Starfield tips and tricks: 5 ideas to help you get started

Considering Starfield has 1,000 planets across 100 solar systems, one of the biggest decisions is actually figuring out what to do first.

Jump in a ship and explore the galaxy? Play through the main story? Build an outpost? Or even become a space pirate? The possibilities are near endless.

The first thing to do is to get acquainted with the controls and explore New Atlantis, the hub world found on Jemison in the Alpha Centauri star system.

We spent a good hour just wandering its several districts, speaking with residents and understanding where to buy/sell everything. You might even wander into your parents if you picked the Kid Stuff trait.

Anyway, we recommend watching the video above and reading the article below for our essential Starfield tips to help you get started.

Starfield tips and tricks: 5 essential ideas to help you get started

1. Choose carefully at the start of the game

Once you've installed the game, you'll probably want to rush in and start loads of exciting adventures. But we'd encourage you to take your time and actually read every single different option on the character creation menu.

This is your first chance to really put your stamp on your character. We chose to have an Industrialist background because that was the one that came with perks that would allow us to persuade better in conversations (and, in a lot of cases, avoid combat altogether).

But if you're the kind of person who loves combat, or any other particular part of what Starfield is offering, look for a background and trait that will kind of beef you up in those ways.

2. Share the load

This game is probably the worst in recent memory in terms of your character being a bit of a weakling at the start and not being able to carry loads of stuff.

You will get overburdened fairly quickly if you go around and pick up every single item that you can off of every enemy and every shelf.

It's worth noting that your ship has a storage compartment where you can leave a bunch of stuff, and so do each of your companion characters, including the robot and the human companion that you pick up really early in the game.

If you are getting overburdened, that will make it harder for you to run around and do things. So palm off a load of stuff to your companions, or drop or sell a load of stuff if you manage to max out every single person around you with all your junk.

3. Don't get too attached to one planet

If you grew up with games like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect, part of you might want to visit one planet at a time, play it to death, complete it and reach whatever the end beat of the narrative on that planet.

We'd recommend not doing that in Starfield!

This is a game with a whole galaxy of different stuff, and stories can intertwine across that galaxy. Stories can take you from one planet to another planet. And you may regret it if you stick on one planet for too long, because you'll realise, 'Oh, actually, I've got a load of missions now that I could have gone off and done on other planets, and now they're piling up.'

You might feel a bit stuck in the mud with too many options on your to-do list.

4. Smell the roses

What we basically mean here is: take the time to look around. Follow your nose, go to different places. You might find yourself approaching a planet and you'll get a distress call from someone. It will almost always be something that's worth doing. Sometimes it's a bit of a trap.

So, yeah, don't be afraid to follow your nose. Smell the roses. Look around. Go talk to random people. Go do random things. If someone tells you, 'Oh, I know some guy over there, he was talking about something,' just follow up on it.

Take the time to look around, and you'll be rewarded with interesting bits of stories. A wider variety of different topics and experiences will come up if you do this, more so than if you did stay on one planet and just bash through every mission that the locals throw at you.

5. Follow your heart

Try not to get too worried about what's the right thing to do or the wrong thing to do. The game does have different dialogue choices at pretty much every juncture. There's normally a serious one, an angry one and a funny one, and you should just pick whichever one you want.

Don't worry about trying to build a 'good' character or an 'evil' character or what have you, either. It's not like Knights of the Old Republic, where you can have a light side or a dark side character - so have fun with it! Don't force yourself to stick in one lane.

As much as your companions will remember the stuff that you've said and they might make a little snide remark afterwards, most of the time, that shouldn't concern you. Unless it's a big, obvious, massive story choice, just feel free to do what you want and follow your heart. Follow what you think will be fun.

Read more on Starfield:

• Starfield review - our final verdict
• Starfield missions list - how far are you?
• Starfield romance - all potential relationships
• Starfield character creation - all your options explained
• Starfield digipick - how to lockpick
• How long is Starfield? The hours you'll need
• Will Starfield ever come to PS5? Developer comments
• Starfield cast - all voice actors
• Starfield companions - who to recruit
• Starfield soundtrack - how to listen
• Starfield storage guide - don't be overburdened
• Starfield FOV - change your point of view
• Starfield FPS - developers explain 30fps
• Starfield PC requirements - specs needed
• Starfield performance - potential fixes
• Starfield factions - all possible groups

If you're approaching the game like, 'Oh, I'm playing as a nice person, I'm going to pick the nice conversation choice every time,' that's fine, but you will miss out on a lot of the comedy if you don't every now and then throw in a joke answer.

Or if you think a character is a bit of a rude person and they're asking you for something, argue back with them a bit. You'll be surprised, sometimes you can actually argue your way out of having to do something for someone if you actually call them on the rubbish that they're spouting.

So those are our top tips for Starfield! Choose carefully at the start, share the load in terms of carrying junk, don't get too attached to one planet (or one way of playing), and take the time to follow your nose and smell the roses. You won't regret it!

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