Builds – Starfield

Builds are all about excelling at interesting parts of the game, and Starfield comes with quite a variety: be it piloting spaceships, exploring planets, crafting, upgrading, & building, persuading & manipulating, going all out with physique or guns, or making calculated moves with stealth or digipicks. The builds we put together offer interesting ways to explore the world, interact with the storyline and characters, develop your outposts, and get at your enemies; they could give you some interesting ideas to try out for your current playthrough, or offer a new exciting way to replay the game.

Each build comes with a dedicated guide, which helps you pick the right options at character creation, guides you through level unlocks, and generally offers some tips to enjoy playing the build. (Remember that we also have a Character Planner tool to help you further customize and plan out your character builds.)

Keep in mind that Starfield hides some functionality you might take for granted behind skills. Things like sneaking, picking pockets, “boost” jumping, using ship thrusters and ship targeting. Just about any build can benefit from these skills. As is the case with all the Science skills based around exploration and crafting. With that in mind, we advise you to supplement whichever build you choose with some of these skills according to your own personal preferences.

Below are overviews of each build — click a build to see details on progression and strategy!

Ronin Background | Extrovert | Raised Universal | Task Master

Main Skills: Dueling, Martial Arts, Leadership, Rejuvenation

This particular build combines the deadliness of Starfield’s melee combat with all the survivability and mobility options offered by the Physical skill group, resulting in an unstoppable juggernaut. And then it adds some flavor by introducing a selection of Social skills that turn our character into a natural-born leader.

And because it takes a special kind of individual to fight rifles and ray guns with a sword or axe, the build is styled after Sir Roger de Tourneville, the hero of Poul Anderson’s The High Crusade novel, who did just that and came out on top.

Cyber Runner Background | Wanted | Raised Universal | Freestar Collective Settler

Main Skills: Stealth, Security, Persuasion, Theft, Demolitions

If you subscribe to the idea that it’s good to be bad, then you’ll probably gravitate to playing an outlaw-type character who lies, steals, and picks pockets without giving it a second thought. Luckily, Starfield has plenty of mechanics that enable such a playstyle, and this build uses them all.

And when it comes to flavor, since we already have a build inspired by Justified’s Raylan Givens, we naturally style our outlaw after Boyd Crowder, arguably the most eloquent character ever put on film.

Diplomat Background | Hero Worshipped | Extrovert | Dream Home

Main Skills: Persuasion, Leadership, Manipulation, Stealth, Sniper Certification

Moonlighting, Glenn Gordon Caron’s hit TV show from the ’80s, revolved around a former model by the name of Maddie Hayes who had to become a private investigator after her accountant embezzled her considerable fortune. And it just so happens that Starfield’s selection of traits allows us to easily portray a character like that.

Starting with that idea, it’s then easy to concoct an effective build that focuses on the more social aspects of Starfield. And when it comes to combat, as we don’t want to be completely useless there, it mirrors Skyrim’s stealth archer playstyle by substituting bows with sniper rifles.

Soldier Background | Introvert | Freestar Collective Settler

Main Skills: Pistol Certification, Targeting, Sharpshooting

In a game like Starfield, it’s downright impossible to avoid the space cowboy archetype – a rugged individualist frontiersman alternating between a space helmet and a ten-gallon hat. And with the skills the game offers us, it’s quite easy to become the fastest draw in whatever passes for West in this particular galaxy.

In more technical terms, this is a build perfect for those who don’t particularly enjoy the aiming down sights mechanic prevalent in most modern shooters and instead prefer to aim using the good old crosshairs.

For a build like this, there’s no shortage of cowboys, space or otherwise, to base it on. But since Starfield begins with you going down a mine, a gunslinging cowboy who also happens to be a miner is a perfect fit. Which naturally brings us to Justified’s Raylan Givens.

Cyber Runner Background | Introvert | Serpent’s Embrace | Wanted

Main Skills: Stealth, Isolation, Weapon Engineering, Concealment

This build combines fantastic survivability with unparalleled damage and the safety cushion of not needing either of them most of the time, since you’ll be dispatching most of your enemies without them even seeing you. It also grabs some skills from every skill group, resulting in a solid base for any playstyle and the ability to tackle any challenge the game throws at you.

Combat Medic Background | Freestar Collective Settler | Hero Worshipped | Taskmaster

Main Skills: Pistol Certification, Ballistics, Wellness, Marksmanship

This build focuses on pistols and health skills, taking advantage of the Combat Medic background to create a character that can stay at mid-close range, dishing out (and taking) plenty of damage. The abundance of different pistol types in Starfield means that there’s some inherent flexibility to the build, even while focusing on a single style of weapon.


We hope you have a lot of fun trying out our builds! Which one is your favorite? How did you modify it for your own character? Have an interesting build that we don’t cover? Share with us in the comments below!

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Val Hull
Val Hull

Resident role-playing RPG game expert. Knows where trolls and paladins come from. You must fight for your right to gather your party before venturing forth.

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