With so many skills to choose from in Starfield, picking the right ones is a very tall order. How could you possibly decide when there are 82 skills, across five unique skill trees? Well, some are niche while others offer utility, and you’ve got a few that are better for specific builds. That said, it’s only natural some skills are better than others, so lets take a look at what we’d recommend as the top 15 best endgame skills to get in Starfield.
15. Neurostrikes
Players who choose to run an unarmed build in Starfield are already crazy enough, but it totally makes sense when you consider skills like Neurostrikes.
The chance to stun consistently is great, but the last rank is where the skill truly shines. What you’re essentially doing is making your fists of fury into an AOE debuff machine. Once you stun a target — which you’ll do quite often — nearby targets get knocked down from the sheer awesomeness of your punches (or, more realistically, its insane amount of force). It only becomes even more effective when you toss the Crippling skill into the mix for extra damage!
14. Rejuvenation
I swear it never seems like my health bar stays full for more than a minute. It’d probably help if I wasn’t always being fired at or testing the theory of gravity on some bizarre planet. If you’re like me, and you don’t like wasting Med Packs or constantly sleeping in beds to restore your health, you want Rejuvenation.
Simply put, it lets you regenerate health both outside and inside combat at higher ranks. Sure, you can modify your boost pack with a Regeneration effect, but that only applies outside of combat. And that’s not to mention having to craft the modification every single time you replace your boost pack.
13. Concealment
If you’re a sneaky little devil, one of the most useful effects in Starfield is Chameleon.
To blend in with the environment is invaluable, but like with Rejuvenation, having a piece of gear with Chameleon only takes you so far. That’s where the Concealment skill comes in handy. It greatly increases the damage you do with sneak attacks through both ranged and melee weapons. With this skill, you’ll become a silent wrecking ball capable of taking out most any enemy without revealing yourself.
12. Leadership
Leadership is one of those skills in Starfield that has a delayed reaction. At first glance, it seems like a solid skill, but you don’t fully appreciate its value until you think about it for a minute. You need to let it marinate!
The affinity bonus to companions is admittedly useless, but by Rank 2, it’ll provide you with a much stronger and tankier ally. However, it’s the Rank 4 that truly has the most value, as it makes your companion a far more effective combatant on the ground and in space. If you’re pushing higher difficulties or going through New Game+, Leadership ensures your teammate of choice doesn’t feel like dead weight.
11. Instigation
Considering how often you’re fighting groups of enemies, having a maxed out Instigation skill is like having a second companion if said companion were a wild animal.
Okay, but seriously, being able to single out the toughest enemy and sic them on their allies is an incredibly strong ability. And, according to the skill, they don’t stop “until they are dead.” It gives you a lot more breathing room in a fire fight, and saves you tons of time hunting down every enemy in an area. Just keep your distance, because they’ll still attack you too.
10. Xenosociology
Where the Manipulation skill is for controlling humans, Xenosociology is the other side of the coin.
Now you can “suggest” to aliens they’re better off on your side, at least for now. For a little while, you’ll net yourself a pet alien that’ll obey your commands. You can then cause it to flee, calm down, or go all out on your selected target.
Come to think of it, Xenosociology essentially makes you into a Pokemon trainer. Now if only someone could make a mod that adds PokeBalls!
9. All Weapon Skills
Whether you focus on melee weapons or ranged, investing in the proper weapon skills gets more and more important the further you get in Starfield.
You can get by with a few modifications here, maybe a legendary weapon there, but the damage bonuses you get from weapon skills are massive. In some cases, like the melee-focused weapon skill Dueling and the ranged weapon-focused Pistol Certification, you’re getting a 50% damage bonus. Those same skills are then granted unique bonuses like melee kills healing you, a stun chance with shotguns, or increased critical hit chance with pistols.
They’re all worthwhile, and will more than match the effort and resources you put into getting them.
8. Crippling
The Crippling skill is fine; it’s a neat skill on its own. Who doesn’t love 100% extra damage on downed enemies? But if we were to pair Crippling with Neurostrikes, you’ve got a really fun and hilarious unarmed build.
What happens is this: You run into a fight, get a few jabs in for a stun, and then Neurostrikes kicks in. Nearby enemies go down, and while they’re prone, you’ll start dealing extra damage from Crippling on top of the bonuses from Boxing and Martial Arts. It even works on machines at Rank 4!
7. Armor Penetration
Armor Penetration doesn’t need much of an explanation on why it’s good.
Some enemies in Starfield seem to have way too much armor, and this skill aims to level the playing field. It starts off with some nice, chunky true damage which ignores a portion of the armor, and then morphs into a strong debuff by the final Rank.
Overall, you’ll have a much easier time shredding tougher targets with the Armor Penetration skill, and this remains true whether you prefer to use ranged or melee attacks.
6. Medicine
Just because the Medicine skill is in the first tier of the Science tree doesn’t make it any less valuable. In fact, I’d argue every build should dump points into Medicine where possible, especially if you’re playing at higher difficulties.
The extra health restoration from healing items is great, but its most noteworthy effect is faster healing. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve chugged a few Med Packs behind cover, only to have to wait for the bar to slowly fill up before I could poke my head out.
The Medicine skill addresses this issue handily, and by the final rank, you’ll be able to remedy even the most severe wounds in a flash.
5. Aneutronic Fusion
Aneutronic Fusion isn’t hard to understand: it gives you five extra points to distribute amongst your ship’s systems.
The value of this skill really comes down to its versatility. You could dump some points into your weapon system for extra damage, or use them to strengthen your shield against enemy attacks. Or maybe you don’t care for combat. In which case, you can use those units to warm up your grav drive quicker for a fast getaway!
The choice is yours, which makes this skill all the more important for ensuring you can play the game your way.
4. Spacesuit Design + Weapon Engineering
While you get plenty of powerful weapons throughout Starfield, you will run the risk of your damage plateauing. However, with the Weapon Engineering skill, it makes those extra special weapons all the more powerful when they’re modified to your playstyle with components like a silencer, scopes, a fully automatic receiver, and more.
The Spacesuit Design skill offers similar benefits with an emphasis on utility. All of us can use more carrying weight, more O2, better resistances, and health regeneration. That said, you can prioritize a combat skill, but if you have a spare point, don’t forget about these two.
3. Boost Assault Training
Much in the same way Boost Pack Training is an essential skill early on, Boost Assault Training is one of the best endgame skills to grab for its fun utility. If you ever thought, “I wish I could hover with my boost pack,” then this is the skill to focus on.
Admittedly, Boost Pack Training doesn’t truly come online until Rank 3 as the first two Ranks don’t offer anything worthwhile. Once your reach its third tier though, you’ll be hovering over the battlefield, which is a pretty handy trick to have for scanning the area or picking off targets behind cover. It gets even better when you unlock Rank 4, which adds a slowing effect whenever you hover.
2. Automated Weapon Systems
One of the struggles of space combat is having to juggle all the systems on top of trying to fly. It’s a little overwhelming sometimes, and even more so when you’re being attacked by multiple ships at once.
With the Automated Weapon Systems skill though, a significant amount of that pressure is taken off of you by making turrets far more effective. You can group ship weapons into two categories: ones you fire manually and another that’s automatic. Using the latter means you never have to touch the triggers to fire them, and you’ll have a few less plates to keep spinning at any given time.
1. Starship Design
Speaking of starships, Starship Design is a must if you’re really into ship building; which you should be, given it’s a requirement to explore the farthest corners of the game’s universe.
There’s a decent selection of ship parts right off the bat, but it’s limited. If you’re min-maxing, most of the best parts are locked behind varying ranks of Starship Design, and Class B and Class C clearance for that matter.
Additionally, having access to a much wider variety of parts means getting closer to what your dream ship is, especially if you’re dreaming big. Having too much mass and too little thrust can really limit your options.
That does it for the best endgame skills in Starfield. If you aren’t sure where to start with your build, we highly suggest checking out the best skills to get early. That’ll give you an idea of what to invest in beforehand!
Published: Sep 27, 2023 10:00 am