What are the best Starfield backgrounds? Picking your background is one of the first things you’ll do in the game, and it certainly feels like a big choice. While it doesn’t set your character build in stone, the Starfield backgrounds will offer distinct dialogue choices and a variety of free skills. As such, it’s a good idea to know all about the best Starfield backgrounds so you don’t have to work around it later down the line.
Combined with the best Starfield traits, the best Starfield backgrounds will give you a head start on making the strongest Starfield builds if you already have an idea in mind. That’s because each background comes with a unique set of starting skills, some of which rank among the best Starfield skills. So, picking your background is almost as hard as choosing which of the Starfield companions you want to bring along.
Starfield best backgrounds
The best Starfield backgrounds are:
- Bouncer
- Combat Medic
- Cyber Runner
- Cyberneticist
- Ronin
- Soldier
- Space Scoundrel
These backgrounds come with some of the best starting skills that will serve you well in combat and dialogue, the most challenging aspects of Starfield at the start of the game. Many come with skills like Security and Persuasion, which are good in all situations and will likely eat up skill points as you progress through the Starfield length since they open many new opportunities the higher you go. However, skills that boost specific damage types, like Lasers, Ballistics, and Dueling are great at improving your combat effectiveness at level one.
Generally, skills like Research Methods, Surveying, and Geology are better saved for the late-game, at which point you can opt to invest a skill point from leveling up if you so wish. This way, you’ll have a stronger start with more combat, exploration, and questing skills right away with backgrounds like Soldier compared to Homesteader.
However, it’s worth bearing in mind that each background will be better for certain playstyles. For example, the Bouncer comes with Boxing, Security, and Fitness out of the gate, which is great for a melee, but not ideal for a player who prefers to use weapons. Likewise, Cyber Runner is all about being a stealthy rogue, boasting Stealth, Security, and Theft.
Think about what kind of playstyle you’d like for your character before picking from the list above, though you can always tweak your approach later down the road using skills points; while the roleplaying aspect of your background is set in stone, the build potential is not.
Starfield backgrounds explained
The 21 available Starfield backgrounds are:
- Beast Hunter
- Bouncer
- Bounty Hunter
- Chef
- Combat Medic
- Cyber Runner
- Cyberneticist
- Diplomat
- Explorer
- Gangster
- Homesteader
- Industrialist
- Long Hauler
- Pilgrim
- Professor
- Ronin
- Sculptor
- Soldier
- Space Scoundrel
- Xenobiologist
- [FILE NOT FOUND]
Beast Hunter
The Beast Hunter starting skills are:
- Fitness – You have 10% more oxygen available
- Ballistics – Ballistic weapons do 10% more damage
- Gastronomy – You can craft specialty food and drinks, and research additional recipes at the Research Lab
If running around after the various Starfield creatures like a space age Monster Hunter Rise enjoyer is your passion, then Beast Hunter is the background for you. Sporting skills that offer up more body power and more weapon power, even the biggest beasties will be no match for you – well, most of them anyway.
Bouncer
The Bouncer starting skills are:
- Boxing – Unarmed attacks do 25% more damage. 25% less O2 used when using a power attack
- Security – You can attempt to hack Advanced locks, and two auto-attempts can be banked
- Fitness – You have 10% more oxygen available
Space can be a rowdy place, and sometimes you’ve just gotta hit ‘em with a one-two Mayweather. As a Bouncer, you’ll be proficient at dealing with the various undesirables that’ll undoubtedly cross your path.
Bounty Hunter
The Bounty Hunter starting skills are:
- Piloting – You can now utilize ship thrusters
- Targeting Control Systems – Unlocks ship targeting functionality
- Boost Pack Training – You can now utilize boost packs
Picking the Bounty Hunter background will allow you to live out your best Mandalorian Din Djarin life as you hurtle across the known systems. While we can’t guarantee this will turn Starfield into a spaghetti Western in itself, it’ll certainly put you on the right track.
Chef
The Chef starting skills are:
- Gastronomy – You can craft specialty food and drinks, and research additional recipes at the Research Lab
- Dueling – Melee weapons do 25% more damage. Take 10% less damage while wielding a melee weapon
- Scavenging – There’s a chance you’ll find extra credits when searching containers
For anyone who’s watched The Bear, we can imagine you’ll be chomping at the bit to get in the kitchen and start racking up those Michelin stars. While you won’t quite find the same delicacies as those in Carmy’s chiller, there are plenty of delicious-looking(?) aliens to chef up and serve up on a silver platter. Just make sure you remember to scavenge the platter afterwards – that’s rent right there.
Combat Medic
The Combat Medic starting skills are:
- Pistol Certification – Pistols do 10% more damage
- Medicine – Med Packs, Trauma Packs, and Emergency Kits restore 10% additional health 10% faster
- Wellness – Increase your maximum health by 10%
For the nurturing souls among us we have the Combat Medic. Serving as healers primarily, rather than fighters, medics are proficient at ensuring you don’t keel over… for the most part. Of course, putting the ‘combat’ in ‘Combat Medic’ does require an element of gunplay, but make sure you don’t mix up your stim gun with your stun gun. It happens to the best of us.
Cyber Runner
The Cyber Runner starting skills are:
- Stealth – Adds a Stealth Meter. You are 25% more difficult to detect when sneaking. Suppressed weapons do an additional 5% sneak attack damage
- Security – You can attempt to hack Advanced locks, and two auto-attempts can be banked
- Theft – Unlock the ability to pickpocket targets
Being perceived can be the last thing you want at the best of times – fortunately, there’s a class for that. As a Cyber Runner you’ll have the means to stealthily navigate Starfield’s gritty underbelly, becoming an enigma in the process as you shift from job to job.
Cyberneticist
The Cyberneticist starting skills are:
- Medicine – Med Packs, Trauma Packs, and Emergency Ktis restore 10% additional Health 10% faster
- Security – You can attempt to hack Advanced locks, and two auto-attempts can be banked
- Lasers – Laser weapons do 10% more damage
Implants, people, implants! This is the future desired by a fine Cyberneticist such as yourself, should you take up this background. If you’ve spent any amount of time in Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City, then you’ll undoubtedly understand the joys of a few well-placed augments.
Diplomat
The Diplomat starting skills are:
- Persuasion – 10% increased chance of success when persuading someone
- Commerce – Buy for 5% less and sell for 10% more
- Wellness – Increase your maximum health by 10%
Having the gift of the gab will take you far in Starfield, and your silver tongue will help ensure you don’t end up eating Maggotmaw dung. If someone does want you dead, however, at least you can tank a couple of extra bullets thanks to the Wellness skill.
If you’re not sure how to rizz someone up as the Diplomat, then check out our guide on how to persuade in Starfield.
Explorer
The Explorer starting skills are:
- Lasers – Laser weapons do 10% more damage
- Astrodynamics – Increase grav jump range of jump drives by 15%
- Surveying – Adds an optional zoom to the hand scanner, and scan distance is increased to 20 meters
While Starfield might not be set in a golden age of space exploration, there are plenty, and we mean plenty, of Starfield planets to discover for yourself. Should you fancy yourself a celestial surveyor, then be sure to pick up the Explorer background.
Gangster
The Gangster starting skills are:
- Shotgun Certification – Shotguns do 10% more damage
- Boxing – Unarmed attacks do 25% more damage. 25% less O2 used when using a power attack
- Theft – Unlock the ability to pickpocket targets
There’s nothing quite like the smell of money, and as a Gangster you’ll gain the means to run the streets with an iron fist – or a shotgun, that works too. It’s time to run an iron over that suit of yours that’s been sitting in the closet for the past few years, gamer.
Homesteader
The Homesteader starting skills are:
- Geology – Get more common and uncommon inorganic resources from surface objects
- Surveying – Adds an optional zoom to the hand scanner, and scan distance is increased to 20 meters
- Weight Lifting – Increase total carrying capacity by 10 kilograms
If you have a collection of cool rocks then there’s nothing better than being a Homesteader. Not only can you find more of them thanks to the Geology skill, but finding them is made easier by the increased scanning power of Surveying. Oh, and Weight Lifting will let you actually carry your haul home once you’ve collected them all. Homesteader rocks.
Industrialist
The Industrialist starting skills are:
- Persuasion – 10% increased chance of success when persuading someone
- Security – You can attempt to hack Advanced locks, and two auto-attempts can be banked
- Research Methods – Resources required to craft items and complete research projects is reduced by 10%
While you may not have made it as a big time ship designer – now spending your days tweaking the Starfield ship customization options instead – you do still possess the skills to pay the bills, be they in Persuasion, Security, or Research Methods. You’ll get your big break one day… hopefully.
Long Hauler
The Long Hauler starting skills are:
- Weight Lifting – Increase total carrying capacity by 10 kilograms
- Piloting – You can now utilize ship thrusters
- Ballistic Weapon Systems – Ballistic ship weapons have 10% increased damage and cost 20% less to use in Targeting Mode
Sometimes there’s nothing better than a nice long drive to clear our heads. And anyone who’s dabbled in American Truck Simulator knows that going long haul on a big job is the gateway to the good life.
Pilgrim
The Pilgrim starting skills are:
- Scavenging – There’s a chance you’ll find extra credits when searching containers
- Surveying – Adds an optional zoom to the hand scanner, and scan distance is increased to 20 meters
- Gastronomy – You can craft specialty food and drinks, and research additional recipes at the Research Lab
Come now, Pilgrim, on a journey among the stars. As you tread your path across the night sky, this background’s skills will ensure you remain well-fed and suitably-enriched on your travels. A nomad in the truest sense, who knows where you’ll end up?
Professor
The Professor starting skills are:
- Astrodynamics – Increase grav jump range of jump drives by 15%
- Geology – Get more common and uncommon inorganic resources from surface objects
- Research Methods – Resources required to craft items and complete research projects is reduced by 10%
What’s up, nerd? While opting for the Professor background won’t stop you from having your lunch money swiped, it will at least ensure you have the biggest brain in the room. If tech is your calling, then there’s no better choice.
Ronin
The Ronin starting skills are:
- Dueling – Melee weapons do 25% more damage. Take 10% less damage while wielding a melee weapon
- Stealth – Adds a Stealth Meter. You are 25% more difficult to detect when sneaking. Suppressed weapons do an additional 5% sneak attack damage
- Scavenging – There’s a chance you’ll find extra credits when searching containers
While others were learning about the Starfield factions, you were learning the blade. As a Ronin, your ability to sneak in and secure the kill without leaving a trace is unparalleled. Of course, being able to scavenge on the side will help you ensure your impressive collection of swords remains topped up at all times.
Sculptor
The Sculptor starting skills are:
- Medicine – Med Packs, Trauma Packs, and Emergency Ktis restore 10% additional Health 10% faster
- Geology – Get more common and uncommon inorganic resources from surface objects
- Persuasion – 10% increased chance of success when persuading someone
With a steady hand and an artistic streak, the Sculptor will provide you not only with the means to source more resources, but to persuade others when it comes to wheeling and dealing your creations. The life of a sculptor is fraught with dangers, and should a crazed fan come for you, Medicine will help you get patched up.
Soldier
The Soldier starting skills are:
- Fitness – You have 10% more oxygen available
- Ballistics – Ballistic weapons do 10% more damage
- Boost Pack Training – You can now utilize boost packs
Starfield’s combat is classic Bethesda, and if you’ve honed your skills fighting off beasties in Skyrim and the like, then we fully understand why you’d answer the call to arms here. The Soldier background offers the means to stay mobile out on the battlefield while dishing out damage to those who stand in your way.
Space Scoundrel
The Space Scoundrel starting skills are:
- Pistol Certification – Pistols do 10% more damage
- Piloting – You can now utilize ship thrusters
- Persuasion – 10% increased chance of success when persuading someone
Do you want to buy any death sticks? No? Well, if you wish to follow the path of the morally-gray while making a few credits on the side, then the Space Scoundrel is our pick of the background bunch.
Xenobiologist
The Xenobiologist starting skills are:
- Lasers – Laser weapons do 10% more damage
- Surveying – Adds an optional zoom to the hand scanner, and scan distance is increased to 20 meters
- Fitness – You have 10% more oxygen available
While we wouldn’t recommend attempting to study Xenomorphs up close, Xenobiologists have a much more forgiving role within Starfield. Seeking out sentient races is your lifeblood, and Fitness will definitely keep you alive should said aliens return the favor by seeking your blood, and your life.
[FILE NOT FOUND]
The [FILE NOT FOUND] starting skills are:
- Wellness – Increase your maximum health by 10%
- Ballistics – Ballistic weapons do 10% more damage
- Piloting – You can now utilize ship thrusters
This background lets you start the game without a predetermined past, such as a faction or upbringing. While it does come with a set of three starting skills, you won’t have to worry about your character already having a past with certain characters, factions, and more.
And that’s everything you need to know about the best Starfield backgrounds. While there’s a lot to digest, be sure to bookmark this guide for quick reference as you muse on your background of choice.
If your thirst for Starfield knowledge is akin to that of a Professor, then you can acquaint yourself with the Starfield characters. Alternatively, if you want to get no the planetary property ladder, check out how to get and buy houses in Starfield.
Still looking for more? While a good Starfield wiki can be a handy source of information, our new Starfield Database goes further, offering you daily news, searchable databanks, and even interactive tools.