If you want to improve your Starfield character and make sure you’re prepared for whatever the Settled Systems throws your way, you’re going to want to make sure you’re upgrading your skills regularly. However, that isn’t to say that some Starfield skills have hidden drawbacks – not all of which are made clear. One drawback fans are falling victim to – and one skill you should steer clear of upgrading fully – is the Starfield Gymnastics skill. Sure, having that at Rank 4 sounds fun, but it’s also deadly.
We know we think some of you might be treating the Starfield Gymnastics skill too harshly, and all the best Starfield skills come with some sort of sacrifice, but Starfield players are starting to discover that fully upgrading the Gymnastics skill is quite-possibly one of the worst things you can do to your character. That might sound a little dramatic, but we promise you it’s true.
As recently highlighted by frustrated Starfield fan ‘WardenWolf‘ online, “there is a massive flaw” with the Starfield Gymnastics skill and players should – at all costs – avoid upgrading it to the final level. With this skill at Rank 4, you’ll be able to jump significantly higher and run faster after sliding and mantling. If you’re trying your hand at creating a perfect melee build, it’s easy to see why you would want to have this skill unlocked and ranked up.
However, the Gymnastics skill at Rank 4 doesn’t actually offer you any additional protection from fall damage. So, as some players are learing the hard way, you’re almost always injuring yourself while taking advantage of this skill’s bonuses.
Yeah, we know. Unless you’re very careful and using your Boost Pack to cushion yourself every time you jump, you’re just going to have to avoid jumping – or, prepare to burn through a lot of healing items. Neither of these are ideal situations.
Although, looking at this short gameplay footage, it might not be as bad as people are making out. We do think it’s still worth avoiding, though, just in case.
There’s so many reasons why Starfield is one of the best RPG games out there and one of the best Xbox Game Pass games available right now, but this isn’t one of them. The fact that Bethesda is letting players fall into this trap without any warning or protection just seems cruel. We would love to be able to tell you that this is an oversight, that Bethesda is going to change things in a future update, but we highly doubt that is the case.
Still, we will admit that this is quite a funny way of shooting yourself in the foot – so to speak.
Although, one thing worth keeping in mind is this: once you upgrade your Gymnastics skill to Rank 4, there’s no going back. One complaint fans have about Starfield New Game Plus is that it won’t let you respec your skills and – without starting a new character or loading a previous save game file – there’s no way of doing this at all on Xbox. Of course, PC players can use console commands and mods to make this feature available, but it isn’t officially something Bethesda lets you do right now. There’s no information on when Starfield Xbox mods are coming, either.
So, while you’re on the hunt for the best Starfield weapons and searching the stars for the best Starfield outpost locations, try to avoid unlocking Gymnastics Rank 4. It’s simply just not worth wasting a skill point on.
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 like a New Atlantis map for exploration.