Starfield backgrounds list

With so many available Starfield backgrounds, there’s a way for every kind of player to customise their game to fit their own playstyle. Choosing the right background can help give a big boost when tackling certain areas of the game, or even add some challenge if you’re feeling up to it.

There are so many different ways to tailor the game to you thanks to the expansive Starfield character creator, so be sure to check out what Starfield traits will work best with the Starfield backgrounds you’re most interested in.

What are backgrounds in Starfield?

Starfield backgrounds are effectively the game’s version of career paths. They’re titles that each relate to certain jobs, each of which comes with a specific set of starting skills to help guide you at the start of the game. For example, if you’re interested in tracking down bad guys, you would pick the Bounty Hunter background over the Diplomat.

As well as starting skills, different backgrounds also give you access to unique dialogue options, and even some special missions and paths for you to take. This gives you the option either to choose a background based on the stats you want, or to choose one to roleplay a specific job in the Starfield universe.

What backgrounds are available in Starfield?

There are currently 16 confirmed backgrounds available to choose from in Starfield. These are:

• 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 food 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.

The chef background, unsurprisingly, provides a boost to cooking, allowing you to craft specialty food and drink, as well as researching additional recipes at your research lab. You’ll also get a small 10% boost to melee damage, and the ability to scavenge for unique items and materials.

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.

The combat medic has some good all-around bonuses and is a great choice for beginners to the game. They deal extra pistol damage, as well as receiving 10% extra healing from med packs. Finally, a 10kg higher carrying capacity will mean more looting and less inventory management.

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.

The cyber runner is one for those who enjoy stealth and thieving. More stealthy, and with silenced weapons, you’ll be able to sneak in and out while taking out anyone in your way. Security will help you pick locks, opening any doors and safes when looting, while you’ll also be an accomplished pickpocket, too.

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.

Combining the best of man and machine, the Cyberneticist is more capable of self healing thanks to the medicine skill. They are also skilled at using laser weapons in combat, and their lockpicking makes them great at thieving, making them a good all-around background choice.

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 skill set 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.

If you prefer to settle with diplomacy instead of violence, then the Diplomat is the way to go. When it comes to speech challenges, you have an increased chance of success when trying to persuade a target NPC. You also have a penchant for business, making it an excellent choice for anyone looking to make some money or likes bargaining for cheaper goods. Finally, the wellness skill means you’ll start off with an extra 30 points of health compared to other backgrounds.

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 skill set.

A perfect starting background if you’re planning on spending a lot of time exploring space. Specialised training to improve your effectiveness with laser weapons will help you in combat, while you’ll also be able to get more out of your ship’s grav drive thanks to the Astrodynamics skill. Finally, you can also survey the ground on alien planets to gather all the data you would need about them.

Those are all of the Starfield backgrounds that we know about so far. As we get closer to the game’s launch, we’ll be updating this guide as and when we know more so keep an eye out for that. In the meantime, why not get familiar with the vast Starfield map? And if you’re interested in a bit of worldbuilding, our Starfield religion guide will introduce you to this new mechanic.