The 12 best Starfield builds we've found so far
Dominate the Settled Systems with the very best Starfield builds
What are the best Starfield builds you can possibly make? Starfield features a lot of interlocking parts and systems which make up a character's build. Beginning from the first moments of character creation, you'll be asked to make choices which could end up affecting your entire playthrough.
Now that Starfield has finally released, we're excited to present you with our list of the very best Starfield builds that we've discovered so far. Each of these builds has been carefully crafted to make you as powerful as possible in a particular way, so if you see one that suits your playstyle, you'll know exactly how to copy it with the right Starfield skills and turn yourself into the most powerful human in the Settled Systems. From stealthy assassins to mind-controlling manipulators, lone wolf snipers to swordsmasters, there's a build here to satisfy every style of play you can think of in Starfield.
12. Grenadier
| Ideal Weapon | Advanced Coachman |
| Background | Soldier |
| Traits | Any |
| Primary Skill Tree | Combat/Tech |
| Tech Skills | • Boost Pack Training (4) • Security (4) • Targeting Control Systems (4) • Boost Assault Training (4) |
| Combat Skills | • Demolitions (4) • Shotgun Certification (4) |
| Starborn Powers | • Solar Flare • Sunless Space • Supernova |
The beauty of this Grenadier build is that it doesn't require much work, and thus remains very flexible. You could turn this build into a melee, ranged, or even stealth build if you wish, but with the added bonus of gaining access to some very, very powerful explosives early on in Starfield. For this example, we've gone with a Shotgun-focused Grenadier.
The key skill in the Grenadier build is Demolitions, which is found in Tier 2 of the Combat tree. It doesn't matter which Tier 1 Combat skills you invest in to reach Demolition, so we'd advise you just pick a weapon or damage type and increase its potency as much as possible. After that, the idea behind the build is to take to the skies with your Boost Pack so you can rain explosives from below. Security and Targeting Control Systems are dump skills which allow you to reach Tier 4 of the Tech tree and unlock Boost Assault Training. Because what's better than a Grenadier? A Grenadier who can set fire to enemies with their jetpack.
11. Leader
| Ideal Weapon | Tombstone |
| Background | Diplomat |
| Traits | Empath, Extrovert |
| Primary Skill Tree | Social/Physical |
| Social Skills | • Persuasion (4) • Diplomacy (4) • Leadership (4) • Ship Control (4) |
| Physical Skills | • Fitness (4) • Wellness (4) • Cellular Regeneration (4) • Decontamination (4) |
| Combat Skills | • Ballistics (4) • Rifle Certification (4) |
| Starborn Powers | • Reactive Shield • Grav Dash |
Probably the most well-rounded, "vanilla" build on this list, this Leader build is by no means weak. Its strength lies in buffing its companions as much as possible by investing heavily in the Social skill tree early on so you can reach Leadership. After that, your skills should focus on turning yourself into a heavily armed and resilient soldier who can stay strong for their allies in the face of overwhelming odds.
Follow this build and you'll gain significant boosts to your max Health and Oxygen thanks to Wellness and Fitness; plus great resistance to injuries and infections with our later Physical skill picks. The Combat skills are mainly down to player preference, although we've found that equipping yourself with a strong Ballistic Rifle does the trick very nicely if you want to take this build through an entire playthrough. You'll also gain the authority to command enemies to stop fighting, and your high persuasion will allow you to set a good example for your crew and win through words instead of just bullets.
10. Heavy Tank
| Ideal Weapon | Microgun |
| Background | Combat Medic |
| Traits | Alien DNA |
| Primary Skill Tree | Physical/Combat |
| Physical Skills | • Wellness (4) • Pain Tolerance (4) • Nutrition (4) • Energy Weapon Dissipation (4) • Rejuvenation (4) |
| Combat Skills | • Shotgun Certification (3) • Heavy Weapons Certification (4) |
| Social Skills | • Gastronomy (4) • Isolation (4) |
| Science Skills | • Medicine (4) • Spacesuit Design (4) |
| Starborn Powers | • Reactive Shield • Supernova |
The Heavy Tank build was born from a simple idea: make your character as high-health and damage-resistant as possible, and then give them a massive Heavy Weapon with which to blast through every enemy in the game. Simple, but very effective, it turns out!
Crafting the Heavy Tank build requires a fair few skill points split across four different trees (sorry, Tech). The bulk of your points should go through the Physical tree, because that's how we make our character so incredibly tanky and hard to kill. Importantly, this build also maxes out your Nutrition and Gastronomy skills, allowing you to make very good use of the heals and buffs of food and drink. And that's on top of the passive health regeneration you get from the Tier 4 skill Rejuvenation. Aside from this, head to the Combat tree and put some points into Shotgun Certification so that you can reach Heavy Weapon Certification - your primary calling.
9. Martial Artist
| Ideal Weapon | Your own two fists |
| Background | Bouncer |
| Traits | Any |
| Primary Skill Tree | Physical |
| Physical Skills | • Boxing (4) • Fitness (4) • Gymnastics (4) • Pain Tolerance (4) • Martial Arts (4) • Neurostrikes (4) |
| Combat Skills | • Dueling (4) |
| Tech Skills | • Boost Pack Training (4) |
| Starborn Powers | • Gravity Well • Grav Dash |
The Martial Artist is another fairly cheap and flexible Starfield build which you can adapt and combine with other builds quite easily. This build focuses on extremely potent unarmed attacks with a combination of Boxing, Martial Arts, and Neurostrikes from the Physical skill tree.
The Dueling skill in the Combat tree works primarily for unarmed weapons like swords, which you won't be using with this build - but it's still worth maxing out so that you gain speed and health from killing an enemy with any melee attack. Combine this with some Boost Pack Training and you've also got a speedy Martial Artist who can zip from target to target and decimate them with well-aimed charged punches to vital areas.
8. Pirate Captain
| Ideal Weapon | • Razorback • UC Naval Cutlass |
| Background | Combat Medic |
| Traits | Extrovert, Spaced |
| Primary Skill Tree | None |
| Social Skills | • Scavenging (4) • Deception (4) |
| Combat Skills | • Pistol Certification (4) • Dueling (4) • Targeting (4) • Armor Penetration (4) |
| Science Skills | • Astrodynamics (4) • Medicine (4) • Scanning (4) • Aneutronic Fusion (4) |
| Tech Skills | • Piloting (4) • Targeting Control Systems (4) • Engine Systems (4) • Shield Systems (4) • Starship Design (4) |
| Starborn Powers | • Phased Time • Life Forced • Grav Dash |
What started out as a bit of build-crafting fun turned into a powerful and versatile Starfield build. The Pirate Captain build splits your focus between combat (specifically using swords and pistols, because, well, you're a pirate), and a series of investments into the Tech tree to upgrade your ship capabilities.
It will take quite a few levels to realise the Pirate Captain's full potential, but the rewards are well worth it. You'll gain access to the most powerful ships and ship modules, as well as the ability to scan every square metre of an enemy's ship, and the combat effectiveness to board them and take them out with your high pistol damage and armor penetration. The cherry on top is the Deception skill, which allows you to bypass contraband scans far more easily. We figure you'll be doing a lot of smuggling as a Pirate Captain.
7. Craftsman
| Ideal Weapon | Any |
| Background | Professor |
| Traits | Dream Home (optional) |
| Primary Skill Tree | Science/Social |
| Science Skills | • Geology (4) • Botany (4) • Research Methods (4) • Spacesuit Design (4) • Weapon Engineering (4) • Chemistry (4) • Special Projects (4) |
| Social Skills | • Scavenging (4) • Theft (4) • Outpost Management (4) |
| Tech Skills | • Security (3) |
| Starborn Powers | • Eternal Harvest • Elemental Pull |
If you're looking for a Starfield build that focuses slightly less on pure combat, then the Craftsman may be for you. This build is focused solely on building and crafting the very best equipment in the game.
If you want to adopt the Craftsman build, you'll be spending your skill points chiefly in the Science tree, maxing out first Research Methods and then Spacesuit Design, Weapon Engineering, and so on. You'll need a lot of resources to build everything you need, which is where the other half of the build comes in, increasing your ability to harvest (or pilfer) anything you like from all over the Settled Systems.
6. Manipulator
| Ideal Weapon | • Magshear • Breach |
| Background | Diplomat |
| Traits | Any |
| Primary Skill Tree | Social/Combat |
| Social Skills | • Persuasion (4) • Diplomacy (4) • Intimidation (4) • Instigation (4) • Manipulation (4) • Xenosociology (4) |
| Combat Skills | • Ballistics (4) • Shotgun Certification (4) • Rifle Certification (4) • Rapid Reloading (1) • Crippling (4) |
| Starborn Powers | • Creators' Peace • Precognition |
For a more unusual and refined take on defeating your enemies than simply unloading a magazine of bullets into them, the Manipulator build's power comes from commanding enemies of all types to fight for you, obey your commands, and more or less do whatever you like. You can dismantle enemy squads from within, and finish off the remnants with some well-placed Rifle or Shotgun shots.
Seeing as you've put a fair few points into the Combat tree already, we'd also advise you work your way up to the Crippling skill, which allows you to essentially kneecap enemies and force them into a downed state from which they may or may not get back up. It's a powerful tool, and thematically it fits nicely with the idea of calmly walking through a squadron of enemies and leaving them all supplicant on the floor.
5. Swordmaster
| Ideal Weapon | Wakizashi |
| Background | Ronin |
| Traits | Wanted |
| Primary Skill Tree | Physical |
| Physical Skills | • Stealth (4) • Boxing (2) • Wellness (1) • Gymnastics (4) • Martial Arts (4) • Concealment (4) |
| Combat Skills | • Dueling (4) |
| Science Skills | • Medicine (4) • Weapon Engineering (4) |
| Starborn Powers | • Gravity Well • Personal Atmosphere • Grav Dash |
This potent Sword-focused build starts with the Ronin Starfield background, and quickly turns things up to 11 from there. The Swordmaster doesn't require an enormous commitment of time and skill points, primarily focusing on the Physical tree to give yourself the key swordfighting skills and some powerful stealth attacks to boot, so you can strike from the shadows for 10x your normal damage.
You may wish to round out the guide afterwards with a bit of survivability (at the moment we've opted only for Medicine, as it helps us on the way to Weapon Engineering), but it's not strictly necessary for the Swordmaster build. You're dealing enough damage with your sword to end most fights before they begin, and your defensive abilities while equipping and blocking with a melee weapon are startlingly strong. Woe betide any enemy that gets too close to the Swordmaster.
4. Speed Freak
| Ideal Weapon | Breach |
| Background | Bounty Hunter |
| Traits | Any |
| Primary Skill Tree | None |
| Physical Skills | • Fitness (4) • Wellness (4) • Gymnastics (4) • Rejuvenation (4) |
| Combat Skills | • Shotgun Certification (4) • Ballistics (4) • Targeting (4) |
| Tech Skills | • Boost Pack Training (4) • Targeting Control Systems (4) • Piloting (2) • Engine Systems (4) • Boost Assault Training (4) |
| Starborn Powers | • Grav Dash • Personal Atmosphere |
The jetpack-loving Speed Freak focuses on mobility above all else. The idea behind this build is to allow players to dance between bullets, dodging in and out of the line of fire, and never exposing yourself to damage for long enough to risk your life.
Boost Pack Training is obviously a large part of this Starfield build, and when combined with the extra jump height and speed you gain from the Gymnastics skill, you become as vertically mobile as the game will allow. We've combined this with some key survival skills from the Physical tree; and Shotgun Certification, because it makes sense to have a close-range weapon when you can quickly get up close and personal with enemies to pick them off one by one.
3. Silent Assassin
| Ideal Weapon | Any silenced weapon |
| Background | Cyber Runner |
| Traits | Any |
| Primary Skill Tree | None |
| Physical Skills | • Stealth (4) • Gymnastics (4) • Cellular Regeneration (2) • Decontamination (2) • Concealment (4) |
| Social Skills | • Theft (4) • Isolation (4) |
| Combat Skills | • Dueling (4) |
| Tech Skills | • Security (4) • Boost Pack Training (4) |
| Starborn Powers | • Phased Time • Grav Dash • Void Form |
The Silent Assassin is one of the most enjoyable builds you can make in Starfield. The key to this Assassin is immediately maxing out the Stealth skill, and then beelining to Tier 4 of the Physical tree so you can max out Concealment as well for the ultimate sneak attack build.
The other thing the Silent Assassin needs is speed and mobility, to avoid or escape danger as needed. So we've also given this build some Boost Pack Training, and helpfully we've used Gymnastics as a dump skill on our way to Concealment, which makes us very mobile indeed. It's not a hard build to make, and you can quickly end up taking out entire rooms filled with enemies without anyone sounding the alarm.
2. Pistol Critter
| Ideal Weapon | Rattler |
| Background | Combat Medic |
| Traits | Any |
| Primary Skill Tree | Combat |
| Combat Skills | • Pistol Certification (4) • Ballistics (4) • Marksmanship (4) • Sharpshooting (4) • Targeting (4) • Armor Penetration (4) |
| Starborn Powers | • Grav Dash • Gravity Wave |
Simple though it may be, the Pistol Critter build is unbelievably powerful, and one of the quickest ways to dominate the majority of enemy encounters in Starfield. Builds that prioritise critical hit chance and damage can be made in lots of different ways, but the Pistol Critter works particularly well thanks to the Pistol Certification skill giving you a comparatively large damage bonus and a huge bonus to crit chance upon killing an enemy.
To create the Pistol Critter build, you should spend all your early points on the Combat tree. Unlock Tier 3 right away with Pistol Certification and Ballistics, and then pick up Marksmanship, Targeting, Sharpshooting, and Armor Penetration to turn your pistol into one of the most lethal weapons in Starfield. Our weappon of choice is the Rattler - a powerful pistol which is fast-firing enough to be effective with a crit build, but not fully automatic, so as to gain the full benefits of the Marksmanship skill.
1. Solo Sniper
| Ideal Weapon | Magsniper |
| Background | Combat Medic |
| Traits | Introvert |
| Primary Skill Tree | Combat/Social |
| Combat Skills | • Ballistics (4) • Rifle Certification (4) • Sniper Certification (4) • Rapid Reloading (1) • Marksmanship (4) • Sharpshooting (4) • Armor Penetration (4) |
| Social Skills | • Persuasion (2) • Scavenging (1) • Theft (1) • Isolation (4) • Instigation (4) |
| Physical Skills | • Wellness (4) • Stealth (1) • Pain Tolerance (3) |
| Science Skills | • Medicine (2) • Astrodynamics (1) • Research Methods (1) • Weapon Engineering (4) |
| Starborn Powers | • Phased Time • Void Form • Anti-Gravity Field |
Our pick for the best build so far in Starfield is the Solo Sniper. This devastating lone wolf build dispenses with companions and crew so that it can gain the colossal damage bonus provided by the Isolation skill. This dovetails perfectly with a strong focus on Sniper damage and Armor Penetration, allowing you to one-shot headshot most enemies you'll come across in Starfield.
To make life a little easier seeing as you're all on your lonesome for this build, we also recommend you pick up the Instigation skill in the Social tree, so that you can force enemies to fight for you. Even if they're little more than cannon fodder, it gives you the freedom to set up further away with your sniper rifle, scope in, and drop each enemy with a single bullet.
That wraps up this guide on the best Starfield builds we've come across so far while playing. We'll be sure to update this page as newer and more impressive builds crop up! For more ideas on how to customise your character, check out our Starfield traits guide and our guide on how to change your appearance. While you're here you can also consult our Starfield romance options primer and our guides on how to fast travel and how to pick locks easily.