Whenever a character levels up inStarfield, they have one skill point to spend in the skill tree menu. A skill point can be used to unlock a new skill or to rank up an existing skill.
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Existing skills can be ranked up by completing the challenges presented for that skill. With so many skills and upgrades to be purchased, here’s which skills players should focus on early into their playthrough.
Updated On September 8th, 2023 By Joshua Leeds:Starfield has many skills for players to unlock and level up. Many skills will give benefits that will add up over time and are worth looking into right away. This article has been updated to include additional skills players need to prioritize right away.
Laser weapons are a very popular weapon type players will come across throughout the galaxy. It is always a good idea to verify you have a couple of guns that shoot different ammo types, with lasers being one of the more prominent options.
This skill will help make sure that your laser weapons deal enough damage and can later add on to other damage-boosting skills to greatly increase your damage over time. This skill is also fairly easy to level up as long as you use laser weapons and can be maxed out very early into your playthrough.
14Targeting Control Systems
The Targeting Control Systems perk will allow you to target specific parts of an enemy ship in dogfights. Targeting specific parts will allow you to disable the more annoying aspects of an enemy ship, such as their shields or engines, to make the rest of your fight much easier.
Disabling your enemy’s engines is also how you canboard their shipand attempt to loot it or take it as your own. Even just the first rank in this skill is well worth the investment and can make any space battle much easier.
13Commerce
Buying and selling items and resources will be a constant back and forth as you save up for your next big purchase. This skill will help you both keep the credits you already have by lowering vendors' prices while also giving you more credits by selling your items for more.
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This skill will multiply in effectiveness over time and should be learned immediately to start its effects. While some transactions may be just a few credits different, this will slowly add up over time and be well worth the skill point.
12Research Methods
Researching upgrades and mods is an important part of trying to upgrade your weapon parts and spacesuit mods. Every research project will require a lot of obscure resources you may not always have enough of and can add a lot of grinding when you want a simple upgrade.
The Research Methods skill is another skill that will only grow in usefulness the earlier you get it. Lowering the required resources for projects will have a noticeable impact when researching and a long-term negation on how much mining you’ll have to do.
11Weight Lifting
Managing your inventory to stay within your carry capacity has been a staple mechanic in Bethesda game, and Starfield is no exception. Many weapons, spacesuits, and resources can be very heavy, and you’ll often be right at or over your carry capacity.
This skill offers a simple boost to your carry capacity, which may not seem like much at first, but will be a much-needed addition. This skill also adds on top of spacesuit mods that increase carry capacity and is well worth the investment.
10Pistol Certification
This is a fairly straightforward bonus, making all pistols in the game deal more damage. Your first gun in the game is a pistol, and the galaxy is full of more to use.
This bonus makes all pistols deal more damage, and with them being such a common weapon, you’ll get a lot of use from this bonus. This skill can also stack off of others in regards to the type of pistol you’re using, making it an ideal first skill to get the ball rolling on dealing more damage in combat.
9Ballistics
Much like the pistol skill, this is a great early-game skill to invest in simply because of the scope of weapons it can affect. Most of the early game guns are ballistics, and this skill will increase the damage for all of them without limiting you to a single style of gun.
This skill is easy to level up when using multiple ballistic weapons, having you reach the upper ranks of the skill fairly quickly when using the right guns. Ballistic weapons will stay relevant throughout the game, making this skill a good early and late-game investment.
This perk is located in the science section. Simply put, this skill makes your healing items, such as med packs, more effective, healing you for more health even faster.
Med packs, trauma packs, and emergency kits will always be important items you should stock up on. While there will always be more to be found throughout the galaxy, this skill will help you get more out of each item, eventually not taking multiple med packs to fully heal yourself. Investing in this skill early on will see long-term effects of using fewer med packs in the moment and having more saved up for what’s next.
7Ballistic Weapon Systems
Ship battles can be complex situations as you move energy around to maximize your ship’s capabilities. Once you have broken an enemy’s shield, it’s essential to finish them off quickly before their shields can start to regenerate.
Ballistic Weapon Systems increases the total damage of all Ballistic Weapons on your ship, giving you a great early-game boost in dogfights. You’ll often find yourself outnumbered in space battles, so making your ship as deadly as possible is an excellent trick to winning those more difficult battles.
Your oxygen acts as your stamina bar in Starfield, being used up as you run and eventually creating carbon dioxide that can start to deal real damage if it gets too high. With so many planets to explore and each one being so big, increasing your oxygen will make your journey much more bearable.
The Fitness skill is a straightforward boost to your maximum oxygen, letting you run longer and keeping you further away from dangerous carbon dioxide levels. Ranking up this skill is simple and will simply happen as you play the game, so unlock it early to make progress through the ranks.
