Each Starfield background explained

Want to know which Starfield background to choose? As you create your character in this massive space game, your origin story is one of the many options you have to pick. Each background has a short bio detailing what kind of person you are and three starting Starfield skills to set you on your way.

While we count down the months until the Starfield release date, and our chance to play Starfield on Xbox Game Pass, let’s dive into all of the currently revealed Starfield backgrounds and bio entries, as well as which starting skills each of them has.

Every Starfield Background

Your Starfield background affects how NPCs see you, from your Starfield companions to each of the many Starfield factions across the star system in this massive open-world game. Some may act friendly towards you or be reassured that a mission will be successful because of your past, while others may be more hostile if they learn about the company you used to keep.

According to game director Todd Howard, there are 20 backgrounds in total. Out of the 16 Starfield backgrounds shown by Bethesda so far, the Starfield Direct – Gameplay Deepdive only highlighted six of 16 backgrounds. There are still four backgrounds we don’t know about just yet.

Here is every Starfield background we’ve seen so far:

• Beast Hunter
• Bouncer
• Bounty Hunter
• Chef
• Combat Medic
• Cyber Runner
• Cyberneticist
• Diplomat
• Explorer
• Gangster
• Homesteader
• Industrialist
• Long Hauler
• Pilgrim
• Professor
• Ronin

Chef

While the unrefined masses scarfed down Chunks by the shipload, you catered to those with a more… discerning palate. In your kitchen, countless alien species became true culinary masterpieces.

Starting skills

• Gastronomy – Access to brand new worlds means access to brand new ingredients, and there is almost no limit to the delicious foods and drinks a talented chef can prepare.
• Dueling – Considered by many to be a lost art, close attacks with a melee weapon can often be deadlier than ranged combat when carried out by a skilled practitioner.
• Scavenging – There are those who can find just about anything, and their success is usually dependent on knowing how, and where, to look.

Combat Medic

Leave it to human beings to fight over something as infinite as outer space. That’s where you come in. You’ve never been afraid to take on the enemy… but you’d much rather take care of your friends.

Starting skills

• Pistol Certification – Considering the popularity of the personal sidearm in the Settled Systems, familiarity with such weapons is often considered essential.
• Medicine – Only through advancements in medical training and technology has humanity been able to withstand the galaxy’s many dangers.
• Wellness – By embracing an active lifestyle and good nutrition habits, one may improve their overall sense of health, and even gain prolonged life expectancy.

Cyber Runner

From Neon to New Atlantis, the megacorps stand as monuments to power, prestige and profit. You’ve worked both for and against them, on the inside and out, often sacrificing conscience for credits.

Starting skills

• Stealth – For a combatant who values discretion above all else, the ability to approach a target while undetected and kill with a silenced weapon is as terrifying as it is effective.
• Security – While the standardized digital locking mechanism is renowned for its security, any code can be broken with the proper training.
• Theft – While not entirely honorable, and certainly not legal, it is nonetheless occasionally necessary to discreetly remove property from someone’s person.

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Cyberneticist

Robots? Mere toys. Neuroamps? Good for parlor tricks. The Colony War may have made implants and upgrades available to veterans, but you once saw a greater future. Humans and machines, as one.

Starting skills

• Medicine – Only through advancements in medical training and technology has humanity been able to withstand the galaxy’s many dangers.
• Security – While the standardized digital locking mechanism is renowned for its security, any code can be broken with the proper training.
• Lasers – Personal laser weapons are in widespread use across the Settled Systems, and specialized training can greatly increase their effectiveness.

Diplomat

The wars are over. Peace now reigns the Settled Systems. But only because there are those quietly fighting to keep it. Because of you, agreements were signed, words were heeded… lives were spared.

Starting skills

• Persuasion – In the Settled Systems, the nuanced ability to listen and discuss can often accomplish far more than simply shooting first and asking questions later.
• Commerce – In the Settled Systems’ free market economy, almost anyone with the right skillset can open and run a successful business.
• Wellness – By embracing an active lifestyle and good nutrition habits, one may improve their overall sense of health, and even gain prolonged life expectancy.

Explorer

They said exploration is a lost art. You didn’t listen. As the major factions argued over the space they desperately tried to control, you were busy uncovering the wonders of the Settled Systems.

Starting skills

• Lasers – Personal laser weapons are in widespread use across the Settled Systems, and specialized training can greatly increase their effectiveness.
• Astrodynamics – Advanced technology is one thing, but it takes skill patience, and a little bit of love to coax even more capability out of a ship’s grav drive.
• Surveying – Humanity now has access to untold alien worlds, and the ability to decipher all that data while on the ground has become an essential skillset.

How Starfield backgrounds work

Once you choose your Starfield background, there is no way to change it. It’s a part of your character’s origin story and a good indicator of the person you were before the start of the game. In addition to giving you three skills, there are times when your background affects how a character will interact with you.

One example we saw at the recent Starfield Direct deepdive was an NPC who was looking for someone to help him track down a beast. Beast Hnuter is one of the Starfield backgrounds, opening up a unique dialogue option that gives you the chance to earn double the amount of cash if you complete the quest.

And there you have it, everything we know about each Starfield background revealed so far. They’re not the only way you can customize your character, though. You can also pick up to three Starfield traits to give your adventurer unique abilities that may have crucial drawbacks. One thing we hope is that Starfield mods will allow creators to add even more backgrounds, traits, and maybe even Starfield guns, taking inspiration from the very best Skyrim mods and Fallout 4 mods the community has to offer.

Each Starfield background explained
Source: Maharot News