If you're just jumping into Starfield, you’re about to embark on a vast open-world space RPG developed by Bethesda Game Studios. With so many planets, systems, quests, and mechanics, it can easily feel overwhelming. That’s why this Starfield beginner guide is built to walk you through every foundational step—from character creation and early missions to building a powerful ship, establishing an outpost, and mastering key skills.
Throughout this article, I’ll naturally weave in long-tail keywords like “Starfield best skills for beginners”, “Starfield how to build an outpost”, “Starfield ship upgrading tips”, and “Starfield exploration and scanning guide” so you can find exactly what you need and maximise your in-game progress.
Step 1: Character Creation & Background Choices
When you first begin your journey in Starfield, your character creation really sets the tone. Here are some detailed steps and recommendations:
- Choose a background: Your background gives initial benefits. For example, picking a background tied to science or exploration helps if you plan to focus on scanning and resources.
- Pick traits carefully: Some traits are fun but less helpful early on. The community recommends being strategic with traits.
- Don’t stress appearance: Your look can be changed later at an “Enhance!” booth for a cost, so focus more on stats and traits rather than perfect visuals.
- Allocate early skill points: After the opening tutorial mission, you’ll earn the first skill points. Prioritise skills related to “Piloting” and “Astrodynamics” if you want to engage in space combat and ship operations.
Quick tip: If you aim to lean into exploration, scanning, and outpost building (which we’ll cover), consider backgrounds and traits that favour research, engineering, or planetary habitation.
Step 2: First Missions & Learning the Basics
Once you’re free to roam, you’ll want to get comfortable with the core mechanics: scanning, looting, exploring, and progressing the story.
- Complete the initial mission “Into the Unknown” (or equivalent) to get your bearings, meet key NPCs, and understand basic systems.
- Use your scanner frequently: The scanning mode on your ship and on planets is vital. It reveals resources, points of interest, lootable containers and hidden items. “Scan all the time” is one of the top tips in Starfield.
- Loot wisely: When you loot containers, use the “Transfer” option to compare gear before picking it up so you don’t over-encumber yourself.
- Fast travel when necessary: Use your ship’s scan mode to pick out previously visited landmarks, so you can fast travel instead of walking long distances. Saves time.
This early phase is crucial for building your confidence and understanding how the game world functions: exploration, resource collection, and gear. The better you master these basics, the smoother your journey will be.
Step 3: Skill Trees & Best Skills for Beginners
One of the key elements in Starfield is the skill tree system. Here’s how to approach it, especially with the long-tail keyword “Starfield best skills for beginners” in mind.
A. Identify your play-style
- Explorer / Scanner / Outpost-focused: Focus on skills like Astrophysics, Planetary Habitation, Research.
- Combat / Shooter: Focus on Rifle Certification, Stealth, Lockpicking, Heavy Weapons.
- Spacecraft / Ship Building: Focus on Piloting, Starship Design, and Reactor systems.
B. Prioritise early useful skills
- Piloting: Even to level 1 early on, as it unlocks thrusters for ship combat.
- Lockpicking / Digipicks: Having good lock-picking skills saves you from over-spending resources.
- Research Skills: These unlock better craftable items and upgrades from your outpost or ship labs.
- Scanner & Survey Skills: These help you locate high-value materials and planets to exploit.
C. Avoid spreading too thin
It’s tempting to invest a bit in every tree, but a guided approach where you specialise a little will yield faster results and less confusion. For example, if you decide to go the "outpost and exploration" route, invest heavily there first, skip heavy ship-battling skills for later, and you’ll see smoother growth.
Step 4: Outpost Building & Resource Management
One of the more unique systems in Starfield is outpost building, which ties into long-tail keywords like “Starfield how to build an outpost” and “Starfield outpost resource farm guide”. Here’s a detailed breakdown.
A. Why build an outpost
- Outposts generate resources and crafting materials automatically when properly configured.
- They can be a source of income and XP. As one Reddit user put it: > “If you feel you need to level up, look for outpost building (practically infinity money and xp if you have aluminium and iron at the same place).” Reddit
- They enable research labs that unlock better gear, mods and upgrades.
B. How to build a basic outpost
- Select a planet/moon with abundant resource deposits (iron, aluminium, etc.).
- Deploy your outpost modules to harvest the resource type you tracked using the ‘Track’ function in your scanner.
- Add a Research Lab: Research stations let you convert raw materials into better gear.
- Manage your inventory and cargo hold: Outpost resources can get heavy—use your ship’s cargo hold as storage.
C. Best practices for outpost farming
- Only collect/tracking the resources you need – to avoid encumbrance.
- Return regularly to your outpost to harvest and invest in upgrades.
- Use modules efficiently—don’t overspend on high-tier modules early until you’ve got the materials.
By using these steps, you’re building a solid foundation of material income and research advantage, leading to stronger gear, more credits, and more side-mission flexibility.
Step 5: Ship Acquisition, Upgrading & Combat
Now for the spacefaring side of things: your spaceship. This is a big system in Starfield, aligning with the long-tail keyword “Starfield ship upgrading tips”.
A. Getting your first ship
- After the early main quest unlocks space travel, you’ll obtain your first ship. Use it to explore, scan systems and land on planets.
- Don’t worry about building a top-tier ship immediately — the community advises waiting until you unlock better parts.
B. Upgrading your ship
- At any spaceport, talk to the Ship Service Technician to upgrade your core systems.
- Ship upgrades include reactor, thrusters, hull, weapons, crew modules.
- Be mindful of mass/weight: heavier ships are slower and less manoeuvrable.
C. Ship combat basics
- Ensure your ship has assigned weapons and you pass the “Flight Check” – the game will warn you if items are missing.
- Use your thrusters (enabled by Piloting skill) to dodge enemy fire and engage in dogfights.
- Use your ship’s cargo hold for repair parts – they are heavier but essential in protracted battles.
D. Mid-game progression
- Once you unlock higher tiers in Starship Design and Piloting, you’ll be able to build custom ships.
- Keep in mind: The best ship is often one you purchase and upgrade, rather than trying to build from scratch too early.
By following these ship upgrading tips, you’ll avoid early frustration in combat and ensure you’re ready for tougher encounters in space.
Step 6: Exploration, Scanning & Missions
One of the best aspects of Starfield is the exploration. This section ties into the long-tail keyword “Starfield exploration and scanning guide”.
A. Planetary exploration
- Use your ship’s scanner while orbiting to identify points of interest (POIs). You don’t always need to open the starmap – you can land directly via scan.
- Once on the planet, use your personal scanner (in-helmet mode) to detect loot, fauna, flora, and containers.
- Fast travel between POIs you’ve already discovered to save time.
B. Mission strategy
- Complete your first major faction mission (e.g., with the “Constellation”) to unlock major systems and story beats. recommend this early on.
- Always check mission boards in space stations or cities for side missions. These can reward resources, credits and gear.
- Use your scanner and inventory management: Before taking on large exploration missions, make sure you have enough ammo, digipicks, medkits. Community advice: “ALWAYS buy digipick … ammo and med pack too.”
C. Survey and loot best practices
- Track the resources you need (via the Track prompt) so you only harvest what's necessary. Saves time and avoids clutter.
- Looting is essential: Many powerful weapons, suits and parts show up early if you explore thoroughly. One tip: You don’t need to buy weapons early—loot them.
By emphasising scanning, exploration, and mission strategy, you'll unlock the richer parts of the game world and gather better gear and resources faster.
Step 7: Combat & Survival Tips
Whether on foot or in space, combat in Starfield can be challenging. Here are survival-focused steps tied to “Starfield combat tips for beginners”.
A. On-foot combat
- Use cover: While Starfield is more open than classic shooters, taking cover still helps.
- Favourite your weapons and items: Map medkits, favourite weapons to your quick menu – saves time in firefights.
- Use the laser Cutter tool early: Surprisingly effective to stun and disable weaker enemies.
B. Space combat (again)
- Enable thrusters via Piloting: Gives you a manoeuvring advantage.
- Monitor your hull integrity and keep repair parts in cargo hold for emergencies.
- Don’t engage extremely tough enemies early unless you’re prepared—outpost/ship upgrades first will give you a key advantage.
C. Encumbrance & inventory survival
- Don’t over-loot randomly—only take what you need for crafting or immediate use. You’ll be slowed down otherwise.
- Use your companions (crew) and ship cargo hold for extra storage. Efficient management prevents being weighed down.
With these tips, you’ll improve your survivability in hostile planetary systems and space battles alike.
Step 8: Mid-Game Goals & Progression Boosts
Once you’ve got the basics down, it’s time to progress into the mid-game phase, targeting long-term goals. Keywords such as “Starfield mid-game progression guide”, “Starfield how to level up fast” are relevant here.
A. Leveling and XP
- Leverage the “Well-Rested” buff by sleeping regularly—it increases XP gain.
- Focus on finishing factions/major questlines to gain large XP rewards (and unlock better gear).
- Use your outpost and research labs to earn passive XP and crafting bonuses.
B. Upgrade gear, suits and weapons
- Use resources from outposts and exploration to unlock better mods via research. Higher-tier gear will significantly boost your performance.
- Upgrade your spacesuit and helmet – many players overlook this, but suits offer survival benefits on extreme planets.
C. Ship upgrading and customisation
- Once you’ve accumulated credits, upgrade your ship or buy a better one rather than settle for a mediocre ship long-term.
- Explore the ship builder if you’re into that side of the game—but do so after you’ve unlocked multiple ship parts via skills. Otherwise you’ll waste resources.
D. Resource and credit farms
- Outposts remain your best bet for semi-automated resources and credits.
- Visiting high-value POIs, scanning for rare materials and selling survey data can also be lucrative.
By following these progression goals, you’ll move from “just surviving” to “thriving” in the galaxy of Starfield.
Step 9: Long-Tail Strategies & Advanced Tips
To really stand apart, here are some advanced but actionable strategies integrating long-tail keywords like “Starfield best outpost locations”, “Starfield how to steal ships”, “Starfield best traits for exploration build”.
A. Best Traits for Exploration Build
For players who want to focus on scanning, outposts and exploration:
- Prioritise traits that boost research XP, scanning bonus or reduce resource usage.
- Avoid traits that lock you into heavy combat early if you’re not focused on fighting.
B. Outpost Location Strategy
- Some planets/moons have concentrated deposits of high-value resources (e.g., iron + aluminium + rare materials). Scout early with your scanner and claim them first.
- Build a minimum viable outpost quickly, then expand later for optimal efficiency.
C. How to Steal Ships (and when it’s worth it)
- With sufficient Piloting skill you can steal stronger ships rather than build one yourself immediately. Community discussions show many players do this. Old Timers Guild
- Only target ships you are confident you can control and escape with—you don’t want to dock into trouble or crash.
D. Optimal Skill Progression from Mid-To-Late Game
Once you hit level ~20-30:
- Expand into skill trees you ignored early, e.g., Heavy Weapons or Advanced Ship Systems.
- Begin heavy customisation: Legendary gear, high-tier ship parts, late-game mods.
- Start tackling high-difficulty planets and missions for the best rewards.
E. Avoid Common Pitfalls
- Over-spending early: Don’t buy high-tier ship parts or modules too early—wait until you’ve unlocked the right skills.
- Hoarding every resource: Only track what you need—too much clutter slows you down.
- Neglecting companions: They aren’t just extra people—they bring bonuses and can carry loot. Equip them wisely.
Conclusion & Final Thoughts
This Starfield beginner guide has walked you through character creation, early missions, skill selection, outpost building, ship upgrading, exploration, combat, mid-game progression and advanced strategies. By integrating long-tail keywords like “Starfield best skills for beginners”, “Starfield how to build an outpost”, “Starfield ship upgrading tips” and “Starfield exploration and scanning guide”, you’ll both optimise your in-game performance and set your content up for SEO visibility if you’re writing a blog or creating a site.
Starfield’s universe is massive and full of possibilities. Take your time, enjoy the journey, explore weird planets, build your empire, and don’t rush the end-game. With the steps above, you’ll be well-positioned to thrive from your first shot out of the Sol System to becoming a legend across the Settled Systems.
Quick Recap:
- Focus skill investment early on Piloting, Research & Scanning.
- Build one efficient outpost, don’t over-invest too early.
- Upgrade ship step-by-step—don’t buy top-tier parts prematurely.
- Use your scanner often, fast travel effectively, loot wisely.
- Progress into mid/late-game with clear goals (credits, gear, high-tier ship).
- Use advanced strategies: best traits, stealing ships, resource location optimisation.
- Avoid common pitfalls of overspending, resource hoarding, weak companions.
May your journey through the galaxy in Starfield be epic—and may your cargo hold be full of rare materials and legendary loot. Fly safe!
