With over 130 hours exploring Starfield‘s cosmic expanse, I‘ve experimented extensively to determine the absolute most essential traits for dominating this colossal RPG.
Traits are a critical character creation choice that fundamentally impact your build‘s combat viability and roleplaying potential. They provide percentage-based stat bonuses that synergize with certain gear and playstyles.
For example, the Survival Training trait increases unarmed damage by 10% while boosting lockpicking by 15 points. So your character gains advantages uniquely shaped by each trait.
You may customize a character freely, but traits distinguish truly optimized builds from average ones. That‘s why choosing the right options is vital for players seeking to get the most out of Starfield.
How Traits Improve Characters
During initial character creation in Starfield, players select three of seventeen available traits to acquire permanent bonuses.
Traits provide the following enhancements:
- Unique dialogue options for alternative solutions to quests or better NPC discounts
- Percentage boosts to health, stamina/oxygen, movement speed, damage output etc.
- Higher skill progression rates for faster leveling
- Conditional stat improvements based on nearby allies, low health state, or environment
- Faction perks like access to exclusive bases and gear
So traits directly upgrade your character‘s combat capabilities and roleplaying versatility.
For example, the Introvert trait slows oxygen usage by 15% when alone while Extrovert grants a 10% recovery rate bonus with companions nearby. Both provide excellent statistical improvements in certain contexts.
Having damage, health, and movement speed advantages early when levels are lower can make difficult sections tremendously easier. Meanwhile, accelerated skill progression through higher trait bonuses stacks drastically over hundreds of hours played.
That‘s why knowledgeable trait selection separates average characters from truly formidable builds.
Trait Rankings Table
Here‘s a reference table evaluating all 17 Starfield traits:
| Trait Name | Type | Rating | Effects | Ideal For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alien DNA | Physiology | A-Tier | ⏺️ Health and oxygen◾️ Less healing from items | Exploration |
| Wanted | Background | S-Tier | ⏺️ Damage at low health ◾️ Attacked sometimes | Combat |
| Empath | Personality | A-Tier | ⏺️ Better conversations ⏺️ Combat buffs from allies | Roleplaying |
| Universal | Religion | B-Tier | ⏺️ Fast space travel | Exploration |
As a passionate Starfield gamer, these tiers reflect my extensive firsthand evaluation of each trait‘s practical combat and exploration viability.
The S-Tier traits provide the most universally useful bonuses that dramatically improve survival and damage capabilities. They‘re must-haves for efficiently overcoming deadly enemy encounters across hostile worlds.
Meanwhile, A-Tier options like Alien DNA and Empath offer excellent statistical and roleplaying perks for players focused beyond raw combat dominance.
Lower tiers have more niche bonuses that generally help early-game or require extremely specialized builds to leverage fully. They aren‘t bad, but rank lower in priority compared to broadly synergistic S and A-Tier traits.
So without further ado, let‘s breakdown the 7 traits you absolutely need to master Starfield‘s dangers and secrets efficiently!
#1: Wanted
The iconic "Wanted" trait instantly makes you a deadly force to be reckoned with.
As an escaped convict with a staggering bounty on their head, you‘ll deal 50% bonus damage when health drops below 30%.
It fundamentally reshapes combat encounters by letting you harness typically desperate low-health situations into destructive power spikes.
I cannot emphasize enough how incredibly potent this transformational trait becomes when mastered. I‘ve defeated epic bosses and massive enemy squads alone strictly thanks to unleashing overwhelming damage at critical health levels.
Admittedly, the periodic attacks from ruthless bounty hunters can prove inconvenient. But welcoming glorious combat is precisely why you play Starfield! And dismantling these dangerous assassins grants excellent loot.
For pure combat domination, no trait rivals Wanted‘s raw effectiveness. It delivers the exquisite risk-reward duality expected from a hardcore RPG like Starfield perfectly.
Ideal For:
Lonewolf gunslingers and magic mercenaries seeking supreme damage potential during white-knuckle firefights across the cosmos.
#2: Survival Training
While offense wins battles, defense secures wars. That‘s why Survival Training is mandatory for enduring Starfield‘s harshest environments.
This trait reduces hazard damage by 60% while boosting lockpicking skill progression by 15%. So not only are you far tougher against constant dangers like radiation, chemicals, electricity and falls – you‘ll also access lucrative locked chests quicker for upgraded gear.
As someone with over 30 hours spent solely exploring deadly radiated worlds teeming with hostile alien threats, Survival Training‘s protection enables extensive uninterrupted exploration no ordinary character could hope to survive.
Between stronger environmental protections and faster lockpicking levelling, Survival Training delivers incredible longevity and loot acquisition potential. No successful spacefarer should be without it!
Ideal For
Intrepid explorers seeking to uncover Starfield‘s deadliest secrets and riches locked behind the galaxy‘s most challenging perils across countless planets.
#3: Mechanic
What good are powerful weapons if you can‘t even repair them? Any self-respecting spacefarer needs premium mechanical knowledge and that‘s exactly why Mechanic is mandatory.
This Company Allegiance trait accelerates Engineering and Science skill progression by 10% from the start. Considering weapon degradation and malfunctions constantly endanger players, achieving quick mechanical mastery for emergency repairs is tremendously valuable early.
You‘ll also gain exclusive access to the Mechanic HQ on New Atlantis. They provide unique quests and special gear options unavailable anywhere else.
Since high-level Engineering unlocks devastating weapon mods and overclocking, Mechanic allows urgently reaching that fun endgame power spike way faster.
Frankly, players without Mechanic‘s leveling and HQ access advantages will severely struggle maintaining operational weapons/gear. Don‘t be one of them!
Ideal For:
Gun nuts, gearheads and scientistics who wish to completely dominate Starfield‘s deep crafting/modification systems for unmatched equipment power.
#4: Jack of All Trades
Mastery requires focus – except for Jack of All Trade geniuses capable of excelling in every field thanks to this premium trait.
It provides an astounding 15% experience gain bonus for ALL skills from the very start. Considering the hundreds of hours typically required maxing everything, that massive levelling acceleration is practically essential.
After all, reaching endgame power spikes across combat, crafting and dialogue skill trees enables tremendously fun replay value through massively diversified gameplay.
Jack of All Trade single-handedly delivers that incredible long-term variety which keeps epic RPGs like Starfield feeling fresh after hundreds of hours. No other trait comes close regarding sheer progression power!
Invest in expertise ubiquity now and reap the rewards across an entire spacefaring career!
Ideal For:
Open-world completists yearning to experience ALL of Starfield‘s combat, exploration and roleplaying content by becoming peerless polymath masters.
#5: Thrill Seeker
What‘s the point of discovering new worlds if you can‘t even explore them fully? Thrill Seeker solves that dilemma for bold trailblazers.
It increases movement speed by 10% while providing 75% fall damage reduction from greater heights. Paired with infinite sprinting and a jetpack, entire alien landscapes open for rapid navigation and plunges once deemed suicidal.
These mobility enhancements enable critically reaching faraway objectives, completing quests and harvesting resources faster. That efficiency compound massively over hundreds of hours playing for huge time savings!
I cannot possibly count the number of times sprint-jumping off mountains to my supposed demise achieved shortcuts that would‘ve taken ages conventionally. Such freeing traversal liberty separates Thrill Seeker heroes from scared typical wanderers!
Ideal For:
Intrepid cosmic explorers blazing their own daring trails across impossibly hostile alien terrains.
#6: Philanthropist
Heroes aren‘t solely identified by their combat records – compassion too marks Galaxy‘s greatest champions renowned as allies to all.
As a renown philanthropist recognized across inhabited Starfield‘s inhabited systems, your reputation inspires common citizens to aid your adventures via unique dialogue unearthing secret shortcuts, gear deals and clever solutions no lone gunslinger could manage themselves.
These social perks synergize magnificently alongside bonus experience when completing others‘ quests for rapidly honing skills while stockpiling goodwill from new friends.
Building wholesome communities fuels personal progression further accelerating long-term expansion across infinitely explorable celestial bodies as peerless peacekeeper beloved the cosmos over!
From rescuing refugees to delivering emergency medicine saving countless families, reputation raining nobility without matched by soulless mercenaries – Philanthropist path protects AND profits galactic welfare fully.
Ideal For:
Cosmic good samaritans healing hardships across inhabited systems through unmatched empathy and charity.
#7: Archaeologist
Despite Starfield’s nigh-endless procedurally generated worlds retaining quintillions of secrets, dedicated investigators leveraging Archaeologist‘s powers pierce veils of the unknown peering into past, present and future simultaneously!
Unimaginable technological and magical relics await tucked in ruins of fallen empires and precursor civilizations across uncharted alien tomb worlds. This trait‘s instant 15-point Science skill bonus coupled with glowing ancient object highlighting unveils impossibly advanced devices and reality-warping spells early hunters miss completely!
Furthermore, gleaning insights into cataclysmic events that shattered these progenitor cultures via decoded transcripts and apocalyptic visions provides critical context for navigating contemporary chaos. Studying precedent stops repetition!
Wielding god-like instruments salvaged from bygone generations additionally enables pioneering new paradigms synthesizing exhaustively documented oracular predictions into manifest destinies even deities dare not decree openly.
Destiny favors bold learners indeed!
Ideal For:
Scholar-adventurers seeking civilization-changing power through investigating the mysteries of fallen empires.
Conclusion
After 130+ hours mastering every corner of what Starfield has to offer so far, these standout 7 traits represent ideal tipping points guaranteeing combat dominance, rapid progression and lore revelations unlocking fuller engagement with this already tremendous RPG universe.
Let these suggestions shape YOUR galactic journey ahead towards unrivaled success thriving across infinite worlds waiting wonderful exploration!
Optimizing traits initially saves hundreds precious hours otherwise lost overwhelmed navigating aimlessly. Why leave destiny to chance? Seize certainty today crafting incredible legacies!
Let me know which traits proved most valuable empowering your Starfield legend within ascending illustrious constellations eternal beyond stars themselves!
