Best Starfield Backgrounds: Which Should You Choose?

The long-awaited science fiction RPG Starfield is finally here and brings a ton of intergalactic exploration with it. However, like all RPG games before, there’s a fair bit of character customization that goes before it. One such choice is character background, which not only dictates your history but decides your starting skills that will be instrumental to your journey. There are a plethora of backgrounds in the game, but only some of them can be considered the best. Well, we are here to make your job easier, listing the best Starfield backgrounds you should pick. So, without any more delay, let’s begin.

Best Starfield Backgrounds for New Players

There are a total of 21 backgrounds in Starfield to choose from, and each has their own set of skills that come with them. For more details on each background, including their description and skills, keep reading as we dive into them all. However, our top five recommendations are as follows:

• Soldier
• Cyber Runner
• Combat Medic
• Bounty Hunter
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All 21 Starfield Backgrounds Explained

1. Soldier

Arguably, one of my favorite backgrounds in Starfield, the Soldier, comes from a place where violence is no stranger to them. The Settled Systems have their fair share of chaos, and this background is one of the best to pick if you want to survive and even win those fights.

Soldiers get an excellent combination of skills that help them fight and be mobile at once. While Fitness and Ballistics skills give you more stamina and damage to win fights, Boost Pack Training will give you a jetpack early on.

• Fitness – Increase Oxygen capacity
• Ballistics – Ballistic weapons give more damage
• Boost Pack Training – You can get and use Boost Packs early

2. Cyber Runner

While being a Soldier is nice, this Starfield background is for those who love to be sneaky and still make a tidy profit. The Cyber Runner knows the world inside out and can leverage it without making noise. This background comes with a useful stealth skill that makes you harder to detect.

Furthermore, you also get security and theft skills that increase your lockpick skills and even give you more auto attempts at opening up locks for that added finesse. So, if guns aren’t your cup of tea, try Cyber Runner out.

• Stealth – Adds a stealth meter, making it harder for enemies to detect you
• Security – You can open advanced locks and get two more auto attempts.
• Theft – You can pickpocket personnel

3. Combat Medic

Health in Starfield, while decent, tends to go down quickly if you aren’t paying attention. Therefore, it’s all the more important to have one of the best Starfield backgrounds that helps you heal up faster. The Combat Medic just does that with its Medicine skill that ensures Med, Trauma, and Emergency packs heal you faster and more compared to other backgrounds.

Moreover, the Wellness skill increases your maximum health. However, don’t think you can’t fire back, as the Pistol Certification lets you deal more damage through pistols.

• Pistol Certification – Lets you deal more damage with pistols
• Medicine – Med, Trauma, and Emergency packs heal you faster and give you more health.
• Wellness – Increases Maximum Health

4. Bounty Hunter

Starfield is a game that relies on space travel at the end of the day. Thankfully, the Bounty Hunter is a perfect fit for that. True to its name, the hunter is adept at getting around the systems quickly and easily. While the piloting skill lets you use the ship thrusters early, the targeting control systems let you destroy specific areas of the enemy ship for faster boarding. Finally, bounty hunters also get the boost pack early on in the game for some added mobility.

• Piloting – You can use the ship’s thrusters early
• Targeting Control Systems – Unlocks the ship’s targeting systems
• Boost Pack Training – Unlocks boost packs early on

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This is one of our favorite Starfield backgrounds because it lets you be whoever you are. With no single story behind you, you can decide your past and are an explorer in the cosmic sea. However, don’t let that make you think you don’t have the right skills. The no-past guy comes with a decent set of skills, including wellness, which gives them more health, ballistics for more weapon damage, and piloting to use the ship’s thrusters. So don’t worry about what you were and just set off.

• Wellness – Increases maximum health
• Ballistics – Ballistic weapons deal more damage
• Piloting – You can use the ship’s thrusters early on

6. Diplomat

One of the backgrounds naturally made for a peaceful resolution — the Diplomat’s skills in dealing with people. This is the one choice peaceful players among you should make. Diplomats come with Persuasion, which you’ll need in future conversations. Furthermore, you also get commerce, which will give you profit while buying and selling items. While the Wellness skill is a bit odd here, it’s appreciated, as even a Diplomat might get into a hairy situation.

• Perusaion – Increased chances of success in conversations
• Commerce – More profit when selling and less cost when buying items
• Wellness – Increases maximum health

7. Explorer

While the bounty hunter explores for credits, the Explorer is thirsty for cosmic knowledge. With a background among the stars, you have a distinct set of skills that mix astrodynamics, surveying, and even some offense together. The explorer knows about their ships’ Grav Drive tech, making them more adept at improving it. Furthermore, your laser weapons deal more damage along with a scanner with more zoom. Take the explorer to become a person out and about in the stars.

• Lasers – Your laser weapons are more effective
• Astrodynamics – You can improve your ship’s grav drive
• Surveying – Your scanner has more zoom and range

8. Space Scoundrel

Starfield, to some, reminds them of the famous Star-Lord from Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Well, if you want a background like him, the Space Scoundrel is made for you. Put simply, the scoundrel listens to nobody and does whatever they want. They have a mixed sense of morality, and that comes with mirroring skills.

The space scoundrel is familiar with pistols for small combat combined with piloting to quickly escape. However, when you want to get out of situations by talking or earning credits, persuasion skills will help you fool people. Go with this background for a slightly more grey version of Peter Quill.

• Pistol Certification – Lets you deal more damage with pistols
• Piloting – You can use the ship’s thrusters
• Persuasion – Increased chances of success in conversations

9. Industrialist

If you ever wanted to be a kind of CEO in space, like Musk, the Industrialist background will suit you. This background mixes in the powers of persuasion and research to give you the knowledge and insight for more tech. The added security skill is straight from the arsenal of the cyber runner, along with Research methods skill that lets you finish projects faster and craft items with fewer resources. While not the best background in Starfield, the Industrialist is a decent mix of them all.

• Persuasion – Increased chances of success in conversations
• Security – You can open advanced locks and get two more auto attempts.
• Research Methods – Finish research projects faster and craft items with fewer resources.

10. Cyberneticist

The Cyberneticist in Starfield gives you a vast skillset that dabbles in self-healing, lockpicking, and even lasers. While this might seem like an odd skill set, you can get away with a lot if you play your cards right. For starters, the security skill can help you crack advanced locks with extra auto attempts. You also get the laser skill for added damage from your weapons. And if all else fails, the medicine skill will help you heal quickly and escape a situation.

• Medicine – Med, Trauma, and Emergency packs heal you faster and give you more health.
• Security – You can open advanced locks and get 2+ auto attempts.
• Lasers – Your laser weapons are more effective.

11. Xenobiologist

While we are only a few hours into our Starfield playthrough, we have already stumbled upon a decent set of alien life that looks equal parts interesting and scary. The Xenobiologist background is made just for a person interested in breaking down planets for aliens. The surveying skill increases your scanner to make it powerful, while fitness will ensure you have more oxygen in your blood. Furthermore, you get added laser damage, so make sure to pack one.

• Lasers – Your laser weapons are more effective.
• Surveying – Your hand scanner has more zoom and range
• Fitness – Increase Oxygen capacity

12. Sculptor

The Sculptor, at its best, is a weird combination of talents. While the sculptor could have had a career as a surgeon, they chose art coupled with a dash of science. This Starfield background is skilled in Geology, which lets them mine more inorganic (alien) resources from surfaces. However, the times things go wrong, you also get added healing powers along with persuasion to smoothen people.

• Medicine – Med, Trauma, and Emergency packs heal you faster and give you more health.
• Geology – Chances of getting alien matter from surfaces
• Persuasion – Increased chances of success in conversations

13. Long Hauler

The Long Hauler background in Starfield isn’t inherently anything special, but they can carry the load when needed. The Weight Lifting skill increases the maximum carrying capacity to let you travel further with more stuff. However, you also get space exploration skills, including piloting your ship’s thrusters and ballistic weapon system for some added damage from your ship.

• Weight Lifting – Increases player’s carrying capacity
• Piloting – You can use the ship’s thrusters early
• Ballistic Weapon Systems – Increases ballistic weapons damage on your ship

14. Bouncer

Another generic Starfield background, the Bouncer, focuses on more of the olden ways of Earth. You were a bouncer in your past life, which gives you access to Boxing, which in turn lends more physical damage to attacks and uses less oxygen. That is naturally paired with Fitness for even more oxygen. Lastly, you also get the ability to pick advanced locks for some reason if you want to go covert.

• Boxing – Unarmed attacks have more damage and use less Oxygen
• Security – You can open advanced locks and get two more auto attempts.
• Fitness – Increase Oxygen capacity

15. Homesteader

The Homesteader is a background apt for people who want to settle down on a planet or two and not be bothered. However, that also means your skillset won’t be on the offensive and rather quite passive. The Homesteader comes with geology for alien particles, surveying for a stronger scanner, and finally, weight lifting for added carrying capacity. Just make sure not to have a violent playthrough.

• Geology – Chances of getting inorganic matter from surfaces
• Surveying – Your hand scanner has more zoom and range
• Weight Lifting – Increases player’s carrying capacity

16. Ronin

Sometimes, the idea of you changes depending on who you deal with, and that’s where the Ronin shines. This Starfield background makes you a blade for hire who has gone through not one but multiple missions to hone their skills. The Ronin takes advantage of the dueling skill that gives them added melee damage and a shiny stealth meter. You’re also better at scavenging and getting more resources. This is the perfect Starfield background when operating alone.

• Dueling – Give more and receive less damage when using melee weapons
• Stealth – Adds a stealth meter, making it harder for enemies to detect you
• Scavenging – Get more resources when looting containers

17. Pilgrim

The Pilgrim, on the other hand, is a Starfield background focused on survival. The scavenging skill gives you more loot, while gastronomy lets you create brand-new recipes and ingredients. To help that, the Pilgrim also uses the more powerful scanner with their surveying skill. If you’re focused on surviving, the Pilgrim is one of the best Starfield backgrounds to go for.

• Scavenging – Get more resources when looting containers
• Surveying – Your scanner has more zoom and range
• Gastronomy – You can create special food and drinks

18. Professor

As one can tell, the Professor is focused on knowledge and not much else. You will meet some with this background, including Noel, a gifted scientist. True to their title, the professors source inorganic materials and strongly focus on research projects with their Research Methods skill. To add to exploration, they also get added grav jump range with their Astrodynamics skill.

• Astrodynamics – You can improve your ship’s grav drive
• Geology – Chances of getting inorganic matter from surfaces
• Research Methods – Finish research projects faster and craft items with fewer resources.

19. Beast Hunter

Coming in the exact opposite of academia, the Beast Hunter is a Starfield profession that puts you in the shoes of a person with a past in blood. The beast hunter, as most can tell, hunts terrifying monstrosities across the galaxy. Therefore, it’s only natural you’ve added Oxygen with the Fitness skill and a penchant for ballistic weapons. You can also use that meat with the Gastronomy skill to create special recipes.

• Fitness – Increase Oxygen capacity
• Ballistics – Ballistic weapons deal more damage
• Gastronomy – You can create special food and drinks

20. Gangster

Whoever knew Starfield, too, would have its fair share of mobsters. The Gangster background allows folks to relive the Mafia days while transferring those skills. The Shotgun Certification skill lets you deal added damage with that weapon. However, when it is time for punches, the Boxing still is there to help. Or you can quickly steal belongings using the Theft skill. The world is your oyster with this cool background in Starfield.

• Shotgun Certification – Deal more damage with shotguns
• Boxing – Unarmed attacks have more damage and use less Oxygen
• Theft – You can pickpocket personnel

21. Chef

Last and maybe least, for some, the Chef is a passive enough background that might or might not pay off, depending on how you play Starfield. For starters, the Chef comes with Gastronomy, which lets you craft unique food provided you have the ingredients. To help that, the chef can also scavenge for more loot from containers. You also get added Dueling, just like the Ronin, but you might want to stick with guns. Take the Chef only if you’re confused with everything else or you want to cook later on.

• Gastronomy – You can create special food and drinks
• Dueling – Give more and receive less damage when using melee weapons
• Scavenging – Get more resources when looting containers