest line that rivals the main story in length. You can technically join multiple factions in a single playthrough, though some choices create conflicts:

• UC Vanguard: Military-focused questline centered on a Terrormorph threat. Unlocks citizenship and unique rewards.
• Freestar Collective: Space Western tone, involves the Freestar Rangers and a conspiracy across the colonies.
• Crimson Fleet: The pirate faction. Requires working undercover for UC SysDef simultaneously, and the ending forces a hard choice between the two.
• Ryujin Industries: Corporate espionage in Neon. More stealth and social skill focused than the others.

The Ebbside Strikers and House Va'ruun (DLC) round out the faction list, with Va'ruun being the centerpiece of the Shattered Space expansion.

For a deeper breakdown of story decisions and their consequences, the Starfield Guide on IGN covers every major dialogue choice and outcome in detail.

What are the best builds in Starfield?

Builds in Starfield are defined by your Background, Trait selection, and how you spend skill points across the five trees. Based on the build guides documented by Game8, here are the most distinct playstyle archetypes:

Combat-focused builds:

• Soldier: Strong early combat skills, straightforward for players who want to shoot their way through everything.
• Bounty Hunter: Combines combat and social skills, works well for players who want to engage with faction content.
• Ronin: Melee and stealth hybrid, benefits from the Stealth Sniper skill path.

Exploration and utility builds:

• Explorer: Optimized for surveying planets and scanning fauna, pairs well with Science tree investments.
• Cyberneticist: Tech-heavy build that benefits from ship customization and outpost building.
• Xenobiologist: Science-focused, ideal for players who want to engage with planet surveys and research projects.

Social and stealth builds:

• Cyber Runner: Stealth and hacking focus, benefits from Digipick skill investment and the Neon Street Rat trait.
• Diplomat: Persuasion and bribery focused, can talk through many encounters that other builds fight through.
• Space Scoundrel: Charisma-heavy with a piracy angle, works well paired with the Crimson Fleet questline.

The Pacifist and Unarmed builds also exist as documented options for players who want unconventional runs.

How does ship building work?

Ship customization is one of Starfield's deepest systems. Every ship is assembled from modular parts across 14 categories, and you can visit Ship Technicians at major ports to modify or build from scratch.

Key ship part categories include:

• Reactor: Determines total power available to distribute across systems.
• Grav Drive: Controls jump range between star systems.
• Engines: Affects speed and maneuverability in space combat.
• Cargo Hold: Storage capacity, with Shielded Cargo Holds needed to hide contraband from scans.
• Habs: Living quarters that determine crew capacity and interior layout.
• Shield Generator: Defensive layer in ship-to-ship combat.

Ship manufacturers each have distinct aesthetic styles: Deimos for industrial, Taiyo Astroneering for sleek, HopeTech for utilitarian, and Stroud-Eklund for premium builds. Ship classes (A, B, C) gate which parts you can equip, tied to your Piloting skill rank.

For players who want inspiration before building, community-documented ship designs include recreations of the Millennium Falcon, Serenity from Firefly, the Rocinante from The Expanse, and even a TARDIS.

What does the Shattered Space DLC add?

Shattered Space is Starfield's first story DLC, set on Va'ruun'kai, the homeworld of House Va'ruun. It adds 8 main missions, a full suite of side quests, new weapons, armor, and the REV-8 land vehicle. The DLC introduces new enemy types, the Vortex Grenade system (with five variants: Binding, Charged, Lure, Phasing, and Unstable), and new collectibles including Vortex Shards and Vortex Cysts.

New weapons exclusive to the DLC include the Va'ruun Starstorm, Va'ruun Penumbra, Va'ruun Quickstrike, Va'ruun Schimaz, Va'ruun Starlash, and Va'ruun Longfang.

The Shattered Space main quest sequence:

1. What Remains
2. The Promised, Broken
3. Aligning the Houses
4. Exhuming the Past
5. The Other Side
6. Conflict in Conviction
7. Zealous Overreach
8. The Scaled Citadel

Note that you need to unlock Shattered Space before you can access it. The DLC has its own set of choices with permanent consequences, including decisions about characters named Vaeric and Sahima, and a final ending choice that changes the DLC's conclusion.

How does New Game Plus work in Starfield?

Completing One Giant Leap gives you the option to enter New Game Plus by walking through the Unity. According to both the IGN and Game8 guides, this resets your character to level 1 but carries over certain elements, and the main story missions play out differently the second time around.

New Game Plus specifics documented in sources:

• Two exclusive missions become available: Among the Stars and Foreknowledge.
• Main mission dialogue and events change in meaningful ways.
• Players can speedrun New Game Plus using documented skips (including the Rescue Barrett Skip and the Nova Galactic Staryard Skip).
• Each New Game Plus run places you in a different universe variation, with documented differences tracked by the community.

For players who want to see everything Starfield has to offer without multiple full playthroughs, the Starfield complete guide on Game Rant covers story walkthroughs, skills, backgrounds, and side quests in a single reference.

Key tips that Starfield doesn't explain well

Several mechanics get minimal in-game explanation:

• Oxygen and CO2: Running depletes O2 and builds CO2. High CO2 drains your health. Managing your weight (encumbrance) directly affects how fast O2 depletes.
• Digipicks: Used for lockpicking. Higher lock tiers require the Security skill to attempt. Always carry a stockpile.
• Contraband: Items flagged as contraband trigger scans when entering cities. Shielded Cargo Holds hide them from ship scans, but you still need to avoid personal scans on foot.
• Bounties: Each faction tracks bounties separately. You can pay them off at self-service kiosks or through persuasion with guards.
• Vendor restocking: Vendors restock credits and inventory after 48 in-game hours. You can wait using a chair or bed to reset them faster.
• Weapon mods: Mods can be removed from weapons at workbenches without destroying them, letting you transfer upgrades between guns.

For more strategies and guides across all genres, browse the latest guides on GAMES.GG to stay current with new content drops and community-tested builds.