The best Starfield Traits and their hidden benefits
When you make your character in Bethesda’s latest game, there’s one aspect that’s more important than anything else: Starfield Traits. These give specific buffs that are usually offset by some kind of debuff, and choosing the right ones can give you a decent leg up on your journey across the cosmos.
Let’s get into the meat of it and pick out the best Traits in Starfield. Choose from any of these and you won’t regret it (well, maybe Hero Worship).
Starfield’s best Traits
Bethesda
Here are the best Traits to choose for your Starfield character. While you won’t be able to use them all in a single playthrough, we think these are the best from the selection of options available to you.
Alien DNA
- Description: Start with increased max health and oxygen, but healing items are less effective.
The healing item debuff might seem like a big deal, but you can easily offset this by investing skill points into Medicine down the line. Meanwhile, the oxygen and health buff will make you more survivable in a fight and allow you to sprint for longer before becoming gassed out.
Empath
- Description: Performing actions your companion likes temporarily buffs combat effectiveness. You get a debuff if you do something they don’t like.
Whether or not you should choose this one depends on how you plan to approach the game. If you’re a goodie two shoes and you plan to be nice to everyone for your first playthrough, it’s a no-brainer. All of your companions in Starfield are nice people, so do nice things and you’ll be more effective in combat. The downside to this is that you’re stuck playing that way, even in New Game+, since you can’t reset Traits (though they can be removed). If you want to do something your companions won’t like, just make sure you leave them behind or don’t have them on your ship when you turn that space trucker into dust.
Extrovert
- Description: Use less oxygen while adventuring with human companions, but you use more oxygen while adventuring alone.
Having a companion with you to carry your stuff (being overencumbered in Starfield is annoying) and help in battle is like having a permanent buff anyway, and the Extrovert Trait makes them even more useful. Pair this with Alien DNA and you can sprint for ages. You can’t pair this with the Introvert Trait, which functions the same way except for people who prefer to travel alone. If you don’t like having companions with you, choose that instead.
Hero Worshipped
- Description: The Adoring Fan will join your crew and give you gifts.
If you can put up with an annoying dude telling you how great you are, this Trait is a good way to get extra items from time to time. And if you’re ever sick of him, you can always shoot him in the face.
Kid Stuff
- Description: You can visit your parents on New Atlantis, but 2% of your earnings are sent home every week.
Listen, you won’t miss 2% of your earnings and there’s more to this Trait than getting a few extra conversations. Eventually, Kid Stuff pays off in the form of free unique weapons and even a free Starfield ship to fly about. Grab another free Starfield ship in our Mantis questline guide.
Terra Firma
- Description: Increased health and oxygen while on the surface of any celestial body, but decreased health and oxygen while in space.
Despite the game’s title, you’ll spend most of your time in Starfield with your feet planted on the ground. This Trait pairs exceptionally well with Extrovert and Alien DNA, turning you into a super soldier whenever you’re fighting on a planet. The Spaced Trait works the same way, but buffs you in space and debuffs you on a planet, which is a bad trade, since most space combat is done from the cockpit anyway.
How to remove Starfield Traits
Other than murdering the Adoring Fan and being mean to your parents, most Traits can be removed by visiting a Reliant Medical center, dotted around cities you visit in Starfield. Once removed, there’s no getting it back.
Starfield Traits list
Here’s a list of all 17 Starfield Traits. Many of these affect how certain factions deal with you – Raised Enlightened, Raised Universal, Serpent's Embrace, Freestar Collective Settler, United Colonies Native, and Neon Street Rat – but they’re mostly just extra dialogue options that don’t affect the overall outcome of a quest. Dream Home might sound good on paper (you get a cool house!), but it costs you a fortune and you can get a free apartment by doing the Vanguard missions for UC anyway.
- Alien DNA
- Dream Home
- Empath
- Extrovert
- Freestar Collective Settler
- Hero Worshipped
- Introvert
- Kid Stuff
- Neon Street Rat
- Raised Enlightened
- Raised Universal
- Serpent's Embrace
- Spaced
- Taskmaster
- Terra Firma
- United Colonies Native
- Wanted
Starfield Enlightened VS Universal
Raised Enlightened and Raised Universal are appealing traits, but you can only pick one or the other. If you're dead set on picking one, then you should know that the Raised Universal chest has a few more items than the one you get from the Raised Enlightened perk. But honestly, they're both pretty bad, and you'd be better off picking from the other perks we've listed above.
